Can't Beat Warmoth

UK guitar build make the best replica Fender bodies wherever you live but spend the money on a Warmoth or Musikraft neck.
Allparts /Hosco (same thing) are very good but they have the 56mm heel not the USA side of 55.55mm (2 3/16") and that's going to need to go on one of there bodies or you will need to deal with the difference. The other thing is you will need to do more work on an Allparts/Hosco to finish it off. So not for the beginner. Fender sell made in Mexico necks and bodies that offer more that the ones available on Mexican guitars, these are also far more finished than kit neck usually are so good value if you need to get a tech to do work on it for you. I don't recommend any other makes unless you have very specific needs.
 
Riccardo Ros said:
Thanks a lot for all the replies (@Piing @empinchen @Andy Eagle )!
I see that those are too much "related" with fenders... and most of them lacking basic features like stainless steel frets, exotic woods or heel truss road adjustments...

I got it: I'll ask my kids to win some scholarships :tearsofjoy:
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Unfortunately the kit part market is 99% fender designs. Warmoth is the best bet for anything else but still Fender at the core. I did at one time think that the Kit builders would start doing Ibanez RG compatible parts but even Ibanez have not kept these consistent even in neck width at the heel and three different neck joints. Also for a time you could get a lot of Blackmachine B2/6 and B2/7 plans and templates so also a candidate.
 
Riccardo Ros said:
Thanks a lot for all the replies (@Piing @empinchen @Andy Eagle )!
I see that those are too much "related" with fenders... and most of them lacking basic features like stainless steel frets, exotic woods or heel truss road adjustments...

I got it: I'll ask my kids to win some scholarships :tearsofjoy:
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Are you in Italy? If I were there I would try one of these Italian Schecters that our friend @Marco Fanton loves to play



https://www.facebook.com/schecterguitarsitalia/

https://www.essemusic.it/en/schecter-route-66/

A Nick Johnston Diamond Series, and many other Schecters, can also be top-notch if you have the opportunity to try them and get one with mojo. And you can customize it.
 
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Piing said:
Are you in Italy? If I were there I would try one of these Italian Schecters that our friend @Marco Fanton loves to play



https://www.facebook.com/schecterguitarsitalia/

https://www.essemusic.it/en/schecter-route-66/

A Nick Johnston Diamond Series, and many other Schecters, can also be top-notch if you have the opportunity to try them and get one with mojo. And you can customize it.
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no stainless steel frets, otherwise I had bought one of them long time ago..!
(and here changing the frets cost half the price of the guitar..)
 
Andy Eagle said:
Unfortunately the kit part market is 99% fender designs. Warmoth is the best bet for anything else but still Fender at the core. I did at one time think that the Kit builders would start doing Ibanez RG compatible parts but even Ibanez have not kept these consistent even in neck width at the heel and three different neck joints. Also for a time you could get a lot of Blackmachine B2/6 and B2/7 plans and templates so also a candidate.
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have you ever tried one of those (Blackmachine I mean)?, it's a sort of mythical instrument..
 
Riccardo Ros said:
have you ever tried one of those (Blackmachine I mean)?, it's a sort of mythical instrument..
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Yes I think he was ahead of his time. I'm not sure why he didn't make more. They are really good at what they do and excel at drop tunings because of clarity and tightness in the bass. I would imagine the wood involved in the B2 was hard to source hence the B6.
B2 for reference;
7Kw391Dl.jpg
b2c.jpg
 
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FractalAudio said:
Bought a Warmoth Strat off eBay. $400. Like new. Birdseye maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, roller nut, locking tuners, alder body, quilt maple top. Had some cheap single coils in it.

Put a couple Duncan single coils in it and a JB Trembucker in the bridge and it rips. Plays like butter. Easily competes with my $5K+ Suhrs and Tom Andersons.

Total investment about $600 and a couple hours of time.
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No pics??? :) Can't say you bought a guitar and not post pics :)
 
FractalAudio said:
Bought a Warmoth Strat off eBay. $400. Like new. Birdseye maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, roller nut, locking tuners, alder body, quilt maple top. Had some cheap single coils in it.

Put a couple Duncan single coils in it and a JB Trembucker in the bridge and it rips. Plays like butter. Easily competes with my $5K+ Suhrs and Tom Andersons.

Total investment about $600 and a couple hours of time.
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That sounds sweet. I have a good many friends that have at least one Warmoth guitar! Nice players!
 
Here are a few of the Warmoth builds I've done over the years. Each was a fun project.
 

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Chromatizm said:
What's the deal with the white one? :) Where the pickups are? :)
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That was my first Warmoth build, "Pandacaster", and I spec'd the body without pickups.

This guitar was meant for MIDI and Roland GK only.

I installed RMC piezo saddles and used it with an RMC interface to connect to my Roland VG and other gear with 13-pin interfaces (VG8 - VG-99, Axon, etc).

The synth tracking was really good. The RMC had pretty good "acoustic" sounds, too.
 
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secondwindow said:
That was my first Warmoth build, "Pandacaster", and I spec'd the body without pickups.

This guitar was meant for MIDI and Roland GK only.

I installed RMC piezo saddles and used it with an RMC interface to connect to my Roland VG and other gear with 13-pin interfaces (VG8 - VG-99, Axon, etc).

The synth tracking was really good. The RMC had pretty good "acoustic " sounds, too.
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Here's a link to the RMC interface I used:
https://www.rmcpickup.com/polydriveii.html
 
I used to buy factory guitars and then a certain process would play out....first, I would swap pickups, then I would replace pots and rewire to fit my scheme, then I would upgrade tuners...oops I need a new neck. Finally, I just switch to Warmoth and PGK and built what I wanted the first time. I'm on kit 8 or so with Warmoth, and a couple of PGK's to boot.

I'll also now buy my fender style bodies from Stratosphere and save a few bucks, especially now that Warmoth is getting more limited in their custom paint schemes.
 
HereToday said:
I used to buy factory guitars and then a certain process would play out....first, I would swap pickups, then I would replace pots and rewire to fit my scheme, then I would upgrade tuners...oops I need a new neck. Finally, I just switch to Warmoth and PGK and built what I wanted the first time. I'm on kit 8 or so with Warmoth, and a couple of PGK's to boot.

I'll also now buy my fender style bodies from Stratosphere and save a few bucks, especially now that Warmoth is getting more limited in their custom paint schemes.
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I've bought parts from Stratosphereparts.com, too. A good choice for building a "custom" off-the-shelf guitar with the options you want.
 
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