In Praise Of Warmoth

[javacody]

I don't agree with the knock on the asian import guitars. Here are there good examples of inexpensive asian guitars with pretty good wood:

1. Agile Les Paul Copy (LP2500), flame maple veneer, 3 piece SOLID mahogany body, and maple neck. A great guitar for the $200 I paid for it.

2. SX Les Paul Special copy, two piece mahogany body and mahogany neck. Another great guitar from Rondo (by the way, the fretwork on both guitars is very, very good), I only paid $120 for it.

3. Johnson Alder tele body, definitely solid alder, cost me $50.

These are three asian manufactured guitars I have direct experience with. Fender's Squiers (except for the bullets) are solid wood with the Chinese made guitars being made out of alder and the Indonesian made guitars being made out of Agathis. The Affinities sold in the US are almost always made in China with the standards being made in Indonesia.

At any rate, I prefer for Custom stuff made by someone other than me to come from USA Custom Guitars. Tommy Rosamond (the owner) used to work at Warmoth and his specialties include awesome customer service, lots of options for no additional upcharge (look at his neck shapes), and great ears for tonewood. The fretwork on his necks that I've received has been flawless (I've read some less than stellar reports on Warmoth fretwork).

Let me state that this is my opinion and my experience and I have no experience with Warmoth stuff, but I've no reason to go to them, as I get what I need from USA Custom Guitars. I don't want to start an argument over who's better, and I'm definitely not putting down Warmoth.

[westhemann]

1. Agile Les Paul Copy (LP2500), flame maple veneer, 3 piece SOLID mahogany body, and maple neck. A great guitar for the $200 I paid for it.

2. SX Les Paul Special copy, two piece mahogany body and mahogany neck. Another great guitar from Rondo (by the way, the fretwork on both guitars is very, very good), I only paid $120 for it.

3. Johnson Alder tele body, definitely solid alder, cost me $50.

i disagree with all of these guitars being worth the money for anyone greater than a pure beginner.

one day you will take one ofthose necks apart and you will see the problem...probably after the frts start loosening or the fretboard seperates.

and that is NOT good fretwork or nut slotting on those guitars either.it is simple "press and polish"

[Maiden69]

i disagree with all of these guitars being worth the money for anyone greater than a pure beginner.

one day you will take one ofthose necks apart and you will see the problem...probably after the frts start loosening or the fretboard seperates.

and that is NOT good fretwork or nut slotting on those guitars either.it is simple "press and polish"

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I was going to post the same thing. On the Epi LP that I got, you can't tell that the wood is other than the advertized. It is hidden very cleverly with a 1 PC mahogany veneer, and the neck was advertized as a mahogany and after taking the paint out it was maple, the frets already lifted from the board on the corners (this is why I'm going to canibalize it, perfect for learning how to fret before doing my own). Granted for a begginer it was an awsome instrument, but I think that for the discounted 450 that I paid it's definately not worth it.

Before I made a guitar I was like this is the ****, but after I made one, and I compared the sound and feel (I still haven't done a neck yet, but I used Jackson, Carvin and Warmoth necks) it is definately an improvement over the Epi.

[Mickguard]

i disagree with all of these guitars being worth the money for anyone greater than a pure beginner.

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He's just talking about the body wood here. And he's right --the wood on the carvecaster looks pretty great (to me, anyway), it's definitely solid wood, and it's three-piece like pretty much any Fender.

The Bocaster's wood is the same --three-piece alder and extremely lightweight to boot, has a really nice loud resonant ring to it.

But both these guitars were meant to be painted, the look of the wood wasn't an issue (it was just luck that the carvecaster had decent looking grain, otherwise, it would have been sunburst by now... )

As for the rest of the guitar the body came with, yep, pure crap...especially the neck...and now that I know how to work a power tool a little bit, I won't be going that route again (besides, both those guitars were given to me, so that helps).

Oh but there's one guitar I have that's different--my Samick Royale (RL-1, the cheapo) --I love this guitar, the neck is awesome. We'll see if it holds up over time, but the build quality appears excellent and most of the components seem to be of decent quality too. It's painted, so I have no idea what the wood (nato!) looks like...

[JoeAArthur]

http://www.eddievanhalen.com/cgi-bin/index...play&num=674959

Couldn't help but remember this thread when I read this.

[javacody]

one day you will take one ofthose necks apart and you will see the problem...probably after the frts start loosening or the fretboard seperates

What is the problem?

FWIW, I've used the SX as a Frankenstein of sorts. I've drilled the crap out of it messing around. The body and neck are definitely solid wood that appears to be mahogany. Also, the frets are all level and don't cut me, which is about as much as you can expect from a $120 guitar. Sorry I wasn't more clear.

Both the Agile and the SX set up nicely, are made out of solid wood and seem to have decent tuners. Yeah, they are aimed at beginners or those of us with less cash. I don't mind settling for "less" than a Gibson, because I can either feed my family or I can buy a "real" Les Paul. The Agile does definitely have a paper thin veneer of flame maple on a carved mahogany body, but I don't see an issue with that. Folks on this board use veneers quite often. Fender will sell you a veneered guitar for way more than $200.

The pickups and electronics are definitely subpar, as are the bridges. I've replaced those things.

Again, I don't understand the attitude against Asian guitars. I've been playing guitar for 16 years and I have my 3 asian guitars hanging up next to my two USA Custom Guitars strats. I'm not ashamed of them in any way. They are fun to play, sound halfway decent, and I'm not afraid to take a drill to 'em.

Wes, how many Agiles have you played? Taken apart?

[crafty]

I wouldn't have anything against Asian guitars if they weren't built with slave labor and designed for the low-end of the market.

You can polish a dried turd, but it's still a turd.