Members satannica Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 Has anyone ever bought one? Thoughts? Opinions? Cheers Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrkirkish Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 I have one... got it from the showcase. Maple/maple with standard strat headstock. Black markers, 6100 frets. It is one of the better necks I have ever played, although given the option, I would have had them install the nut - at the time, that option did not exist. Do you have any questions about the baritone necks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members satannica Posted May 3, 2005 Author Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 Well, I'm going to be going after a mahogany/ebony neck. I'm mainly concerned about the back shape. I don't think that the wizard back shape is available on these necks. I intend to use it with an explorer body. The neck I had for it I've decided is too thick for what I like so looking to go for another custom order. My present neck was a birdseye maple standard 25.5" scale. It was finished in black and I think it had the standard contour, which is a little too thick for me, I think mainly because of the finish on the back (its solid black). How easy is the neck to play? Do you get tired easily? Does the neck bow much? Those are pretty much my questions... Pickups are a set of EMG 81 and 85s. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sekator Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 Those necks look great. The only thing that bothers me is the price: around $250 or more just for the neck! For $359 you can get the entire Agile AB-3500 BK baritone (28" scale), beautiful maple neck with ebony fretboard, Grover tuners, string thru body, excellent active pickups, etc. In short, an outstanding baritone for just $100 more than the cost of a Warmoth neck:http://www.rondomusic.net/ab3500bk.html They're out of stock now, but should be back by summer. I have this beast and it is my fav axe, noticeably better than my ESP George Lynch baritone that cost me twice as much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members satannica Posted May 3, 2005 Author Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 *plots* Could you post some pix of your one? I may do this instead and just get a normal neck for the exp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sekator Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 I'll try to get some pics later (but I don't have a camera, so it might be a while). The axe looks very Ibanez-esque, the headstock has a similar slim shape, the body is vaguely RG-ish, but very comfortable. But the sustain, the sustain is UNREAL. The combo of the heavy maple body (adds tons of clarity for the low B) and the string thru body makes the notes just go on and on. The actives ain't EMG, but they sound great. I get an extremely clear, punchy sound reminiscent of maybe Fear Factory (alternate picking on the low notes is godlike and the palm mute crunch makes the house shake). The middle single-coil is OK, nothing special, but the neck humbucker is quite sweet, you can get some very polished lead sounds out of it. There's also a flawless cream binding around the entire neck and headstock and the whole finish around the guitar is simply flawless. It also has an integrated battery compartment for the active pickups that you can just open without having to unscrew the entire back compartment, very convenient. This guitar slays, period. It's great not just for downtuning, but even when I play Slayer's Angel of Death on the "regular" strings (i.e. E and up) it sounds simply killer. You can do everything from sludge to death metal to thrash on this thing. Ah, forgot...the cleans on the neck pickup are pristine, they have a very rich resonant quality. Most people seem to focus on the LP/Gibson copies that Agile makes, but this all-original creation of theirs is their finest hour in my opionion. The pots and switch are very solid. My guitar tech (who's been playing for 35 years and has seen his share of guitars) told me he would have easily believed this was a $1000 instrument, it was that perfect. My buddy has an original 777DY Jem and when he saw and played my Agile he told me he would have easily believed it was a $2000 (!!!) custom shop instrument, it was that amazing. Run, don't wait, buy it as soon as they have it back in stock. And it's a set neck as well, will be much better than a bolt-on conversion neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sekator Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 Forgot one other thing: the base strings are .060 - .013. I tried installing a regular light-top/heavy bottom set from D'Addario: .056 - .011and even tuned to B with the 28" scale the tension, clarity, sustain and tone are excellent... ...imagine being tuned to B and not having to deal with super thick strings, it's makes playing and bending super easy. On my ESP (which has a 27" scale), I had to install noticeably thicker strings (.070 - .014) to get the tension I wanted. The extra inch of scale on the Agile really makes a difference. It took me about 2 weeks to get used to the longer scale for rhythm playing, requires some technique changes, especially for stretching on power chords, etc...but nothing that even a beginner couldn't handle with some extra practice. The payoff in the end is well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jim_Soloway Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 Originally posted by Sekator Those necks look great. The only thing that bothers me is the price: around $250 or more just for the neck! The Warmoth baritone neck in maple with either a maple or rosewood fingerboard is $167. It only gets up around $250 when the neck is made of an exotic wood. I have one. I haven't used it yet, but I think it's a pretty cool product. Being able to convert a standard guitar into a baritone just by swapping the neck on an existing body without having to even change the hardware is a pretty clever idea. It seems pretty well made too. One thing that concerns me a little though is the balance. Since it's a conversion neck, all of the additional length is on the neck side. Because of that, I ordered it with a Tele peg head so it would be a little less likely to neck dive. One last thought. I don't think mahogany would really be a good idea for a baritone. I believe that when you're tuning down, you should use brighter sounding woods so the attack doesn't get lost. There's always the possibility of getting a really muddy tone when you're that low and I think mahogany would make that much more likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sekator Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 I fully agree with that. My Agile is maple, the ESP is mahogany. The Agile has noticeably better definition at the lower notes. As far as the price of the Warmoth neck, don't forget that for the warranty to be valid they require that you paint it:http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/necks/necks.cfm?fuseaction=finishes that's at least another $50 to $110 of cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shocker Posted May 3, 2005 Members Share Posted May 3, 2005 Hmm, I shall have to get one of these then, when they come back in stock. My baritone is mahogany with a maple cap; but who knows what I could be missing? //S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members satannica Posted May 4, 2005 Author Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 I build guitars aswell. I always lived by the rule that mahogany and maple are pretty bad when used on the same guitar (eg mahog body and maple neck). Am I right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sekator Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 Not necessarily. My ESP is mahogany body and maple neck and they go very well together as well, more of a vintage tone compared to the Agile. But I still prefer an all-maple body and neck for baritones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mind Riot Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 While I completely respect everyone's opinion, I have to disagree about using mahogany with low tunings. My Schecter 007 Blackjack seven string with a 26 1/2" scale, tuned to A, is clear as a bell. It has a solid mahogany body, no maple cap, and a set maple neck with rosewood fretboard. I understand the theory of mahogany possibly making low tuned guitars muddy sounding, but in practice I haven't found it to be the case. I think pickups and scale length/string tension are bigger factors in the clarity of low tuned guitars. My old seven string had a basswood body and a standard 25 1/2" scale, also tuned to A on the low B, and the Schecter with a supposedly muddy sounding mahogany body sounded much, much tighter and more clear, and I believe the scale length (26 1/2" vs. 25 1/2") and choice of pickups (Duncan JB vs. Dimarzio Blaze) was more of a factor in the difference than the body wood. If one simply doesn't like the tonal qualities of mahogany and prefers the sound of another type of wood that's one thing, but I have to disagree that mahogany makes low tuned guitars sound muddy. In my experience, it works just as well as any other kind of wood, remains clear and retains mahogany's warmth and character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sekator Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 I didn't say mahogany makes it sound muddy. Not at all. I just said maple sounds *clearer* at those tunings. That doesn't imply that the mahogany doesn't sound clear as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mind Riot Posted May 4, 2005 Members Share Posted May 4, 2005 Originally posted by Sekator I didn't say mahogany makes it sound muddy. Not at all.I just said maple sounds *clearer* at those tunings. That doesn't imply that the mahogany doesn't sound clear as well. I wasn't talking to anyone in particular. I've heard people speculate that mahogany would be too muddy in low tuned or seven string guitars for a while, but one thing I noticed was that everyone who actually PLAYED a low tuned mahogany guitar was singing it's praises. And most who said it wouldn't work had never played one. Sorry, I wasn't trying to refute you personally or anything, just putting my humble opinions out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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