Best strat body?

[t_e_l_e]

 

 

What type of paint do they use for their finishes? Is it lacquer?

 

 

 

i don't know, but here is their info page:

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Body/Finish/#!/Clear/Clear

 

and here the whole cataloge of their finish options:

http://www.warmoth.com/pdf/BodyFinishes.pdf

 

unfortunately my (transarent) neon color is not an option any more

 

oh and they do offer vintage strat and standard strat bodies, which slightly differ in their contours and the pickup caveties a not routed as deep on the vintage than on the std...

i took the vintage one its exactly my taste

[Phil O'Keefe]

I have guitars in various finishes - I generally prefer the "look" of lacquer, and I like the way it wears better than poly, in spite of the fact that it's not as durable.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thanks Tele!

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

For the record, Warmoth's site (under "details of the finish process") says they use several thin coats of poly as a grain filler, and then finish with urethane.

[Freeman Keller]

Does anyone know of a company that offers either prepped (drilled / sanded) or finished (preferably nitrocellulose lacquer) bodies with contour options? IOW, if I wanted a '60s body contour, or an early '80s VR contour, etc., is there anyone who lets you specify that as an option?

 

Phil, I can at least partially answer that. There is a great interview with Ken Warmoth in the latest issue of American Lutherie by Tim Olsen and a complete look at their facility. All of their bodies are now milled on CNS's - they don't specifically talk about options but basically I would say that if they have made a profile of the body contours you want they could do it. If they haven't you would have to pay for the programming time. Its not like they would pick a partially finished body off the line and hand cut a special contour (which is how I would do it). They do still hand sand the bodies and hand apply the finish.

 

Second, they used to use nitro, in fact Ken says musicians want nitro, but it doesn't ship nicely. They went to UV cured poly but found it was "fraught with perils". Now he says "the base coats are polyester, then the top coats are automotive urethanes".

 

Great article, lots of insights into this small segment of the guitar manufacturing business.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Phil, I can at least partially answer that. There is a great interview with Ken Warmoth in the latest issue of American Lutherie by Tim Olsen and a complete look at their facility. All of their bodies are now milled on CNS's - they don't specifically talk about options but basically I would say that if they have made a profile of the body contours you want they could do it. If they haven't you would have to pay for the programming time. Its not like they would pick a partially finished body off the line and hand cut a special contour (which is how I would do it). They do still hand sand the bodies and hand apply the finish.

 

If they don't already offer it as an option, I probably will just look elsewhere rather than pay to set up their CNC machines.

 

Second, they used to use nitro, in fact Ken says musicians want nitro, but it doesn't ship nicely.

 

Get it too cold and it checks and cracks - I can understand his concerns. The last Fender Strat I reviewed had red tags on the outside of the case warning about the ways the lacquer can be damaged.

 

They went to UV cured poly but found it was "fraught with perils". Now he says "the base coats are polyester, then the top coats are automotive urethanes".

 

I wonder what the perils of UV cured poly are? I thought that was becoming all the rage for use on the commercial level since the dry time is so short.

[Freeman Keller]

I wonder what the perils of UV cured poly are? I thought that was becoming all the rage for use on the commercial level since the dry time is so short.

 

Its a fairly long paragraph and I'm not going to quote it all but there seems to be several issues

 

- they can't get base, color and top coats from the same manufacture so they had compatibility issues

- apparently there is a "post cure" cycle which can change the appearance

- and they said when they stripped bodies to refinish them there was often a gummy layer next to the wood

 

I think the whole finishing industry is in flux right now - many builders are using pre or post catalyzed finishes, the search continues for the perfect finish

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thanks for the insights Freeman!

 

[Freeman Keller]

Long discussions at lutherie forums. Of course a onesy-twosy builder is entirely different from the big guys but everybody seems to be looking. I'll stick to nitro until the VOC's finally do me in.

[Axisplayer]

Just finished a near strat I have been wanting to put together. It is a Warmoth chambered strat body, made of white korina with black korina top. It has tummy cut, elbow cut and contoured heel cut. Warmoth flamed maple neck with compound radius, modern design with the dual access truss adjustments, and body has vintage cloth wiring, Bourne pots, and Seymour Duncan Custom 5 pickup, with American std trem. The fact that I only have a bridge pickup is offset by the chambered body that lets me still get good mids and bottom end. No finish on the wood except for rubbed oil. Sorry this won't please the strat gods, but a good example of a nice Warmoth body.

 

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[t_e_l_e]

^axis: the body is hot, i like the vintage trem more than the std trem and i favour maple fretboards, but after i ordered my first warmoth i could order them as a hobby on a regular base altough i don't need another strat

 

[WRGKMC]

So the pot metal trem-arm shaft on the trem block of my frankenstrat broke away leaving me with a choice of replacing the block or going all out for a new body and Wilkinson trem. The body is a plywood Hondo tosser I got off craigslist. I've always wanted to replace it with an alder or swamp-ash done to early '60's Fender specs so now may just be the time.

 

I have a great neck and populated pickguard - looking for a black body and trem.

 

Aside from Warmoth and U.S. Guitars are there others worthy of consideration? I notice GFS has some, etc. Any good?

 

 

I found the Wilkinson parts made in China have the same quality as all the other generics. You can buy them for as low as $12 new on Ebay and just about any Fender or Squire bridge taken of parted out guitars and resold for the same price.

 

For bodies, the best deals are probably a parted out Squire body, many of which come loaded with bridges and pickups.

If you buy an unfinished body or body blank you may save a little on the cost of the wood but you'll easily spend double or triple putting a finish on the body and the odds of coming close to a factory finish without allot of experience doing finish work is very low. If you want to learn how to finish wood, you can buy all the bodies you want straight from Chine for $20 each. The supplies for finishing are what are going to cost you. Its a nasty sticky job finishing and you need a proper work space and environment to do the job well. If you buy a Squire or Made in Mexico Fender body it only takes minutes to switch the hardware and electronics over and it can look great without the hassle.

[Phil O'Keefe]

That looks hot - nicely done!

[Phil O'Keefe]

Doing your first DIY rattle can (re)finish is probably going to set you back a good $100 - $150 or so, which is about as much as a decent unfinished guitar body costs. You'll save some money on the next one since you will still have supplies left over and won't have to re-purchase blush-out, sanding paper, sealer, polishing compound, sanding blocks, acetone, etc. but even the paint and primer alone is going to cost you at least $50 and probably more - depending on how many cans of color you need and how many clear coats you want to put over it.

 

It does take some time and effort, but there's plenty of refinishing tips and tutorials out there, and it can be successfully done by a novice if they're patient and careful. In my experience, the most important aspects are 1) keeping the work area clean (and using a respirator to avoid breathing those VOCs) 2) working slowly and methodically and 3) patience. You need to allow plenty of time for the lacquer to dry and fully set up before you start polishing it out - at least two or three weeks; a month or more is even better. The thing that takes the most time (other than dry time) is the buffing out and polishing - again, go slow so you don't burn through the finish... or you'll have to start all over again.

 

I really put the time into doing my '75 Music Master / Duo Sonic II the right way, and was rewarded with a very near-factory quality finish as a result - and it was the very first guitar I had ever refinished. I also was lucky to get suggestions and input not only from online, but some very talented professional guitar makers, which definitely helped, but if I can successfully do a refinish, probably just about anyone can. I am not the most talented person when it comes to doing that kind of work...