penningtron wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 9:41 am Yeah, DIY finishes are key to saving money. I happen to prefer the more raw finishes anyway, I've never liked the candy-coated goop on store bought guitars.

A one-over by a luthier is a good idea but nothing that should cost more than $100 really.

I called around for this and it would def cost more than $100.

I considered trying to save some money and ditch the paint job, but I don't have a lot of personal time these days with two kids and I wanted a finish. Any effort to save money equals more of my limited time. However, I'm really comparing the cost of a doing a Warmoth build today from 2015 and remarking on the increase of cost.

cakes wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 9:13 am if you follow Warmoth's philosophy on their neck construction, they do nothing in terms of dressing or setting up the neck

Right, they say that, but just FWIW, of the 7 necks I've gotten, that's 154 frets, there's been 1/3 of 1 that was just a little high and needed a little filing under the E and A strings. They're perfectly playable right out of the box.

I wouldn't attempt a DIY paint job, I don't think I could make it look good, and I wouldn't want to invest the time and energy trying. I think what Warmoth charges for a finish is perfectly reasonable, but this is an expensive enough hobby as it is, and I just prefer the look of dyed/stained guitars anyway.

Anyone with a little attention and time can do a great oil finish on a neck. I'm a big fan of Tru-oil (It's just a tung oil mix), with steel wool as final to remove the 'sticky' feeling even after it's hardened.

My bassist asked me to grab a GK Neo 112 cab near me on Craigslist for him. If I’m able to secure the bag, I’ll be trading it with him for a Fender Rumble 40 (been playing bass in a couple other projects that don’t need my big Rumble 500 for practice so that would help quite a bit) and an unbranded Hippie Sandwich-style guitar that I have designs on turning into a weird TB1000/Ric Dakota hybrid. Will report back if I am successful, as this would be only the second time in my life I’ve bought a thing off CL.

cakes wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 9:47 am However, I'm really comparing the cost of a doing a Warmoth build today from 2015 and remarking on the increase of cost.

I've only bought Warmoth parts in stock , which can be marked down. Might not be exactly what you had in mind (I got a guitar body with a battery box in it, so then just made the "hur hur weed stash" joke often) but worth holding out for.

Another hot take: hand-wound bespoke vintage spec boutique pickups are overrated. Duncan and Dimarzio cover basically any sonic gap at this point.

penningtron wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 10:45 am (I got a guitar body with a battery box in it, so then just made the "hur hur weed stash" joke often)

I remember seeing on Guitar Salesman/Noted “Guy Who Would Have Marched On January 6 If He Was Alive” Ed Roman’s website a guitar he made for the Nuge that had a cavity to holster a derringer, so it could be worse!

defendyachtrock wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 10:24 am only the second time in my life I’ve bought a thing off CL.

Man, I think almost everything heavy I bought or sold was via CL for years and years. My V4, Bassman, 1x15s, a TS50-B w/ matching 1x15, JCM800, etc etc etc. Tapered off some when I moved to Chicago, and now seems virtually dead here for gear. There's a super active Seattle area gear Fbook group and that's pretty much the only place I post stuff locally now. And because of how the group is managed to keep MAGA-chud assholes out, I pretty much never have a shitty interaction anymore.

I hope yours goes well Kazoo!

penningtron wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 10:45 am

cakes wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 9:47 am However, I'm really comparing the cost of a doing a Warmoth build today from 2015 and remarking on the increase of cost.

I've only bought Warmoth parts in stock , which can be marked down. Might not be exactly what you had in mind (I got a guitar body with a battery box in it, so then just made the "hur hur weed stash" joke often) but worth holding out for.

Another hot take: hand-wound bespoke vintage spec boutique pickups are overrated. Duncan and Dimarzio cover basically any sonic gap at this point.

There's definitely some things I could do to bring the price down, but I still can't justify spending $1500.

penningtron wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 10:45 am I've only bought Warmoth parts in stock

Me too. I prefer buying in stock bodies for a couple reasons besides price:

1. I can see what the wood looks like, which matters for a dye/stain finish
2. I can see what they weigh. I only buy really light ones. I want guitars I can play standing up for hours and I'm not a big dude, I need light ones.
3. window shopping is fun. My wife jokes about "I'm going to TJ Maxx to touch things...." and browsing warmoth's stock is my version of that.

They had a big sale at the end of last year and I could've grabbed some gems for next to nothing but aaaiiieeee I'd spent so much money there already and work was slow here at the time, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

As far as fancy pickups, I'll stick up for Fralins, and I really like the Gemini goldfoils as well, but yeah there's plenty of perfectly excellent Duncan/Dimarzio options too. I was looking at Lollar goldfoils and they're like $220 each, which is awfully spendy.

Since my first purchase of a Fralin set years ago, I've never wanted to consider anything else.