This guy is an expert but he doesn't make us amateurs feel dumb. I love all his videos and I have had nothing but good transactions with Warmoth. I have built 5 guitars from their parts, none of which would not have been better if I'd had this kind of guidance
Chamfer bits and deburring tools abound (I get mine off eBay). One of my favorite specialized tools is an old skateboard wheel and a a few inches of broom handle to re-radius football jack plates to match the curve of the body (place plate in cup of wheel, rounded end of broom handle in jack hole and strike with rubber mallet until it's the right radius; prevents marring and over-bending). Another great video, Aaron!
Thanks Aaron! Glad to finally see a video on the channel about actually assembling a Warmoth guitar. I'd love to see a follow-up video showing the tools here being used on a build. It doesn't have to be a full uncut recording or anything, just a cursory overview with some pictures any tips or tricks for each step.
@@warmoth Oops, so you did. I tried searching for something like this before, but I could only find the finished build overview videos. I should have tried searching "warmoth building" instead of "warmoth build"! Thanks for the link!
Always watch your videos. As a hobbyist I make solid body electric guitars. I build my own bodies and pair them with Warmoth necks. Your videos have helped me tremendously, thanks.
Best decision I've ever made was paying a legit luthier to assemble, fret dress, and set up my Warmoth parts into an incredible guitar. I'm sure the guitar would have been fine with me putting it together, but the luthier's 30 years of experience and keen eye for detail made a world of difference. If you want to build a top-of-the-line Warmoth parts guitar (which are no longer cheap mind you) I recommend you seriously consider this option.
Would love to do it! I met Phil at NAMM and he was fun to talk to. He was scheduled to come visit Warmoth right about the time covid hit, and it never happened. Maybe we could do a Facetime thing or something. That would be fun!
@@warmoth IMO if you let him video a factory tour with you guys, and then build a full guitar to give away on his channel, you all would be SO swamped with orders immediately after that video dropped. xD See also: all of the products that Phil is actually excited about and does a video on, that are immediately sold out everywhere (most recent the Music Nomad fret crown file, but also guitars, pedals, and plenty of other guitar-related tools and accessories).
For years while working on guitars I used these little floor mats that you can find anywhere almost, basically a piece of carpet about 1ft x 2ft or so, worked great, easy to clean, and cheap to replace if they get grotty. And before I made a proper neck rest for myself, I simply used two phone books stacked on top of each other; a thick yellow pages, and a thin white pages was just the right height, plus there was the added advantage of lots of surface on them to put tools and such when working on a nut, or installing tuners, etc... In fact, the neck rest I made for myself HAS a similar raised platform area around it, for exactly that reason, with a small magnetic kinda bowl glued to it to hold screws and such while working on the head stock...
Also, I used a Dremel tool with one of those thin flat round cutting disks that come with every Dremel kit, and cut a thin (the thickness of the disk) slot in the bottom jaw of my digital calipers (banggood), about 3mm deep, so that I can measure the height of only the bead on fret wire, letting the tang sit down in the little slot. Easy to do, and totally invaluable for making useful calipers! Also i use a cordless electric screwdriver with an assortment of bits for just about all screwing 😜, including winding strings, with the little adapter that fits into the hex socket of every power screwdriver, that fits over pretty much every size tuner keys except those big P-bass ones. But ONLY a small electric power screwdriver, NEVER a cordless drill with screw driver bits; they have WAY too much torque, and can very easily strip a screw hole. Small rechargeable electric screwdriver ONLY!
That is how it starts. Before I say anything else. I absolutely love warmoth. What happens for some people is they might want different things. Such as nitro finishes, maybe a bone nut, or rolled finger boards? What started out as a finished body and neck ready for assembly ends up being a unfinished body and a unfinished neck without frets and a nut. But then you start getting into thousands of dollars worth of specialized tools; fret presses, polishing wheels, notched straight edges, straight edges, leveling beams, jigs, files and more files, output jack tools, tuner jigs, jigs for pickups, most test equipment. Who knows. If you really get into it. A home made cnc machine or pin router. Then you might get into working on acoustics and whole new set of tools. Warmoth is definitely a great place to start at the assembly level. And see if it is something you can do and are passionate about. Definitely going to end up with a great guitar worth playing.
@@warmoth Yes. For some O.C.D. guitar nerds. Starts out without warmoth parts than a few nut files. Hey wait a minute. That would mean you guys are guitar pushers. 😂
Hi Arron, nice video, as par usual. couple Item I feel you could add to the list is a good plug in style tuner to set the intonation. A clamp on style really can't cut it, I like to use a tuning pedal it is fast and very accurate. A countersink drill bit is like 5 bucks at home depot. A new roll of paper towels works great at a neck rest. (And if you need one, well it's right there.) A small 2x4 block of soft pine is great if you need to drill through to prevent the wood from blowing out. Solder flux is a must. A couple of Alligator electrical clips to hold wires together for soldering. Lastly, patience & planning.......so many time working too fast, not planning out how to fit it will ruin everything. Your going to build a guitar to enjoy for years or a lifetime, enjoy the processes of building so you will enjoy it, not regret that fowl up every time you see it.
All the countersink bits I have found are much rougher than the StewMac tool. They seem more appropriate for use on 2x4's that fine woodworking. The StewMac tool is very fine and sharp.
@@warmoth I know you mean , those cheap one are rougher , and made for wood, if buy smaller countersink bits made for cut metal cnc machine, it much sharper. I use small Rotary Tool Grinding Stone in cone shape, used like cone sandpaper. work better than countersink bits .
And the cool part is that if you don't have any of those tools, chances are someone you know already does, so you can easily borrow tools if you don't build guitars often. I loved building my Warmoth and would try if possible to do things myself, BUT certain things I would leave to the professionals like fret levelling, dressing, refretting etc, because if you're only doing one or two guitars, it would be much more cost effective than spending hundreds on specialist tools that you'll only use once or twice and end up cluttering your garage. But fortunately my Warmoth neck was perfect right out of the box, so I never needed to involve a guitar tech.
Hey Aaron! The chamfer bit is one I had missed a few years ago. I did a beautiful job doing a nitro finish on my Tele I purchased from you guys and I pre-drilled too but sadly I didn’t chamfer if and I put a hairline crack into the finish. It’s still there to this day heh…… Love all your products man 🤙
I'd love to see a guitar build with a blank body and paddle headstock. I really want to make my own body and headstock shapes but get a little worried about the extra work and tools needed.
Hi! I´m about to migrate flying by plane, I cant pay for take my guitar with me in the cabin.. Im thinking in disarm the neck and assemble it again at destiny... its only 4 screws. Any advice? Some people told me not to do it. Thank you
I've recently ordered my first Warmoth guitar part, a baritone neck ! (but not the last, I have several projects in mind) Would you recommend purchasing fret end dressing and z centered crowning files to do the frets fine tuning or is it overkill ?
Curious, do you have a full build video on the page? I've been thinking of doing some of this myself, but as you said, I'm a little nervous about doing it myself. I don't want to cause permanent damage to something.
Chamfer bits are for routers aren't they? If all you need it for is the purpose you described, then a standard countersink bit will do the job just as well for much cheaper. Sometimes they even come with a drill already.
All the countersink bits I have seen are way rougher than the StewMac tool....more geared for home construction level stuff than fine woodworking. The StewMac tool has very fine, sharp teeth in comparison.
Thanks for another great video! With small children, I'm paranoid about soldering in the house during the winter. Does anyone have experience with solderless terminals with guitar wiring?
The smoke from soldering contains no lead because soldering does not get the metal hot enough to vaporize the metal. The smoke is from the pine rosin flux cooking off. It's not toxic, but it can exacerbate existing lung conditions. The danger from lead while soldering is from physical contact. Wash your hands after soldering.
Can you provide a link for me? I would love to find a cheaper alternative, but whenever I Google it I just find heavy-duty bits, not the fine "precision" one like Stewmac sells.
@@warmoth Why is the company called a WarmMoth and the logo has a turtle? In the first seconds of the video it seemed like the prison was because of a T-shirt )))......
