Guitar Necks

Baby, Don’t Fear The Truss Rod

Checking for proper neck relief (or neck “bow”) is a fundamental part of setting up a guitar. When necessary, relief can be adjusted using the guitar’s truss rod. However, the thought of adjusting a truss rod can be a bit intimidating to those who have never done it. If you are a first-timer, take heart: … Read moreBaby, Don’t Fear The Truss Rod

Your Strat® Tremolo is a Mafia Boss

Your Strat®-style tremolo bar is one shifty character. It can wreak havoc on your guitar’s tuning, without ever getting its own hands dirty. It accomplishes this by recruiting others to do its dirty-work, while it sits quietly in the background, pulling the strings. It’s like the don of a large crime syndicate, and to keep your … Read moreYour Strat® Tremolo is a Mafia Boss

How to Fix a Neck-Heavy Guitar or Bass

Any player who has had the opportunity to try a variety of instruments has almost certainly experienced at least one neck heavy guitar or bass. They are easy to spot: any time you let go of the neck the headstock rotates towards the ground, spinning the entire axe like a giant compass needle pointing to the … Read moreHow to Fix a Neck-Heavy Guitar or Bass

History of the Reverse Headstock

Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush flipped their right-handed guitars over and played them lefty. Steve Miller flipped a lefty over and played it righty. They all certainly helped to popularize the look of the upside down headstock, but none played a true “reverse headstock”, with the orientation of the headstock intentionally mismatched to the body. So who was the first player to do it? And which guitar company was the first to offer it as original spec?

Read moreHistory of the Reverse Headstock

Asymmetrical Neck Profiles

Neck Profile

It was during the 80’s and 90’s that the idea of “signature model” guitars become popular. About that same time the advent of digital CNC technology made it possible to perfectly duplicate the dimensions of any guitar neck. As a result guitar manufacturers hoping to create highly accurate copies began measuring the dimensions of famous player’s favorite necks. What became immediately clear was that on many of these necks the thickest dimension was not in the center.

Read moreAsymmetrical Neck Profiles

Become Converted

Have you ever wanted a guitar that looked like a Fender®, but played like a Gibson®? Have you ever wanted to experiment with the Baritone scale length, but didn’t want to invest in a whole new instrument? If so, then you are just the kind of player Warmoth Conversion Necks were invented for. These ingenious necks make it easy to convert your existing 25-1/2″ scale guitar to either baritone or Gibson® scale length.

Read moreBecome Converted

Roasted Maple Necks…Yum!

Maple has long been a popular wood among instrument builders. It is particularly well-suited for guitar and bass necks because of its strength and bright tone. Roasted Maple (also known as Baked, Caramelized, or Torrified Maple) is Maple that has been heat-treated in a specialized vacuum oven. This roasting process removes sugars, moisture, and other impurities. “Roasting” … Read moreRoasted Maple Necks…Yum!

The Snakehead – The Modern Telecaster’s® Earliest Ancestor

In 1949 Leo Fender completed work on a prototype guitar, a fairly spartan affair with a simple headstock and control layout. Not long after, he began field-testing it by taking it to venues and lending it to professional guitarists. Leo listened to their criticisms, and made several changes based on their feedback. The most notable change was the addition … Read moreThe Snakehead – The Modern Telecaster’s® Earliest Ancestor