Warmoth Necks

[Rokstar]

OK, all you Warmoth experts; which neck profile most closely matches the EBMM EVH\Axis neck shape? I know there is the wolfgang there, but I was never in love with the neck on my Wolf Special. I am also aware that there are schools of thought that say the EVH and Axis are different. I'm happy with ballpark... maybe that is the Wolfgang...?

[AT]

I'm not a Warmoth expert, but the EBMM neck came from a digital scan of one of Ed's favorite Kramer guitars (I believe it was the 5150). Ed liked the "broken in" feel. Whether or not that had the asymetrical shape is something I don't know. But when it comes to their work, I think the Warmoth "Wolfgang" shape is about as close as you're going to get to a 90s-on EVH neck.

[Berseker]

The Wolfgang profile is supposed to have the same asymetrical profile found on EBMM or Woflgang's.

[Dino5150]

Yep ... The neck profile on an AXIS and the EVH are slightly different.
I agree with Andrew ... I believe the closest Warmoth offers is the Wolfgang profile.


I'm not sure exactly what type of neck you're looking for (EBMM, Strat, or whatever) but you may also want to check with www.frankenstraat.com

Good luck.

[cokemach1]

In 2002 (yeah, quite a while ago), I got a neck from Warmoth for a Strat I did. I had them shape the back of the neck like their version of the Wolfgang (because I like the way the Wolf Special I have plays). On the neck they sent me, it feels a bit "bulkier", almost a bit more hemispherical than the Wolf Special I have. Is there a difference between a standard Wolf and a Wolf Special in regards to this?

I had them use a 12" radius set up for the frets. I'm not sure what the Wolf is as far as radius goes. But if it's different than 12", that might be the difference in feel (???).

Overall I'm very happy with what they sent me. I've played it ever since.

As long as the standard and special are the same, I'd agree with the pros above. I don't think you can go wrong with Warmoth. When I ordered mine, they were great to talk to as well. Was able to ask them a lot of questions. Hopefully that hasn't changed.

I'm no big expert, just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

[ian]

The Wolfgang and Wolfgang special radius is 15"

[AT]

The Wolfgang and Wolfgang special radius is 15"

Yup, it is--very "flat."

The actual intended Wolfgang neck profile is pretty meaty, but a few of my Wolfs have noticeably thinner necks.

[Rokstar]

In 2002 (yeah, quite a while ago), I got a neck from Warmoth for a Strat I did. I had them shape the back of the neck like their version of the Wolfgang (because I like the way the Wolf Special I have plays). On the neck they sent me, it feels a bit "bulkier", almost a bit more hemispherical than the Wolf Special I have. Is there a difference between a standard Wolf and a Wolf Special in regards to this?

I had them use a 12" radius set up for the frets. I'm not sure what the Wolf is as far as radius goes. But if it's different than 12", that might be the difference in feel (???).

Overall I'm very happy with what they sent me. I've played it ever since.

As long as the standard and special are the same, I'd agree with the pros above. I don't think you can go wrong with Warmoth. When I ordered mine, they were great to talk to as well. Was able to ask them a lot of questions. Hopefully that hasn't changed.

I'm no big expert, just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

I know what you're saying about Hemispherical. I think the EBMM are more round and egg shaped and I think the 10 radius helps this feel too!
Thanks for the input all!!!

[pancho]

I'm not a Warmoth expert, but the EBMM neck came from a digital scan of one of Ed's favorite Kramer guitars (I believe it was the 5150). Ed liked the "broken in" feel. Whether or not that had the asymetrical shape is something I don't know. But when it comes to their work, I think the Warmoth "Wolfgang" shape is about as close as you're going to get to a 90s-on EVH neck.

Now this is something I've found very interesting Andrew with the last interview with Ed over his frankenstein replica here. Tell me if you noticed this as well.... In an interview with guitar magazine in 91 over his EBMM I saw that same things said then as you did,, about it being copied off his guitar he had been playin for years, AS WELL AS the pick up being copied off the guitar he played for years.. And Stever Blutcher from Dimarzio said that when thy took out the pick up of that guitar ( never once was it actually mentioned it was the 5150 mind you,, I think we.. including myself all these years... just thought it was the 5150 that they neck and pick up were modeled after) He stated that is was a broken pick up.. it should not have worked cause it wouldnt read.. now fast forward 16 years and the recent interview the guy who did the replica said the same thing about the pick up being broken and shouldnt have worked... So... was the EBMM really after 5150 or frankie?? I've been re reading those old mags lately to actually see if 5150 was ever mentioned and indeed it isn't.. so if you have more detailed info guys let me know cause I'm starting to think that the pick ups and neck of the EBMM may have indeed been frankie...

[LypsLynch55]

Now this is something I've found very interesting Andrew with the last interview with Ed over his frankenstein replica here. Tell me if you noticed this as well.... In an interview with guitar magazine in 91 over his EBMM I saw that same things said then as you did,, about it being copied off his guitar he had been playin for years, AS WELL AS the pick up being copied off the guitar he played for years.. And Stever Blutcher from Dimarzio said that when thy took out the pick up of that guitar ( never once was it actually mentioned it was the 5150 mind you,, I think we.. including myself all these years... just thought it was the 5150 that they neck and pick up were modeled after) He stated that is was a broken pick up.. it should not have worked cause it wouldnt read.. now fast forward 16 years and the recent interview the guy who did the replica said the same thing about the pick up being broken and shouldnt have worked... So... was the EBMM really after 5150 or frankie?? I've been re reading those old mags lately to actually see if 5150 was ever mentioned and indeed it isn't.. so if you have more detailed info guys let me know cause I'm starting to think that the pick ups and neck of the EBMM may have indeed been frankie...

1) Maybe try getting a EBMM neck off ebay or try even maybe an OLP version
2) The pickup "broken" thing may be an agreement between Ed and the people who made the guitars to keep mum about what the specs of the pickup are to keep us in the dark or to keep other pickup makers (a la S/D) from modeling a pickup after Ed's

Just pure speculation on my part, FWIW.

[Majestic]

Great posts & info about the necks. I personally couldn't deal with the radius and frets on my Axis Super Sport anymore, so I had it re-radiused to 12" and refretted with Dunlop 6105s (NOT Warmoth's 6105s, which are shorter)....the so-called "Wolfgang frets". My legato, bends, and tapping have improved to where it is when my play my old 80's Charvel. I can also practice longer before experiencing fatigue.

Regarding the neck on the EBMM: what a weird thing it is. The guy called me to see if I'd lend him my Gunstock oil so he could treat it while the neck was disconnected from the body (think: heart-attack) and the original frets were removed. Only THEN could I TRULY perceive the actual "wear marks" that are peppered throughout the neck. There is some weirdness going on under the higher strings from maybe the 7th fret up to 15th.....it's much more than just a "little wear" on the backside of the neck near the lower frets. It's more than that. It truly is an oddity. And now that the frets are on again, and it's restrung, I can't identify it anymore, but it was plain as day that one night. Wow.

Regarding the EBMM's pickups: They didn't wind up using the Frankie pickups at all. Supposedly you can see on one of the prototypes that the cavities are set to hold Seymour Duncans, which have square-shaped feet where the pickup screws-in.

Anyway, the final two pickups Eddie had narrowed his choices down to during development were a stock Tone Zone, and a Tone Zone with identical coil windings, as opposed to the stock pickup, which has a relatively small mismatch. Ed couldn't make up his mind, Lukather got annoyed with him, and said "just go with THAT one", and so Ed settled on the "symmetrically wound" Tone Zone, for lack of a better name. It's super overwound, at roughly 17k. By comparison, ONE of its 2 coils measure as much DC resistance as a vintage PAF.

The story with Duncan, and I'll do my best to repeat this story correctly, but basically Eddie (via EBMM) wanted Duncan to make what we NOW call the '78 pickup and sell it to EBMM at a price point whereby Seymour could barely afford the materials for the pickups, let alone produce them and make a profit. Anyway, Eddie went in a totally different direction tonally, and there you have it.

The '78 is a Custom Shop pickup that duplicates the work Seymour did for Eddie a couple decades ago, when he overwound just ONE of the two coils of Eddie's PAF.

Interestingly enough, when it came time to produce a reliced pickup for the Frankie replica, Eddie went to Seymour Duncan. They have pictures of his visit and stories about having sandwhiches together, taking smoke breaks, Eddie playing unbelievably loud, etc. over at the Duncan forums.

Although Duncan and Evan Skopp are being somewhat tight-lipped about the pickup's actual specs, it basically seems to be an artifically aged/reliced Duncan '78. He also makes & ages the pickup selector switch and wires that are in between the neck & bridge pickups as well. Duncan makes the neck pickup, which supposedly WORKS if you wire it correctly, etc.

If you want the accurate version of the story, do a search at the Duncan forums. It's buried in there somewhere.