[TI4-1009]

I was just playing arond with the body builder and neck builder at Warmoth and they say they used to have cocobolo but no longer due to allergic reactions there. I know they still had it at some point last year, so this must be new. That makes the WGD option a little less attractive.

[Rusty the Scoob]

It seems like it comes and goes. They're pretty helpful if you call them. I'll vouch for it... that sawdust definitely itches!

Also - the tops they use are VERY thin, really far too thin to have a negligible effect on tone. A WGD will never be a complete clone for Tiger or Rosebud looks-wise anyway... some other cool wood isn't the worst thing ever.

[mijknahs]

Make the body solid rosewood and the neck maple. That would be pretty close.

[gr8fullfred]

its a bolt on it will never be close

[mijknahs]

its a bolt on it will never be close

A bolt on is really not that far from a set neck if it's a good tight joint.

[tcsned]

its a bolt on it will never be close

A bolt on is really not that far from a set neck if it's a good tight joint.

You're right Jim. If there's contact all the way around there's really not a significant difference. There's more difference between either a set neck or bolt neck and a neck thru. There's other things that make more of a difference.

Warmoth necks usually fit real snug of their own bodies.

[drewfx]

You still see it in the Unique Choice tops, so it's available even if it isn't a standard option.

[Scarlet]

Make the body solid rosewood and the neck maple. That would be pretty close.

I don't understand - why a solid Rosewood body for a Jerry type guitar?
I thought the core of Jerry's guitar bodies were mostly made from big slabs of bright sounding woods (Tiger & Rosebud both Western Maple for example). Rosewood would seem to be the opposite of that.
On Warmoth's site it says this about rosewood bodies: "You can expect big warm tones from rosewood with smooth high end roll off",
and this about western maple: "It has bright tone with good bite and attack, but is not brittle like the harder woods can be."

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/bodies/op ... tions.aspx

[mijknahs]

Not sure how much the core wood affects the tone as opposed to the top but Jerry's Tiger had at least as much cocobolo as maple if not more (if you were to combine the top and back). My custom guitar has a 1/2" cocobolo top and 1/2" back with a maple core. It's probably equal parts maple and cocobolo. I'm thinking the top and back slabs are doing more to the tone than the core (just like a maple top brightens up a guitar) but it would be ideal to have equal parts but I doubt Warmouth can do that. Also, cocobolo is a type of rosewood. You will get a lot of brightness and attack from a good maple neck (combined with any kind of body wood). What's missing from most people's tone is the deep focused low mids.

[Jon S.]

I sometimes wonder if when folks are expressing views so adamantly they have ever actually owned and compared both guitar types personally. In this instance, I do and have.

The first guitar is a hand-built set neck Philtone J-caster with cocobolo top and back, the second a Warmoth J-caster bolt-on with a Malagasy rosewood top. Both guitars have a UGB, OBEL, brass nut, brass bridge, brass stoptail, middle Dimarzio Super 2, and other commonalities as well as differences. Do they sound identical? No. Could you record the difference? Maybe. Could you hear it at a gig? Perhaps if your hearing is more acute than mine.

Some people agonize over that last 5%. Others are satisfied with and enjoy the 95%. This is not a moral judgment, just an observation (there are things in life where the last 5% is important to me, too, though not here). If you, like me, are in the latter category, I predict you'll be happy with a Warmoth J-caster if that's what your budget allows for but you'll have to keep an open mind and place feel and tone over cosmetics and expectations.