Conference napalm::guitar

    
    	Note 411.2 has Stewart McDonald's adress, so I'll just give
    my $00.2 about services.
    
    I ordered an Ash strat body, and various routing templates, wiring
    kits, etc.  I think the final tally came to about $117.00 - Not
    bad, when you consider that a Strat body alone in a store, will
    run you about $160.00... So anyhow, their prices are *real* attractive,
    and like it says in 411.2, they do stock a lot.  One drawback is,
    there is a $30.00 minimum, and so if you just want to order, say,
    a jackplate for $3.50, you're stuck, and you have to go pay $10.00
    for it at a retail store.  So that's sorta a pain.
    
    Delivery - They ship as soon the same day they get your invoice, 
    which I did not know, until my order showed up at my home, something 
    like 6 days after I mailed it.  This was a very pleasant surprise.
           
    The quality of the received materials was superb, I needed only
    to sand the body once more as a Final sand-down, and the wood was
    of good quality, no knots, scrapes, or imperfections; the integrity
    of the electronic material was great, and the templates were good
    and sturdy, and have since sold them to MacDuff's music.
    
    All in all, I'm very happy/impressed with their services, and have
    never really had the need to call them.  So that's that.  I Highly
    Recommend them.
    
    						/craig.
    
    
                                                         

	Thanks, Craig! That's the kind of information I'm looking for. I've
	got Stewart-MacDonald's catalog right here on my desk. Their prices
	look decent, but it's impossible to tell from a black and white
	catalog if they are reputable and sell high quality stuff.

	As far as mail order catalogs go, I've got the Stewart-MacDonald now
	and I'm waiting for catalogs from:

			Allparts
			Warmouth
			Schecter
			Mity-Mite
			Luthiers Mercantile
			Rainbow Music
			NSM Discount
			Victor Litz Music Center
			German Village Music

	I'll post my own experiences with the companies I end up dealing
	with. In the mean time, if anyone has any information that would
	keep me from getting burned, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks,

	Larry

    I have bought from Warmoth in the past, and in my opinion, their products
    are excellent quality. I bought a replacement strat neck and a
    pickguard, both built exactly to my specifications. The neck was fine 
    sanded, ready for finishing. I've called them with silly questions and 
    they've been very pleasant to deal with. 
    
    Warmoth offers a full line of bodies and necks in a variety of woods.
    You are not limited to their selection of body styles, and can design
    your own. They also sell the little extras like pots, tremelos,
    hardware etc. 

    Total shipping time was about 3 weeks.
    
    They are a little on the expensive side, but I think it's worth
    it. They occasionally run specials where you can save up to 33%
    on orders over $200, etc, so you may want to call them to see if
    they're running anything at the moment.

    Dan
    

    Can you post an address for Warmouth please?
    
    thanks
    
    dbII

    Warmoth Guitar Products, Inc.
    11610 80th Ave E
    Puyallup, WA 98373
    206-845-0403

    Actually, it would be very nice if you could post the address (and
    catalog fee) of all those places mentioned.  There are a few which
    I'm not familiar with and I don't currently have catalogs from any of
    them.        
    
    Thanks,
    Greg

	Ok, here are all the companies I've ordered catalogs from:

	    Allparts			Catalog is free, call or write and ask
	    P.O. Box 1318		for it.
	    Katy, TX 77492
	    (713)392-6951
	
	    Warmouth			You can call or write to get free
	    11610 80th Ave. E.		information, but a full catalog costs
	    Puyallup, WA 98373		$2.00.
	    (206)845-0403

	    Luthiers Mercantile		Full catalog costs $5.40 ($3.00 for
	    P.O. Box 774		catalog, $2.40 for 1st class postage).
	    412 Moore Lane
	    Heraldsburg, CA 95448
	    (707)433-1823
	
	    Rainbow Music		Call or write for free catalog.
	    Route 9
	    Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
	    (914)452-1900

	    NSM Discount		Call or write for free catalog.
	    136 Monroe St.
	    Lynn, MA 01901
	    (617)592-9496

	    Victor Litz Music Center	Call or write for free catalog.
	    305 North Frederick Ave.
	    Gaithersburg, MD 20877
	    (301)948-7478

	    German Village Music	Catalog costs $2.00.
	    350 S. Grant
	    Columbus, OH 43215
	    (614)228-8467

	I sent out requests for catalogs to Schecter and Mighty-Mite to 
	addresses listed in the book "Guitar Gear". "Guitar Gear", for those
	of you that don't know, is a compilation of articles published in
	Guitar Player magazine between 1973 and 1983. Big mistake!

	I did some additional research on Schecter and Mighty-Mite to see if
	the adresses published in the book were correct. I called Schecter at
	the number listed in their ad in Guitar World. The guy that answered
	the phone said "Hello, Groove Tube"! It turns out, or so he told me,
	that Schecter closed it's doors a while ago. The name Schecter was
	purchased, and they still produce whole guitars but no longer sell
	individual parts. Aspen & Associates now owns the Schecter name and
	is also the parent company of:

		Groove Tube
		GT Electronics
		Fathead
		and maybe more

	I couldn't find any current ads for Mighty-Mite, so I called directory
	assistance. They have no listing for Mighty-Mite at the address in 
	"Guitar Gear".

Larry

	The guy at Aspen & Associates told me who bought the Schecter
	parts (replacement bridges, hardware, etc. for Gibson, Fender,
	and others) when they closed up. It's Craig's Music in Weatherford,
	Texas. The phone number is (817)599-8021 and ask to talk to Craig
	Swansea, the owner (he might be the only one who works there, he
	answered the phone).

	Craig told me he bought the parts a year ago, but hasn't got around
	to cataloging what he's got. If you have a specific request, call him
	and he'll look around.

Larry

    Larry, 
    
    Thank you very much!  I'm definately going to get some catalogs.
    
    Greg

    Just my personal opinion, but I'd favor Steward Macdonalds over Warmoth
    any time.  I ordered a catalog from Warmoth last September, a month or so
    later, I called them & they said they were in the middle of printing a
    new on - please be patient.  As December rolled around I called them
    again - this time they had no record of receiving my check, so I sent
    them another.  In January I called again, whoever I spoke to still had
    no record, but said he'd send one out immediately.  The catalog, by
    then long since forgotten, showed up in April.  In the meantime, I had
    called Stewart Macdonalds - no charge, no problem, I called on a monday
    & It came that Saturday.  I placed my first order the following
    Thursday afternoon, and it arrived on Tuesday.  A week ago I placed a
    second order with Steward Macdonald, as well as one with Warmoth (for
    some items that Steward Macdonald didn't carry).  Macdonald's order
    arrived today - who knows when the other will show up.  My general
    impression is that Warmoth is overpriced, and their service leaves much
    to be desired.
    						joe

	I've visited the Warmoth Facility & It was not what I expected.
	It's a house in a suburb near Tacoma Washington. The living room
	was the showroom, the Garage was the Shipping department (it's
	an attached 1 car garage), the Dining room had an IBM PC on a desk
	and tons of paper lying about, with the father of the business owner
	working the PC. The fellow that runs it showed me around. It just
	goes to show that you can work a real business out of your own
	home. Everyone in the family works there & the high prices relate
	as much to advertising costs in rags (like Guitar Player).

	I did get to see some of the shop area (the Basement) & the array
	of handmade specialized machines (just a brief look however).

	I'll have to say that they are over priced also, considering
	Stewart McDonalds, however they were very busy (I was on
	a business trip in Seattle at the time & I dropped in to see
	this place before catching a plane back to Colorado Springs).
	Evedently, they do a lot of custom work & this equates to big
	bucks (he would make anything that you wanted). That may be why
	they don't worry about the lower $$ items.

								Jens

   re:  Evedently, they do a lot of custom work & this equates to big
	bucks (he would make anything that you wanted). That may be why
	they don't worry about the lower $$ items.

I called them about a year ago for a custom order, a neck through 
body tele thinline:

 "yeah we can do that, but we're not interested, try Chandler"

forget it boys you lost me as a customer...

dbii