USACG Vs Warmoth: Which Guitar Neck Is Better? [2023 Edition]

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If you’re curious about USACG vs Warmoth guitar necks and which is better for you and your situation, this is the post for you!

I’m no expert on this subject, but I’ve been a guitar player since 2003 and decided to do some research on these necks and share it here on the blog!

Let’s get to it.

DIY Guitars

Sometimes you may feel like standard production guitars are not for you. And, building a custom one is usually expensive. Also, making your own from scratch would likely be too complicated for most.

But, you can always buy separate parts that suit your needs and then put those parts together. It’s sort of like building a guitar from scratch, except with training wheels.

There are some pretty interesting guitar parts manufacturers. You can order necks, bodies, pickguards, and hardware. Squeeze in a set of pickups that you like, and you can have the guitar of your dreams with a little bit of elbow grease. All without breaking the bank.

USACG Vs Warmoth: Which Guitar Neck Is Better?

There are many parts to consider when constructing your own guitar. But in this article, I’ll be focusing on guitar necks from USA Custom Guitars and Warmoth.

USA Custom Guitars Necks

With USACG, you can get bodies, necks, and even different finishes. And you can order a full guitar made out of their parts.

They give you a variety of choices. You can get one or more necks with custom specs. Or you can buy a pre-made neck. They’re not the cheapest ones around. But they’re open about that.

There’s a total of three tonewoods for necks and three for fingerboards. Or, you can also have a maple neck with a maple fingerboard.

Most of their necks are for 25.5-inch scale lengths. You can also get 25 or 24.75 inches. All necks are designed with 22 frets in mind. As for bass guitar necks, they are all 34 inches and 20 or 21 frets.

Interestingly, the fret wire slots are designed with the fretboard radius in mind. That means that they’re not flat and you don’t get any space between the wire and the bottom of the slot.

You also get to choose seven different fret sizes and shape variants. You can also pay more for stainless steel or gold EVO frets.

Then you also have truss rod adjustment options, different inlays, compound radiuses, neck profiles, and more.

There are also six different headstock shapes. One of them is in 3+3 formation, four are 6-in-line, and one is for 12-string guitars. Plus, there are two different headstock shapes for basses.

What’s also awesome is that they offer compound radiuses and hybrid profiles. There are eight predetermined contour options. But you can combine different profiles, thickness options, and tapering. The only downside is that they don’t offer anything other than C profiles for 12-string, 25-inch-scale necks, and bass necks.

Although I don’t believe I’ve ever played one, online reviews of USACG necks have been positive. Their prices go from $210 to over $400. But most believe they are worth the price.

Warmoth Necks

Just like USACG, Warmoth also has an option to build completely customized necks. You can choose overall construction, binding, profiles, finishes, fret count, and more.

Now, their choice of tonewood is pretty vast. There are well over 20 different options in total for necks and fingerboards. There are also six different fret wire options. But what’s also interesting is that they offer to scallop.

As far as headstocks go, they have 23 different options for guitars and 17 for basses. Within these, you can also choose sort of a blank option. You get a larger chunk of wood instead of a headstock. And you can cut it by yourself. They call them Paddle Head Necks.

There’s also one that has a Gibson-like headstock. However, these are trademarked, so Warmoth can only do largely similar design but not the exact same of course.

What’s awesome is that you can have 21, 22, or 24 frets. You can also do compound radiuses and scale lengths from 24.75 inches up to baritone scales.

There’s such an abundance of options with Warmoth. But this also makes them expensive. Some necks can go way past the $500 mark. But if you’re building a custom DIY guitar, this price point may be worth it.

USACG Vs Warmoth: How Do They Compare?

Now, both USACG and Warmoth have changed over the years. There were periods when guitarists preferred one brand over the other. Warmoth and USACG seemed to swap constantly on the throne of the best DIY guitar parts.

However, now that they’re established, it seems that people usually prefer Warmoth these days. There are some valid reasons for it. But it usually comes down to Warmoth having more options. This is especially true about their numerous headstock designs. But having plenty of other options certainly helps as well.

 These additional options with Warmoth include both aesthetic and functional features. Sure, USACG gives you enough traits to make their necks feel great. But, Warmoth seems to step it up a level or two. You can do compound radiuses, custom profiles, scalloped frets, and even unusual binding options.

That said, they’re both seem to be close in quality. It just comes down to what you prefer. Warmoth currently has a better reputation, mostly for the variety of choices. But from my experience, there’s no reason to put one much ahead of the other from a quality standpoint.

But you can’t go wrong with either of these two. Just make sure to research all of their offered features and see which brand will work the best for your needs.  

USACG Vs Warmoth: Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you understand the difference between these guitar necks and which might be better for you.

As usual, feel free to let me know of any questions about this or other guitar-related subjects in the comments below!

And if you’re interested in reading more about how other guitar parts affect your instrument check out the following articles:

2 Responses

  1. Great review. I’ve got one of each. The Warmoth l’ve had for over 20+ years, the USA custom for 10, so things will have changed.
    Although the specs on each are quite different they are both superb necks and gorgeous to look at and play. Both extremely well manufactured.

    1. Thanks for the insight, Tony!

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