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Post by Rick Knight on Apr 28, 2024 9:15:29 GMT -5
I’ve bought several guitar and bass bodies from Warmoth over the years, always from the Showcase so I knew exactly what I was getting. Not surprisingly, Showcase inventory decreased significantly during COVID. For a while, it appeared to be increasing, but lately it seems to have gone in the other direction. I can think of some possible reasons for that, but am curious whether someone here might know if this is more than a temporary blip?
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 28, 2024 9:58:41 GMT -5
I've noticed the same thing. I was recently pondering getting a swamp ash Tele body because of diminishing supply of the wood. I called them up and talked with one of their reps and asked him if they were getting close to running out and discontinuing production of swamp ash bodies. Essentially he said they still have a pretty decent supply but acknowledged that eventually inventory would run down. It's not in their ordering template but if you want a build with that wood and want a light body you have to specify in the checkout and if I recall is a $40 upcharge.
As to the sudden drop of in stock inventory, I dunno. It seems to be across the board and also notice some exotics aren't even available anymore. Seems to me there's gotta be a point of saturation where building guitars wanes off. With the saturation of affordable guitars from overseas maybe it's impacting that niche market. I've noticed the Ebay offerings from places like MJT getting less and a lot of builds from pine. Also a lot of solid colors that probably point to multi piece bodies.
Something definitely seems up in the market.
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Post by Leftee on Apr 28, 2024 13:45:48 GMT -5
Warming blew out a lot of inventory at the end of the year. I bought two bodies and two necks at very nice prices.
Their in-stock inventory seems to ebb and flow.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Apr 28, 2024 17:34:14 GMT -5
Warming blew out a lot of inventory at the end of the year. I bought two bodies and two necks at very nice prices. I'm fluent in auto correct. 😀 |
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Post by Leftee on Apr 28, 2024 19:11:21 GMT -5
I’ll just leave that for posterity.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Apr 28, 2024 19:54:21 GMT -5
Orders rise and fall through the year, so when they're in a slump they build more for the "showcase"... it keeps work flowing through when orders are low, and when orders are big, it means they are selling stuff that is already made as well as custom orders. It helps even things out.
I don't have insights beyond that, or what decisions they may be making beyond that. One guess might be that Warmoth might be losing market share on fairly "standard" looking specs to things like Fender selling necks now, and a whole array of competitors, while their special features continue to sell strongly, and the showcase might not be moving along as easily as it did in years past. Just a guess.
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Post by LTB on Apr 28, 2024 22:46:43 GMT -5
I’ll just leave that for posterity. I got tired of correcting my sister's mistakes and gave up only to find I have that problem also. So with that being said "I'll stand corrected"  |
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Post by Rick Knight on Apr 29, 2024 7:59:27 GMT -5
Warming blew out a lot of inventory at the end of the year. Yes, there were some very good deals. I saw 3 bass bodies that interested me, but waited to think about it because I don't really need another bass. The next morning I decided that the deals were too good to pass up, but they were all gone. You snooze, you lose. |
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Apr 29, 2024 8:13:09 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't know Warmoth was still a thing. I built a guitar using their parts back in the early 00's, but haven't given them a thought since.
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Post by Leftee on Apr 29, 2024 8:15:53 GMT -5
Oh yeah! They’re still going strong. The pandemic was a bit hard on them, but they made it through.
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