A Tale of Two Jazzmasters

[Verne Bunsen]

It was the best of times, it was.... Aw heck, who am I fooling? I'm working on two Jazzmasters with my dad; I'll just say "It's the best of times" and leave it at that. Back story: I've been talking about building this Jazzmaster for quite a while, many of you have graciously tolerated me blathering on about it. My dad was getting an earful too, enough so that he decided he was going to need one too... GAS is quite contagious, don'tcha know! So, without any further ado, meet the JMs:

This one will be a familiar sight for many of you, my Transparent Red Black Korina on Alder body and Ebony on Flame Maple neck with vintage tint gloss finish and pearloid block inlays. Now featuring the highly anticipated gold anodized Tone-Guard pickguard!

Next is my dad's, a wicked bad Seafoam Green finish on an Alder body and Rosewood on Birdseye Maple neck with matching Seafoam Green Headstock and Azurite Dot inlays. The lighting makes the pickguard look white, but that's not the case. It's a silver anodized pickguard from Tone-Guard. Hot damn!

Because I like to start with the awfulest part in any project, I'm tackling headstock decals right out of the gate. Mine is getting a "Sidewinder" decal courtesy of Rothko & Frost. (Sidewinder Guitars is an LLC I established under which I do all manner of guitar-centric things).

Dad's get's a Jazzmaster decal courtesy of a guy who does incredible work but explicitly asks not to be identified because lawyers. But it goes without saying that no attempt is being made to pass off my work as a genuine Fender guitar. It is understood between the builder (Party A) and the end user (Party B) that any future sale of the guitar in question will involve full disclosure of the guitars provenance.

 

[Glimmer]

They both look great! Can't wait to see how they evolve.

What pups are you two planning on using, and will you wire them traditionally?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

They both look great! Can't wait to see how they evolve.

What pups are you two planning on using, and will you wire them traditionally?

Good questions, both! My dad has a set of Lollar's for his, I'm going to wind a set for mine. I've got the bobbins built, just need to sit down and tackle the winding. They've got A5 magnets and I'll be winding them with 42AWG Plain Enamel wire.

As for the wiring, we're going two directions. Dad's is getting the traditional wiring: slider switch down uses the pickup toggle and the 1M volume and 1M tone; slider switch up defeats the toggle switch, defaults to the neck pickup and uses the 1M mini-volume and 50k mini-tone. I'm going to deviate a bit and wire mine such that the pickup selector will still function when the slider is up. I'm honestly not sure if I'll like it or not, but it's something I've been itching to try out. So, like, why not?

 

[Glimmer]

Sounds good, but I'm curious: with your wiring idea, what would the "rhythm circuit" do if you could still switch pups via the toggle – apply the 50k mini-tone to *either* pup accordingly?

Envious you're winding your own!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

...apply the 50k mini-tone to *either* pup accordingly?

Envious you're winding your own!

Exactly. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know here, but for the sake of laying ground work: The 50k tone pot is the reason that the rhythm circuit is darker/warmer; the fact that it defaults to the neck pickup and defeats the toggle switch is a bit of added functionality that lets you go from a bright bridge tone straight to a warm neck tone with minimum fumbling, much like you might do by setting the controls differently on a Gibson 2V/2T/Toggle type control configuration. This wiring change would just drop the toggle defeat and allow for normal pickup switching within the rhythm circuit. Whether there will be any tones in there that are worth sacrificing the straight-to-neck functionality (which is, admittedly, a significant sacrifice...) remains to be seen, but inquiring minds want to know..... And, if I'm not crazy about it, it's nothing me and the soldering iron can't rectify.

Winding pickups is always a treat for me. The more I do it, the more I'm able to actually predict what my recipe will sound like, and the more I can therefore craft a recipe that ends up sounding something like what I'm after. It's a rewarding thing. It's a surprisingly time consuming endeavor, but I figure there's certainly worse things a guy could do with his time!

 

[Glimmer]

Will you go with the trad caps as well (.033 uf "lead circuit," .022 uf "rhythm circuit")? IIRC the .022 lets some of the higher mids through, which also contributes to that (interesting, to my ears) sound. Would be curious to hear what that does to your bridge pup.

So, what's your pickup recipe for this guitar?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Yep, the standard .033/.022 caps. I'm with you as far as finding the tones of the rhythm circuit intriguing, I dig it. A lot of players really can't stand it, and you see these guitars with the switch taped (of all things!) so that you can't hit it, but to me you're missing half of what the guitar can do!

This will be my first set of JM pickups, so I'm square at the bottom of this learning curve. As such, I plan to stick pretty close to home, which is to say "vintage spec" (such as it is...). There is conflicting information regarding wire type, some say Heavy Formvar, others Plain Enamel. I'm opting for the Plain Enamel here because its thinner insulation will build the coil more slowly. Also, I'm out of Formvar  :laughing7: Spec is around 8500 turns, and I know that I want the bridge hotter than the neck, ideally somewhere between 5-7.5%. So my plan of attack is to start with the bridge pickup and wind 8500 turns on, then evaluate how the coil is filling the bobbin. Once I can assess that, I'll determine if I have room to go on and overwind the bridge (this would be my preference) or if it would be more practical to underwind the neck, or a little of both, to get where I want to be. It'll be educational!

 

[Glimmer]

Sounds pretty darn cool. :icon_thumright: Will be following along with interest.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Got the first couple of mist coats sprayed on the decals today; no lifting, crinkling or other awfulness. So that's a good thing. Have I ever mentioned that finishing headstock decals stresses me out?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I haven't had as much time to dedicate to this project as I'd have liked, and I'm fixing to head back out of town for a couple of weeks. I did finish spraying the clear over the headstock decals, so they'll get to cure while I'm gone and I can go about making them pretty when I get back. I got the pickguards assembled (not wired up just yet, but all the components fitted) so a better picture of the aesthetics is emerging. Dig!

During the fit-up, I discovered that the Sea Foam Green body is an extremely tight fit for the pickguard with the covers in place. Might have some work ahead of us there. The Transparent Red one fit comfortably.

 

[Logrinn]

That's a mighty fine combo!
:kewlpics:

 

[Glimmer]

During the fit-up, I discovered that the Sea Foam Green body is an extremely tight fit for the pickguard with the covers in place. Might have some work ahead of us there.

This was my experience as well. That said, it didn't require much work, just a bit of shaving/sanding of the guard at the neck pocket, and was actually helpful re installing the pickups – no wiggle room there.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That's a mighty fine combo!

Thanks! Seeing them like that makes it all the more saddening that they're not further along! Darned grown up responsibilities.....

This was my experience as well. That said, it didn't require much work, just a bit of shaving/sanding of the guard at the neck pocket, and was actually helpful re installing the pickups – no wiggle room there.

I thought I remembered something like that coming up. Particularly I remember Cagey mentioning that the offset bodies in general were notoriously troublesome when it comes to such things. I know that it was an uphill battle on the Mustang I built. Just obstacles; wouldn't be near as fun without the obstacles! Given that the pickguards in this case are aluminum, I'll probably work the wood to match the guard instead of the otherway. I'll fit the neck first to avoid any interference at the pocket, then work the pickup routes to allow a comfortable fit.

 

[Glimmer]

Sounds like a wise way to proceed. Oh, and as you've probably noticed, the bridge contacts the guard on the first-string side. I remember having to carefully push my guard under the edge of the bridge when fitting.

Looking beautiful!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

So I'm going to go a different direction on the pickips for now. Time is a precious commodity lately, so I'm having a set wound for me by Aaron at Rumplestiltskin Pickups. He does great work and, now that I'm committed to this new path, I'm quite excited to try them out. I leave town today; hopefully they'll be here when I get back and I can get right to it!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Well, here at Unofficial Warmoth, we share our thrilling victories as well as our agonizing defeats, right? Headstock decals, man. Headstock decals. I had changed my approach to finishing and sanding over the decals after encountering some difficulty with the Mustang build from a few months ago. I tested it all out on my headstock and it turned out fine, some imperfections but all within tolerance.

However when working on my dad's, I sanded through and damaged the decal. I don't know how I managed it, as everything was the same, but it happened.

I don't trust myself to sand the decal off without making things worse by getting into the green, so we're going to just roll with it. Dad didn't bat an eye at it, which was quite a kindness on his part. In fact he kind of talked me off the ledge as I was pretty deep into "wailing and gnashing of teeth" territory. It's a real bummer, I wish it didn't happen, I especially wish it didn't happen on his, but it did. I'm hoping that putting it out there with this post will provide a bit of catharsis.

Bigger picture, it has got me thinking about my experience with doing these builds. I do them because I really enjoy them. The headstock decals are the only part of the whole process that I don't enjoy. In fact I dread them. And this most recent data point has thrown a distinct dog leg into the curve defining my progress with them. Bottom line, they add weeks to my builds, they're a source of great stress, I keep cans of finish around just for them, I keep solvents and therefore solvent-soaked rags around just for them, I think I'm done with them now. The Strat I built recently around a Fender neck was a joy from start to finish as I didn't have to do a decal. The Fender one was already there. I still want the headstocks on my builds to be decorated, but I'm going to start trying some other options, like Mr. Pinter's embossed over-the-finish style decals. Perhaps something from metal that affixes with screws. A Mr. Yuk sticker. Anything but a waterslide decal at this point...

Ok, thus ends my pity party. The Jazzmasters must go on.

 

[Logrinn]

I understand your frustration, but you could always say it's "roadworn", and forget to mention the unintentional relic-ing.
I think it looks cool.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Hey, yeah, people pay extra for that sort of thing!  :toothy12:  Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Fat Pete]

I understand your frustration, but you could always say it's "roadworn", and forget to mention the unintentional relic-ing.
I think it looks cool.  :icon_thumright:

+1

Definitely looks cool as it is so try not to sweat it! Only issue I can see is that people are more likely to think it's a real Fender!

There certainly are alternative ways of 'branding' the headstock (including the literal option). I like a decal myself - and pay someone to do it for me where practical - but the raw neck thing doesn't make it easy. I've tried a couple of different approaches but they're definitely not traditional looking.

 

[dmraco]

I LOVE IT!!!!!