A Tale of Two Jazzmasters

[Verne Bunsen]

Having taken mine for a spin, dad is now a fan of the alternate wiring. Playing with the bridge pickup in the rhythm circuit through his Princeton with some dirt on it, he says, "Can we make mine do that?" Yes we can! Back to the soldering iron!  :headbang:

Schedules being schedules, it'll probably be a spell before we finish his. We'll both be out of town again in a few days. Something to look forward to on the return!

 

[Fat Pete]

Looking predictably superb Mr Bunsen. Love the big decal and the blocks. Interesting to hear your reactions to the wiring variation too - stored away for future reference.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks Pete! The wiring scheme is fantastic, I really like what I can do with it. The bridge pickup on the rhythm circuit with some dirt on it just cooks. I'll be posting some sound clips for sure.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Audio of the Red one!

Loving the alternate wiring, great sounds, can't say that enough. What do y'all think?

All sounds recorded with Helix. Amp model is identified in track description. Enjoy!

Bridge Pickup, Normal Circuit, Champ
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7zkclzkru1os80/TR-Bridge-Normal-Champ.mp3?dl=0

Bridge Pickup, Rhythm Circuit, Deluxe Reverb
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qt3zkhu5p7jfi1r/TR-Bridge-Dark-DR.mp3?dl=0

Bridge Pickup, Rhythm Circuit, Champ
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wymcm4nypslfaor/TR-Bridge-Dark-Champ.mp3?dl=0

Both Pickups, Normal Circuit, Deluxe Reverb
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o1nulvlugh6cwyb/TR-Both-Normal-DR.mp3?dl=0

Both Pickups, Rhythm Circuit, JC-120
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ud5wogl1ndgpgea/TR-Both-Dark-Jazz.mp3?dl=0

For the neck pickup, I played the same thing on both circuits for a nice comparison

Neck Pickup, Normal Circuit, Deluxe Reverb
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ebx22t78di18rob/TR-Neck-Normal-DR.mp3?dl=0

Neck Pickup, Rhythm Circuit, Deluxe Reverb
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zwzouz53pqdjzd3/TR-Neck-Dark-DR.mp3?dl=0

Edit: Seems something was screwy with one of the links, repaired. Maybe.

 

[Glimmer]

Hmm, hmm... that's mighty interesting. Those two bridge pickup / rhythm circuit samples are gosh dang cool! Seem to beef those pups up, and the tone definitely calls to mind Congo Powers-era Cramps. Gotta wonder why Fender didn't do this. I want to go back and listen to them all.

Many thanks, Verne.

 

[Axkoa]

I think you just influenced my first Warmoth build with that tone...That sound that is coming out I could totally imagine in a Stoner Rock album. I love it so much man...

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Gotta wonder why Fender didn't do this.

Indeed you do! I can only figure it's like the 3-Way switch lingering on the Strat for so long while guitarists were stuffing match sticks in their pickguards to get the in-between sounds, Leo had his idea of how it should be used and he stuck to his guns! Whatever the case, I dig it. As it stands, my Jazzmaster spends more time on the rhythm circuit than the normal one, which I think makes me somewhat of an oddity, haha!

I think you just influenced my first Warmoth build with that tone...That sound that is coming out I could totally imagine in a Stoner Rock album. I love it so much man...

Well, I can't imagine higher praise than that.  ccasion14:  Glad you dig the sounds!

 

[BigSteve22]

Whoa......That rhythm circuit sounds AMAZING!  :cool01:

Full bodied, but without the muddiness. I like......

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks Steve! The components are all standard Fender spec, my only deviation was the switch wiring. I'm loving this guitar's versatility, I just couldn't be happier with it. Glad to know you guys are digging it too!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

One handy thing about clean wiring is that it removes much of the headache of RE-wiring. Re-wired Pop's pickguard with the alternate scheme, as per his request. In my non-air-conditioned garage in sunny 117 degree Tucson, AZ, I barely needed the iron... Looking forward to hearing this beast!

 

[vetteman]

Verne - You do fine work, love the rhythm circuit sound.  Glad I could help even just a little bit with the knobs.  Congrats on a couple of fine instruments!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks Vetteman! It's the subtle things that make the difference, and toning down the brightness of those knobs really tied the aesthetics together. I didn't know there was anything needing to be fixed there, but it definitely looks better, in the "you don't notice it's there, but you'd notice if it wasn't" sort of way. I think we're all guilty of obsessing over aesthetics to some degree around here, I don't mind admitting it's a factor for me  :laughing7:

 

[Glimmer]

I think we're all guilty of obsessing over aesthetics to some degree around here, I don't mind admitting it's a factor for me  :laughing7:

I consider it a positive quality! :glasses10:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Pops has been having a hellacious time lately and has been beating himself up pretty good about not getting to work on this, so I'm going to go ahead and wrap it up for him so he can start playing it and stop stressing about it, haha! He doesn't know this yet. He might have a little rub as I know he's wanting to put the work in, but I think that will wear off when it's in his hands instead of on his plate.

This one took a lot more work to get the pickguard and pickup routes to coexist happily. The red one just needed a little off of the outside edge of the neck pickup route, but this one needed both outside edges to be worked a good bit. I actually got pictures this time.

I got the pickguard installed, got the strap buttons installed and thought I was on the downhill slide until I discovered that the pickup mounting screws that came with his Lollar pickups were made of cheese. Not like parmesan either, but like gouda. Two-for-two stripped out about halfway in, had to remove them with pliers. Decided at that point to bag it pending better hardware. I'm hoping that I can find something suitable at the hardware store tomorrow; if not maybe the local Guitar Center will have a set.

At any rate, she's coming along and looking good!

 

[Axkoa]

Those black pickup covers look amazing on a Jazzmasteer.

 

[BigSteve22]

I think we're all guilty of obsessing over aesthetics to some degree around here, I don't mind admitting it's a factor for me  :laughing7:

Well, just a little........... I've been Stuck-on-Stupid for the last 2 months working out how to get my vision to translate into wood, plastic, metal, and electronics. You seem to have whipped that problem pretty nicely!

Looking good there, Brother.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Glimmer]

Looking mighty nice! Love the combination of colors. I'm sure it's going to be a great player / looker.

Interesting, too, about the tight fit of the pup and guard routes, which was my experience as well – no wiggle room!

 

[rgand]

Darn nice job, there. I also like the black covers. That will be a beautiful one.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Those black pickup covers look amazing on a Jazzmasteer.

I'm inclined to agree! The black on the silver looks great to my eye, very "industrial" for lack of a better word. And it's a great fit on the Sea Foam Green!

Well, just a little........... I've been Stuck-on-Stupid for the last 2 months working out how to get my vision to translate into wood, plastic, metal, and electronics. You seem to have whipped that problem pretty nicely!

Looking good there, Brother.  :icon_thumright:

Thanks BigSteve! Whatever you're cooking up, I look forward to seeing it!

By the way, I dig your avatar. New album next month!!

Looking mighty nice! Love the combination of colors. I'm sure it's going to be a great player / looker.

Interesting, too, about the tight fit of the pup and guard routes, which was my experience as well – no wiggle room!

Thanks Glimmer! I'm loving the color scheme too. It's all dad's brainchild; I must admit I had my doubts initially about the silver pickguard but I really think it's just perfect. Can't imagine it with anything else, really.

At this point I've done 3 Warmoth offset builds: the LPB Mustang and these two Jazzmasters. All of them have required work on account of exceptionally tight routes. I didn't encounter that on the Rosewood Tele or the BK Strat. I'm planning a Jaguar build for next year and I wonder if it'll be the same? Just another thing to add to the list of stuff that makes offsets offsets?

Darn nice job, there. I also like the black covers. That will be a beautiful one.

Thanks! If I can get my hands on some appropriate screws for the pickups, I should be able to have it finished up in relatively short order. My dad and I are taking lessons together and I'm hoping to be able to get it to him before the next one, which is Monday.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Soooooooooo that was a bust. After much digging through hardware bins, I thought I had it with #4 x 1" sheet metal screws. However when I gave them a go the heads were too big to get past the top of the pickup cover. Specialty stuff, these pickup screws. Looks like I'll be placing an order........  :dontknow: