Allparts Jazzmaster Wiring Kit
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reluctant-builder
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I think there's a considerable mark-up on parts, in that kit. I looked at it, too, when making my Jazzy and I passed on it.
I bought three spools of 22 AWG wire from Radio Shack for something like seven bucks. Yeah, it's not "vintage" cloth-covered wire but, pfft. Got the roller pots from Warmoth, as well as the mounting bracket, roller knobs and main pup toggle switch.
I got at least one of my main circuit pots from Darren Riley, a Fender pot with a linear taper, the other was either a Stew-Mac buy (bought a bunch of stuff from them, to justify the $9 shipping, like copper tape, a bunch of switches (including the rhythm circuit switch) I wanted, etc.) or somewhere else that made me feel good about my bottom-line, probably Guitar Parts Resource.
In sum, I am a rather cheap, miserly sort of cat, and I know I came out under 70 bucks for all of the things I needed to wire my JM, by sourcing the parts from elsewhere than a kit.
I bought three spools of 22 AWG wire from Radio Shack for something like seven bucks. Yeah, it's not "vintage" cloth-covered wire but, pfft. Got the roller pots from Warmoth, as well as the mounting bracket, roller knobs and main pup toggle switch.
I got at least one of my main circuit pots from Darren Riley, a Fender pot with a linear taper, the other was either a Stew-Mac buy (bought a bunch of stuff from them, to justify the $9 shipping, like copper tape, a bunch of switches (including the rhythm circuit switch) I wanted, etc.) or somewhere else that made me feel good about my bottom-line, probably Guitar Parts Resource.
In sum, I am a rather cheap, miserly sort of cat, and I know I came out under 70 bucks for all of the things I needed to wire my JM, by sourcing the parts from elsewhere than a kit.
reluctant-builder
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You bet. When I get home, tonight, I'll see if I can dredge up the spreadsheet I made, tabulating the cost of my build (and the source of the parts), and I'll share the relevant bits with you, if -- in fact -- the price advantage I'm recalling is real and not imagined. :icon_biggrin:
TroubledTreble
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Does the kit come with pickguard? I have noticed on several wiring diagrams for JMs that it assumes the pickguard is shielded and does not note it. I have talked to quite a few people trying to figure out what was wrong with thier pickups and it has always been an issue with the pickguard not being shielded therefore not carrying the ground and completing the circuit.
reluctant-builder
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OK, so it looks -- in my case -- like it's kind of a wash. My motive to buy the stuff myself, as opposed to the kit, was because I planned to (and did) use the greater amount of wire (that I obtained on my own) for other projects.
The Jazzmaster specific parts are below, as follows:
Slide Switch On-On: $6
Roller pot knobs (2): $12
Toggle: $12
1-Meg Linear roller pot: $4.50
50k Linear roller pot: $4.50
Roller pot mounting bracket: $10
Jack: $3
1-Meg pot (2): $10
Which comes to $62.
The wire cost me $7 for three spools, totaling 75-feet of wire.
That brings the grand total to $69. I'm excluding shipping (since I bought a lot of the parts from Warmoth at the same point I purchased my body and neck and, well, because the orders from Darren Riley and Stew-Mac included components for other projects).
The All-Parts kit provides you with seven feet of wire, total. Enough for your guitar, most likely, but with nothing useful to spare.
So, like I said, it seems to be a wash. They're saying all the components would cost $87 and that's simply untrue, but sourcing the parts yourself will cost you the same $70, except you'll get whichever make/model of components you chose, more wire if you want it, etc. etc.
Also, I recommend copper tape for the back of the pickguard. It made a big difference with shielding, for me. I didn't bother to shield the cavity, just the guard. Made grounding the whole thing very easy. It ain't cheap, but it provides enough for a bunch of builds.
The Jazzmaster specific parts are below, as follows:
Slide Switch On-On: $6
Roller pot knobs (2): $12
Toggle: $12
1-Meg Linear roller pot: $4.50
50k Linear roller pot: $4.50
Roller pot mounting bracket: $10
Jack: $3
1-Meg pot (2): $10
Which comes to $62.
The wire cost me $7 for three spools, totaling 75-feet of wire.
That brings the grand total to $69. I'm excluding shipping (since I bought a lot of the parts from Warmoth at the same point I purchased my body and neck and, well, because the orders from Darren Riley and Stew-Mac included components for other projects).
The All-Parts kit provides you with seven feet of wire, total. Enough for your guitar, most likely, but with nothing useful to spare.
So, like I said, it seems to be a wash. They're saying all the components would cost $87 and that's simply untrue, but sourcing the parts yourself will cost you the same $70, except you'll get whichever make/model of components you chose, more wire if you want it, etc. etc.
Also, I recommend copper tape for the back of the pickguard. It made a big difference with shielding, for me. I didn't bother to shield the cavity, just the guard. Made grounding the whole thing very easy. It ain't cheap, but it provides enough for a bunch of builds.
reluctant-builder
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TroubledTreble said:
Kit doesn't come with a pickguard, which is just as well since Fender-style Jazzmaster guards simply don't work with Warmoth Jazzmaster bodies. It's the bridge holes. They don't line up.
But Ken is right about the shielding and how it makes completing the circuit a snap, since -- traditionally -- the jack is mounted to the pickguard, you can run a strip of copper tape from it, over the pot holes, etc, linking a lot of what you'd otherwise need solder and extra wire to accomplish.
Every guitar tech I encountered talked about wiring a Jazzmaster like it was some kind of loathsome Rocket Science, but it took me about an hour and my guitar's been operable -- with minimal hum from each individual pup and none when both are selected -- for a year, now.
Don't get me wrong, my build was harrowing (my first and only to this date), but I'm glad I did it and everything turned out great, in the end. Here's the thread: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17778.0
Learn from my mistakes, Grasshopper. :icon_biggrin:
Cagey
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I'm in the process of wiring up a Jaguar right now, and I gotta say if I don't see another one of these bloody things again for another 50 years it'll be too soon. What a nightmare! I know now why Fender called them "premium" guitars. It wasn't because there was anything special about them; it was because it probably took them weeks of concerted effort by a number of specialized and incredibly patient people to turn one out, so they had to charge a premium price. Nothing fits, nothing lays right, nothing is convenient, everything requires modification, you can't shield it effectively because the wiring is all over the place, on and on.
A challenge, it is.
On the plus side, there aren't a helluva lot of them out there (surprise!) so you end up with a unique fiddle.
A challenge, it is.
On the plus side, there aren't a helluva lot of them out there (surprise!) so you end up with a unique fiddle.
reluctant-builder
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I think the Jaguar is a little worse due to those three switches on the lower bout, instead of a pup toggle. Still, they look really cool.
The guitarist in the band that opened up for my band on Saturday had a Jaguar. White with a red pearloid pickguard. It looked and sounded great.
I'd love to have one ... it's a shame the only one there is for me is that Kurt Cobain model, which I don't want. Warmoth won't offer it left-handed.
The guitarist in the band that opened up for my band on Saturday had a Jaguar. White with a red pearloid pickguard. It looked and sounded great.
I'd love to have one ... it's a shame the only one there is for me is that Kurt Cobain model, which I don't want. Warmoth won't offer it left-handed.
Cagey
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The lower switches aren't as much a problem as the jigsaw puzzle that is the whole top. Nothing fits, and nothing lays out. Everything is a pain in the shorts to get at. I just got a new router yesterday, and it's going to see its first duty chewing on this thing to make it right. I'm going to have some real criticisms to send Warmoth including 8x10 color glossies with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one describing why somebody needs to take a closer look at how they route these bodies. I suspect I'm not going to be the first one to bitch, so maybe the next guy won't have as much trouble.
The Jazzmaster body route and design is much better done. It uses channels for the wiring rather than holes an ant would have trouble navigating, and it uses a one-piece pickguard instead of the jigsaw puzzle approach of the Jaguar, so it's a lot easier to wire.
The Jazzmaster body route and design is much better done. It uses channels for the wiring rather than holes an ant would have trouble navigating, and it uses a one-piece pickguard instead of the jigsaw puzzle approach of the Jaguar, so it's a lot easier to wire.
Cagey
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Hehe! I'm not sure I'd go the duct tape route, but I can certainly understand why somebody might.
It's funny. I don't know if he stayed alive long enough to take too much advantage of the money Nirvana made, assuming there was any, but you'd think he could've afforded the $100 or so it might have cost to modify that guitar so it didn't piss him off.
It's funny. I don't know if he stayed alive long enough to take too much advantage of the money Nirvana made, assuming there was any, but you'd think he could've afforded the $100 or so it might have cost to modify that guitar so it didn't piss him off.
reluctant-builder
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Leumasd said:
Hey, thanks! :icon_smile:
I'm going to love seeing another JM get put together. Cagey may be right about how convoluted they are, but they might just be my favorite body shape and I love the sounds they make, even with the bowl of spaghetti that is the wiring scheme.
reluctant-builder
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What I think makes sense to do, now that I've wired one, is to take some shrink tubing and bind together the wires that run the same course, for the length of those courses.
It won't do anything toward "shielding" your guitar, but it will make its guts a lot cleaner and more manageable.
It figures, in all of this talk about the Jazzmaster, that I appear to have an issue where my signal is grounding out at an inappropriate point. I'm assuming its the leads, or even the casing, of one or the other capacitors I used (Russian New Old Stock Paper-in-Oil caps), touching the back of a pot, or maybe even the copper tape on the pickguard. Not going to know until I open her up.
If I've got the patience for it, I may do the shrink tubing thing, myself.
It won't do anything toward "shielding" your guitar, but it will make its guts a lot cleaner and more manageable.
It figures, in all of this talk about the Jazzmaster, that I appear to have an issue where my signal is grounding out at an inappropriate point. I'm assuming its the leads, or even the casing, of one or the other capacitors I used (Russian New Old Stock Paper-in-Oil caps), touching the back of a pot, or maybe even the copper tape on the pickguard. Not going to know until I open her up.
If I've got the patience for it, I may do the shrink tubing thing, myself.
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