first jazzmaster build. few questions

[pietro_moog]

hi guys. i'm thinking about building a jazzmaster, but i need tons of infos.

- is the bridge cavity deep enough for a HB? (my goal is installing a hB now, and maybe remove it in favor of a JM one when i'll build/buy a Les Paul. so i'm not sure of what to do)
- what kind of finish you suggest me for the Neck and body?
- what kind of string nut should i choose? then i have cut strings rails on it by myself?
- what kind of neck should i choose?
- is a 10-16 compound ratio a good option? to play and setting the guitar i mean
- what kind of frets is the best? i can't choose. i trained to be a guitar hero, but now i like jazz more. i have some like a almost soft touch.
- can i put a original fender tremolo tail in the Warmoth body cut?
- is the modified mustang bridge a good option? is it comfortable?
- does the warmoth roller pot knobs work well with alpha pots?
- what kind of neck pickup you suggest me? i want a JM one, but i don't know whether a hot or vintage one

 

[Alogusz]

- is the bridge cavity deep enough for a HB? (my goal is installing a hB now, and maybe remove it in favor of a JM one when i'll build/buy a Les Paul. so i'm not sure of what to do)
- what kind of neck pickup you suggest me? i want a JM one, but i don't know whether a hot or vintage one

Joe Barden is now making Jazzmaster size pickups, if that helps you out.
http://www.joebarden.com/main.php?section=Products&pageID=Jazzmaster

As for putting in HBs, it appears that is an available option.
http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/CustomBody.aspx?style=16

Another question you might consider is which kind Jazzmaster body do you want:
- the Traditional
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Vintage/SplitJazzmaster.aspx

or the Split Jazzmaster
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Bodies/Vintage/SplitJazzmaster.aspx

 

[OzziePete]

hi guys. i'm thinking about building a jazzmaster, but i need tons of infos.

- is the bridge cavity deep enough for a HB? (my goal is installing a hB now, and maybe remove it in favor of a JM one when i'll build/buy a Les Paul. so i'm not sure of what to do)

AFAIK, the JM rout will be a shallow type of rout compared to the HB rout. So a HB pickup in a JM rout might sit high, maybe too high? But a HB rout in the body will be too narrow to accomodate the wider JM pickup if you want to put one of those JM pickups in later.

- what kind of finish you suggest me for the Neck and body?

All about personal choice here, solid colour, clear gloss or stain, transparent or dyed finished if you ahve grained woods or fancy quilted or flamed tops on the body....All your choice within what you prefer and can afford...  :dontknow:

- what kind of string nut should i choose? then i have cut strings rails on it by myself?
-

Even nuts that are pre cut by Warmoth usually require some fine detailing once the neck is installed onto the body.....bone or synthetic material the choice is yours. Though if you are using a tremelo system, the synthetic nuts offer less friction as the strings move.

- what kind of neck should i choose?

Again it depends on your personal choice and the style you want to adopt with this guitar.......If you are going for authentic Jazzmaster style, then it is maple and rosewood fingerboard, 25.5" scale.

- is a 10-16 compound ratio a good option? to play and setting the guitar i mean

Personally, I like the 10-16" compound radius fretboard. It makes fretting the upper strings a little easier for me. Others may dislike them, touch and feel is so subjective and an individual choice.

- what kind of frets is the best? i can't choose. i trained to be a guitar hero, but now i like jazz more. i have some like a almost soft touch.

Again, personal choice....I prefer 6105 sized frets...Others prefer jumbo 6150s.  I go for the regular nickel steel frets, but those who have stainless steel frets love them, though they cost more if they require work on them by a repairer.

- can i put a original fender tremolo tail in the Warmoth body cut?

Warmoth will rout a JM to numerous trems.....look at their website and see if yours matches their routs. If you mean that you have an original Fender  JM tailpiece/trem,  take some measurements and ask Warmoth via email if that will fit in their usual JM trem rout - it should fit.

- is the modified mustang bridge a good option? is it comfortable?

Yes it is. It is an improvement on the original JM bridge. There are also other aftermarket improved bridges for the JM if you look around, I think.

- does the warmoth roller pot knobs work well with alpha pots?

Be careful here, those roller pots are quite small compared to the usual sized pots and an alpha pot may not fit in  the harness bracket underneath the pickguard. The knobs are even less tolerant, it is best advised to use what Warmoth offer to ensure that the knob fits onto it, and onto the JM bracket.

- what kind of neck pickup you suggest me? i want a JM one, but i don't know whether a hot or vintage one

To match a HB you might want to get a hotter version of a JM pickup so the sound is more balanced across the two pickups...

 

[Mor Paul]

For the jazz/humbucker pickups, there's something you should consider. And that, my friend... is routing it twice. Give them a call, and ask that it be routed for both humbuckers and jazzmaster pickups. you can then switch it.

 

[OzziePete]

For the jazz/humbucker pickups, there's something you should consider. And that, my friend... is routing it twice. Give them a call, and ask that it be routed for both humbuckers and jazzmaster pickups. you can then switch it.

Would Warmoth do that for a bridge pickup Max? A composite routing, you mean? :icon_scratch:

 

[Mor Paul]

For the jazz/humbucker pickups, there's something you should consider. And that, my friend... is routing it twice. Give them a call, and ask that it be routed for both humbuckers and jazzmaster pickups. you can then switch it.

Would Warmoth do that for a bridge pickup Max? A composite routing, you mean? :icon_scratch:

They'll do it on showcase bodies, I think. I know STDC has had it done. They'll probably do it on customs.

 

[OzziePete]

For the jazz/humbucker pickups, there's something you should consider. And that, my friend... is routing it twice. Give them a call, and ask that it be routed for both humbuckers and jazzmaster pickups. you can then switch it.

Would Warmoth do that for a bridge pickup Max? A composite routing, you mean? :icon_scratch:

They'll do it on showcase bodies, I think. I know STDC has had it done. They'll probably do it on customs.

So....you would get the width of the JM pickup but the depth of the HB routing? When you revert to a JM pickup, you would have to pack underneath it with extra foam?

 

[Mor Paul]

Well, you get the humbucker route, then some is routed out, but shallower, for the jazzmaster. The Jazz depth is normal, as is the humbucker, but they're overlaid.

 

[OzziePete]

Well, you get the humbucker route, then some is routed out, but shallower, for the jazzmaster. The Jazz depth is normal, as is the humbucker, but they're overlaid.

OK,  cool! So the JM pickup is wide enough underneath that pickup cover, to sit abridged of the HB rout depth... :icon_thumright:

 

[pietro_moog]

nice. thanks guys.
so i decided pretty much everything except for paint finish and frets dimension.

any advice is accepted

 

[AprioriMark]

Get the Lollar P-90 coils mounted in JM pickup frames.  JM pickups are terrible.

-Mark

 

[jalane]

"Advice" like that submitted in the above comment is pointless.  If you play jazzier styles, then you are going to LOVE the way the neck pickup sounds through the rhythm circuit.  And you mentioned having a soft touch, it's really sounding like many of the standard jazzmaster features are going to be right up your alley.  The JM bridge/trem setup was designed for people with a light touch.  When you play one that way, that whole design feels, plays, and responds brilliantly.  When people pick up a jazzmaster because they look cool but still try to play it like it's a Jackson Dinky with a floyd (just as an example), that's when they complain about what a poor design it is.  

To answer your pickup question, I wouldn't get anything too hot in the neck pickup position.  For jazz, the rhythm circuit makes the neck pickup pretty mellow already, so the constricted frequency response of a high-output pickup is unnecessary.  A bridge humbucker with a standard JM neck pickup would be an extremely versatile setup in my opinion.

Hope this helps

 

[jalane]

Also, these are the pickups I have in my Jazzmaster.  Of all my electrics, the JM-V I have in the neck position of my jazzmaster is my favorite neck-position tone:
http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/Offsets.shtml

And here is a pricier option for the bridge, but the consensus among offset players is that it's by far the best solution:
http://www.masterybridge.com/home.html

 

[OzziePete]

I'd listen to what Jalane is saying, he built one from parts and won the Guitar of the Month with it.. :headbang:

About Jazzmaster pickups....I have never liked them but it has more to do with the era I grew up and the music I was influenced by. The Jazzmaster sound usually won't fit into what I like to play.

To me, they have a woody, thump to them in the mid to low range. That is great if you go for a comped chord, ala Indie music of the 90s, but there's just something about the atypical Jazzmaster tone that is found wanting for me. It is personal choice I guess. :dontknow:

I have heard much better players than me, make a Jazzmaster positively scream through a  good amp & get sounds like a Strat.

But I have always been unimpressed by the sound of those genuine JM pickups and the bridge/trem assembly. I actually think the roller pots are a cool idea, but the way the original was wired, it was a real 'WTF' moment for many a player the first time they fiddled around with the Jaguar and Jazzmaster controls, lol. :laughing7:

 

[AprioriMark]

You know, I'm not one to knock people's opinions, but I'm also entitled to mine.  JM pickups are, in my experience, unusable in any band setting I've ever encountered.  The actual intent of my post was to point out that you don't need to route for a million different options (unless you want to... I would personally put a swimming pool route in any guitar I was using a pickguard with).  Lollar's p90-coiled, JM-looking pickups are really wonderful, and not just for the one gimmick sound some people might try to sell you as being "really good if you wear a tin foil hat and face north in the mornings when it's raining."  JM pickups are unpopular for a reason.  As are the trems.

That being said, do your own thing and find your own voice.  You don't need to take anyone's word as gospel.  I'll never understand why people can't be honest about their fanboi-isms.  I have mine; I love Teles and redheads.  Reason need not apply on either subject.

-Mark

 

[jalane]

Yeah, I have no problem with your opinion that you don't like JM pickups, Mark.  But blanket statements with no supporting rationale don't do much good for anyone.  Particularly when the OP'er has already identified that he wants a JM pickup in the neck position.  That's like someone starting a thread asking what single coils to get for his strat, and getting a response "you need a Duncan PAF.  strat pickups sound like crap."  Not very helpful, is it?

As far as being a 'fanboy', I totally get how Jag's and JM's aren't suited to most people's playing styles.  They're just quirky guitars that work like magic for some and feel awkward for others.  I get that.  But I just have very little patience for these blanket statements that "such-and-such it terrible", "such-and-such is the best ____ in the universe", etc.  We're talking about tools that people use to make music, for chrissakes, the most subjective thing on the planet.  So, my post has little to do with my love for a certain type of guitar and much more to do with treating subjective opinions as objective facts.  When we do that, it ceases to be art. 

But hey, we're definitely on the same page with the redheads thing...  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[AprioriMark]

I feel comfortable making a blanket statement here, knowing that it's an experience-based opinion, and that people are throwing out suggestions based on their own preferences.  I voted for your JM, myself, btw.  I caught flak from other people because "omg it's not XYZ enough," but it was the best guitar that month by far.  It's a phenomenally crafted ode to everything that's great about a JM.  For the record, I own 2 JMs myself, and have not gone away from the JM pickups on these.  I also have a TON of guitars and can afford to keep guitars for "that sound." 

I still suggest that our original poster not use JM pickups, because it's his first build, and I'd hate to see someone turned off by Warmoth because his finished guitar doesn't fit with the music he plays.  I still say the pickups suck, because I'm blunt and I happen to have strange places in my heart for ugly ducklings.  I'll still call a spade a spade, however, when it comes to removing speedbumps for new builders.

So, no offense intended, other than feather ruffling.  I'm always tongue in cheek, and I'll happily be both honest and wrong.  My wife also says to point out that I'm a brat and I need to unload the dishwasher.

-Mark

 

[jalane]

Right on, no offense taken or intended of course.  We all have reasons for our preferences and cannot possibly expect everyone to share all of the same opinions.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go play on my sucky pickups and love every second of listening to how they sound.  :icon_tongue:  :icon_thumright: :rock-on:

 

[AprioriMark]

Hahaha, you rock, man.  I want you to know that I played one of my JMs last night in your honor.

-Mark

 

[Stew]

Following on from jalane's recommendation of Curtis Novak pickups, I like what he and Andy Rothstein are doing with prewired Jazzmaster pickguards: http://www.guitar-mod.com/rg_jm_cat5.html  :icon_thumright: