Is this is a good deal?

[dNA]

http://cgi.ebay.com/LOADED-Fender-Blacktop-Jazzmaster-BODY-Guitar-HH_W0QQitemZ360356389863QQcategoryZ41406QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp5197.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%252BDDSIC%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D350454076153%252B220764848963%252B130504892023%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8362916916557312204

I've seen this Blacktop Jazzmaster body on ebay for about two weeks now, and it just came down $30 in price. It's basically the whole guitar minus the neck and tuners. Thing is, i've got a Warmoth neck sitting in the closet that i've been saving for the day i have money for a Jazzmaster build (it'd be quite different from the blacktop, but not totally different.)
I'm wondering, is this a good deal? Does anybody know about the quality of the hardware and the electronics? I basically would consider buying it if i knew i wasn't going to want to spend more money to replace hardware after the fact. I'm especially attracted to the H/S electronic configuration, but not really into the jazzmaster trem. I could block it.

Are the necks on these things especially nice that people are taking them off and selling just the bodies? I've seen a number of bodies like this from various Blacktop models on the 'bay and i was curious/cautious.

discuss

 

[Cagey]

Homebuilt guitars are often sold in parts because the whole isn't worth so much, so it's not that jazzmaster necks are great, just that somebody wanted that but not the rest.

Why wouldn't anybody want the rest? Well, it has a jazzmaster vibrato/bridge, and there are few setups that suck as hard as those do. Plus, it's been slightly modified to get rid of the 7,294 other controls Jazzmasters normally have. Some folks want things to look original. Foolish, I know, but whaddaya gonna do? Plus, it might be a MIM body. I don't know of anybody else who drills voids in the body like you see in the neck pocket of that one.

The pickups alone would probably run you a buck and half, which leaves the body et al at $100. Pickguards are $25, minimum. I doubt there's a replacement for the useless vibrato/bridge, so I don't know what to value that at. You'd have to pay me to take it, and I don't know how you'd fix that. Blocking it would be one option, but I'm not sure that'd fix it.

So, is it a good deal? Not in my mind, but I'm not a Jazzmaster fan, so you really have to decide that for yourself. You're not going to build one from Warmoth at that price, so if you must have a Jazzmaster, it's probably a good way to go. If nothing else, it has what appears to be a good finish on it.

 

[dNA]

you make some good points. I'm not interested in original Jazzmaster anything, except the body shape. the Jazzy i've been wanting to build would be similar to this, but with a hardtail and probably a strat pup in the neck. and the color would be different. but a body alone with no hardware would cost me more than this whole package

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

If you're going to get what you hoped for eventually, I'd pass on this.  No sense in spending the money on both.  FWIW, I think it's a great deal but the trem alone is a deal breaker for me.

 

[Cagey]

you make some good points. I'm not interested in original Jazzmaster anything, except the body shape. the Jazzy i've been wanting to build would be similar to this, but with a hardtail and probably a strat pup in the neck. and the color would be different. but a body alone with no hardware would cost me more than this whole package

Mr. Custom is right - in view of what you're looking for, you'd spend a helluva lotta time/money/effort to get this to where you want it to be. It's probably a good idea to pass on it regardless of the price. You'd have to fill some things in, do some drilling for a bridge mount and end up refinishing it. If you're going to go to all that trouble, nekkid Jazzys from Warmoth are only $150 or so and would be less work.

 

[dNA]

i appreciate the input. FWIW if i bought this, i'd have no intention of replacing the bridge or refinishing it. It's been years since i had a guitar with a trem, so i wouldn't mind trying one out, and i've never tried a jazzmaster pickup. but you're prolly right. those trems are notorious and if it was almost any other bridge (except a bigsby, ugh) i'd probably go for it.

 

[rapfohl09]

I just want to know where this guy gets all of his stuff! He constantly has factory guitars in pieces for sale on ebay. Do you think they are factory seconds or something?

 

[bbl4ck]

No I don't think they are seconds.  I think he just buys guitars to part out because he makes more money off them that way.
You very rarely see him selling complete guitars.

I have bought two Fender bodies and several misc parts from him and have found nothing wrong with them. 
You can sometimes get a really good deal from him if the bidding goes right...
:rock-on:

 

[stubhead]

I've often wondered what/how he makes money.... he's been at it a long time, so he must be legit - Fender does not suffer poachers. Still, like right now he's got 742 bodies up, the most he's asking is like $900 for a Fender custom shop body. It sounds like a lot to a Warmothan, but even if he somehow got the guitars at an average bargain rate of $500, he's sitting on inventory that cost HIM $371,000! Most people would use a business plan where you buy little bits and put them together and sell the whole - he's buying guitars and demolishing them to sell the bits? Maybe he's a trust fund baby who went psycho and he's locked in the basement, his guardians let him do this because it's better than eating cats? Or maybe.... aw heck, I wouldn't want to do it. Imagine shipping all those screws and neckplates, day after day. :icon_scratch:

 

[Cagey]

I've often wondered what/how he makes money.... he's been at it a long time, so he must be legit - Fender does not suffer poachers. Still, like right now he's got 742 bodies up, the most he's asking is like $900 for a Fender custom shop body. It sounds like a lot to a Warmothan, but even if he somehow got the guitars at an average bargain rate of $500, he's sitting on inventory that cost HIM $371,000! Most people would use a business plan where you buy little bits and put them together and sell the whole - he's buying guitars and demolishing them to sell the bits? Maybe he's a trust fund baby who went psycho and he's locked in the basement, his guardians let him do this because it's better than eating cats? Or maybe.... aw heck, I wouldn't want to do it. Imagine shipping all those screws and neckplates, day after day. :icon_scratch:

I used to know a guy who bought used machine tools just to tear them down and sell the parts. Guy was richer than Croesus. Most of that stuff is highly specialized and custom, so you could just about name any price for the various parts because people couldn't get the stuff anywhere else at any price without having it fabricated. Had 'em by the short and curlies - an assembly line was down because of a [insert widget here]? A bloody 1/4" shoulder screw with non-standard dimensions could be worth $300 in that case. Whatever was unidentifiable was often made out of specialized alloys, so even the scrap by weight was worth more than you'd think.

 

[Hbom]

Plus, it might be a MIM body. I don't know of anybody else who drills voids in the body like you see in the neck pocket of that one.

Cagey, Are you trying to say that my new American Standard Tele is MIM?
It's got those holes.
or more like MIM AIA FCP BGKW?


Made In Mexico, Assembled In America, From Chinese Parts,By God Knows Who

 

[Cagey]

Who knows? But, I think "American Standard" is a just model now, not any kind of statement or point of origin. All it describes is a feature set for one of the 2,194 Strat models Fender sells. I do know that the holes are fairly unique to Mexican bodies, though. Maybe not a rule, but a strong indication.

 

[AutoBat]

jalane threw a good replacement for the jm bridge.  something with rollers IRC

 

[dNA]

jalane threw a good replacement for the jm bridge.  something with rollers IRC

is the complaint for most people about the bridge or about the spring/trem mechanism? I don't know - i just know people hate them.

 

[OzziePete]

If you're going to get what you hoped for eventually, I'd pass on this.  No sense in spending the money on both.  FWIW, I think it's a great deal but the trem alone is a deal breaker for me.

+1....Those trems are hard to keep happy.

For me, the trem is something that is too finicky....it needs a lot of care to keep working good enough. There is an issue with the bridge and the break angle over that being too slight from the trem, causing strings to jump off the bridge when strumming hard-ish. That usually send people into a frenzy putting shims underneath the neck pocket to get the neck angle just right, then there's the people who will search the net for add-ons to that trem systems to increase the break angle there. Also the bridge needs roller saddles and needs to be pinned down (they rock).

If you look at the saving you will make buying this, (as opposed to ordering a JM body finished in the same gloss from Warmoth), then add the cost of the trem add-on and a better bridge (JM Buzz Stop from Allparts US$40 plus shipping, Mastery Bridge US$ 165 plus shipping), you would be about equal to buying a JM body from Warmoth and specifying the tailpiece/bridge you want.

 

[Mor Paul]

That bridge that Jalene has is called the Mastery bridge. Very popular on some other forums.

 

[dNA]

If you're going to get what you hoped for eventually, I'd pass on this.  No sense in spending the money on both.  FWIW, I think it's a great deal but the trem alone is a deal breaker for me.

+1....Those trems are hard to keep happy.

For me, the trem is something that is too finicky....it needs a lot of care to keep working good enough. There is an issue with the bridge and the break angle over that being too slight from the trem, causing strings to jump off the bridge when strumming hard-ish. That usually send people into a frenzy putting shims underneath the neck pocket to get the neck angle just right, then there's the people who will search the net for add-ons to that trem systems to increase the break angle there. Also the bridge needs roller saddles and needs to be pinned down (they rock).

If you look at the saving you will make buying this, (as opposed to ordering a JM body finished in the same gloss from Warmoth), then add the cost of the trem add-on and a better bridge, you would be about equal to buying a JM body from Warmoth and specifying the tailpiece/bridge you want.

I've heard the shallow break angle is a big part of what gives the JM its signature sound. I play with heavier strings - at least 11's. would the string-jumping still be an issue? I do play rhythm really physically sometimes so that'd definitely be a big no-no

 

[OzziePete]

If you're going to get what you hoped for eventually, I'd pass on this.  No sense in spending the money on both.  FWIW, I think it's a great deal but the trem alone is a deal breaker for me.

+1....Those trems are hard to keep happy.

For me, the trem is something that is too finicky....it needs a lot of care to keep working good enough. There is an issue with the bridge and the break angle over that being too slight from the trem, causing strings to jump off the bridge when strumming hard-ish. That usually send people into a frenzy putting shims underneath the neck pocket to get the neck angle just right, then there's the people who will search the net for add-ons to that trem systems to increase the break angle there. Also the bridge needs roller saddles and needs to be pinned down (they rock).

If you look at the saving you will make buying this, (as opposed to ordering a JM body finished in the same gloss from Warmoth), then add the cost of the trem add-on and a better bridge, you would be about equal to buying a JM body from Warmoth and specifying the tailpiece/bridge you want.

I've heard the shallow break angle is a big part of what gives the JM its signature sound. I play with heavier strings - at least 11's. would the string-jumping still be an issue? I do play rhythm really physically sometimes so that'd definitely be a big no-no

Well, if you count the buzzing of strings as part of the JM's signature sound...? Maybe that is true. As the strings are coming onto the bridge at a slight angle they are more prone to jumping off the bridge saddles (the tension just isn't there from what I have seen, to hold them down), but as you use 11's it might be less of any issue, so long as the saddles are deep enough to take that guage.

It might be that you would have no issues with the sounds you gain from this JM body when set up with a good neck, tuner and nut assembly. But if you strike issues, there's the extra expense to sort it out. Do your sums and you could find that a Warmoth body, finished, & done in a better tailpiece and bridge assembly could be cheaper in the long run.

 

[dNA]

So looking further on the 'bay, I saw a Jaguar Blacktop for the same price. http://cgi.ebay.com/LOADED-Fender-Blacktop-Jaguar-BODY-Guitar-HH-Jag_W0QQitemZ200595652226QQcategoryZ41406QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp5197.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8371934016585450496

can you put a standard scale neck on this body or do you need to buy a 24" scale neck?

 

[AprioriMark]

There's a lot of silly speculation here that could be solved by reading, not assuming, and actually looking at the item. 

1) Look at the seller.  He takes new Fenders and parts them out.  It makes him money.
2) The Blacktop series is pretty darned solid.  For 270 bucks, if you have a Warmoth neck, you can't go wrong.  I have that exact guitar (with the Fender neck, which is pretty darned good).  The pickups are solid, the trem is fun, the finish is great.
3) Look at the seller again... there are some pretty cool bodies for cheap.  I actually ordered a Jag bass body last week from him.

-Mark