Suggestions Needed

[jalane]

My friend has asked me to completely gut his Fender Jag-Stang and make it a badass.  He's spending the year in Colombia, so he's leaving the guitar with me and the idea is for me to strip it, refinish it, have him order parts and a Warmoth neck and have them sent to me so that i can have a completed guitar for him when he gets back. 

So here's my question for y'all...It's a basswood body.  What kind of wood would you suggest for the neck/fingerboard that would compliment the basswood?  My first thought was Goncalo/Pau Ferro, I really like the Goncalo neck i put in my strat, i'm just not familiar with Basswood so i don't know if that would be too dark or something. 

BTW his style of play is mostly rhythmic indie rock, but he does a lot of arpeggiated rhythms and he'll throw in the occasional early 90's Pearl Jam-esque lead lines. So basically, something with an even, articulate response is just what the doctor ordered. 

BTW pt. 2, i think we're going with a Wide-Range Humbucker for the bridge and a tele neck pickup.

 

[Mor Paul]

What wide range pickup? The fender reissue isn't like the originals, but Jason Lollar is making some (don't know if it's official yet), and a guy named Telenator you can find on the TDPRI forum makes some.

 

[jalane]

What wide range pickup? The fender reissue isn't like the originals, but Jason Lollar is making some (don't know if it's official yet), and a guy named Telenator you can find on the TDPRI forum makes some.

Probably will go with Curtis Novak.  Don't worry, we're not going anywhere near the Fender reissues.

 

[jalane]

Another thought is possibly a Pau Ferro neck??? that might balance the basswood nicely?

 

[dNA]

I think goncalo/pau ferro would be a good combination. Basswood is soft so it rolls off at the highest and lowest extremes of the instrument's frequency range. It's good when distorted, because all that compression doesn't make it boomy or screechy. The goncalo/pau ferro neck I have is very even and tight - good amount of lows, crisp highs, all around balanced, which i think should go fine w/ basswood.
I don't think you need to go brighter with something like Pau Ferro for the neck, but that's subjective. I think with a vintage style humbucker in the bridge and a tele neck pickup, you should have a really nice sounding, versatile guitar. I would consider talking to Ken about a roadhouse pickup, at least for the neck, because the new tele pickup I got in my Thinline is pretty awesome, and it pairs well with a PAF in the bridge. If you went goncalo/pau your guitar would be slightly warmer than mine, which I think would probably be right up his alley.

 

[jalane]

What wide range pickup? The fender reissue isn't like the originals, but Jason Lollar is making some (don't know if it's official yet), and a guy named Telenator you can find on the TDPRI forum makes some.

Probably will go with Curtis Novak.  Don't worry, we're not going anywhere near the Fender reissues.

Actually, now that i say that, i realize that the Novak WRHB is actually made to fit in a regular Gibson-sized humbucker.  He does offer a service where you send him a RI WRHB and he'll mod it to vintage specs.  So i guess i will be getting a RI, but it will end up the same.  I figure, $60-80 for the RI pickup, $140 for the modification, and we've got what we want for $150-250 less than what Telenator is asking.

 

[Telenator]

There is a WRHB Mod for $85 that uses alnico II magnets and sounds terrific!

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

You may already be aware, but I believe the Jagstang scale length is 24".  Here's something to think about.  Read this thread about 24 3/4" conversion.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=12982.0

 

[jalane]

You may already be aware, but I believe the Jagstang scale length is 24".  Here's something to think about.  Read this thread about 24 3/4" conversion.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=12982.0

Yeah i never even thought of that.  I'll have to let my pal know so he can read up on it.  Thanks Super Turbo!

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

The only bad thing, there's no Fender headstock shape if he does do the 24 3/4" conversion.  It's the 7/8" scale neck with Warhead, not the usual conversion neck.  It's kind of weird they don't.  They say they can't because it doesn't fit a Fender product, but it's effectively a conversion neck for the 24" scale Fenders.

 

[greenmean]

A basswood body with a Goncalo Alvez/Pau Ferro neck will give you a lot of mids and well defined bottom and a nice top that is not spikey.

I got this:

And besides his being a Jag/Stang I could imagine myself play something like that. The Wide-Range will sound perfect in basswood too.  :icon_thumright:

Hi, did you sand and oil-finished the neck or is it "just as it arrived" from Warmoth?

Nice San Dimas style guitar.