The JazzMashup

[tfcreative]

This will be my 2nd build. The first was a 5-string bass several years ago. I play a lot more guitar nowadays, and I have discovered that for general comfort and vibe, I'm a Fender guy much more so than Gibson. Slab bodies, longer scales, and single coils do it for me, but they do have their limits. So for this guitar, I'm going to try to inject some darkness into the tone and drop the single-coil hum while maintaining a vintage vibe. It's possible this will end up with a LP Jr type tone, but I'm approaching it with a very flexible attitude and I'm more exploring how it works out. It all started with a showcase neck I found in July, and now I've started collecting the other parts in earnest. Here's the deal:

Body
Jazzmaster shape
Chambered Mahogany, Ash Top
Hardtail bridge
Sonic Blue
Tort pickguard

Neck
Rosewood on Rosewood (plan to play raw)
Warmoth Pro, standard strat shape
6150 Frets

Electronics
Kinman P90 hx pickups (standard neck, nasty 90n for bridge)
Body is routed for 3 p90's, just in case I change my mind later
Simple 3-way setup, master volume and tone

Hardware
All Hipshot
Hardtail bridge in 2 7/32 spacing
Sealed locking tuners (for quick changes)

The pickups are on the way, the body and pick guard are hopefully only a few weeks off (ordered 8/20), but I'll start work on the neck shortly, burnishing per the Cagey recommendation, and working on ways to apply a logo to the headstock. Here's a photoshop comp of how this might come out:

Since I've never heard of a Jazzmaster/Hardtail/Mahogany/Rosewood/p90 combo, I'm calling it the JazzMashup. Naturally I'm hoping it will be awesome. Hopefully this is not an unheard of combo because it's such a bad idea, but I'm about to find out!

 

[bagman67]

Looks like you're gonna wind up with a very sexy guitar.


One thing I'd recommend is stainless steel frets.  Slicker than snot.

 

[tfcreative]

I started working on the headstock logo, there's a thread about it in DIY finishing. I'm quite out of my depth in the finishing, so help is appreciated:

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=24119.0

 

[tfcreative]

Looks like you're gonna wind up with a very sexy guitar.


One thing I'd recommend is stainless steel frets.  Slicker than snot.

Thanks, man, that is what I'm hoping as well. I'm afraid SS frets are at this point off the table as I've already got the neck.

 

[Cagey]

Mmmm.... a useful and attractive Jazzmaster...

 

[MikeW]

Total win. This is how a JM should be IMHO. I'm curious though. Why the Ash top on the Mahogany body? I think I would have picked Korina or Mahogany for the top.

 

[tfcreative]

Total win. This is how a JM should be IMHO. I'm curious though. Why the Ash top on the Mahogany body? I think I would have picked Korina or Mahogany for the top.

Honestly my first choice for the top would have been Koa, but then I couldn't do the Sonic Blue finish. I was just looking at all of my other options and got a little concerned that it would get too dark. I do like my strat after all. So I figure between the 25.5 scale and the ash top I'll still have some bite, but everything else will smooth it out.

 

[MikeW]

Total win. This is how a JM should be IMHO. I'm curious though. Why the Ash top on the Mahogany body? I think I would have picked Korina or Mahogany for the top.

Honestly my first choice for the top would have been Koa, but then I couldn't do the Sonic Blue finish. I was just looking at all of my other options and got a little concerned that it would get too dark. I do like my strat after all. So I figure between the 25.5 scale and the ash top I'll still have some bite, but everything else will smooth it out.

Yep. Sounds like a good plan. I'll be watching you build this one. It really does look like a killer.

 

[AutoBat]

Sonic Blue + Tortoise = Win!

 

[tfcreative]

Aaaand, the Kinmans arrived this morning. These things are quite a bit heavier than other pickups, and as tall as I've heard. Glad I got the chambered body, these will add some heft.

 

[Jumble Jumble]

The ash top won't make any difference to tone. Use any wood you like.

 

[tfcreative]

Body showed up today, a couple weeks earlier than I expected! Here's a preliminary assembly, but I'm still working on the headstock finish, and I need to deepen the pickup cavities for the Kinmans before I start putting things together. Work is really busy right now, so I'll have to get to it as I can over the next couple of weeks.

One thing that I noticed, and it's probably normal but I've not gotten a new, front-rout body before: there aren't any pilot holes for the pickguard. What's the best way to drill those without cracking the finish?

 

[Cagey]

Since you have to use a twist drill, there really isn't anything you can do about it. But, don't be concerned. Any chipping will be minimal, and all the holes are hidden.

 

[tfcreative]

I can probably get it to a drill press if that helps. Any special type of bit or anything?

 

[stratamania]

After you've drilled the holes with a sharp bit use a countersink just in your hand and twist it a couple of times in the hole. It's less likely to chip then when you run a screw in.

Oh and lubricate the threads. Especially on tuner holes and the like.

 

[stubhead]

What's the best way to drill those without cracking the finish?

Leading experts conservatively estimate that 99.99999% of the problems caused by honkin' big power tools vs. soft, squishy (& expensive!) wood is caused by too much power - not too little. It's like taking B vitamins - how much BRIGHTER YELLOW can your pee possibly ever really be than REALLY, REALLY, REALLY BRIGHT YELLOW? Yes, it may take all of FIVE whole seconds to drill a pickguard screwhole with an old-fashioned, bad, retarded not-modern caveman hand drill. Five seconds times ten screws = almost a whole minute of your life wasted! AAAAAH! Most people' time is so-oo precious they'd rather only spend a millisecond to destroy a $400 body with power tools,  'cause they can just buy another one so easy.

Brad-point drill bits too; the advantage accrued in something so piss-ant tiny like pickguard holes is miniscule, but they kick mongo-butt on bigger holes vis-a-vis "not fudging them up" and it's a lot cheaper to just get a set of them. Although they're sharp, so if you've got a good power drill you can still wreck up a storm in an astonishing blink of time.

 

[bagman67]

For those who are unable to find a decent hand crank drill of the sort Stubby pictures above, there is a really decent specimen available from Fiskars that is equal to the task of drilling wee pilot holes:


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=fiskars+drill

 

[line6man]

I picked up one of those eggbeater drills at a garage sale a year or two back, for either 50 cents or a dollar. Haven't used it yet, but I'm happy to have it for when the time comes. They are great tools.

 

[bagman67]

I picked up an eggbeater drill of recent Chinese manufacture at one of the big-box stores and it sucked for two reasons:  1) the collet did not close down enough for very small bits such as those for drilling tuner screw pilot holes and pick guard screws, and 2) it felt at all times like the various parts were coming loose in my hands.  Returned it and have been using the variable speed power drill very cautiously since then.  When it occurs to me I'll try again and get the Fiskars unit. 


So the learning here is:  Make sure whatever you get has a chuck small enough for the bits you'll need for guitar assembly.

 

[stubhead]

You can pick up little chucks for $10 or $12 that are designed to convert some certain-sized hex-drive tool into something that uses chuck-able stuff too - and you can just put that chuck INTO the the other one. The only problem is it starts getting long, and long is the enemy of happy drilling. But for pickguard screws & the like, the intended victim is really so soft - you can just BREAK a little 3/32" bit down so it's so short only a little tiny, what, 1/4"? 5/16"? pokes out. If you want you can re-sharpen kind of a half-assed point on it by sticking it in the big honker wall-cord REAL power drill and running the bit for a while against the unused side of a sharpening stone, but you really don't even have to. Hardened tool steel vs. lacquer & wood is a forgone conclusion anyway.

Controlling things like length and drill stops and how to maintain straight-up drill angles is stuff your brain is supposed to do before ANY tool ever touches ANY chunks. Good lighting etc..... LEAN AGaISNT THE WALL? eTc...

(BTW drill chucks are good stuff to just have, re-name them  "pin vise" and they're all kinds of useful for holding squirrely little crap. I know two here are just the last skeletal remnants of a couple of those G-D old-fashioned so-called "battery-powered" drills that were just satanic tricks designed to turn you into a battery-buyin' fool.... DIE MOTHERFRICKED BLACK'n'DECKER I'M COMING FOR YOUR CHUCK....)