Walnut Jazzmaster/Jazzcaster/Other

[JazzX]

This will be my first Warmoth build, and i will be looking for some useful advice, and or feedback for it.  :icon_thumright:
This build will take some time, so dont expect any immediate progess. Atleast not untill I get all of the parts.

Specs for Jazzmaster:

Walnut body
Standard Jazzmaster pickups
Jazzmaster Tremolo
Tele neck pocket
Contoured heel?
Clear gloss


Neck Specs:

Category Option
Headstock   Telecaster®
Construction Warmoth Pro
Orientation Right Handed
Shaft Wood Figured Walnut
Fingerboard Wood Flame Maple
Nut Width 1 11/16"
Back Contour 59 roundback
Fretwire 6150
Tuner ream Vintage Style (11/32")
Fret Number 22
Radius 10-16" Compound
Inlays Abalone Face Dots
Nut Install   GraphTech Black TUSQ XL
Neck Finish Clear Gloss
Scale  25-1/2 in.


(I have already received the neck.)  :headbang:

 

[JazzX]

More pics 

 

[JaySwear]

Awesome! Very unique neck. Nobody will be confusing their guitar with yours, that's for sure. It all looks and sounds good to me. The only thing I can think of is that the custom ordered body with the Tele neck route can't be returned unless it arrives with a flaw in it. But if you know what you need it shouldn't be a problem. Cool build!

EDIT: I think a Jazzmaster body with a natural flame top would look awesome! Would match the neck and body together very well. But all walnut would be cool too. Just a thought. Can't wait to see the Tele neck on a traditional style Jazzmaster body (without Tele pickup routing).

 

[Tipperman]

Mastery Bridge, right? Neck looks killer. Needs a mastery bridge.

 

[Perry Combover]

Awesome! Very unique neck. Nobody will be confusing their guitar with yours, that's for sure.

Amen! That walnut/maple combo is groovy.

 

[JazzX]

I plan to get a mastery bridge once I save enough money, but until then, just a mustang bridge.

 

[JazzX]

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22914

Sorry i couldn't post the pic I'm on a mobile device, so it won't let me.

Ps. Not my guitar, just found the pic :toothy11:

 

[JazzX]

My body will look less awkward cause it's a warmoth build.

 

[reluctant-builder]

I'm surprised you went with the Tele headstock; the Jazzmaster headstock is one of the things I love most about the guitar. It's bigger than a traditional Strat 'stock, which -- for me -- is an improvement. My favorite, though, is the CBS. Tele 'stocks always seemed ... insubstantial, to me.

That said, from the look of the neck you bought (it's gorgeous) and the pics from that Gretsch forum, I bet the combination is going to look awesome!

Never would have thought to try such a thing, but I'd like to see how it turns out.

 

[JazzX]

I am one of the few people on here that like the tele headstock more than a strat. I guess im strange that way.  :dontknow: But i also like jazzmaster style headstock too.

 

[JazzX]

Heres a mock up of the final guitar.
(just ignore the neck cause mines walnut)

 

[tylereot]

Well, I imagine it's going to be pretty hefty.
But I can recommend Ken Calvet's Roadhouse Jazzmaster pickups.  Better than the off the shelf stuff I've heard and at a better price.  Great guy, too.

But I love walnut, so I'm stayin' tuned....

 

[reluctant-builder]

Heres a mock up of the final guitar.
(just ignore the neck cause mines walnut)

Drool.

 

[Cagey]

Make sure to buy the vibrato tailpiece from Warmoth - the original Fender part won't work without whipping out the router to modify the body. The difference is the lock they put on the Fender part, which is worse than useless anyway. But, it seems Warmoth's drill pattern to mount the thing is too far forward by about a 1/4", or the cavity is too far back by the same distance. It doesn't really matter which, since it's all behind the bridge. But, what ends up happening is the the lock gets jammed against the pivot plate, and it won't move. Or, at least not easily. Makes it impossible to tune or intonate the thing, and of course you don't get any vibrato action at all. Just another pinpick in the hemorrhoid that is the Jazzmaster/Jaguar design nightmare.

Also, stay far, far away from Allparts parts. They charge too much, just for starters, and nothing fits (unless you have a router). If you're going to build a jigsaw puzzle, you don't want numerous manufacturers making the parts. Outside of a wiping cloth and maybe strings and picks, you should get as much as you can from Warmoth. And no, I don't work for Warmoth, but I have some experience with that guitar design both in the past and very recently, so I can talk about it.

 

[reluctant-builder]

Make sure to buy the vibrato tailpiece from Warmoth - the original Fender part won't work without whipping out the router to modify the body.

Cagey's got a great point, here, about the size of the rout, but I can't attest to the quality of the aftermarket tremolo, whether the Warmoth or All-Parts or whichever.

I'm fairly sure the after-market trems are die-cast, if that matters to you ... though I couldn't attest to whether Fender's is sand-cast or not (knowing Fender's "thrift" I'd be surprised if they use sand-casted anything).

I used a Fender trem because I wanted to "reproduce" a guitar that didn't exist: a left-handed Jazzmaster. I committed the "sacrilege" of putting a Jazzmaster decal on the headstock, but I was making a guitar that never existed except from the Custom Shop, using licensed parts, for half the price, so I think the Fender decal is right at home.

All that defense of my motives aside, I did have to expand the trem cavity a tad. It wasn't a huge deal to do it, though.

 

[Cagey]

The vibratos for the Jazzmaster/Jaguar aren't cast; they're made mostly out of heavy-gauge sheet steel stampings, with a couple parts made of machined steel dowel, likely turned out on a lathe, and of course a spring which likely comes off a roll-form. There's far too much mechanical stress in there for any kind of casting - it would crack/break the first time you used it.

 

[JazzX]

Do either of you guys know if Gfs's jazzmaster tremolo will fit, cause i was thinking of buying that, and also im not planning to put a fender decal on cause the neck is to small for it anyways. :icon_thumright:

 

[reluctant-builder]

Do either of you guys know if Gfs's jazzmaster tremolo will fit, cause i was thinking of buying that, and also im not planning to put a fender decal on cause the neck is to small for it anyways. :icon_thumright:

Couldn't tell you the measurements of the GFS trem, but their customer service is pretty dynamite. If you email them, they'll get back to you with an answer ... at least of some sort.

 

[JazzX]

Ill try that.

 

[Cagey]

Do either of you guys know if Gfs's jazzmaster tremolo will fit, cause i was thinking of buying that, and also im not planning to put a fender decal on cause the neck is to small for it anyways. :icon_thumright:

The picture looks correct, it doesn't have that stupid lock, and it's only $25. If it was me, I'd buy it and if it didn't fit, I'd make it fit. But, my impression from just the pictures is that you wouldn't have any trouble with it beyond the normal poor performance of that design (ie: inconsistent return to neutral).