O
OzziePete
Guest
OK time for me to ask the experts. :sad:
I am too close to the project to be able to stand back and make a rational decision on the situation I find myself in. :icon_scratch:
I have had a Jazzmaster project on the cards for years. Literally. And I am getting sick of trying to engineer solutions in fitting non-native electronics into the Jazzmaster body design.
Firstly the idea behind the project.
The Jazzmaster was designed, initially by Leo, to be the premier smooth clean Fender guitar, good enough for Jazz. He poured a lot of his knowledge about passive electronics at that time, into the Jazzmaster. He also engineered a more cost efficient tremelo design and thought he had solved the tuning stability issues that were being made known about the early Strats.
Instead, of course, the new trem proved a bitch to work with, the pickups' sound didn't lend itself to Jazz at all, and the offset body put even more people off the idea. There was also some learning required to get used to the switching system, and alternate roller knobs.
My idea was to take what Leo had intended, and, using modern electronics, transform the Jazzmaster body into something that had the versatility that Fender had worked towards, but did not, imho, actually achieve (Jazzmasters really do have their own voice and not what you would call, too versatile). To me, that meant going for active EMG pickups and some tone circuitry. My own personal choice for neck scale is also 24.75", so a conversion neck was also in the mix.
I also thought it funny to present the project as a usual looking Jazzmaster, complete with Fiesta Red solid colour, but knock everyone's socks off with blistering tone from the EMG system. My idea of shoving a V8 into a Mini I guess.
Specs:
Jazzmaster body - maple
Routing : usual Jazzmaster routing except for 3 x Humbucker routs.
Trem: Wilkinson trem
Neck:
Maple with Ebony Fretboard, block inlays, fiesta red solid colour peghead. 6105 frets, locking tuners.24.75 conversion scale, small Fender peghead. Graphtech nut.
Electronics:
2x EMG 89 (one reversed for neck use)
1x EMG SPC circuit
1x EMG EXG circuit.
18v double battery ( 2x 9v wired in series)
Straight away I had problems as I had forgot to get a double battery rout done and the batteries were not going to fit in the middle pickup cavity.
Then, as I had to find ways of incorporating a single coil/humbucker switch for each EMG 89, i had extra switches AND two tone circuits to put into the standard Jazzmaster configuration.
With the maple body, this guitar NEEDS the tone circuits, as it is very sterile other wise. I did do a pickup install by themselves and found that out the hard way.
I still have tried, when money and time has allowed, to try and look at ways at making this all fit.
I also have problems in finding a way to fit all the necessary knobs and/or switches into that Jazzmaster design. For starters, there are only two mini pots around that will fit that roller knob cavity, and that's the 1MOhm and 50K ones.
Just this week I have again tried to get a solution.
I have a pickguard for two humbuckers but everything is standard Jazzmaster. I had hopes of somehow wiring up the two 50k mini pots in parallel, and use the roller pot cavity as a master volume section, and try and rout an extra slide switch beside the original and use the slide switches on the upper bout as single coil/humbucker selection switches.
But I have now found that the Jaguar bracket I bought for this roller pot assembly is not long enough for the Jazzmaster roller pot slots! I doubt I can source a proper sized bracket and have gone up to my local hardware to buy an aluminium strip to somehow fashion into a bracket to fit.
Even if I fashion this strip to match, I still have the issue of somehow routing for the extra slide switch. I mentioned this task in another thread & someone mentioned slowly and carefully cutting out the oblong shape by using an exacto knife.
Well, tried that and the blade I have is not strong enough to cut into the pickguard material, so I am now back to thinking of using a Dremel - very carefully. Could I use a chrome upper bout plate for a Jaguar as a template for the Dremel when doing this?
Next problem to solve after that is to incorporate the 50K roller pots. I can use them together in parallel to give me the required 25K, but do I wire them independent of each other and wire in parallel a 47K resistor, giving me individual volume for each pickup, or do I just wire the two pots together in parallel and use either as a master volume? Also, how would you wire a pot and resistor, or two pots, in parallel?
I am getting to the point where I am thinking that the parade has past this project by. I can, of course, use a lot of the hardware & electronics on another project & fit this gear into something more appropriate for the premium class they deserve. But that would mean junking a neck and body that have very good sustaining properties.
So I have some work to do on this or do I just strip the good stuff off it and look for another body and neck (and get the controls and battery cavities done to match the complexity of the project)? :help:
I am too close to the project to be able to stand back and make a rational decision on the situation I find myself in. :icon_scratch:
I have had a Jazzmaster project on the cards for years. Literally. And I am getting sick of trying to engineer solutions in fitting non-native electronics into the Jazzmaster body design.
Firstly the idea behind the project.
The Jazzmaster was designed, initially by Leo, to be the premier smooth clean Fender guitar, good enough for Jazz. He poured a lot of his knowledge about passive electronics at that time, into the Jazzmaster. He also engineered a more cost efficient tremelo design and thought he had solved the tuning stability issues that were being made known about the early Strats.
Instead, of course, the new trem proved a bitch to work with, the pickups' sound didn't lend itself to Jazz at all, and the offset body put even more people off the idea. There was also some learning required to get used to the switching system, and alternate roller knobs.
My idea was to take what Leo had intended, and, using modern electronics, transform the Jazzmaster body into something that had the versatility that Fender had worked towards, but did not, imho, actually achieve (Jazzmasters really do have their own voice and not what you would call, too versatile). To me, that meant going for active EMG pickups and some tone circuitry. My own personal choice for neck scale is also 24.75", so a conversion neck was also in the mix.
I also thought it funny to present the project as a usual looking Jazzmaster, complete with Fiesta Red solid colour, but knock everyone's socks off with blistering tone from the EMG system. My idea of shoving a V8 into a Mini I guess.
Specs:
Jazzmaster body - maple
Routing : usual Jazzmaster routing except for 3 x Humbucker routs.
Trem: Wilkinson trem
Neck:
Maple with Ebony Fretboard, block inlays, fiesta red solid colour peghead. 6105 frets, locking tuners.24.75 conversion scale, small Fender peghead. Graphtech nut.
Electronics:
2x EMG 89 (one reversed for neck use)
1x EMG SPC circuit
1x EMG EXG circuit.
18v double battery ( 2x 9v wired in series)
Straight away I had problems as I had forgot to get a double battery rout done and the batteries were not going to fit in the middle pickup cavity.
Then, as I had to find ways of incorporating a single coil/humbucker switch for each EMG 89, i had extra switches AND two tone circuits to put into the standard Jazzmaster configuration.
With the maple body, this guitar NEEDS the tone circuits, as it is very sterile other wise. I did do a pickup install by themselves and found that out the hard way.
I still have tried, when money and time has allowed, to try and look at ways at making this all fit.
I also have problems in finding a way to fit all the necessary knobs and/or switches into that Jazzmaster design. For starters, there are only two mini pots around that will fit that roller knob cavity, and that's the 1MOhm and 50K ones.
Just this week I have again tried to get a solution.
I have a pickguard for two humbuckers but everything is standard Jazzmaster. I had hopes of somehow wiring up the two 50k mini pots in parallel, and use the roller pot cavity as a master volume section, and try and rout an extra slide switch beside the original and use the slide switches on the upper bout as single coil/humbucker selection switches.
But I have now found that the Jaguar bracket I bought for this roller pot assembly is not long enough for the Jazzmaster roller pot slots! I doubt I can source a proper sized bracket and have gone up to my local hardware to buy an aluminium strip to somehow fashion into a bracket to fit.
Even if I fashion this strip to match, I still have the issue of somehow routing for the extra slide switch. I mentioned this task in another thread & someone mentioned slowly and carefully cutting out the oblong shape by using an exacto knife.
Well, tried that and the blade I have is not strong enough to cut into the pickguard material, so I am now back to thinking of using a Dremel - very carefully. Could I use a chrome upper bout plate for a Jaguar as a template for the Dremel when doing this?
Next problem to solve after that is to incorporate the 50K roller pots. I can use them together in parallel to give me the required 25K, but do I wire them independent of each other and wire in parallel a 47K resistor, giving me individual volume for each pickup, or do I just wire the two pots together in parallel and use either as a master volume? Also, how would you wire a pot and resistor, or two pots, in parallel?
I am getting to the point where I am thinking that the parade has past this project by. I can, of course, use a lot of the hardware & electronics on another project & fit this gear into something more appropriate for the premium class they deserve. But that would mean junking a neck and body that have very good sustaining properties.
So I have some work to do on this or do I just strip the good stuff off it and look for another body and neck (and get the controls and battery cavities done to match the complexity of the project)? :help:
