1961 Jazzmaster parts build (complete, page 3)

[painted wood]

They don't make metal like they used to. The new materials' composition is different from the old stuff. Still may sound great though.

I'd be interested in hearing some novaks or SDIIs.

[gishuk]

my trem arrived today, 1963 off a jaguar but cost the same as a new avri one would have, i love ebay sometimes.

im still waiting on a few bits from allparts that are backordered, namely the tone pot and pickup covers, but i couldnt resist putting it together and seeing whats up.





hard to capture the colour on camera, flash makes it look red, but this is the closest ive come yet i think.

the neck pocket is somewhat roomy, compared to my modern american strat anyway. is this normal on older fenders?




i still need to properly set it up of course, and adjust the trem but the neck is amazing, kinda early to say its the best ive ever played but it may well be. hopefully allparts wont take long to get those bits to me im dying to get it done properly and plug it in.

[mcjt]

i guess you're waiting for pots and the like? i hope it's all vintage compatible stuff (the L bracket and mini pots)
it'S a great project. reminds me a lot of my 59.

[gishuk]

yeah im still waiting for the tone pot.

im not going to fit the rhythm circuit at the moment, but i saw using the second switch as a series/parallel thing which looks interesting and i may well do that

[ludobag1]

i have already says your tort is ?
yes
so nice jazz

[OffYourFace]

neck pockets & heel widths do vary... that's the risk you take with parts-guitars sometimes. You can fix it though. Go to a hobby shop and get some thin wood shims. You can cut them to blend in with the neck pocket. You can probably find some nail polish that'll match the finish.

The Allparts JM pickup covers don't fit the USA style pickups that well. You'll have to drill the pole piece holes bigger. The best place to get JM covers is Mojo.

[gishuk]

my tone pot came in the post today so i wired it all up, still dont have the pickup covers but couldnt resist trying it out so i taped the pickups the guard and plugged it in. sounds amazing, really really amazing im so impressed and happy/relieved that it is as good as i was hoping

setup still needs work of course, may need to take it to a tech for some nut work but not sure yet, when the covers come ill see if i can get it perfect without one.

keepin it ghetto

[chrisrnps]

That is looking fantastic.

I think that color (similarly odd red-in-direct-light-maroon-in-indirect-light to the Teisco I'm working on ATM) works really nicely with the guard and wood colors and would be tempted to keep it as-is, exposed primer chunks and all. I wonder if it would be possible / advisable to spray a layer or three of clear coat or some sort of sealer / topcoat to help keep the finish from flaking any more / add a little bit of shinyness and depth to the finish if you decide not to totally refin it.

[gishuk]

thanks man.

the colours really grown on me as well, when i first got the body i was sure id end up doing a refin but now im not so sure and i agree, it goes really well with the crazy tort and dark neck. im gonna play it for a while and see how it holds up in use. if im having to pick flakes of nitro paint off my clothes every time i play it the annoyance will soon outweigh me likeing the colour

[chrisrnps]

if im having to pick flakes of nitro paint off my clothes every time i play it the annoyance will soon outweigh me likeing the colour

Well there is that. I guess the guitar will let you know if it wants a refin.

[gishuk]

pickup covers came yesterday so i was able to finish everything up. was a proper mission to fit them though, the guard has shrunk so i had to file down the corners of the pickup covers to get them into the gap, even then theyre super tight.

i got the intonation set and a nice action, but when i try to use the trem it just goes madly out of tune within a few seconds. i adjusted it following this guide http://www.webrocker.de/jaguar/cms/2007 ... lo-system/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but it still does it. guess im going to need some more fiddling to get that properly working, but eveything else is great.

i know everyone likes pictures, so i actually made a bit of an effort to take some decent ones for once, enjoy.















heres the flaking trouble spot. hopefully it will stay to that area and not spread.




bloody colour looks different in every photo still, even in natural light i think the first photo is the closest to how it looks in person

[terminalvertigo]

that guard gives me wood.

[Mr.Ripely]

You should try some tele knobs a la jazzmaster prototype. They may look quite cool.

[MattK]

Awesome, completely jealous here.