Thinline Jazzmaster Build (update: IT'S DONE!)

[rbrcbr]

Thanks guys. I just hope I can make it play and sound as good as it looks.

[Birdman14]

Looking fantastic! I love the black Mastery. Only part i question is the white JM covers. Why not continue the color scheme and go with black covers?

[rbrcbr]

Looking fantastic! I love the black Mastery. Only part i question is the white JM covers. Why not continue the color scheme and go with black covers?

Thanks! Pretty pumped to have scored the black Mastery on the first run they did.

Eh, I'm not a fan of black pickup covers in general. I think maybe they remind me too much of metal guitars, or something in that realm of aesthetics. Metal guitars -> cheesy in my head. I don't know, it's a weird association to have. It honestly probably would have worked with this build, maybe I'll try some in the future.

It's mostly that I like the stark contrast, how it continues the pattern of the block inlays going into the body, as well as an extension of the BWB pickguard. I think there have been a couple times where I liked black pickup covers, but it's pretty rare. Just something about them that doesn't sit right visually with me.

[rbrcbr]

So, I dropped off the parts with one of the better Luthiers in Atlanta, Jeff Rice. I've got multiple friends who are professional musicians who swear by his work, so I'm excited to get it back and take it for a spin.

The only issue right now is, he calls me slightly worried, saying the tuner holes were a bit too small for the bushings and that we had a problem (I ordered some Gotohs from stewmac as the Fender Pure Vintage set I got were all kinds of messed up). I was aware of this and figured he'd have to widen them a bit, not sure why Musikraft didn't drill them correctly, but I didn't get the neck once it was made, it was sent straight to MJT so I never got to inspect it. He said he had to take a reamer to the tuner holes and immediately the finish started to flake/chip off right around the tuner holes. He even tried to apply some lacquer around the tuner holes to soften the finish so it wouldn't crack, which I guess didn't seem to work. He called me to see if I wanted him to continue or strip the headstock because it'll look bad if we proceed. He was also worried about drilling the string tree hole once this happened. The matching headstock cost an extra $125 and at this point I'd have to pay more to have that fixed. So I passed. It doesn't bother me too much, but I've yet to see it in person. It's still a bummer. Early battle scars I guess. Here's a photo I asked him to send me:



Has anyone else had issues with MJTs paint just flaking off? I've got an MJT finished tele body which scratches easily, and some of the drilled pickguard holes have hairline finish cracks coming from them, but I haven't had this flaking happen yet. Any advice from you all? I've considered contacting MJT about this, but I'm not sure there's anything that can be done at this point other than a refinish or a touch up (which would still be noticeable), or covering it with stickers or some decorative stuff.

[elektrovac]

So, I dropped off the parts with one of the better Luthiers in Atlanta, Jeff Rice. I've got multiple friends who are professional musicians who swear by his work, so I'm excited to get it back and take it for a spin.

The only issue right now is, he calls me slightly worried, saying the tuner holes were a bit too small for the bushings and that we had a problem (I ordered some Gotohs from stewmac as the Fender Pure Vintage set I got were all kinds of messed up). I was aware of this and figured he'd have to widen them a bit, not sure why Musikraft didn't drill them correctly, but I didn't get the neck once it was made, it was sent straight to MJT so I never got to inspect it. He said he had to take a reamer to the tuner holes and immediately the finish started to flake/chip off right around the tuner holes. He even tried to apply some lacquer around the tuner holes to soften the finish so it wouldn't crack, which I guess didn't seem to work. He called me to see if I wanted him to continue or strip the headstock because it'll look bad if we proceed. He was also worried about drilling the string tree hole once this happened. The matching headstock cost an extra $125 and at this point I'd have to pay more to have that fixed. So I passed. It doesn't bother me too much, but I've yet to see it in person. It's still a bummer. Early battle scars I guess. Here's a photo I asked him to send me:



Has anyone else had issues with MJTs paint just flaking off? I've got an MJT finished tele body which scratches easily, and some of the drilled pickguard holes have hairline finish cracks coming from them, but I haven't had this flaking happen yet. Any advice from you all? I've considered contacting MJT about this, but I'm not sure there's anything that can be done at this point other than a refinish or a touch up (which would still be noticeable), or covering it with stickers or some decorative stuff.

First: Gorgeous project. Beautiful!

Back when I started doing guitar builds, I got adviced to heat the tuner bushings with a soldering iron before mounting them (same thing with tele string ferules etc.). The heat melts the finish around the holes and prevents it from chipping. Works like a charm. It seems your luthier did not know of this great little trick, sadly. But anyway, I think he must take some reponsability to the mishap. If it was clear to him, the holes were too small for the bushings, he should not have started knocking them in there, without enlarging the holes first.

[rbrcbr]

First: Gorgeous project. Beautiful!

Back when I started doing guitar builds, I got adviced to heat the tuner bushings with a soldering iron before mounting them (same thing with tele string ferules etc.). The heat melts the finish around the holes and prevents it from chipping. Works like a charm. It seems your luthier did not know of this great little trick, sadly. But anyway, I think he must take some reponsability to the mishap. If it was clear to him, the holes were too small for the bushings, he should not have started knocking them in there, without enlarging the holes first.

Thanks! I appreciate the advice. I think it was obvious that they were too small. I'm thinking he did not just try to knock them in there, as he was taking a reamer to them to widen the holes since they wouldn't fit. I think widening the tuner holes caused some stress on the edges of the finish around the holes, and that's maybe why they chipped. Maybe he'll knock some money off the top of the charge, it's definitely disappointing and I wish it could have been avoided entirely.

[rbrcbr]

It's done!


Picked it up earlier this past week and loving it! That Chunky C neck profile from Musikraft is so comfortable. This thing plays beautifully and sounds fantastic with the Novak pickups. They're definitely brighter than I was expecting, so I might eventually swap the pots for 500k's (the tone knob is works fine for now).

Acoustically it is pretty loud, and with this current set up, it's damn loud when plugged in. The Mastery trem is super smooth, the guitar holds tune perfectly, I don't have much else to say other than I'm absolutely pleased with how it turned out.

I did the math and after assembly/set up costs, the project in total ran me close to $2200 (much more than I thought or even planned on spending). It sure feels like it though.

Let me know if you have any questions! I'll try to take more photos and make a video and post it sometime soon!

[bacca51]

Looks amazing! I love when the white pickup covers really stand out on a JM. This color combo is awesome, the whole guitar looks very modern.

[Smorgy]

just beautiful, love it

[soggy mittens]

beautiful

guitar strap is a sweet match as well

[kosta]

Outstanding!

[Birdman14]

I take it back, your Black on White idea w/ the covers works. It works so well.

[rbrcbr]

Thanks everyone. I'll try to get that video done sometime this week! Just had the high e snap on me randomly, at the ball end (I thought people didn't have this problem with the Mastery? Never happened with my TVL JM, weird). The whole thing is out of tune now and has me wishing that Woody included a lock button on the trem. Oh well, just gonna have to pick up a couple of spares.

[rbrcbr]

Looks amazing! I love when the white pickup covers really stand out on a JM. This color combo is awesome, the whole guitar looks very modern.

Thanks! The color scheme worked out exactly as I was hoping, so I'm super excited.

I take it back, your Black on White idea w/ the covers works. It works so well.

Hahaha, cheers. Glad to hear you're digging it now.

[soggy mittens]

Thanks everyone. I'll try to get that video done sometime this week! Just had the high e snap on me randomly, at the ball end (I thought people didn't have this problem with the Mastery? Never happened with my TVL JM, weird). The whole thing is out of tune now and has me wishing that Woody included a lock button on the trem. Oh well, just gonna have to pick up a couple of spares.

some reading....

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... =7&t=64368