Coral J-Style Build Complete
- Peckhammer
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:27 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
Coral J-Style Build Complete
I did a one-on-one build class with a student who recently graduated from a music program. He wanted to make a relicked Jazzmaster, so I sourced a MJT body, and JZRO AllParts neck. The relic approach is a good one if you are limited on finishing space, or if it's a first build. Mistakes such as dropping a screw driver on the body of the guitar don't ruin the day, and the end result looks cool.
I did the neck finishing and some of the color treatments related to the relic finishes. The neck color is a build of tinted shellac, and then 10 coats of clear nitrocellulose lacquer. Then it's polished to a high gloss. Well, most of it is. I like to preserve the wet sanded area where your hand holds the neck. It gives it a well-played feel and looks cool where the gloss ends and the mat finish begins. And the transition cannot be felt; it's all the same level so there is only a difference in smoothness.
Electronics:
Two volume controls (witch hats), master tone and bass rolloff (rollers)
Three way pickup selector switch
Upper bout switch is for parallel/series/ and kill switch
1 Meg audio pots for volumes, 1 meg audio mini tone pot, 1 meg mini reverse taper audio pot for bass roll off
Lollar P90 bridge and standard JM style neck pickups
Hardware:
Gotoh vintage locking tuners, nickle
Staytrem bridge
AVRI Tremolo
Pictures:
I did the neck finishing and some of the color treatments related to the relic finishes. The neck color is a build of tinted shellac, and then 10 coats of clear nitrocellulose lacquer. Then it's polished to a high gloss. Well, most of it is. I like to preserve the wet sanded area where your hand holds the neck. It gives it a well-played feel and looks cool where the gloss ends and the mat finish begins. And the transition cannot be felt; it's all the same level so there is only a difference in smoothness.
Electronics:
Two volume controls (witch hats), master tone and bass rolloff (rollers)
Three way pickup selector switch
Upper bout switch is for parallel/series/ and kill switch
1 Meg audio pots for volumes, 1 meg audio mini tone pot, 1 meg mini reverse taper audio pot for bass roll off
Lollar P90 bridge and standard JM style neck pickups
Hardware:
Gotoh vintage locking tuners, nickle
Staytrem bridge
AVRI Tremolo
Pictures:
- kosta
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 206
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- Location: New York
Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
Beauty! I have that same wiring set-up in one of mine and love it to death.
- CROSS_guitars
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Location: Thornbury Melbourne
Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
Very nice colour.
- Peckhammer
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:27 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
Yeah, that wiring scheme is awesome. It gives the guitar an infinite range of tones. The bass roll off is especially useful in this guitar to dial back the boominess of the P90. Having a volume control for each pickup also helps finding a good balance for the pickups.kosta wrote:Beauty! I have that same wiring set-up in one of mine and love it to death.
I personally would have put the P90 in the bridge position because I love the sound of a Lollar JM neck pickup. I am not fond most JM bridge pickups. A P90 At the bridge gives a fuller sound and is great for playing ripping solos, IMO. Still, that Coral J-Style sounds great, especially with the switch in the middle position.
- sirspens
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Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
Very nice!
- sporeleki
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
very very nice
- preservation
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
AMAZING.
i tend to almost always prefer matching headstocks on offsets but that just looks perfect.
so Mark Jenny didn't do the finish ? that's an amazing coral variant...
i tend to almost always prefer matching headstocks on offsets but that just looks perfect.
so Mark Jenny didn't do the finish ? that's an amazing coral variant...
- Peckhammer
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:27 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
Mark did the finish on the body. MJT auctions bodies on eBay, and if you are patient you can snag one at a reasonable price ($207 for this one).preservation wrote:AMAZING.
i tend to almost always prefer matching headstocks on offsets but that just looks perfect.
so Mark Jenny didn't do the finish ? that's an amazing coral variant...
I did the finish on the neck, and the aging/coloring on the pickguard, knobs, and some hardware.
- preservation
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Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
please tell me what kind of tinted lacquer you used for the neck.
i absolutely have to copy that for a Strat i'm doing. looks SO MUCH better than Fender's
super-pale maple.
i absolutely have to copy that for a Strat i'm doing. looks SO MUCH better than Fender's
super-pale maple.
- tvrf
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
Lovely build, nice work. I've been thinking about building a coral with tort guard for a while.
- Peckhammer
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2016 12:27 pm
- Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
I did not use tinted lacquer. I applied blond shellac as a seal coat, and then subsequent coats of tinted shellac. The tints used were a combination of Color Tone liquid stains from Stew Mac. Vintage amber and medium brown, and a tiny bit of red. You slowly build layers of the tinted shellac and when you are satisfied with the color, you then spray with clear Behlen Stringed Instrument Lacquer.preservation wrote:please tell me what kind of tinted lacquer you used for the neck.
i absolutely have to copy that for a Strat i'm doing. looks SO MUCH better than Fender's
super-pale maple.
I have also used shellac without the lacquer. Shellac is an amazing, non-toxic finish that is easy to apply. It is time consuming, but the results are great. I buy the flakes, and mix batches as I need them. The only caveat is that alcohol will take a shellac-only finish off in an instant. If you drink whisky while you play, you'd be better with a lacquer top coat.
- drmw93
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 12:37 am
Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
great work and very nice resolution/angles on the photos!
- sporeleki
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: Coral J-Style Build Complete
I have also used shellac without the lacquer. Shellac is an amazing, non-toxic finish that is easy to apply. It is time consuming, but the results are great. I buy the flakes, and mix batches as I need them. The only caveat is that alcohol will take a shellac-only finish off in an instant. If you drink whisky while you play, you'd be better with a lacquer top coat.
I have been mixing up my own shellac for the last 8 year, great non-toxic easy to apply undercoat. I still like to top coat with laquer still.
BTW - Very very Nice work