6 String Fender XII... need some help

[Amber]

For years I've wanted to build a lefty 6 string Fender XII. Something about the pick guard shape, the metal plate and simplicity along with the offset shape really does it for me.

I'm currently not sure if I want a JM/Jag style trem or a hardtail bridge. I'm thinking i'll get better use out of the former. Pickups I'm thinking a Bridge and Neck Lace sensor, hum buckers or JM pickups.

I'm a sucker for aesthetic subtleties and it seems like the bodies on the JM, Jag and XII are ever so slightly different. The Jag maybe looking closer to the XII in the top horn area.

Where can I get a body made for this without spending a ton of money? Does anywhere actually made a XII correct body? I'd likely need them to do the pick guard as well so anywhere that has templates for these things for me to modify slightly for different pickups would be ideal as well.

[Embenny]

I'd hit up Dan (Deed_Poll), he's making me a Marauder II body so he's no stranger to less-common Offset shapes. I'd be shocked if he was unwilling to tackle a lefty XII.

Why not use XII pickups, though? They work in 6-strings, like my recent Jaguar build

[sirspens]

Pickups I'm thinking a Bridge and Neck Lace sensor, hum buckers or JM pickups.

Those are very different pickups.

What kind of sound are you going for?

In general, I think I'd second the XII pickups, and possibly also suggest the G&L Z-Coils. Similar look, good punch but not as bright as JMs.

[Embenny]

Pickups I'm thinking a Bridge and Neck Lace sensor, hum buckers or JM pickups.

Those are very different pickups.

What kind of sound are you going for?

In general, I think I'd second the XII pickups, and possibly also suggest the G&L Z-Coils. Similar look, good punch but not as bright as JMs.

I did a Bullet Mustang with those, too!

The Z-coils are quieter (noise-wise), way higher output, and have both more bass and more treble than the Novak XII and XII-FAT. The Z-coils are perhaps my favourite pickup I have ever tried.

[Amber]

To be honest, I'm pretty open to sound right now. My main interest sonically is the JM/Jag tremolo and noiseless pickups. Most of what I do gets processed to hell and back anyway, but having some sort of neutral tone would be a good start.

I work as a composer so any noise in my work just doesn't fly.

I hit up Dan and see what he says!

[Embenny]

To be honest, I'm pretty open to sound right now. My main interest sonically is the JM/Jag tremolo and noiseless pickups. Most of what I do gets processed to hell and back anyway, but having some sort of neutral tone would be a good start.

I work as a composer so any noise in my work just doesn't fly.

I hit up Dan and see what he says!

If you get the XII pickups wound as RW/RP pairs like a P-bass, they're humcanceling. But the G&L z-coils look similar and have one of the lowest noise floors of any passive pickup I've ever used. Quieter than my TV Jones filtertrons.

Plus, I picked up mine from their online store, where they are blowing out sets of 3 for $99 (the regular price is $79 each, so $237 for a set). I bought them out of sheer curiosity, but totally fell in love with their tone. They have a very broadband tone, so they'd be ideal for a processed signal chain. It's easier to cut bass, mid, or treble but not as easy to add something that wasn't there in the first place.

For a lefty, they'd be "S" coils with the reverse curvature relative to the strings, but that's how G&L sells their left-handed Comanches and ASAT-Z's, and people seem to like how they sound in that orientation, too.

[sirspens]

Plus, I picked up mine from their online store, where they are blowing out sets of 3 for $99 (the regular price is $79 each, so $237 for a set). I bought them out of sheer curiosity, but totally fell in love with their tone.

Yeah. I bought a set the other day. I have absolutely no clue what I am going to do with them, but it was too good to pass up. Just because they changed from zinc to nickel finish? Geez!

[Embenny]

Plus, I picked up mine from their online store, where they are blowing out sets of 3 for $99 (the regular price is $79 each, so $237 for a set). I bought them out of sheer curiosity, but totally fell in love with their tone.

Yeah. I bought a set the other day. I have absolutely no clue what I am going to do with them, but it was too good to pass up. Just because they changed from zinc to nickel finish? Geez!

Nice. Anything with a swimming pool rout will be easiest, though a JM pickup rout should be big enough as well for neck/bridge. I like them so much that I plan to move them into the Jaguarillo I just traded for (which has a swimming pool), so that they're in a nicer guitar that I'm more inclined to pick up (the wide, flat 12" neck on the Bullet isn't to my taste).

It's pretty crazy that a change of plating on the polepieces would prompt a 60% discount, but I'm not complaining. These things sound amazing.

[Amber]

Okay, seems like Deed Poll is the way to go for Body/Pickguard/and plate.

What about the neck? Something about Warmoth's Jazzmaster necks looks off to me. Someone in the UK would be great if possible. I'm guessing if not Musikraft is the next best option?

[Embenny]

Okay, seems like Deed Poll is the way to go for Body/Pickguard/and plate.

What about the neck? Something about Warmoth's Jazzmaster necks looks off to me. Someone in the UK would be great if possible. I'm guessing if not Musikraft is the next best option?

Guitarbuild is your best bet for a British option. They cut paddlehead necks, but Dan might be willing to cut the headstock for you.

Musikraft necks are awesome if you want something truly custom. Warmoth necks are solid and are fine as long as you don't insist on something like Fender style block inlays (they can't do them). USACG is great quality if you are ok with the headstock shape. Allparts Jazzmaster necks are a great and afforable option if you like the standard specs. If you have a Fender neck you like (e.g. American Pro, Classic 60's Lacquer, Classic Player), you can always grab one off Stratosphere and not worry about finish. A MIM neck is also way cheaper than a custom neck plus finish job, and you get that "F" decal if that sort of thing both matters to you and you're not criminally inclined