Pickguard upgrade for Jazzmaster HH

[chrissthejazz]

Hello OSG,

I own a Mexican-made Jazzmaster HH, and although I love it, I would like to replace its bare-bones pickguard with a more traditional Jazzmaster pickguard--you know, the one with the rhythm/lead circuit switches north of the pickups. I remember reading that caution is advised when putting a new pickguard on a non-American JM, since the screw holes may not match up or something like that. Does anyone have thoughts on this?

I am thinking of upgrading the pickguard to something like the Fender Vintage 65 pickguard, to go with some new Vintage 65 pickups (see links below). If I were to buy these parts, could I rest assured that they would fit on the HH?

Thanks all,

Chris

Vintage 65 pickguard: https://shop.fender.com/en-US/parts/pic ... t=&start=1

Vintage 65 pickups: https://shop.fender.com/en-US/accessori ... 39000.html

[tammyw]

If it's one of the new Player series, or the previous Standard series guitars, I think the pickguard mounting holes will match up correctly. However you would need to do some woodwork to get the pickups to fit and make a space for the rhythm controls.

Here's a Player series Jazzmaster I routed for such last week (the Standard model was the same pattern). The raw wood areas are where I routed it for the new pickups to line up with the pickguard, and there was no upper control cavity at all to begin with. It also needs some wood blocks added in the original humbucker cavities so the wood is high enough for the pickup mounting screws to dig into.


This what they look like to begin with

[chrissthejazz]

Thanks! Glad to hear you think the pickguard screws should line up. Did you use a hand router for the modifications you made to the body? Also, any tips about securing wood blocking into the body to raise up a set of vintage pickups? Is wood glue OK? I wonder if wood glue could affect resonance/sound in the body?

I would love to hear more about the specifics of your project (what kind of pickups you're putting in, etc.) and if you've been happy with the results.

[timtam]

You could also go with longer M3 pickup screws (with springs) into M3 rivet nuts or PCB standoffs in the bottom of the deeper, humbucker routes. And just foam to position the JM pickups.

[601210]

I wonder if wood glue could affect resonance/sound in the body?

If you think about it almost all guitar bodies are at least 2, maybe even more pieces glued together. As long as you have a good surface on both sides and ensure a proper join it shouldn't be an issue.