My first project! now with 30% more pics! and done!

[aquietdisaster]

after two decades of playing and doing my own mods, setups, and maintenance, i'm finally building a guitar.  as some of you know, i was buying an avri jazzmaster, but thanks to my bank repeatedly screwing me i had to put it off.  then, all of the sudden i noticed berlinbetty had a sunburst cij jazzmaster body for sale.  then it hit me - time to build!
it's not going to be anything crazy, just a jazzmaster tweaked how i like it.  this is what i've got so far:

- sunburst cij jazzmaster body, fully loaded with tort guard
- curtis novak pickups, a jm-v for the neck and a jm-90 for the bridge
- 500k switchcraft pots for the lead circuit (may do one 500k and one 1meg, not sure yet)
- avri aged white pickup covers
- avri shielding pans and aluminum pickguard shield
- aged white knobs, trem tip, and toggle switch tip
- cloth wire for the whole jammy
- some free mojo from berlinbetty!

i'm currently bidding on an avri neck on ebay, and if i don't win it there's a few cij necks that i can pick up (really want the avri though for the nitro finish!)  i'm also contemplating a refin on the body in black nitro, but i haven't made up my mind about that one.  never done any refinishing before and honestly i'm kinda intimidated by the whole thing.  plus the body is already finished in sunburst!  i'd hate to ruin a beautiful thing!

anyway, as i work on it i'll post pics.  wish me luck!


-brian-

[aquietdisaster]

got a question before i end up with a neck i can't use; will avri necks fit cij bodies without a lot of hassle?  i don't mind a little sanding, but i don't want to redrill any holes.  i'd rather buy a cij neck if that is the case.  thanks guys!


-brian-

[berlinbetty]

  I'm happy to see that body going to someone as enthusiastic about it as you seem to be.  I was actually thinking about refinishing it in black myself.  It's a good candidate for a refin, with the mismatched wood and all, but it's not a bad looking guitar as is.  I can't wait to see what you do with it... 

  I can't answer your question about how the neck will fit, but I think I remember people have had issues with not being able to fit the shielding tub in the CIJ body.

  Does anyone else have any experience with this?

[k o y l]

  I can't answer your question about how the neck will fit, but I think I remember people have had issues with not being able to fit the shielding tub in the CIJ body.

I heard that too... Why not ask kZhivago ?  He apparently put a tub in his CIJ Jazzmaster ...

got a question before i end up with a neck i can't use; will avri necks fit cij bodies without a lot of hassle?  i don't mind a little sanding, but i don't want to redrill any holes.  i'd rather buy a cij neck if that is the case.  thanks guys!


-brian-

I don't think you'll have to re-drill holes.
I mean All parts neck are licensed by Fender and I never heard anyone telling they can't fit in AVRI or MIJ guitars.

About the neck, if you don't win that AVRI neck, I think you'll be fine with a CIJ neck if you sand the nack a bit to remove the gloss. I did that to my CIJ neck and now it's "super silky".
Zhivago wanted to refin his CIJ neck with in nitro, I suggested him to try just sanding it and, if I read his thread well, that's what he did and he seems satisfied with it.

[fullerplast]

Allparts necks are not pre-drilled, so that won't be an issue.

AFAIK, the pockets themselves are slightly different in width due to the CIJ being metric. The necks fit but are very tight, IIRC.

[k o y l]

Allparts necks are not pre-drilled, so that won't be an issue.

ahh...Oups    Sorry ! 

[zhivago]

regarding the vintage-style shielding tub...I managed to put on in my CIJ...but I had to REALLY squeeze it in (whereas it just drops in in vintage bodies)

as far as the CIJ neck goes, I sanded mine down with a couple of different grades of sandpaper and now it feels excellent

[aquietdisaster]

thanks for the tips on the neck.  the one that i bid on is an actual avri, not an allparts, but i think the guy wants too much for it and i'm not willing to pay that much for nitro.  i found a couple of cij necks in an ebay store with a b.i.n. of $300 (with tuners installed) so i think i may go that route and just sand it.

as far as the tub goes, i'm glad to hear you were able to get yours in zhivago.  i was thinking i could hit the route with my dremel a bit if worse comes to worse.  hopefully i'll be able to squeeze it in.  still undecided about the body refin, i guess i'll wait to see the body irl first.

do you guys think it's worth the extra $$$ to replace the cij trem with an avri?  the trem on my cij i have now suites me fine, but i really want this guitar to be something special so give me ya'lls opinions!

thanks for all the help!


-brian-

[aquietdisaster]

alright, got the neck issue dealt with!  did a b.i.n. for a cij neck with tuners installed.  now i just have to wait for everything to make it's way to me...

by the middle of next week i should have everything and almost be finished assembling.  woohoo!!!

and since bill at reranch is out of town and reranch is shut down until november 5th or 6th i still have plenty of time to deal with the refin decision.


-brian-

[Santiago!]

good luck with the project!!! have you already decided which colour would you paint it???
c'yaa

[aquietdisaster]

black!  even though there seems to be a lot of black refins going on around here, it just looks so good.   and since this would be my first refin experience, i figure black would be easiest.  going to go for the thinskin approach as well.  i want it to age nicely (and quickly), not reliced, just very broken in!   maybe a couple years down the road even end up looking like nels' jazzmaster.

and if this goes well, the sky is the limit on the next project!


-brian-

[Santiago!]

i think i getting black fever too! i didn't even startet with my jazzmaster and i'm thinking the colour! thinskin is a perfect fot what you want! so, when we will see pictures ?

[aquietdisaster]

i won't have all the parts until mid-week next week, and reranch is closed until the 6th or so.  i'm going to go ahead and put everything together when i get all the parts, so the first pics will be next week!  refin pics won't be until mid november most likely.


-brian-

[Santiago!]

iuuupiiiii!!  see you next week!

[aquietdisaster]

just got home from work and my first package of parts was waiting for me!  nothing to exciting, unfortunately, just the stuff i ordered from angela.com.  brass tub and upper control shield, the shielding plate that goes under the pickguard (i'm shielding the shit out of this mofo!), and the aged white avri pickup covers.  so much more to go!


-brian-