Building a Warmoth Jazzmaster
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 7:33 am
Hi all,
I recently added up the numbers, and after lusting after vintage JMs on Reverb that I'll never get, and being disappointed playing AVRI's, I decided to build my own Jazzmaster with a Warmoth body and neck. I know these aren't vintage correct, but I'm hoping it gets me towards what I'm after. Among my stable of guitars, I have a Squier VM Jazzmaster already, and it's not bad, but that basswood body is super heavy. The Squier's electronics seem to be going already, too. (The SD JM pickups, on the other hand, I really like.) After adding up the numbers, it looked like the Warmoth body + neck was the cheapest option if I did the finishes myself. (Guitarmill would've been a better deal if I wanted them to finish it, I think. And now that I'm deciding how to finish it, I wish I had thought more about going that direction.)
I snagged a super lightweight (3lbs 11oz) one-piece Swamp Ash JM body off Warmoth's showcase and added a strat route to the middle, thinking that it will get me even a little lighter. But then I realized I could put a pickup there. Still haven't decided on that -- maybe a strat-sized Novak Lipstick, but I'll have to think about switching. I ordered a tortoise guard to go with it.
I particularly love how the grain changes around the elbow contour!
The neck is a custom Warmoth Pro Construction, with roasted maple and rosewood. I don't like gloss guitar finishes, and I've had a few oil finished necks, so I figured that I'd like raw wood even better. If I don't end up liking the roasted maple, I can get it sprayed with a light coat of satin clear, I bet. The roasted maple has a darker color than other maple, which is nice. And I'm told it smells like maple syrup -- so we'll have to see if that is true when it comes. Pretty basic specs on the neck: 6105 frets, 1-11/16" nut width, GraphTech TUSQ nut. Vintage-style Gotoh tuners.
Current plan for hardware is Novak JM-V neck, JM-FAT bridge, a Mastery bridge, and an AVRI vibrato. I'm starting with the traditional switching/wiring. I've got a wiring kit on the way with cloth-covered wire, CTS pots, a Switchcraft jack, and orange drop caps.
As far as the finish, as I mentioned, I really don't like gloss finishes. They feel like plastic and I just don't like them. I've got a semihollow Telemaster that I'm finishing up right now (Padouk top with an f-hole on a heavily-internally-routed Alder body) that I'm putting a Tung oil finish on, and I like that. But since the Warmoth body is Swamp Ash (albeit with a nice grain, if I do say so), I didn't want just a clearcoat or stained finish. (Not a fan of the dark brown stain finish that so many Fenders got in the 70's..). The grain is too nice to cover up with an opaque color, in my opinion.
So I decided to attempt a sunburst on it, with the contingency plan to cover it in a solid color finish. After doing research, I settled on Wudtone, which doesn't seem to be that popular outside of the UK and has both good and bad reviews, but the video made it look rather easy and similar to the way I apply a tung oil finish. I've ordered a sunburst kit with their Goldenrod and Mahogany, along with a body finish kit with full black (for the edges, but again, I could stain it all black if the burst doesn't work.) So we'll see how that goes. To help offset some of my anxiety about pulling off a perfect sunburst on the first try, I went online and found a place selling a stack of 1/8" thick swamp ash boards. I'm going to sand those down to a smooth finish and practice the burst edge on them one or two times before trying it on the guitar body. (Here's a shot of a Wudtone sunburst: http://www.wudtone.com/australia/wp-con ... 5x1024.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )
I learned a ton from reading http://mmguitarbar.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; 's blog, http://jimshine.com/jazzmaster/intricac" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... jazzma.htm , and lurking in threads here, so I just wanted to thank everyone for creating this resource. I'll try to document the build process as parts arrive, but I'm about to go on work travel for a week so there will be no progress until I get back.
I recently added up the numbers, and after lusting after vintage JMs on Reverb that I'll never get, and being disappointed playing AVRI's, I decided to build my own Jazzmaster with a Warmoth body and neck. I know these aren't vintage correct, but I'm hoping it gets me towards what I'm after. Among my stable of guitars, I have a Squier VM Jazzmaster already, and it's not bad, but that basswood body is super heavy. The Squier's electronics seem to be going already, too. (The SD JM pickups, on the other hand, I really like.) After adding up the numbers, it looked like the Warmoth body + neck was the cheapest option if I did the finishes myself. (Guitarmill would've been a better deal if I wanted them to finish it, I think. And now that I'm deciding how to finish it, I wish I had thought more about going that direction.)
I snagged a super lightweight (3lbs 11oz) one-piece Swamp Ash JM body off Warmoth's showcase and added a strat route to the middle, thinking that it will get me even a little lighter. But then I realized I could put a pickup there. Still haven't decided on that -- maybe a strat-sized Novak Lipstick, but I'll have to think about switching. I ordered a tortoise guard to go with it.
I particularly love how the grain changes around the elbow contour!
The neck is a custom Warmoth Pro Construction, with roasted maple and rosewood. I don't like gloss guitar finishes, and I've had a few oil finished necks, so I figured that I'd like raw wood even better. If I don't end up liking the roasted maple, I can get it sprayed with a light coat of satin clear, I bet. The roasted maple has a darker color than other maple, which is nice. And I'm told it smells like maple syrup -- so we'll have to see if that is true when it comes. Pretty basic specs on the neck: 6105 frets, 1-11/16" nut width, GraphTech TUSQ nut. Vintage-style Gotoh tuners.
Current plan for hardware is Novak JM-V neck, JM-FAT bridge, a Mastery bridge, and an AVRI vibrato. I'm starting with the traditional switching/wiring. I've got a wiring kit on the way with cloth-covered wire, CTS pots, a Switchcraft jack, and orange drop caps.
As far as the finish, as I mentioned, I really don't like gloss finishes. They feel like plastic and I just don't like them. I've got a semihollow Telemaster that I'm finishing up right now (Padouk top with an f-hole on a heavily-internally-routed Alder body) that I'm putting a Tung oil finish on, and I like that. But since the Warmoth body is Swamp Ash (albeit with a nice grain, if I do say so), I didn't want just a clearcoat or stained finish. (Not a fan of the dark brown stain finish that so many Fenders got in the 70's..). The grain is too nice to cover up with an opaque color, in my opinion.
So I decided to attempt a sunburst on it, with the contingency plan to cover it in a solid color finish. After doing research, I settled on Wudtone, which doesn't seem to be that popular outside of the UK and has both good and bad reviews, but the video made it look rather easy and similar to the way I apply a tung oil finish. I've ordered a sunburst kit with their Goldenrod and Mahogany, along with a body finish kit with full black (for the edges, but again, I could stain it all black if the burst doesn't work.) So we'll see how that goes. To help offset some of my anxiety about pulling off a perfect sunburst on the first try, I went online and found a place selling a stack of 1/8" thick swamp ash boards. I'm going to sand those down to a smooth finish and practice the burst edge on them one or two times before trying it on the guitar body. (Here's a shot of a Wudtone sunburst: http://www.wudtone.com/australia/wp-con ... 5x1024.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; )
I learned a ton from reading http://mmguitarbar.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; 's blog, http://jimshine.com/jazzmaster/intricac" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... jazzma.htm , and lurking in threads here, so I just wanted to thank everyone for creating this resource. I'll try to document the build process as parts arrive, but I'm about to go on work travel for a week so there will be no progress until I get back.