FINISHED (ALMOST): My first project - jagmaster body

[AliGlenUig]

Hello all,

New here, first post, yada yada. I'm Ali, from Scotland and I'm predominantly a tele player (my main squeeze is a heavily upgraded MIM tele with better hardware, pickups from The Creamery and baja style wiring, FYI).

However, I've always fancied an offset guitar and I've also always fancied trying to put a project together myself, so it seemed logical to try and achieve both of these things simultaneously. I've never done anything even remotely like this before - a the upgrades on my tele were carried out by a luthier and whilst I can use a soldering iron, I've never had the balls to try and wire a guitar, so I'm probably going to need a lot of advice along the way. This seemed like the place to come to.

I've just picked up this squier jagmaster body from a lovely chap called Rob who is, I believe, on this forum somewhere. I know the following: the scale length is 25.5", the neck pocket is one of the slightly wider 57mm ones which means ideally a neck with 57mm heel, and the holes for the trem are cut to fit the narrower 'import' style strat trem (10.5mm between hole centres).

[img=http://s16.postimg.org/525z1ll6p/145606 ... 144120.jpg]

I had briefly thought about plugging and routing for a jazzmaster trem but I think that may be a bit ambitious for a first build and also a bit of a 'mare to set up compared to the relative simplicity of a strat trem.

Options are open but I want to try and keep costs down as I'm generally a bit broke and I may well fuck this up.

I'm considering trying to find a cheap squier strat with the right bridge and heel sizes and cannibalising it for parts, the alternative being to spend quite a lot more on, probably higher quality, aftermarket parts (this is still an option though as this is going to be an ongoing project picking up parts as and when I can afford to).

I'm seeing it with a rosewood fingerboard and sticking a p90 in the neck and a splittable humbucker in the bridge (my tele is s/s and I'd like some variety). I'm hoping the 'bathtub' chamber routing will make this fairly easy to do (I have a guy who can cut a custom pick guard).

Any thoughts on options for the neck and bridge?
Also, any thoughts on wiring? (this is obviously a long way off at this stage but would be good to have an idea of where I'm going with this, at this stage I'm thinking just a push pull pot for coil splitting the bridge humbucker, rather than bothering with adding a separate switch).
General thoughts, impressions and opinions?

[AliGlenUig]

Oh, also, do we think the bridge bucker and neck 90 is a good call? Should they perhaps be in opposite places? I know some people are very adamant about putting a singlecoil in the bridge and a humbucker in the neck - it's not something I have much experience of though.

[HH1978]

Welcome on board

Nice project. I don't think Squier necks heels are 57mm wide. You will probably have to either look at other manufacturers (Stagg necks are 57mm but they are total crap and have horrible headstock) or invest in an aftermarket neck like this :

http://www.partscaster.co.uk/collection ... ratocaster

Remember that a bad neck makes a bad guitar, so If it were mine, I'd certainly invest more on the neck than on any other part.

That said, you could also fit a 56mm neck. It wouldn't be as good from an aesthetical point of view, but it would work.

Regarding the bridge/trem, I tend to hate strat trems, so I would say if you feel comfortable at filling the existing route and put a JM trem, go for it. Dont forget You'll have to add timbles for the bridge so you have to make sure the wood is solid at that location. I don't think a JM's trem is more difficult to set up than a strat's, and it stays in tune much better. You would also get those nice harmonics from string lenght behind the bridge. The bridge can be tricky though. I guess you don't want to invest in a Staytrem, and if your neck hasn't a 7"25 radius, the Mustang bridge option is off. I don't have any problem with JM bridge myself, but I see too much people complaint about it to dare recommend it.

I did mix a neck single coil (JM) and a bridge PAF on a tele/JM hybrid I build. You have to be aware that you won't get a total hum cancellation when engaging both pickups. I don't personnaly think that's an issue though.
On my build, I found the neck and bridge series tone to be more interesting than the parallel tone (a bit weak and dull), so I would add that option, either with a 4-way switch or a DPDT. Series + out of phase can be a nice plus, especially with a muddy fuzz pedal, but that would make one more DPDT, and it's not the sound you'll be using every day.

I didn't try an humbucker neck with a bridge single coil, so I can't tell...

All personnal opinions, but I hope this helps...

[AliGlenUig]

Some great insights, thank you!
That is literally the exact same aftermarket neck I was looking at as an option, hadn't realised that it would be a problem to find a squier with the right heel size. I could pack a 56mm one but I'd like it to look the business so maybe just pull the trigger on a new neck. Only thought - dyou think the smaller strat size headstock will look out of place?

The bridge was always going to be the stumbling point here I think. I'm really not sure I'm comfortable plugging and re-routing but maybe I should just bite the bullet. It just seems like a big undertaking when I'm such a newbie. I don't mind the look of the strat bridge, but if tuning stability is gonna be an issue then that might be a genuine concern.

Pickups: not worried about hum cancellation, used to hum from my tele. I also have phase and series options on my tele which are good fun, but I think I want to keep things a little simpler here. Still undecided on pickup placement, curious for further opinions there.

[HH1978]

I put a strat's neck on one of my jazzmaster, it looks great to me. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow.

Regarding the strat trem, a lot of people use Strats and manage to keep them in tune, but I always have issues due to the fact I play mostly in (a wide variety of) open tunings, and any tuning change on one string tends to impact the other strings around, so it take times to get it right. Also, the JM/Jag trem is much more subtle, which I like.

[s_mcsleazy]

greetings from EK.

jagmasters are my area. do you know if it is a vista body or not. if it's a vista body, it will need a shortscale neck. if it's not a vista, you can stick a strat neck on one. i noticed from the pictures you dont have a pickguard. quick word of warning. jagmaster pickguards are very hard to come by in stock form so good luck. here is my full scale jagmaster.

[AliGlenUig]

Yo!
I picked this up from someone who also just bought it as a body, so don't know what model it originally came off of, but the fella who sold me it measured it against some of his other guitars and was sure it's full scale 25.5", hence my intention to stick a strat neck in.

Not bothered about a stock pickguard cause I'm still not sure what pups I'm putting in but it almost certainly won't be H/H like the standard issue, so getting a plate cut was always part of the plan. That said, is that a stock plate on yours? I wonder if you'd be up for tracing the outline for me if so?

[s_mcsleazy]

Yo!
I picked this up from someone who also just bought it as a body, so don't know what model it originally came off of, but the fella who sold me it measured it against some of his other guitars and was sure it's full scale 25.5", hence my intention to stick a strat neck in.

Not bothered about a stock pickguard cause I'm still not sure what pups I'm putting in but it almost certainly won't be H/H like the standard issue, so getting a plate cut was always part of the plan. That said, is that a stock plate on yours? I wonder if you'd be up for tracing the outline for me if so?

normally i would but the guard on mine is actually melted in parts and hacked up in others. the irony is between 2 guitars, i have the making of a intact jagmaster guard.

[AliGlenUig]

Ah no worries man, I can probably find a template somewhere or if not just make one.

[HH1978]

I just noticed by looking at the picture of your body that the pickups route comes very close to where the strings come through the body. The bridge timbles would probably end up in that route if you try to put a JM bridge, so I would double check measurements before attempting to plug anything.

[AliGlenUig]

I just noticed by looking at the picture of your body that the pickups route comes very close to where the strings come through the body. The bridge timbles would probably end up in that route if you try to put a JM bridge, so I would double check measurements before attempting to plug anything.

Yeah I think you're right, and to be honest I really don't think I'm up for rerouting - happy enough with a strat trem on this one, reckon if I graduate to building my own body that's when I'll get into JM trem territory.

Stay tuned over what's likely to be a pretty long time gap while I collect parts and do more planning.

[mackerelmint]

FWIW, I think the p90 in the neck and HB bridge combo is tough to beat. The mid position with that configuration gives one of the nicest cleans I've ever heard. It's just a very versatile match-up in general. G&L fallout models have that, with the coil tap on the bridge. That would be a good place to start researching and getting an idea of what you think of that sound.

[AliGlenUig]

Can't quite believe it's been so long since my original post but logged back in to talk about a new build and thought I should post some quick pics.

Drew my own pick guard shape which I like a lot but needs the extra screw hole plugged or (more likely) a bad-ass sticker over it.

Believe it or not I've still not completed this one, still some setup to do and a headstock decal to apply but it's almost there. Pickguard is a bit rough, I cut it myself with a Dremel, please be kind!