NGD: CME Player Jazzmaster Sunburst

[sciuri]

Thanks for all the input! I'm GASing over a B&B neck at the moment... Has anyone ever seen a jazzmaster in sunburst with B&B + black headstock?

Here's a sloppy photo hack job.

[Shadoweclipse13]

Thanks for all the input! I'm GASing over a B&B neck at the moment... Has anyone ever seen a jazzmaster in sunburst with B&B + black headstock?

Here's a sloppy photo hack job.

That would be incredibly dead sexy.

[sciuri]

After checking reverb and eBay multiples times a day for the last year, I finally got a b&b neck! The TVL neck seemed like more of a sure thing than the Chinese necks on eBay or the Brio or Dillion necks, and Warmoth, Musikraft, etc are too expensive for my budget (was about to try PST guitars).

TVL vs Player neck:

• 7.25 vs 9.5 radius

• Rosewood (they’re back to rosewood now!) vs pau ferro (no issues with tone, look, or feel for me)

• C vs modern C neck profile

• Gloss vs satin neck

• White binding doesn’t match the aged white plastics though.

• Non-vintage block sizing still looks good to me.

My original plan was to paint the b&b neck’s headstock black. But the oxblood red finish on the TVL is gorgeous! It feels bad to paint over this thing. It has blacks, reds, and maybe some raspberry/violet hues.



I still have to swap the necks and try out the feel but I think I’ll like it. So, should I?…

• proceed with the plan to paint the headstock black to make a badass Sonic youth inspired JM

• keep the original neck, sell the TVL

• sand the TVL down and go with a natural finish

• do a mismatched body/neck

Thanks for any input!

[ryanthellama]

I don't know how the colors look in person, but in the photos the TVL headstock looks like it matches the pickguard very well, which is honestly kind of a cool look too, if you want to just leave the TVL as is.

[pscates]

I was going to say the exact same thing. To my surprise, that red TVL headstock looks like it pairs nicely with the pickguard. No, it isn't a standard look - Fender doesn't paint their headstocks to match pickguards - but this thing is already not a standard, traditional model (9.5" Pau Ferro fingerboard, modern tuners, no rhythm circuit, 4-way blade selector, etc.)...so who cares. IMO, all that gives you a license to do something a bit "out there" and unexpected.

Instead of opening up a stripping/re-painting can of worms, if it were me I believe I'd just stick the TVL neck on there and own/play something unique that nobody else is likely to have. But that's just me.

[ryanthellama]

No, it isn't a standard look - Fender doesn't paint their headstocks to match pickguards - but this thing is already not a standard, traditional model (9.5" Pau Ferro fingerboard, modern tuners, no rhythm circuit, 4-way blade selector, etc.)...so who cares.

The pink and blue CME Jazzmasters match headstock to pickguard, so honestly fits with the series this guitar is from too.

[pscates]

At first I was like "Fender has pick and blue headstocks matching pink and blue pickguards?!", but then did a bit of Googling...white headstocks on pink and blue Jazzmasters, matching the white pickguards. So, yeah...there you go. There's precedent, in a way. Only this would be maroon/tortoise (and not white).

Go for it!

Hey, take it a step farther...veener the headstock in a thin, matching bit of tortoiseshell? That's something you don't see every day, especially on a Fender. And since it is an actually Fender neck, you should have no qualms about going back on with a Fender Jazzmaster decal...you wouldn't be lying. You'd be in the clear, ethically (for those here who may actually care about such stuff).*

I think I'd be quite tempted to look into something like that, and then you've truly got something unique that nobody is going to have.




*I've seen a Fender logo/decal put on some goofy, questionable and/or "you ain't fooling anybody, why even bother?!" shit here over the years, that's all I'm saying.

[sciuri]

Interesting ideas… the dark lighting makes the oxblood look similar to tort, but it’s a pretty different color that changes with different lighting and angles. Here’s a super bright LED lamp photo…


I think I’m going to go for the black headstock and will post when it’s done! Yolo!

[jdr1014]

if you are unsure, you could always do a black vinyl headstock overlay....

[pscates]

Down the road you could always have the body repainted to match the gorgeous headstock. I doubt the world will miss another sunburst guitar.

[Sauerkraut]

Looks like you'll have to repaint the pickguard to match the headstock

[sciuri]

New refinished headstock day! Here is a before and after black headstock on a TVL neck courtesy Copacetic Customs…. I think it looks mean, in a good way! I'm keeping the old neck to swap out when I want a satin neck or to be less flashy. Thanks to Crox for a cool all-gold decal. Also swapped in a Staytrem bridge & collet and an AVRI trem. Thinking about P90s or WRHBs, since this is my #2 JM and it'd go with the vibe. I've been listing to Sonic Youth Goo all day.

First world problem — is there any consensus on pickup covers that are closer in color to AV65 witch hat knobs? A brief search didn’t come up with much. I could go back to the cream strat style knobs, or ideally I could find pickup covers closer in color to the knobs. That would also get it closer to the white binding and the white ply in the pickguard.

[andy_tchp]

First world problem — is there any consensus on pickup covers that are closer in color to AV65 witch hat knobs? A brief search didn’t come up with much. I could go back to the cream strat style knobs, or ideally I could find pickup covers closer in color to the knobs. That would also get it closer to the white binding and the white ply in the pickguard.

Mojotone pickup covers are white - and what I use.

[Stephen_42]

That looks beautiful, congratulations!

The black headstock is a lovely touch, and that neck is a textbook example of why I'll always argue that good pau ferro is superior to rosewood.

As for your pickguard dilemma... I'd say keep as is. The stock tortoise looks very nice to me, and I've really warmed to the Strat style knob since first seeing these. It gives it a slightly unique touch rather than being just another standard Jazzmaster.

[sciuri]

First world problem — is there any consensus on pickup covers that are closer in color to AV65 witch hat knobs? A brief search didn’t come up with much. I could go back to the cream strat style knobs, or ideally I could find pickup covers closer in color to the knobs. That would also get it closer to the white binding and the white ply in the pickguard.

Mojotone pickup covers are white - and what I use.

Thank you for the suggestion. Any ideas for something that would be between parchment and cream rather than straight white? Even the parchment plastics I have on other guitars seems whiter/brighter than the AV65 knobs. Thanks!