Jazzmaster Recs

[hotsawce]

Do you know if the tuners are speced to match kluson tuners drill pattern?

I basically wanted an american ultra jazzmaster without paying 2 grand. I think thats going to be this CV jazzmaster and an aftermarket neck (I'm told musikraft necks are better than anything out of the american shop anyway.) $400 for the guitar, $400 for an incredible neck, maybe 70 dollars for the AVRI trem... based on what I payed of the mexican models and a couple of american strats...much better playing for under a grand.

[Mondaysoutar]

I dont think you would gain anything from changing the cv tuners, theyre really good. I also think people who like tele knobs should be in jail, so i couldnt help you with that either.

Hahahaa, on a Tele they’re alright but aye not my thing on a JM either man. I like a witch hat, Strat knobs, I’ve even seen some of those Jag hexagonish shaped ones I didn’t hate.

[EDS]

I went with an olympic white JM from CME. The late 50s was tempting but based on what I played and some sound demos of the regular 60s CVJM, it was the right move. CME does a setup (which is great) and down the line, maybe I'll get a nice aftermarket neck with rolled edges and same fretwire/nut spacing/dimensions since I like how the stock Squier felt. Even with a custom neck, still significantly cheaper than a vintera. I like how the pickups sound.

I may want to swap the knobs to flat style chrome teles, upgrade the tuners, and swap out the pickguard. Does anyone have a resource for CV JM parts that are pretty much 1 to 1 drag and drop? Especially the pickguard and tuners, as I don't want to fill or drill any new holes! Thinking a mint white guard and some nice vintage tuners would be a worthwhile upgrade here.

Mine had a bad tuner and so I had to replace them right out of the box with some cheap music lily tuners. I think any kluson type will fit. I put an avri pickguard on and it fit with no drilling.

[hotsawce]

my white blonde JM came with an obnoxious finish run on the neck that affected playability so I sent it back. Waiting on a replacement.

The mastery trem is probably the highest up on my list of mods. Also, going to take my all-parts SRO-C from my MJT strat build and pop it on the JM. Same 9.5" radius, but I wonder how the 1 5/8" nut will affect things with the mustang style bridge on these. I reconditioned the fretboard, polished the frets, and gently rolled the edges of the fingerboard with a screwdriver. The neck feels amazing and, since that's a really important thing for me, should make the JM absolutely awesome. I already like the tone coming out of the pickups.

You can get an allparts neck for around $200 finished if you know where to look...and they are all made in Japan (at the Tokai factory I believe, where they made the Fender stuff in the 90s?) You can snag a new CVJM on sale for around $400, less if you go used, plus a great $200 dollar neck and for $600 you've got something that feels significantly better than any of the MIM and even some american guitars I've played.