My JMJM and mods...

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Jazzoly
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My JMJM and mods...

Post by Jazzoly » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:05 am

Hi all, new member here...recently tried a Jazzmaster for the first time ever and now it's my favorite guitar!
I bought a new Squier J Mascis JM, and I think I got a great example...perfect frets all the way up, birds-eye neck!
I did do some mods to it, to get it more to my liking, and have included pictures throughout the journey.

A little mod explanation:

First thing I did was add a brass hard tail conversion plate. I like to play with 9's, but found when I tuned down, I was getting buzz at the bridge. I didn't want to neck shim, and seeing as how I don't use the trem, this was the best option for me. This plate moved the string holes closer to the bridge, increasing the break angle. I can now down tune as low as *I* need to and get no buzz!

After having it for a little bit, I realized I how much I love the rhythm circuit and was using it way more than I ever thought I would.
My complaint was that the sliding toggle was too difficult to use on the fly. I know opinions will vary, but hey, it's mine, right?
I changed the slider switch for a 2-way toggle. I swapped to a mint green pickguard at the same time. I also put on some "cupcake" style knobs. I then installed some Hipshot Locking tuners.

Ok, I'm done right? Wrong.

After a few days like this, I found that my pickguard was building up a ton of static crackle. I'm in Indiana...it's pretty dry and static friendly here in the winter. I ordered some copper shielding tape to fix the problem. Well...it didn't work as well as I had hoped.
So today, I drilled out the switch location for the 2-way toggle on the stock anodized pickguard and put it back on.
I also switch back to the stock knobs, as the cream color cupcakes I ordered didn't match the pickup cover cream and it was driving me nuts.

Here are the pics, in order of the evolution :)

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Stephen_42
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by Stephen_42 » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:25 am

All looks good to me!

What are your thoughts on the tailpiece? I don't really use vibrato so I've been considering doing that to my Squier Jaguar.

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Jonesie
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by Jonesie » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:44 am

How far are you tuning down when playing with 9's? I'd be bending those out of tune with standard tuning...

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SignoftheDragon
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by SignoftheDragon » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:50 am

I definitely like the gold anodized guard look the best.

These JMJMs are great looking machines!

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SSquirrel
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by SSquirrel » Sat Jan 15, 2022 2:08 pm

SignoftheDragon wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:50 am
I definitely like the gold anodized guard look the best.

These JMJMs are great looking machines!
Never have been a big fan of gold pickguards, bridges, tuners, etc. I have one of the Desert Sand Squier Duo Sonics and I keep thinking one of these days I will order a different pickguard for it. Maybe some sort of blue. :)

Outside of my preference re:pickguards, the tweaks look solid.

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patski
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by patski » Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:44 pm

Absolutely freaking GORGEOUS mods! :w00t: Well done! Love those knobs and the mint pg is killer! I'm a huge fan of toggle switches too. They are very satisfying :D I've considered hard tailing my Cobain Jag. I've been told all the tremolo parts add up to about 1lb or so in weight.

Dumb question, but would the tone be affected by the shorter string distance behind the bridge?

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Embenny
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by Embenny » Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:52 pm

I think the gold guard looks right on it, especially with that brass hardtail plate. Great mods.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Mechanical Birds
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by Mechanical Birds » Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:11 pm

Really loving how the new ones are proper OW and have the nice gold non-copper guard

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JSett
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Re: My JMJM and mods...

Post by JSett » Sun Jan 16, 2022 4:29 am

Jonesie wrote:
Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:44 am
How far are you tuning down when playing with 9's? I'd be bending those out of tune with standard tuning...
I'd be bending them out of tune just by strumming :D
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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