Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

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bureau13
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Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by bureau13 » Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:21 am

I've never built a guitar up from parts before, but I have modded a few guitars/basses, so how hard can it be? Right?

For some reason, I've become a bit enamored of Jazzmasters and Jaguars of late, so I decided to build a JM. I've been going at it for a bit, no rush, but it has a reclaimed Pine body from No Moon Laser on Etsy (I think that was the shop name), a Mighty Mite Strat neck w/ rosewood fretboard, Kluson vintage-style tuners, Staytrem bridge and for now at least, the house brand tremolo from StewMac. If everything works out reasonably well and I feel like that needs improvement, I had my eye on a Descendent, I just didn't want to dump that much money into something that may not be worth it. The rest of the bits were assembled piecemeal. Oh, and I have a set of Mojotone 59 Clone pickups on order.

The body came looking pretty rustic (which I like) with a VERY light and slightly blue coat of nitro. My friend does a lot of woodworking and has a good spray system, so we decided to put a few coats of a sort of aqua nitro over the top, matching headstock, etc.

Question: Neck shims! I've currently bolted the neck on with a 0.5 degree full-pocket shim from StewMac. It doesn't look like much of an angle, should I put another one in there?

Here are some pics I've taken so far. I should be taking more, I will try to do so going forward. Be gentle, I really do not know what I'm doing ;D

Oh, and the M. Night Shyamalan twist at the end: I'm a bass player, not a guitarist. I've recently decided to learn guitar as well, but I'm VERY much a beginner there. I won't really know if it feels "right" or not...fortunately, I do have some guitar player friends who can give me some feedback in that department...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2p5iZTpCSCw9eWjJA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TJj5vY2vG5NNdp6NA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/xrzifiCRMSecQbVG6

(Ed: I tried to insert them as images or otherwise attach them here but that didn't work, so hopefully these links do)

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countertext
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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by countertext » Sun Nov 20, 2022 9:10 am

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kdanie
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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by kdanie » Tue Nov 22, 2022 11:16 am

I've done guitars that didn't need any shim at all. A few needed a little shimming. Check when you do the set up and see if it works before you assume it needs a shim or more shim.

ken
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bureau13
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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by bureau13 » Wed Nov 23, 2022 12:10 am

That's a good point. I think it does though, especially with the floating bridge system. I assembled it with a 0.5 degree shim and I feel like that's not quite enough. The action is a bit too high...although I could try lowering the bridge a bit. I don't want it slammed down to the body though.

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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by jvin248 » Wed Nov 23, 2022 4:07 am

.

Higher shims are for those who want a LP feel and those who have a vintage style threaded barrel saddle set with light gauge strings where the strings pop out easily, change either condition like using Mustang saddles or spendy branded ones and you don't need shims.

Having a lower trem will make it more manageable for floating operation. High neck angle results in high bridge height and problematic tip where it could lock or prefer to tip out of vertical when not using the trem.

Apparent action can be set with nut height if you haven't adjusted that yet, don't use the nut to set action but if it's way too high (new nut not set up correctly) can make the strings high and go sharp when playing cowboy chords in the low frets.

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bureau13
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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by bureau13 » Thu Nov 24, 2022 7:18 am

Interesting...I had not heard that about not needing the increased neck angle with different saddles. I have the Staytrem bridge, so the saddles are not a problem. I'm also using 11's so not super light gauge strings.

Regarding the nut, I definitely need to adjust that. Strings are definitely too high coming off the nut, I suspect it was cut for lighter strings. Especially with the larger strings I see the tuning issues with cowboy chords exactly as you've described.

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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by bureau13 » Tue Dec 06, 2022 5:39 pm

Well, I decided I really did need to lower the action without lowering the bridge, since it's designed to retain the floating bridge aspects of the original, so I added another shim, actually raised the bridge a bit more, and it's pretty good now, at least from what I can tell.

Even better news, the pickups have shipped! I get to find out how badly I screwed up the electronics ;D

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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by Norrin Radd » Wed Dec 07, 2022 5:33 am

bureau13 wrote:
Tue Dec 06, 2022 5:39 pm
Well, I decided I really did need to lower the action without lowering the bridge, since it's designed to retain the floating bridge aspects of the original, so I added another shim, actually raised the bridge a bit more, and it's pretty good now, at least from what I can tell.

Even better news, the pickups have shipped! I get to find out how badly I screwed up the electronics ;D
The best part of putting together partscasters is learning how guitars go together. The “failures“ of trial and error are how we learn. I’ve put together probably 20 to 25 different partscasters now and there are still bits and pieces that I learn with each successive assembly. To me, it has been invaluable in helping me understand mechanically how guitars work. Look at it as a learning experience and appreciate that you’re expanding your knowledge base with each obstacle overcome. Enjoy it! ;D

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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by bureau13 » Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:56 am

So, I wired it all up (I'll never show that...everything I do in terms of wiring always looks terrible lol) and on the bench, all the pickups were working/not working based on thee switch settings. VERY noisy, but pleased to see that, after it was all buttoned up, that noise is gone. Shielding works, folks!

Something has gone awry in the process of screwing it all down, however. It only works in the rhythm circuit. If I switch to the primary circuit, there is no sound. I've clearly broken a connection when putting it all together. Should be easy to find when I take it back apart, and I will be more careful with the wires when putting it back together next time. That neck pickup sounds amazing though. Really pleased.

"Cream" and "Aged White" are definitely not the same color ;D

Partsmaster/Barcaster/Whatever complete!

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Re: Ongoing "Partsmaster" project

Post by bureau13 » Wed Dec 28, 2022 9:40 am

Well, I've found the source of the problem. One lug of the tone pot broke off, but was still attached to the volume pot via a wire, and whenever I would screw down the pickguard that would end up touching the copper tape shield, grounding out the signal path through the master controls. In the rhythm circuit configuration, that is bypassed and so it worked fine. Oops. New pot ordered...

In other news, Merry Christmas to me, nice big box from Sweetwater on the porch yesterday. New JC-40 amp. So I'll have a Jazz Chorus and a Jazzmaster and will be playing....not jazz :)

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