Project my 1st JM

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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Lithium
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Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Thu Feb 25, 2021 8:05 am

Hello guys,

I'm new here but I already managed to assemble a first guitar based on a Les Paul Junior DC design.
I upload a short video about it : https://youtu.be/TrgDqQXesCE

I'm thinking about a 2nd one, obviously a JM. Here are the specs I'm focusing on :
. 1 piece swamp ash body, featuring a single "f" hole on top
. 1 piece maple neck, rosewood fretboard, binding and square dots
. Electronic : something simple, no rythm circuit, a vol and tone for both pickups

The body finish would be something like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AaDPin ... andGuitars
The neck would be either natural/tru-oil, or matching headstock/tru-oil.

I put together a few sketches :
Image Image

I think I will definitely need some advices, especially on where I could find the good parts in EUROPE, and what should I consider. The body and neck would be custom made in China, where I previously ordered the ones for my Junior replica, unless I find something cool here in Europe. Right now I'm searching for :
. a pickguard without holes for rythm circuit
. which bridge, tremolo and tuners I need
. is buzz stop really useful ?
. and obviously, pickups :D

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bogmummy
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by bogmummy » Sat Mar 06, 2021 5:06 pm

I would avoid the buzz stop. Just get your neck angle right, go with a staytrem bridge (UK) and you won't need one.

I'm partial to the one on the right.

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by HarlowTheFish » Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:11 pm

Buzzstops are a mug's game, they mess with bridge stability if you set it up to rock and pretty much turn the tremolo into an inferior Bigsby instead of letting it be its own thing.
For a pickguard, I know there's a bunch of shops here in the US that will cut pretty much whatever you want, but I'm not super familiar with what's available on that side of the pond.
For the bridge, it depends on your radius and how much adjustability you need. The stock bridge with the adjustable threaded saddles is easily the most adjustable, but it also has the most points of failure. If you need 9.5", then get the Staytrem or the newer 52mm American Professional bridge (whichever one you can find for cheaper), and if you need 7.25" then go Staytrem because the Marr Jag bridge is the only other one that's any good and it gets scalped for crazy money on the used market and is pretty much impossible to find as a new part. Mastery's the other well-regarded option, but I have issues intonating their bridges for my tuning and string choice, the hardware's expensive, and it comes with as many caveats as any of the other nice options. There's also Halon out of Greece, but their website is hot garbage and I don't pay money to people who can't get a decent site going or don't just list on Reverb or something.
For the trem, go for an AVRI -- it's about as cheap as you can get without needing to compromise on quality with something that's either bad or will need serious work out of the box. It's also damn good. Other options are Mastery (as with the bridge, expensive as hell), Descendant (less than Mastery but still almost 3x the price as an AVRI Stateside), and Halon (same issues as their bridge). For something a bit out of left field, there's also the Goldo DG Trem, which is pretty different but folks seem to like it. Of these, the AVRI is the only one with a trem lock if that's a consideration for you -- it was for me, so I went AVRI for my in-progress build.
Tuners are easy, just get what you like that will fit your headstock. I like locking, either Gotoh or Hipshot, some folks like the vintage split-post ones, and as long as you know how to string them up properly any good-quality tuner is gonna be fine. I just find lockers a bit less fussy to string up and quicker to get stretched, so that's my preference.

Pickups are both the easiest and hardest part. The good news is Jazzmaster covers are massive and pretty much anything will fit both under them and in the same rout, unless you have particularly tall pickups. You can get PAFs, WRHBs, Strat, Tele, or standard JM, P90s, gold foils, pretty much whatever. The hard part is just picking what you want, and that's really dependant on what requirements you have (low-med-high output, noiseless/true single-coil, HB-ish voicing/P90-ish voicing/Fender SC-ish voicing, etc.) for what you want the guitar to sound like. The Fender Pure Vintage 65 and Seymour Duncan Antiquity/Antiquity II both get a lot of love on here for more traditional stuff, if that's more up your alley, and Mojo Pickups in the UK have a pretty killer selection of stuff they can stick under a JM pickup and they do custom winds if you want something a bit tweaked.

Welcome to the forum, have some reading glasses -- there's a doctoral thesis' worth of info for you to sort through if you feel like you need to in here ;D

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by ohm-men » Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:22 pm

As for good JM parts and being a EU citizen myself, I usually go with "custom world guitar parts" from Holland/the Netherlands.

customworldguitarparts.com

They have quiet a large selelction of Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Mustang parts, both US Fender/AVRI and Asian made parts.
They also sell Jm necks, bodies and almost every part you need to build your own offset.
I doubt they will have a thinline Ash Jm body, but you can always ask.
The store is ran by a nice lady named Ester and she really know's her stuff.
I'm sure you can find cheaper parts then what is sold by CWGP, but they never let me down once.
(they are also one of the few stores that actually have the full rythem circuit on sale, but I read you won't need one.
Although, reconsider this as I feel this is an essential part of the Jazzmaster imho ;) )

They will have most parts you need in stock and they usually ship pretty fast.
They are also quiet knowledgeble on offsets in general and when you shoot them an e-mail, they answer quickly.

I'm in no way affiliated with this store, I just had quiet some good dealings with them.

Good luck with the build and don't forget to post loads of pics of your build here!!!
The gals and guys here are super helpful and have saved quiet some of my own experiment with their advice and directions on how to get the disired result! Did I mention this is by far the friendliest forum out there?!

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Sauerkraut » Sun Mar 07, 2021 3:23 am

+1 on customworldguitarparts

Silly store name, but great store. I order stuff from them all the time and they're very helpful and quick to respond to questions. I faintly remember they used to send candy in their packages too, pre-corona. So.
They also sell some of the prettiest gold anodized pickguards you can find.

For custom pickguards, I know two sources in the UK. You can expect to pay a post-Brexit import fee, but it's not too excessive.
For custom non-tortoise guards, I'd contact Glen from Axion: https://www.axioncustom.co.uk/
For a custom tortoise guard, there's Paul from Lava Guards. I think he's still setting up a website, but he's paulo_ray on this forum.

For pickups, I'd contact Tiho from Q Pickups: https://www.qpickups.com/. He's based in Croatia. He makes fantastic hand-wound pickups that rival Novak or Lollar at less than half the price, and he can make them with whatever magnet and however way you want them.

Another vote for Staytrem here too. Well worth the money and you won't need a buzzstop.

I'm not affiliated with any of these stores either, by the way, also just had good experiences with all of them.

Enjoy your project and remember to share lots of photos!
Last edited by Sauerkraut on Sun Mar 07, 2021 2:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by adamrobertt » Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:44 pm

buzzstops are for morons

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by timtam » Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:59 pm

Plenty of no-rhythm circuit JM pickguards on ebay. Just has to match bridge post holes and neck end. And screw holes if pre-drilled. With/without various pickup cutouts.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... +pickguard
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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Lithium
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Tue Jun 14, 2022 3:37 am

Hello guys, I totally forgot about that post but I'm currently waiting for a neck I bought, which could at last be the start of my JM journey. That's a reverse with block inlays with binding. I don't know what it really is (Chinese origin for sure) but hey, I gave it a try and we'll see cause it looks cool :)

Image

I'm not so sure about the semi-hollow body idea anymore. I'm now trying to find a body so hopefully I will have some choices. I want a swamp ash so I can try a semi-transparent black color with nitro finish and maybe some light relic. Do you have any advice for a European seller ?
I also found a second-hand Staytrem but it's quite expensive so 2 options : either queueing on the website for a new one (if they deliver to France) or simply chose a Mustang bridge which I believe is not that bad. What do you think ?

In terms of pickups, I will definitely go back to QPickups as I was very pleased by the P90 I bought from him for my Les Paul Junior DC assembling.

And thanks A LOT for the already mass of info I got in replies of my topic. Sorry I couldn't write back sooner, but COVID and so on have changed my initial plans a lot last year.

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by JSett » Tue Jun 14, 2022 7:22 am

adamrobertt wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:44 pm
buzzstops are for morons
That should be the tagline for this entire site. In fact, it's going in my sig.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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Lithium
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Tue Jun 14, 2022 11:38 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2022 7:22 am
adamrobertt wrote:
Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:44 pm
buzzstops are for morons
That should be the tagline for this entire site. In fact, it's going in my sig.
;D I got this, no buzz stop !

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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by CROSS_guitars » Tue Jun 14, 2022 3:10 pm

Buzz stops are cool, they just look silly.

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Lithium
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Thu Jun 16, 2022 9:42 am

Here comes the 1st piece of the project. I-don't-know-where reverse neck (Chinese I guess). It's not 100% perfect and has a few dings and dongs but it seems soft and comfy. I checked the frets which are smooth and I don't think I need to level them as I only spotted one or two that might be a little low. The nut is plastic but will be replaced. For 100€, I don't think this is a bad deal. Let's find a body now !

Image

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Lithium
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:12 am

By the way, I'm considering buying a Staytrem and their tremolo arm directly from them.
The body I might buy is like that :

Image

Image

Can you confirm the Staytrem will fit ? I have difficulties to understand in which cases it won't... :bored:
Thank you !

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Lithium
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Thu Jun 23, 2022 1:33 am

I got the head tuners, Gotoh models for lefties. That's a bit modern but I had mixed feelings about the Kluson I used on a previous project.
I'll try to relic them a bit.

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Lithium
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Re: Project my 1st JM

Post by Lithium » Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:54 pm

Hi again, I got my body from Guitar and Bass Build.
It's made out of ash, not swamp because 2.6kg according to the seller. Very smooth surface. Of course, first issue is that the neck I have doesn't fit :fp:
The neck pocket seems to be around 55 mm and the neck heel around 56mm. So there isn't too much I have to deal with... To me I think the best idea should be to sand the neck heel, at least gently getting rid of the varnish finish and see what happens. I'm not very confident about sanding the neck pocket... What would you do ? I also asked my luthier but I would like to avoid the extra money...

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