Surfysonic's Dream Custom Jazzmaster Build...

[Surfysonic]

For anodized guards, Herad is the way to go. Great quality, does custom work, overall super nice dude, fast shipping.

I ordered control plates for Bass VI from him twice, but others commented on the forum that the JM guards are superb, too.

Yes.
+1!
I have several Jaguar guards and a guard for my customesque Telemaster. Great to deal with! Great products!

Thanks, much appreciated! I'll check him out.

That blonde paint
That birds eye neck looks fantastic too.
I'm imagining that blonde body with a white pickguard like those old telecasters!

I learned an interesting tidbit about birdseye about how it's formed-
all those little eyes are attempts by the tree to start new branches that wither and die. Birdseye trees are just regular maple that are placed in bad areas for growth, if they are cramped by a lot of other trees for competition of sunlight, low pockets in forests or other geographic features that create low amounts of sun for them.

Very interesting as to how birdseye is formed!

I do have a white JM pickguard, so I'll have a look. I like the blonde vintage telecasters with white pickguards, too (also like the black bakelite ones).

The body should be arriving this afternoon. I'll take some photos later today with the various pickguards to determine what I'll use for now.

[Surfysonic]

The MJT body arrived! Looks even better in person to me re: the blonde finish. I went for light relic work on it as I'm not really a relic guy - I appreciate the art of it but I tend to want my gear to get their own wear & tear naturally. I'm digging the checking, etc.

Here are some neck and body photos. Works for me, loving the warm look & feel of the body & neck together. Neck and body fit perfectly.







The body's bridge post holes work fine with a Fender bridge. However, I'm planning on using my Mastery bridge. The Mastery bridge posts are slightly bigger. I'm going to verrrrry carefully enlarge the post holes to allow the Mastery bridge post MT Thimbles to fit. I'll use my drill press for accuracy.

I realized that I don't currently have the Mastery bridge post MT Thimbles for my M1 Mastery bridge. Placed an order for a set and while I was at it, also a Mastery MST String Tree.

Here are my pickguard options for now:

White





If I had cream-colored pickup covers, this would work better for me. I think the white is too contrasting with the black JBE (Joe Barden) JM Two-Tone Pickups for Jazzmasters.

Dark Red Tort





Pleasantly surprised with the Red Tort. Strong contender but I think the Tort might be distracting from the blonde grain...still, I'm liking it.

Cream





Blends well with the body and doesn't compete with the blonde wood grain. Definitely the safe choice. I'm happy to use this or the Red Tort until I get an anodized gold pickguard.

Thoughts?

White, Red Tort, or Cream?

Whoops! Almost forgot!

[Maggieo]

I'd do black or anodized gold, myself. And I'm a tort fiend!

[marqueemoon]

Of the above options I like cream best, but black anodized is still my pick.

[efiug]

love the cream on there.

[Surfysonic]

Thanks, all! Gonna go with the cream pickguard until I can get an anodized gold one.

[Embenny]

Looking good! I agree that the anodized guard will look amazing.

I'm also really happy to see that you're still enjoying the JBEs so much that they made it into your dream build!

[Surfysonic]

Looking good! I agree that the anodized guard will look amazing.

I'm also really happy to see that you're still enjoying the JBEs so much that they made it into your dream build!

Thanks, Mike! Yeah, they really work for my modern/vintage vibe with this one. You know, I've gone through a few hum-cancelling Jazzmaster pickups claiming to have that single coil vibe/tone. They're all decent (Fralin, Novak, and Brandonwound) but the JBE Two-Tones for Jazzmaster pickups do it best. They really, really nail that single coil vibe in split-coil mode. I can clearly hear the difference when playing surf tunes when compared to the other hum-cancelling pickups. Of the others, Novak comes very close. Fralin and Brandonwound are terrific in their own way and sound similar to my ears.

I noticed the other day that JBE is offering these now for $329 for a set. Maybe I've been mistaken but I thought a set of these used to run $400-450? Probably misremembering. Anyhoo, I'm seriously considering getting another set in Ivory (aged/cream).

[Surfysonic]

For anodized guards, Herad is the way to go. Great quality, does custom work, overall super nice dude, fast shipping.

I ordered control plates for Bass VI from him twice, but others commented on the forum that the JM guards are superb, too.

Yes.
+1!
I have several Jaguar guards and a guard for my customesque Telemaster. Great to deal with! Great products!

Looks like Herad is currently away. Did another search and still wasn't too keen on anything other sellers on Reverb or eBay offered.

I had another look at my Squier J Mascis JM anodized gold pickguard.

With flash





Without flash





I like the photos without the flash. The more saturated gold (as opposed to paler anodized gold pickguards) looks alright with the dark headstock. I think I'll go with this one until I can find a paler anodized gold pickguard down the road for comparison.

Mastery MT bridge post thimbles and string tree shipped out today. Hope they arrive before the long weekend so that I can put this beastie together.

[Surfysonic]

Decided against the Squier J Mascis JM's anodized gold (very orangey saturated). Instead, I went with a slight variation of marqueemoon's suggestion. I didn't go anodized black but instead went with a Decoboom black/cream/black pickguard. It's very reflective (as shown in photos). I also got a Decoboom backplate.

I'm calling this my retro-vintage-futuristic build.











I may or may not have decided the body needed a bit more relicing... Added a hole in the back of the body. I drilled too deep when installing the Mastery Tremolo. Tooooo Deeeeeeeep!!











I played through my Milkman Creamer today. All working as it should (in humbucker mode and single coil mode). The neck is soooo comfy. I'm really glad that I took a chance on Musikraft for my customized neck and MJT for the lightly relic'd body.

I can't recommend enough using Musikraft for a neck build. I'll definitelly use them again for replacement necks for some of my other guitars (Tele & Strat).

I'm very happy with my custom build. I'd have to work out an itemized list, but all told with having everything I wanted in it, I'm either a bit under or bit over $2k. Now to decide if I should move on my Fender AO '60s JM. Don't wanna, but should...

Highly recommend giving this a try if you or someone you know can put a guitar together.

[Embenny]

That looks so sharp! I like it more than I thought I would. It really makes the wood tones pop.

Really glad this turned out so well. And like a proper dream build should, it bears no resemblance to any stock model you could pick up at GC.

[Surfysonic]

That looks so sharp! I like it more than I thought I would. It really makes the wood tones pop.

Really glad this turned out so well. And like a proper dream build should, it bears no resemblance to any stock model you could pick up at GC.

Thanks, Mike!

[marqueemoon]

Looks great. I dig the black guard. Still think anodized would slightly better though.

Yeah, those Mascis guards are just too orange

[efiug]

the black pickguard is a great choice, kinda makes me want a blonde JM now.

[Surfysonic]

Looks great. I dig the black guard. Still think anodized would slightly better though.

Yeah, those Mascis guards are just too orange

Thanks! Since I opted for the 22 frets, the fretboard overhang was a bit of a pain with the anodized gold whereas the Decoboom plastic guard was more pliable to get under the overhang without risk to damaging the overhang. What sold me on the Decoboom was the middle cream layer and how it complements the body finish.

Maybe one day I'll find a proper anodized gold pickguard and go the extra step of removing the neck first to install the pickguard. Or maybe a black bakelite like the ones on '50s Teles.

the black pickguard is a great choice, kinda makes me want a blonde JM now.

Thanks! I didn't think I'd get on with it, but I do love it.