Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

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Embenny
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Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by Embenny » Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:31 pm

After some sales and trades during the early days of the pandemic, I found myself without a Jazzmaster for the first time in years. I got tired of buying, selling, and trading over and over. Each time, it was the same story - I either liked the specs, or I liked the looks. I could never seem to find both in one instrument, especially since I always wanted a properly-proportioned B&B neck.

So, I decided I'd finally just build my dream Jazzmaster. I'd love a vintage one, but prices were becoming more and more eye-watering the longer I looked, and you basically never find them in the wild here in Canada. I also doubted I'd ever find a dream guitar without being able to play it before buying, even if I found one for the right price.

The main thing I like about vintage Fenders is their necks, anyway. A worn-in, 50+ year-old neck just has a different feel to it.

So that's what I went with. I snagged this '67 Coronado II neck a few years ago before prices got too crazy, so I decided to build the whole guitar around it.

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Having a black headstock, I needed to coordinate. I have too many plain black guitars, so that was out. I needed something that would still work, though, while ticking enough boxes to work for a "dream" build. I typically like guitars that don't look off-the-rack, and sparkle finishes are often my favourites, but that seemed too flashy to fit with the vintage neck.

Then, it hit me. I've been low-key obsessed with blue bursts since I bought my first Guitar Player magazine and saw an ad for the G&L Comanche in translucent blueburst. Bluebursts are still rare in the guitar world, though I have no idea why, and nobody does them like G&L.

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So, I started looking for someone who could do a "G&L" blueburst in nitro. The essential points were the intensity of the colour, the way the grain of the ash shows through, and that it fades to black, but with a relatively thin band of black compared to most 2- and 3-tone bursts.

Guitar Mill was the first place I found that would do it. It worked out well, since it meant I could have the body built by them and skip the extra steps and expense of shipping from one place to another for finishing. They also had the option of lightweight ash, which was very reasonably priced and came with a weight guarantee. I don't enjoy playing boat anchors as much as I used to, so this fit the bill perfectly. Fortuitously, I ordered it shortly before pandemic-related shortages drove up the price of ash considerably. They actually raised their prices after I put down my deposit but before the body was shipped.

More importantly, they totally nailed it. This is just a crappy phone pic, so the hue doesn't come across accurately, but the grain shows through clear as day, it's a beautifully saturated shade of blue, and the blend to black is absolutely perfect in person. The photo doesn't do it justice. It's also pleasantly light, as advertised. This is their "closet clean" relic or something like that. Basically, I couldn't bear to imagine someone scratching and knocking this gorgeous body into a relic state, but I also didn't want it to look too out of place with the vintage neck. In their price ladder, this was actually the cheapest option - they neither put work into destroying the finish, nor do they go the extra mile buffing it to a pristine high gloss ("showroom," I think they call that). Sounded perfect, and it is. It's certainly not a pristine brand-new gloss, but it's also not got any fake damage.

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I've now got most of the other parts on hand, and am finally starting to work on assembly. Pickups are Kinman Fatmasters, which ended up disembodied after I decided to sell the guitar they were in. Tuners are probably going to be a set of black Kluson Revolutions that I have in my parts drawer, unless get irked by the hardware mismatch and order some chrome ones. Vibrato is AVRI, bridge was supposed to be a Staytrem, but I just discovered the one in my drawer has a 9.5" radius, so it might end up being an Am Pro if I don't feel like waiting for another Staytrem.

The build ended up shelved for basically a year because I couldn't decide on a colour scheme for the plastics. Initially, I was thinking of a pearloid guard with black pickup covers, but you have to get those direct from Kinman in the Philippines, so I kept putting off ordering them. I'm now leaning toward a black pickguard with white pickup covers, partly so I can just use the ones I already have (after learning that the irksome red logos come off with a bit of acetone). My wife brought up a good point that pearloid might distract too much from the burst. I also like how the white pickups on the black guard would sort of mirror the block inlays on the rosewood board.

I've got a number of pickguards laying around, including a black Am Pro one with the 3-way switch instead of the rhythm circuit. I'm not married to the rhythm circuit, so I might start with that and change it if I miss the circuit or decide on another colour scheme. I've had a couple of JMs with the switch in that spot, and find it pretty handy, even if it's sacrilege to some.

I'm notoriously glacial when it comes to the speed of my builds, but I'm hoping I can make relatively speedy progress on this one. I moved houses between the time that I planned out this build and now, so I'm hoping I don't discover halfway through that some essential part has gone missing. I'm really excited to get it together.

I'm hoping making this thread helps keep me accountable for finishing it in a somewhat timely manner, and I hope the end product cures me of Jazzmaster GAS.
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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:38 pm

Sounds like a fantastic project! Since the headstock is black, I'd vote for your idea of a black pickguard. It's what attracted me to the Squier Contemporary Jaguar HH ST:

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I think matching the pickguard color with the headstock color is a killer look.

Decoboom makes some nice JM pickguards, FWIW. 8)
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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by andy_tchp » Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:49 pm

Nice one! Mario and co really do great work.

I am a huge fan of black guard/white plastics/black headstock on Jazzmasters. The contrast with the big pickups 'just works' for my sensibilities.

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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by Embenny » Sat Oct 01, 2022 5:06 pm

Thanks, I'm glad you guys are on board with the black pickguard. I have two of them - a vintage-style one and the Am Pro with the toggle and no rhythm switch. The thing is, the regular one is a cheap Chinese guard and the Am Pro is an actual Fender. I don't want to drill holes for the Chinese guard just to find out it's slightly off - I feel safer going with the proper Fender, and ordering a third black pickguard seems stupid when I have two on-hand. So I figure I'll go with the Am Pro for now, and switch later if I miss the rhythm circuit.

The holes for the Am Pro line up with the white AV65 guard I also have on hand, so it looks like the swap would be easy if I decide to make it.

This is actually my first part from Guitar Mill, but their reputation preceded them. I agree wholeheartedly, they do really nice work. I wouldn't hesitate to order anything else from them after this experience. They were great to deal with as well - there was a shipping error that bounced the body back across the border to them and they were immediately on top of it. Great customer service.
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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by Unicorn Warrior » Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:58 pm

This is an exciting one. Can’t wait to see it done

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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by Embenny » Tue Oct 04, 2022 7:41 am

Unicorn Warrior wrote:
Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:58 pm
This is an exciting one. Can’t wait to see it done
Thanks! I'm really excited too.

My first stumbling Blick has been my discovery that my Hipshot "vintage refit" tuners that were advertised to be compatible with vintage F-tuners....aren't.

So I need to either drill the back of the headstock for Kluson screws, or to accept the "sleeve" around modern F-tuner replacements.

I'm leaning toward keeping the F-tuner footprint and drilling to accept modern replacements. I have a black set of Kluson Revolutions with F-tuner footprints on hand, which were the first ones I bought for this neck before realizing they don't fit. So now I have two sets on non-fitting tuners. Sigh.

I really don't feel like buying a third set of tuners right now, so instead I'm shopping for a drill press. I've struggled without one and/or used other people's presses until now, so it's about time I bit the bullet and bought one.

The build will be on pause for a bit while I figure out which press to get. I don't want to buy a piece of crap but I also can't justify the price of a nice freestanding one.
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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by BoringPostcards » Tue Oct 04, 2022 2:26 pm

This is going to look awesome. I also love G&Ls blue burst (and their green burst).
Can’t wait to see this finished.
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Re: Dream Jazzmaster build thread - vintage Coronado neck and G&L blueburst

Post by LVC » Tue Oct 04, 2022 2:50 pm

That blueburst body is gorgeous. The world needs more dark blue offsets ― it's a great color for guitars, and I've always wondered why it is underrepresented in Fender's catalogue.
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