Hello - My Blacktop Jazzmaster Build

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BuddyHollywood
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Hello - My Blacktop Jazzmaster Build

Post by BuddyHollywood » Mon May 01, 2017 12:44 pm

Hi OSG!

I built a custom Jazzmaster 3 years ago based on the early HS Blacktop Jazzmasters and wanted to share it here. I've always enjoyed playing it but lately this guitar has become my #1. It's really grown on me! It took me a while to realize that this guitar is the perfect tool to play the songs I write and the covers I play. Between the humbucker and the single coil Jazzmaster neck pickup there is a lot of sonic ground covered and the middle position is a one of a kind of awesomeness.

My initial goal was to create a Fender Les Paul. I really love the feel of the Gibson 24.75" scale length and their 12" radius 50's profile neck but I love the Fender clear, spanky tone. When the original Blacktop Jazzmasters came out I was drawn to the tones I heard in these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFyObBMHYL8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k2Z7mYgkjk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The body, trem and pickups are Fender parts for the Blacktop Jazzmaster, the neck was custom made by a guy named Christopher from Brooklyn who made me a 24.75" scale length Stratocaster maple neck with a maple fretboard and a skunk stripe finished in tung oil that is .85" deep at the first fret and has a 12" radius. It is an awesome neck! It feels really solid and the frets are great. The pickguard is a gold anodized aluminum pickguard from Tone-Guard. I wired it with 2 volumes and no tone. I rarely use the tone knob on guitars let alone a rhythm circuit. I found this minimal hot rod wiring seems to allow more frequencies to get through. The pots are full sized 500K CTS pots and the 3 way switch and jack are Switchcraft. Because the neck has a 12" radius I am able to successfully use a standard tuneomatic bridge which actually came with the body when I bought it. The action is the lowest of any of my guitars. The tuners are standard Fender staggered tuners. The knobs are chrome plated brass tophat knobs. The nut is a brass nut I bought from AxeMasters. The Jazzmaster tremolo works great with the brass nut and tuneomatic bridge. It stays in tune even better than the Bigsby B3 I have on my Gretsch Duo Jet. I also have a Fender "F" neck plate on it. The Fender logo is a waterslide decal and has no finish over it so it would be easy to remove.

I thought I may want to swap out the pickups after I finished building it but after raising the bridge humbucker height fairly close to the strings and raising the pole pieces it really cleared up the humbucker sound and now it reminds me of a Seymour Duncan JB. The Duncan Designed neck pickup delivers exactly what I was looking for, a nice, clear, funky and bluesy Fender sounding neck pickup.

I realize there are some Jazzmaster traditionalists here who may not appreciate what I've done. I've read enough posts to see that! I'm hoping this guitar will generate at least some interest. It really sounds and plays fantastic. I'll be the first to admit that it's not a Jazzmaster as they were initially conceived.

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