Cheapest way to obtain a jazzmaster?

[Meshuggahnans]

Being a broke college student, and a stubbornness to sell any of my gear -- it's hard to get the guitar of my dreams!

Goal:  Obtain/build good quality jazzmaster

Problem: very limited budget.

A lot of you have made a lot of your own guitars, and I'm wondering if you all would really share our experience and knowledge and tell me the steps you took, and what i should take to make this possible the cheapest way possible.  Note that I don't have any power tools, but assembly and painting are all things I could muster.  I hope you don't think that since I'm being cheap about it that I have any less respect for the instrument!  its out of necessity that I ask for your collective knowledge!

[zhivago]

I'm afraid building is not cheaper.

the cheapest way, in my opinion, is a used CIJ Jazzmaster.


I must say though, if this is the guitar of your dreams, selling gear to fund it should be pretty easy, no?

[jetset]

Follow Sonic Youth around, wait until they park the van . . .
JUST KIDDING. 

Keep an eye out in local an on-line classifieds.  It's possible to snag a japanese JM for under $500 if you are patient and get to know the market.  Ebay is easy to track, but things generally go for more than they are worth, as you are competing with the world.  Just remember that there were jCIJ Jazzmasters being blown out by Musicians Friend a year or two back for $399 and for a week $299, so some of the people now re-selling them and asking $800 may be easily bargained with.

-J

[k o y l]

Follow Sonic Youth around, wait until they part the van . . .
JUST KIDDING. 

Or go at a Sonic Youth show, stay near the stage ans wait for Thurston to give his JM for the audience to touch, grad it and RUN !!

Every thing has lready been said... Building one is definitely not cheaper at all.. my bank account reminds it to me everyday..

I don't know where you are, but it might be a good idea to checkevery countries' eBay (belgium, italy).. you can find sstuff that will not be listed on eBay US (there's one in Italy right now and I saw one shipping from Japan.. but I can't remember on wich ebay I saw it).

[ohm-men]

Or get lucky one day and buy a Japanese JM with pat pend tail piece + SD Antiquity II's for 250....
Guitar was not assembled and I had to take off a paint job gone horribly wrong, but still (to this day) best guitar deal I ever made...
just being at the right place at the right time...

One of the few guitars that will never leave me.

[aen]

Whack on offsetter, dug.