Jeleguar

[impmann]

Hello all,

I've long been a lurker, and now I actually have something worth writing about on this fine forum...

I had an idea in the bath back in November last year, after seeing a picture of a Telemaster fitted with a Jazzmaster trem... I love the idea of a Fender Jaguar, but find that the switches are annoyingly in the way and try as I might I can't get on with the scale length. I love Telecasters, and so why not combine the two, but do it *properly*?

So after a few emails to John Manuel up in Cumbria, I placed an order for an Olympic White Telemaster body, with a Jaguar Trem, Telecaster pickups, a Bigsby-style bridge plate, and a Jaguar top switch arrangement along with a Tortie scratchplate.

I then sourced a Staytrem bridge and trem arm, to go along with the USA AVRI Jag/Jazz Trem system and the Jaguar Switchplate. The Telecaster plate came from a small ad on Music Radar.

I also bought a chunky Allparts Tele neck, again from Music Radar and a set of Kluson style machines to go with it.

Pickup-wise, I wanted a set of Oil City Hard Man Tele pickups - and I had a spot of luck finding a hardly used secondhand bridge pickup on ebay. I'll be placing the order with Ash shortly for the matching neck pickup...

The body arrived from John a couple of weeks back and I've spent a few evenings and weekends putting it together... the story so far...









Now its strung up, I can safely say that the trem and bridge upgrades work *brilliantly* - even with 10 gauge strings there are no rattles. And there is zero slop in the arm. Great and worthwhile upgrades...

However, I think I'm going to have to find a different neck, as this Allparts one is a bit too chunky for my hands. Its lovely (it still has the lacquer on the frets - its that new) but I think it may be wrong for me...

Also can anyone point me in the right direction to source the Jaguar roller pots and switch - I'd prefer secondhand for cost reasons, naturally! As I haven't got the 50 posts yet, I don't have access to the classified section though I'd imagine that it may help me on this...

The plan is to have a push pull pot on board to bring in the Jaguar treble boost/bass cut, plus have the Jag's Rhythm circuit but with Ash's superb Tele pickups and a four way Tele switch (with series wiring)... should sound rather nice, methinks.

All comments welcome... good or bad!!

[pepsicola]

Dude that looks weird and hypotic...love it!

[017493816]

That is BY FAR my absolute favorite jazzcaster I have ever seen! Sound clips?

[impmann]

Thanks for the comments - currently its not actually electronically complete and I'm struggling to get the top horn pot mount (I can get one from Angela Instruments - but the shipping to the UK is $61 ) Once I have a solution for that, then I'll deffo get some sound clips up.

[valley_parade]

Damn, that's cool.

[shorthairedmetal]

Very cool - nicely done!

[Deed_Poll]

Welcome impmann!
I'm from the UK too, I know how annoying it is when you leave something tiny off your order and are faced with another flat rate $40 postage plus tax & customs charges... If you're lucky it's something that can be found on eBay, shipping prices vary but it's rarely more than $6-$10 for very small components. That's where I'd look.

Guitar looks fantastic! My main problem with jazzcasters is the negative space left when you take out the offset tailpiece, so your design's much better looking to me than most. I really like the bridge plate, too - it works well with the other chrome components and the Jag control plate balances it out nicely.

If you don't mind me asking, the point where the bridge plate joins the pickguard looks slightly off - is that because the post holes on the bridge plate don't quite match the position of the posts? If so maybe somebody can suggest a fix, perhaps enlarging one or both of the holes on the bridge plate to match the body, or taking a bit more material off the pickguard to keep a gap, but even it out like on a normal tele. Don't get me wrong, it looks great as it is!

If you find the all parts neck too beefy I'd look for genuine fender necks on eBay. If it's not right you should be able to return it or sell it for a good price if it still has the lacquer on the frets.

Hope that's helpful! Love the guitar.
Dan

[LouReedFan]

Looks great, nicely done!

[impmann]

Thanks Dan - you are right there is an uneven gap. Its not dreadful but its there and its bugging me!! I think taking material off the scratchplate is going to be the easier option, tbh... but I'll worry about it when the electronics are finished.

Annoyingly, I have an Allparts 50s style neck on my 1972 Telecaster and it is 1000 times nicer than the old Fender unit. Its just this one that is *HUGE*!!! I may keep my eyes peeled for a Rosewood boarded one, as I think it may look better.

I've tried Ebay and so far... not so good, sadly... the last option will be trying to make a bracket myself out of steel... But that's likely to end badly..

[Deed_Poll]

I think re: maple vs RW fretboard you can definitely go either way with this. Ask me before I saw the pics and I'd say maple wouldn't go well with tortoise, but it looks great and brings more of the tele look. Rosewood will look more classic alongside the tortoise and bring more of the jaguar aesthetic. Both are fine choices.
Good luck and I hope you keep us posted!

[apreswho]

What a phenominal idea! Been thinking about building a telemaster lately and there are just so many options! Definitely good to see all the endless possibilities...Such a fantastic job!

[impmann]

Thanks for the kind words.

I've had a result on the bracket - I managed to find one on the bay of evil that had a reasonable postage cost, even though its coming from the US to me here in the UK. In fact, I think all the remaining parts have been ordered (Ash is winding me the new neck pickup today) and should be on their way... just have to wait for the post to do its thing.

The only thing left will be the neck - arguably, I could just 'man up' and learn to live with the big neck (it is like a baseball bat!), but I feel sure something will turn up. I'll keep looking!

[Deed_Poll]

Glad you found some of the parts you need at a reasonable price! I think it might be a good idea to give the neck a chance, I have a number of guitars with different neck contours and have come to appreciate each for its merits. You might find that if you give it some decent play time you may grow accustomed to it!

[FredJr]

That is one WAY cool hybrid. I love the combination of features - I would also love to hear sound clips!!!!

[impmann]

I *think* all the parts are on their way - although shipping from the US does seem to take forever sometimes... especially if the customs people then slap their pound of flesh on top .

As soon as its all up together, I'll put some clips up on soundcloud or similar. If the 'acoustic' tone is anything to go by it'll sound gorgeous!