Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

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j mascis
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Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:53 pm

I made a thread about this a month ago, and someone posted good information about how to go about this, and now when I go to look for the thread (finally got the pickups!), it appears it was deleted.

Mods, any idea why it was deleted?

Can the person who posted how to do this repost the information?

Thanks!

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Veitchy
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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by Veitchy » Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:42 pm

Sounds like it went down with a bunch of other threads when there was a server crash.

From memory, I reckon the most promising option was that someone that made a JM pickup cover that you could actually mount a Tele pickup inside. It had screw holes in the top that you could attach through to the baseplate. Gotta say I don't remember the name of it off the top of my head.

Hopefully someone chimes in with the right answer.

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:42 pm

Veitchy wrote:
Tue Dec 01, 2020 1:42 pm
Sounds like it went down with a bunch of other threads when there was a server crash.

From memory, I reckon the most promising option was that someone that made a JM pickup cover that you could actually mount a Tele pickup inside. It had screw holes in the top that you could attach through to the baseplate. Gotta say I don't remember the name of it off the top of my head.

Hopefully someone chimes in with the right answer.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks. I thought the mods hated my thread for some reason.

Hopefully that person shows up again and posts the options for this. It was super helpful, but at the time I didn't totally absorb it all because my pickups were on order, and I was planning to come back to the thread once they arrived.


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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by Embenny » Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:15 pm

I remember commenting on that thread, I'm in the process of doing exactly this, or will be when I have time to mod guitars again. I mentioned that there are a few ways to do it. #1 is to just hide it inside the pickup cover and immobilize it with either foam (cut to the dimensions of the JM cover, with a hole cut in the center to fit the tele pickup) or double sided tape, then just use foam underneath and adjust height with the JM pickup covers screws.

#2 is to drill holes in the JM pickup cover and screw the tele pickup onto the cover and tighten until it's pressed up against the cover, then use foam underneath and the JM pickup covers height adjustment screws to set height.

#3 is getting a new pickguard cut for tele pickups, and using that.

#4 is mounting the tele pickups with wood screws into the body (like you'd do for tele with no pickguard and a cutoff bridge plate), and then either place the JM covers over that once they're set, or drill the JM pickup cover for the tele screws so that you can adjust their height independent of the JM pickup cover.

#5 is getting a pair of JM pickup bobbins, mounting the Tele pickups to those, and then adjusting height via the JM pickup covers screws with foam underneath.

I'm planning to do the foam cutout/double sided tape method to stabilize the pickups within the cover as plan A. As long as they're immobilized within the cover, all the height adjustment can just be done the usual way, with foam underneath them and tightening/loosening the 4 screws of the cover.
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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by Gordon » Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:17 am

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:24 am

mbene085 wrote:
Tue Dec 01, 2020 10:15 pm
I remember commenting on that thread, I'm in the process of doing exactly this, or will be when I have time to mod guitars again. I mentioned that there are a few ways to do it. #1 is to just hide it inside the pickup cover and immobilize it with either foam (cut to the dimensions of the JM cover, with a hole cut in the center to fit the tele pickup) or double sided tape, then just use foam underneath and adjust height with the JM pickup covers screws.

#2 is to drill holes in the JM pickup cover and screw the tele pickup onto the cover and tighten until it's pressed up against the cover, then use foam underneath and the JM pickup covers height adjustment screws to set height.

#3 is getting a new pickguard cut for tele pickups, and using that.

#4 is mounting the tele pickups with wood screws into the body (like you'd do for tele with no pickguard and a cutoff bridge plate), and then either place the JM covers over that once they're set, or drill the JM pickup cover for the tele screws so that you can adjust their height independent of the JM pickup cover.

#5 is getting a pair of JM pickup bobbins, mounting the Tele pickups to those, and then adjusting height via the JM pickup covers screws with foam underneath.

I'm planning to do the foam cutout/double sided tape method to stabilize the pickups within the cover as plan A. As long as they're immobilized within the cover, all the height adjustment can just be done the usual way, with foam underneath them and tightening/loosening the 4 screws of the cover.
Awesome, thank you!

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:29 am

That's cool, but what about the neck?

I'm not convinced I can get the cover off without damaging that pickup. Do you know where to find a jazzmaster pickguard that would allow the metal covered neck pickup? Would tele pickups fit in a Jaguar pickguard?

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by HarlowTheFish » Wed Dec 02, 2020 10:23 am

j mascis wrote:
Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:29 am
That's cool, but what about the neck?

I'm not convinced I can get the cover off without damaging that pickup. Do you know where to find a jazzmaster pickguard that would allow the metal covered neck pickup? Would tele pickups fit in a Jaguar pickguard?
If you call up Fralin, Novak, or any of the smaller shops, they'll probably do you an uncovered Tele neck pickup. It's also pretty easy to take off, you just need to unsolder the cover or snip the little solder bits, just go slow and it won't break anything.

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by Ceylon » Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:54 pm

You could also just get a Jazzmaster pickup cover and rout a cut-out for a Tele pickup in it. You keep that screwed down with its height adjustment screws and then either bolt the Tele pickup to the body or have its height adjustment screws attached to the JM cover. It'd give you a "bit of both worlds-look".
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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:16 pm

Does anyone know how JM pole piece spacing compares to tele pole spacing?

I'm wondering if you could ream a standard JM cover to fit a tele, or if the spacing is too mismatched to pull this off?

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by jvin248 » Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:58 pm

j mascis wrote:
Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:16 pm
Does anyone know how JM pole piece spacing compares to tele pole spacing?

I'm wondering if you could ream a standard JM cover to fit a tele, or if the spacing is too mismatched to pull this off?

I'd slice a slot into the cover and not even try to match holes.

Use a steel rule as a guide and many cuts with a sharp knife will go through the plastic JM cover. You might need to file the end holes with a rat-tail file to give them more clearance.

.

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:54 pm

jvin248 wrote:
Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:58 pm
j mascis wrote:
Sat Apr 24, 2021 3:16 pm
Does anyone know how JM pole piece spacing compares to tele pole spacing?

I'm wondering if you could ream a standard JM cover to fit a tele, or if the spacing is too mismatched to pull this off?

I'd slice a slot into the cover and not even try to match holes.

Use a steel rule as a guide and many cuts with a sharp knife will go through the plastic JM cover. You might need to file the end holes with a rat-tail file to give them more clearance.

.
That sounds un-aesthetic. :D

If one wanted an aesthetic outcome, do you know if the spacing is the same or different on tele and JM poles?

Fender makes blank covers, too, I see. So maybe getting one of those and lining up the holes, then reaming them out to size to fit the Tele poles would be a good option?

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by Sweetfinger » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:16 pm

I'd make a custom pickguard cut for the pickups I wanted.

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Re: Telecaster Pickups in a Jazzmaster

Post by j mascis » Wed May 05, 2021 12:31 am

I bought some blank JM pickup covers. I'm going to try to ream tele holes into them. We'll see how this goes! I'll report back.

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