Creamsicle: Converting Player Jag to Real Jag

[Embenny]

it bothered me until I oiled it. it looked like a cloudy pau ferro board at first. now i rather like the striped motion of it.

orange was one of the last colors i'd ever have considered, but lately i've been eyeing yellow guitars for some reason. capri has grown on me.

Oh, now I get what you were saying. Agreed, the oil made for a dramatic improvement. What type did you use? I've always read so many arguments over which type of oil was safe or smart to use on rosewood that I've chickened out from every trying any of them. But man, the difference on this neck as me wondering what some of my boards could look like with a little TLC.

What I like about this shade of orange is that it's cheerful without being obnoxious. I just can't get along with the 80's shredder neon guitar effect. This is plenty orange but not too saturated, so it keeps that kind of classic Fender colour vibe. I think I prefer it to the Marr Metallic KO, whereas I usually prefer metallics on Jags.

I never even considered liking this shade when I first saw it with the black guard, white HS pickups and lack of plates. Your build just looks so much better in every way.

[smjenkins]

Looks so good! I know it's a play of the light you took that photo in, and the capri orange is much brighter, but that pic reminds me of my Warmoth JM.

yo this thing rules. what is that color? maple on capri would have been gorgeous, but I got tired of waiting. hah.

It was one of the super saturated Martha Stewart colors that they carried at the Home Depot like 10 years ago. It's called cornucopia.

https://www.myperfectcolor.com/paint/31 ... cornucopia

[smjenkins]

Looks so good! I know it's a play of the light you took that photo in, and the capri orange is much brighter, but that pic reminds me of my Warmoth JM.

I don't want to hijack a thread, but for the benefit of all mankind, how did you get a vintage-looking guard onto a Warmoth JM?!?

Something I only recently realized is that the only thing keeping a standard JM PG from fitting on a Warmoth body is that the bridge pickup is moved 5mm towards the neck to offer more bridge options. I took it to a luthier in Tacoma (Jeff Hoppe @ South Sound Guitars) and he routed the bridge pickup cavity 5mm toward the bridge and that was it. Obviously if you've already mounted a Warmoth pickguard, the screw holes won't match-up either.

[hexes]

What type did you use? I've always read so many arguments over which type of oil was safe or smart to use on rosewood that I've chickened out from every trying any of them. But man, the difference on this neck as me wondering what some of my boards could look like with a little TLC.

I've read so much conflicting info, in the end i went with pure mineral oil at the behest of someone who has done tones of necks that way. I made sure to find mineral oil with no silicon or plasticizers. supposedly most 'lemon oil' you find is lemon scented mineral oil.

some people put too much on and then the frets get wrecked. i didn't let it sit long, i did 5 frets at a time and immediately buffed the crap out of them with a jersey cloth to get as much excess off. i did the same thing to my bass vi (rosewood) years ago and it's been just fine.

just as light a coat as possible. then built another one in. i haven't had to re-oil my bass vi neck in the 6 years or so since I did it.

[Embenny]

I've read so much conflicting info, in the end i went with pure mineral oil at the behest of someone who has done tones of necks that way. I made sure to find mineral oil with no silicon or plasticizers. supposedly most 'lemon oil' you find is lemon scented mineral oil.

some people put too much on and then the frets get wrecked. i didn't let it sit long, i did 5 frets at a time and immediately buffed the crap out of them with a jersey cloth to get as much excess off. i did the same thing to my bass vi (rosewood) years ago and it's been just fine.

just as light a coat as possible. then built another one in. i haven't had to re-oil my bass vi neck in the 6 years or so since I did it.

That's good to know. Maybe I'll get brave and give it a shot on one of my guitars. It certainly looks much better, and I'd think 6 years would be long enough for your Bass VI to spontaneously eject its frets if the wood was swelling or otherwise going nuts.

It was one of the super saturated Marth Stewart colors that they carried at the Home Depot like 10 years ago. It's called cornucopia.

The whole guitar looks fantastic. It's basically a Werther's Original reincarnated as a Jazzmaster. I love it.

Something I only recently realized is that the only thing keeping a standard JM PG from fitting on a Warmoth body is that the bridge pickup is moved 5mm towards the neck to offer more bridge options. I took it to a luthier in Tacoma (Jeff Hoppe @ South Sound Guitars) and he routed the bridge pickup cavity 5mm toward the bridge and that was it. Obviously if you've already mounted a Warmoth pickguard, the screw holes won't match-up either.

Honestly, I thought the bridge pickup thing was "just one of" the reasons a standard guard didn't fit. A 5mm adjustment to the pickup cavity is a really minor thing. I've had a Warmoth body for 12 years and I never thought to line up a standard guard on it and see what happened. This gives me...ideas.

(sorry for the off topic, hexes)

[hexes]

nah that's all great information! 5mm really is nothing much at all.

[MrJagsquire]

Just read through this thread; great work on the conversion. Lovely neck you got there too.

I'm at a much lower level in terms of just swapping out the pickups and loom from my Player Jaguar for a set of '65 Pure Vintage pickups. I want to fit a standard USA pickguard that I can have made without the lower switch panel hole, then use a chrome top plate with just a single round hole for a 3 way selector switch. This panel is the same overall size as yours, so I was wondering how far out the screw holes are for the plate and pickguard as you mentioned filling and re-drilling them?

I might have the option of having the guard made without any screw holes, so I could use my Player one as a template depending on what you say. Then I'd maybe just have the three top plate holes to fill and re-drill (unless they happen to line up anyway?).

Not sure where you are based, but I'm in the UK, so parts from the USA aren't really an option for me due to hassle of customs and taxes, etc.

[hexes]

Just read through this thread; great work on the conversion. Lovely neck you got there too.

I'm at a much lower level in terms of just swapping out the pickups and loom from my Player Jaguar for a set of '65 Pure Vintage pickups. I want to fit a standard USA pickguard that I can have made without the lower switch panel hole, then use a chrome top plate with just a single round hole for a 3 way selector switch. This panel is the same overall size as yours, so I was wondering how far out the screw holes are for the plate and pickguard as you mentioned filling and re-drilling them?

I might have the option of having the guard made without any screw holes, so I could use my Player one as a template depending on what you say. Then I'd maybe just have the three top plate holes to fill and re-drill (unless they happen to line up anyway?).

Not sure where you are based, but I'm in the UK, so parts from the USA aren't really an option for me due to hassle of customs and taxes, etc.

actually i didn't have to totally re drill any screw holes, i basically just ran my bit in a couple of the existing ones and widened the holes a bit. with your project, i'd just have the same holes drilled. you'd likely be even better off than mine.
here's a little map i made:



ymmv, but it seems not TOTALLY awful to convert to usa parts.

[MrJagsquire]

Thanks, that's fantastic especially with the picture. I'd only need to drill the 3 pink ones to the left of the neck pickup in your picture as I'm not using the lower switch plate. I've already bought a spare control plate for the volume/tone and that fits fine, but maybe need to tweak the alignment of that where it meets the pickguard.

Just waiting to hear back from the quote...hoping it's around £40 then it'll be no more expensive than buying a standard USA pickguard and the metal plate and switches. If it's a little more, I'd still pay for the cleaner look since the switches won't be used in my case.

Thanks again.

[s_mcsleazy]

as someone who's working on an orange offset right now, it's super interesting to see this.

[hexes]

IT'S STRING DAY, MY DUDES. got the conversion bushings. had to run a drill bit in the holes in reverse and do some sanding so they didn't crack the nitro finish. unplugged this thing is very lively. haven't done a setup, just got the action right to play it a bit.

frets need polished. but overall, plays very well.



made a jig for pressing bushings in:


ah, lovely view, that:

[smjenkins]

Looking so good!

[Shadoweclipse13]

Aww yeah

[MrJagsquire]

It's a bit nerve wracking putting those bushes in, but you did a nice job.

[hexes]

FINAL LAP! got a lovely slab of alder. will be gluing in two chunks like this!



then we trace the pickup routes, add 1/4 for wiring to run parallel, rout out the channels.

then, conundrum! do i just seal the wood and cover it all with shielding tape? or do i practice spraying some of this gracey capri orange? there will be an obvious seam where the poly paint and nitro meet, and it'd only be for practice before I hit the headstock.