project blackguard jazzmaster

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s_mcsleazy
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project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:50 am

so if anyone on here knows anything about me, i've always had a love for the mid-late 70's jazzmasters with the black guards. target bursts, black guards, block inlays and heavy heavy ash bodies. well i thought to myself "what if i were to design/re-design a 70's jazzmaster" well, now we're going to find out. i found a chinese blocked and bound neck for £50. i got a baseball bat ash body for £81. i got a fender branded jazzmaster trem for £25 (friend was getting rid of it). i got a set of unknown pickups with strong magnets and a fairly hot output. got some small bits. so let's go

Image
god i love a nice piece of ash

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a quick mockup.

note, this isn't the pickguard i'm using. i've got a new one on the way. so what's the plan? well as much as i love targetburst, i'm not confident enough to paint a burst, but because 70's fender were all about saving costs wherever possible AND that's the other idea behind this build, so shall i. so i'm going to stain the body. i'm not doing a targetburst stain, as good as i am with the stain, i'm not that good. but my idea was if fender wanted to save money back then, they probably would have just used a basic colour like red. so it's gonna be red.

wiring? gotta save money. 1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way switch BUT we're also gonna have a phase switch where the rhythm circuit would be.

more for aesthetic unity, i'm gonna paint the headstock black to match the guard.

bridge? well for my own sanity, i'm sticking with what i know and using a normal jazzmaster bridge with graphtech saddles. they just work for me.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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thatfenderguy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by thatfenderguy » Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:50 am

It looks great. My only issue is why on earth are Jazzmaster toggle switches never centered!?

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s_mcsleazy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Thu Jun 03, 2021 1:07 pm

thatfenderguy wrote:
Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:50 am
It looks great. My only issue is why on earth are Jazzmaster toggle switches never centered!?
i think it's because you're less likely to bump it when it's further down.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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s_mcsleazy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Wed Jun 09, 2021 4:21 am

update. i just built the bridge and found a set of covers in my spares draw. pickguard is on the way.

good news: the stain arrived (yay)
bad news: scottish weather is being all scottish weather today and i was wanting to do the stain outside. seriously, the weather had been good for a whole week and it happened to start raining the day the stain arrived. might do it in the close since the stain doesn't smell too bad.

here's the colour i'm going with.
Image

anyway. not much update but here's the covers i found and the bridge on the body
Image
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s_mcsleazy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:28 am

so quick update. there was a break in the rain and the pickguard arrived. this is only the first coat of stain, it will get darker over time but i figured i'd show it off anyway.
Image

edit, did a quick mockup
Image
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by noisepunk » Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:06 am

great color combo, reminds me of the red they used on the original lead (i, ii, iii) series... i think one of the mods (offyourface, maybe?) has/had a red stain JM too that i quite liked.

i have 70s spec. pickups in my JM and might be swapping them out for a pair of gibson t-tops i've had kicking around for a while. if i do and decide to get rid of them, i'll let you know– on theme and all that.
Last edited by noisepunk on Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

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s_mcsleazy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:16 am

noisepunk wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:06 am
great color combo, reminds me of the red they used on the original lead (i, ii, iii) series... i think one of the mods (offyourface, maybe?) has/had a red stain JM too that i quite liked.

i have 70s wound pickups in my JM and might be swapping them out for a pair of gibson t-tops i've had kicking around for a while. if i do and decide to get rid of them, i'll let you know– on theme and all that.
that was kinda my idea. i was thinking of the red leads and the contrast between the red, the black and the white pickup covers.

i'm gonna see how these pickups sound first.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by LVC » Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:58 am

That's looking very good!

What's the neck like? I've seen similar ones on eBay and wondered whether they were any good.

I'm also pretty curious about the pickups. Looks like they have pole screws?
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s_mcsleazy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:18 pm

LVC wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:58 am
That's looking very good!

What's the neck like? I've seen similar ones on eBay and wondered whether they were any good.

I'm also pretty curious about the pickups. Looks like they have pole screws?
It's about the same thickness as the CV fenders. Very glossy (I'm gonna remove some of that) and defo changing the nut. It also kinda bugs me that the block on the first fret doesn't look right. But considering i got it for £45. I think it's worth that.

The pickups are a cheap set I found on eBay. My friend sent me the link and were like "these any good" they were cheap so I figured why not try em. They're very similar construction to a set of Mexican jazzmaster pickups I have with a little more DC resistance.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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s_mcsleazy
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:47 am

update. just got the small parts today. added a few more coats of stain to the body so it's now dark and painted the headstock black. might ask HNB to make me a decal. it's starting to remind me more of an SG at this point. i'm gonna pretend i meant it because 70's fender were weirdly obsessed with half copying gibson.

next comes the fun part. drilling the holes. i also still gotta do the wiring and lacquer it. after that, hopefully will be close to done.

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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by Trout » Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:29 am

:-*
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MayTheFuzzBeWithYou
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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:10 am

The Black Guard and Headstock look good on their own... but with the white contrast...that's awesome! :? well done!

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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Sat Jun 12, 2021 12:41 pm

MayTheFuzzBeWithYou wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:10 am
The Black Guard and Headstock look good on their own... but with the white contrast...that's awesome! :? well done!
wait till you see pictures of this thing in the light of day. i just finished drilling all the holes.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:26 pm

s_mcsleazy wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 12:41 pm

wait till you see pictures of this thing in the light of day. i just finished drilling all the holes.
Looking forward to that McSleazy! :)

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Re: project blackguard jazzmaster

Post by s_mcsleazy » Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:14 am

might have got bored and finished it off this afternoon.

Image
Image
Image

it need a fret level and a new nut BUT i got it kinda playable.
offset guitars resident bass player.
'Are you trying to seduce me Mrs Robinson? Or do you just want me to solder a couple of resistors into your Muff?'

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