Guitar Fetish Full Scale Jaguar Build

[gerardguey]

So there have been some changes to my plan that is stalling my progress with this build, but I think for the better. The whole idea of this being as cheap/economic as possible have gone completely out the window as I got more invested in this project with it being my first jag/jm project.

First, I have decided to order a custom neck. I have larger hands, and like thicker necks with wider nut widths, so after considering my options and pricing I decided to give Tonebomb a try. I have ordered a body from them through ebay before which took a while to ship, but the quality was decent and they had all options I wanted, so I don't mind waiting. It should be arriving in mid-late november.



Next, after looking at the cheap guitar fetish copper finish everyday and analyzing it in different lights, I came to hate it lol. After a while it just felt dull and lifelessly brown, not the faded CAR or Johnny Marr Metallic KO I envisioned.

I bought some Orange Candy and 2K clearcoat from Kustom Kanz and went to work. I enjoy the new shade of red/orange MUCH more now, I just need to sand and polish to make the metallic particles really shine. it's hard to capture but the effect of the old paint underneath with the transparent orange on top is really stunning in person, especially in direct sunlight.



Here you can see the results of my awful hand chiseled routing and extra wood blocks placed for the plates and pickup heights. I already have limited tools and found myself with only a weak drill to work with, so while it isn't pretty inside it does the job. It's a $80 body so I don't feel too bad, and with how much I ended up spending on the neck Im hoping to get a custom Guitar Forms body with a professional finish in the future.

[bodhi]

Does anyone know if the GFS body would work with a 24" scale? Looking at the pictures, it's difficult to tell if the bridge position would be on the edge of the swimming pool route or not...

The trem cavity is probably in the JM position?

I'm not too fuzzed about the exact placement of parts, but it looks like a 24" scale jag-ish build could work, with some adjustments to the pickguard.

[GilmourD]

Does anyone know if the GFS body would work with a 24" scale? Looking at the pictures, it's difficult to tell if the bridge position would be on the edge of the swimming pool route or not...

The trem cavity is probably in the JM position?

I'm not too fuzzed about the exact placement of parts, but it looks like a 24" scale jag-ish build could work, with some adjustments to the pickguard.

It'll definitely work on the original version of the body that needs to be routed to fit a proper Jazzmaster setup. I'm not sure about the revised version.

[gerardguey]

Does anyone know if the GFS body would work with a 24" scale? Looking at the pictures, it's difficult to tell if the bridge position would be on the edge of the swimming pool route or not...

The trem cavity is probably in the JM position?

I'm not too fuzzed about the exact placement of parts, but it looks like a 24" scale jag-ish build could work, with some adjustments to the pickguard.

I forgot about this thread since I paused the project while I wait for the neck. I dont have the pickguard anymore to double check but here is when I laid out a standard jag pickguard on the stock body:



The problem is the neck pocket placement of a Jag is lower than a JM, that's why there's a gap at the top of the pickguard. So while it looks like theres room for a 24in bridge placement, there may not be. If you want a Jag you're better off buying a Jag body somewhere else.

[GilmourD]

Does anyone know if the GFS body would work with a 24" scale? Looking at the pictures, it's difficult to tell if the bridge position would be on the edge of the swimming pool route or not...

The trem cavity is probably in the JM position?

I'm not too fuzzed about the exact placement of parts, but it looks like a 24" scale jag-ish build could work, with some adjustments to the pickguard.

I forgot about this thread since I paused the project while I wait for the neck. I dont have the pickguard anymore to double check but here is when I laid out a standard jag pickguard on the stock body:



The problem is the neck pocket placement of a Jag is lower than a JM, that's why there's a gap at the top of the pickguard. So while it looks like theres room for a 24in bridge placement, there may not be. If you want a Jag you're better off buying a Jag body somewhere else.

Stupid idea here, but it comes from me getting a 3D printer recently...

What if we throw the Jaguar pickguard into design software (Illustrator, TinkerCAD, AutoCAD, Fusion 360, whatever) and stretch it along the Y axis (if you're looking at it with the strings vertical) to fit the 25.5" scale but only use that for reference of placement for things since the pickup routes and areas where the plates meet would be stretched, too. Then take the unstretched version and add to the middle to make everything align.

It's easier than my piss-poor explanation there... but if I find myself with some time today or tomorrow I may play with the idea.

My only worry is my print bed maxxes out at 220mmx220mm and I bet this is bigger.

[gerardguey]

I don't event think you'd have to stretch the whole thing, just full in the gap at the top so that the shape aligns with the body, and move the bottom of the pickguar and/or bridge posts to the correct spot for a 24in bridge. You could probably do it in photoshop and print a cutout. That's how I mocked up my full scale pickguard design earlier in the thread.

Honestly though, having worked with this body for some time, I should have waited for a custom body. I love how it looks mocked up and i think it will work, but it was a lot more work and trial and error than I expected. The body is also ungodly heavy, though my perception might be skewed from working on only mustangs since I paused this project.

[Daitong II]

Good luck with the Tonebomb order. I’ve been waiting nine months for my order. You don’t have a finish on yours so maybe it’ll be much better.

[GilmourD]

I don't event think you'd have to stretch the whole thing, just full in the gap at the top so that the shape aligns with the body, and move the bottom of the pickguar and/or bridge posts to the correct spot for a 24in bridge. You could probably do it in photoshop and print a cutout. That's how I mocked up my full scale pickguard design earlier in the thread.

Honestly though, having worked with this body for some time, I should have waited for a custom body. I love how it looks mocked up and i think it will work, but it was a lot more work and trial and error than I expected. The body is also ungodly heavy, though my perception might be skewed from working on only mustangs since I paused this project.

I was thinking since pickups ideally "read" a certain portion of the string and harmonic content and that portion of the string moves with scale length the pickup should be proportionally placed.

Good luck with the Tonebomb order. I’ve been waiting nine months for my order. You don’t have a finish on yours so maybe it’ll be much better.

Unfinished bodies actually ship super quick if they're already made.

[gerardguey]

I was thinking since pickups ideally "read" a certain portion of the string and harmonic content and that portion of the string moves with scale length the pickup should be proportionally placed.

Ah, I did not consider that. Yeah that would require more math than I can handle. I definitely did not do that for this, my MO was fashion over function lol. This is going to be my shoegaze guitar, so harmonics are gonna be all over the place.

Good luck with the Tonebomb order. I’ve been waiting nine months for my order. You don’t have a finish on yours so maybe it’ll be much better.

Oooofff... What did you order from them? I should have just paid the extra cost for a warmoth or guitarmill neck at this point but I wanted to try out a small builder whos stuff I bought before. I have been super patient with them, but I felt I had to finally send a stern email the other day after the 4th missed completion date from them. My main issue with them is continually giving "two more weeks".

If they just told me straight up "hey we need another month because we are backlogged and understaffed" I could work around that and would appreciate the blunt honesty. But I get that they don't want people asking for their money back. I just wish their website lead times were more honest because from what I've seen they've been a lot longer than 12 weeks for a long time.

[Daitong II]

I got a Sherwood green nitro tele bound body and tele neck. It’s been getting finished for the last four or five months supposedly. I tried to get it cancelled because of my frustrations at the length of time but they said it was too far along. Supposedly I’ll get an update tomorrow because the finisher was away for a few days. It all sounds like a bullshit “we just, maybe, started finishing this.” Or maybe “an oh shit we probably should start this” kind of answer. We all know that the update, if it comes tomorrow, will be it needs two more weeks for curing or whatever. And then I’ll email them in another month to get a status update.

I’m going through the same thing with Parklane guitars. Seven months for a neck and I emailed them a few days ago and have not heard back.

The only reliable people I’ve dealt with are Musikraft and Bloomdoom. It’s gotten so frustrating to do parts guitars that I think I’m done with it.

[gerardguey]

The only reliable people I’ve dealt with are Musikraft and Bloomdoom. It’s gotten so frustrating to do parts guitars that I think I’m done with it.

I've never heard of Bloomdoom, I'll have to check them out. But yeah, as some one who does freelance work and deals with clients, I could never imagine pushing deadlines this many times. Obviously they're different businesses, but if I know im already backlogged when I take a gig, I make sure people know how long it's going to take me before I even accept any payment to see if it works for them. Oh well. Back to using in-stock parts for projects.

[andy_tchp]

I was thinking since pickups ideally "read" a certain portion of the string and harmonic content and that portion of the string moves with scale length the pickup should be proportionally placed.

Ah, I did not consider that. Yeah that would require more math than I can handle. I definitely did not do that for this, my MO was fashion over function lol. This is going to be my shoegaze guitar, so harmonics are gonna be all over the place.

It's also nonsense unless you only ever play open/unfretted notes on all strings.