Couldn’t find an MJT-specificities thread: POST PICS PLZ

[Mechanical Birds]

I’m spending more and more time on google image search looking at early-CBS Jaguars and I’m never gonna have $7k for a guitar so it looks like MJT is gonna be my way to get rid of this gas, eventually anyway. I’ve read threads on other forums and stuff but I’m specifically interested in this place’s collective opinion/experiences with doing MJT builds.

I’m pretty sure I wanna closely replicate a 66 Jaguar in Lake Placid Blue, B&B neck, etc. I messaged them and they responded immediately and answer any questions quickly and I think I can keep the whole thing below $1,500. I just hope I can get a typical F headstock and not have to settle for the fat Tele headstock thing I see when I look for pictures.

Anyway, post pictures and stories and whatever else cuz I wanna know and see everything. Thanks in advance!

[Embenny]

I have three bodies that have been finished by MJT and one headstock (rest of the neck was already done).

One of the three bodies was from MJT via whoever it was they subcontracted at the time (it was a premade one off ebay). It was "yellowed LPB":



The second is a blonde finish on the body I got off this board from smalltownsongs:



And the third is a royal purple thinline jag that has yet to be assembled:



Overall, they do good work. The radius on the jag body I got from them is a little too small (square) for my liking. Their finishes are fragile and are meant to wear and age quickly, even if you don't ask for them to pre-age it for you, so make sure that's something you want. It'd be tough keeping an MJT guitar looking mint if that was your inclination.

Otherwise, they offer better value for money than just about anyone. I'd just stay away from their sunbursts. They're not up to their usual standards. They do fantastic metallic finishes, though.

[HNB]

I love MJT bodies. They are usually light and if you have reference pictures for the wear look you want, they do really well replicating it. I probably have made around ten Jazzies. Use Japanese guards to save headaches with Jazzies. The ten strats and five teles I have done work with US stuff pretty fine.

My favorite bodies hands down.

[Jaguar018]

Guess this is pretty obvious, but you don't have to get an MJT body or neck for them to do the finishing. They refinished my vintage Mustang body and an All-Parts neck with no problems. They just (quite understandably) won't put Fender decals on anything that isn't Fender, so you'll have to do that yourself or get someone else to do it.

I don't think the body is the biggest hassle. For us Blocks and Binding Brothers, the quest is for the neck. The most 'authentic' ones are Fender, All-Parts or Mighty Mite(?) neck. There are also the ones off Ebay from China and wherever else. The further you get from Fender, the bigger the chance you have of getting weird blocks with the wrong proportions.

[jasonpetzold]

I have a heavily yellow Ice Blue Metallic Jaguar body that I got fro MJT.

I had to route A LOT to get the rhythm plate & controls to fit. It was easy, just get a Dremmel and go very slow.

I used all AVRI parts & a MIJ B&B Jaguar neck.

The neck pocket was super tight so I also had to do some light sanding around the edges of the pocket. There was a tiny gap between the butt of the neck and the body, but everything worked out...intonation was spot on, etc

The body looks great, but (as already mentioned) it is pretty fragile so be sure that is the look you want.

[jasonpetzold]

Oh, and I should add that customer service was great. Good communication, they sent pics of the progress, etc

Its been a while, but I feel like it took maybe 3 - 3.5 months before I received the body.

[Mechanical Birds]

Hell yeah thank you guys. Definitely want the easy-to-wear nitro deal and am happy to report that they do, in fact, offer closet clean as an option. I pretty much have my mind made up, just like someone said finding the right neck is gonna be goofy. Basically I want like the same profile as my Squier Mascis neck, but with Jag scale, obviously, and the CBS blocks and binding. I want a clean/minimal wear finish with maybe a small jumpstart on checking.

I have no idea what measurements go into something like that though - like where to measure/what each one is called, or if for some dumbass reason it might be impossible to use the same profile? I dunno, probably not going to be able to comfortably afford this for a while but it’s something I spend a lot of time thinking about it.

I’d love to see pictures of the completed guitars you did, really any of you, but if you did 10 Jazzmasters alone, yeah, my god, plz share some images?

Thanks again everyone.

[Mechanical Birds]

And Jason holy shit that Jag is awesome looking

And that Jag with the XII pickups? Fuggadidabouddidtt

[HNB]

I don't have all the MJT builds I have done, but I still have these.

[HNB]

My teles aren't done yet, but I can take body pictures if you want?

If you search my posts for MJT, you should be able to find the other Jags and Jazzy builds I worked on.

[JVG]

Hell yeah thank you guys. Definitely want the easy-to-wear nitro deal and am happy to report that they do, in fact, offer closet clean as an option. I pretty much have my mind made up, just like someone said finding the right neck is gonna be goofy. Basically I want like the same profile as my Squier Mascis neck, but with Jag scale, obviously, and the CBS blocks and binding. I want a clean/minimal wear finish with maybe a small jumpstart on checking.

I have no idea what measurements go into something like that though - like where to measure/what each one is called, or if for some dumbass reason it might be impossible to use the same profile? I dunno, probably not going to be able to comfortably afford this for a while but it’s something I spend a lot of time thinking about it.

I’d love to see pictures of the completed guitars you did, really any of you, but if you did 10 Jazzmasters alone, yeah, my god, plz share some images?

Thanks again everyone.

I’ve got 4 MJT bodies and they are quite good, but not awesome. I agree with the other comments about their finishes - they must mix something into the nitro to make it super-flakey, almost chalky. You can pick it off with a fingernail. Some of their relicing work is quite tasteful, and some is hideously over the top.

They are super nice people to deal with, in my experience.

J.

[Mechanical Birds]

Ehh shit, to me that sounds like it’s orange peely or textural in any way, which are both signs of shit work. I want the aged look and I want to age it, but if it feels like chalk maybe they aren’t the best choice? Having said that, I have no point of reference for their stuff compared to what Fender does/how long it would take for them to do comparable work/how similar the process is/etc. so who knows, maybe they only do like 25% of the sprays that fender would do on a comparable guitar or something. Maybe this is wholly normal for the job?

[JVG]

Sorry, i didn’t explain myself very well, and probably made it sound worse than it is!
The surface is smooth, not like orange peel at all (phew!). What i meant is that you can easily dig your nail into the finish (by accident) - and it feels a bit chalky when this happens. I’m sure they deliberately modify their nitro to accelerate ageing, which is fine in sone situations, but not if you want to maintain a pristine finish.

J.

[Mechanical Birds]

Oh ok yeah, I just saw all the garbage I got oh the side of the road

[59vampire]

Hi Im brand new here and this is my first post. Saw a lot of great guitars in this thread. An Olympic white JM really got me going.

Anyway, I did a shell pink 50s tele build in nitro about ten years ago with an MJT body. The nitro was perfect. As someone mentioned, you can have any level of aging on their bodies and their claim to fame was jumping on the relic bandwagon. I specified no aging and the body came that way. As you all know nitro checks and wears and it gives that lovely worn in appearance over time or quickly with the aid of some temperature changes.

If you are looking to build a guitar that will give you a convincing aged look and feel, you will be happy.