Agreed, but I think the upper rotary controls allow you to sweep between HB and single coil.

Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most...

My Jazzmaster is fun, but I'd rather play surf music on my Danelectro 6SB!

JCStilley wrote:

Now I can finally answer this question! My friends, I present Papa Surf.image

What a cool thread! Very entertaining, and it's been going for a decade! lol. Wow. Im pretty new to this forum, so I thought I'd join in, for what it's worth...
I'm fairly new to "surf" guitar, and coming from hollow body rockabilly taste, I thought it might be fun to have a Jazzmaster with a Bigsby, since that's the vibrato system I'm more used to. So I bought a dirt cheap Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster Special (hard tail), and I customized it into a really cool feeling/playing/sounding surf guitar. I realize it's a bastard stepchild to vintage Jazzmaster aficionados, but I LOVE it.
The original guitar got mixed reviews, and I couldn't find a decent video review of it (or even a factually accurate review, now that I know it inside and out), but I took a chance. Here's a quick rundown...
It has the stock JM101 pickups, which tend to have more dirt than I thought they'd have, but they're clean at low gain, and they actually have a pretty great surf sound, especially the beefy Jazzmaster lows. I'll probably replace them with SD Anitiquity II's one of these days, but I'm in no hurry. I replaced the DaneElectro style tailpiece-bridge with a Golden Age low profile roller bridge from StewMac, and a Bigsby B5 vibrato (modified by me not to wobble). I also swapped out the stock stiff spring with a soft touch spring from Reverend Guitars. I painted and re-decal'd the headstock, and I installed Gotoh vintage Klusen-style locking tuners. I swapped the nut for a Graphtech TUSQ XL, which I can't recommend highly enough. The wiring was hacked garbage when I bought it, so I had to rewire it 100%: top knobs are independent volumes, bottom are master tone and master bass rolloff (turns out I'll probably never need that for surf guitar). I kept the stock Alpha pots -mistake, I'll swap to CTS the next string change- and I used Orange Drop caps. Strings are D'Addario Chrome flatwound 11/50 (I'll switch to 12's next, I get the big string thing now). The body cavity is fully copper tape insulated, and the pick guard is insulated with aluminum foil - no hum, buzz or static whatsoever.
Anyway, there you have it. A damn good sounding & playing surf guitar at a price I'm pretty happy about. And it's not bad looking either, if I don't say so myself.

...SurfbumNate _m/

Hey SurfbumNate, Nice job on the cool Jazzmaster! I'm also a fan of the Bigsby vibrato. Even more so, the Mosrite vibrato. I think there's a relationship between the two. I bought one of these and have been saving it for an eventual project such as yours:

Mosrite-style trem and bridge assembly

Again, nice job!

I converted all of my guitars over to Reverends awhile back. Full disclosure: I am an endorsed player. But that's only the case because I love these guitars so much. Even before I recently got into surf guitar, I had an affinity for the 60's deco aesthetic. And, even though I've owned just about every 'standard' guitar model under the sun, now... I find that I typically gravitate towards less used models because they are a little more unique (ie. one of my favorite guitars was the Gretsch Corvette). Anyway, the head designer at Reverend (Joe Naylor) has the same taste in guitar design. They are all unique and proprietary. But they all retain a very classic look, and don't look weird just to look weird. I have a slew of them, now. And have discovered that several models are really perfect for surf stuff. These are my typical rotation for the surf band:

Guitarist for Black Valley Moon & Down By Law

Google is your friend...

http://www.reverendguitars.com/instrument/sensei-hb-2016-le/

Insect Surfers
The Tikiyaki Orchestra
The Scimitars
Lords Of Atlantis
Fiberglass Jungle - Surf Radio

I've played reverends for years. They are simply awesome. & for the money cannot be beat! They're amazing out of the box, but I'm a tinkerer & they're great platforms for mods!

www.instagram.com/_the.outer.limits_
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX7iIpcAvL8In2HY9I7QoPw
www.theouterlimits.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/vertigogo.surf

Yes, I know it's not a guitar but surf bands need bass, ya know!

I may be in the minority here regarding color choice but I am one of those weirdos who actually likes Fiesta Red. My #1 surf guitar is a FR AVRI Jazzmaster from the original run back 1999.

But I much prefer playing bass and have a special affinity for the Fender Precision. I've played bass in several band genres since 1973 and ended up buying (and selling) several Precision and Jazz Basses over the years and was astute enough to hold onto the the really good ones.

Anyway....for several years I've wanted a Fiesta Red Precision. The older pre-CBS era ones have now become expensive collectors items so the hunt has been for an American Vintage Reissue. The affordable "holy grail" for me was one of the early AVRI's that were built in the old Fullerton plant prior to Fender's move to Corona. Those utilized the original '50's-'60's tooling, were pretty much hand-built and produced in very small numbers as compared to today.

A couple weeks ago I was checking out the classifieds on the TalkBass.com forum and came across the unicorn Fullerton Fiesta Red '62 AVRI Precision for sale that I never thought I would find - and it was priced reasonably, too. Here it is in it's loving new home (mine). I'm it's third owner and it is unbelievably pristine for a 33 year old instrument.

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money (1978-1990)

Last edited: Oct 14, 2016 15:53:36

Thanks, Ivan! Dang, I forgot that the Shadows bassist had a Fiesta with tort Precision.

I already have a Fullerton '57 Precision in sunburst, a VERY early one from 1982 with a V000 + 3-digit serial #. And a black Fullerton AVRI '62 Strat which is the best Stratocaster I've ever owned or played. It is a well-used road warrior, all original aside from a set of Rio Grande PU's.

Speaking of Fiesta Red, here's my dog Murphy's (and my) favorite Jazzmaster....

Jack Booth
(aka WoodyJ)

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
The Hula Hounds (1996-current)
The X-Rays (1997-2004)
The Surge! (2004, 2011-2012)
Various non-surf bands that actually made money (1978-1990)