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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink orange sherbet/vanilla twist. parts jaguar a-comin'!

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SandBug wrote:

Man, it's gorgeous.

thanks for keeping me going on this project! I'm actually loving how it's turning out. once the conversion bushings are here; i'll string it up.

What a beauty!

Cosmo, you're doing beautiful work and really getting things done. On shielding the cavities...I thought about brass plate or the prefab brass tubs but figured I might have to do a bit of routing to make that fit. In the end, I was really happy with my results using the copper tape. I bought a roll from Amazon for $10-15 and it's plenty for several guitars. The extra work I did was to remove as much of the original shielding paint as I could (which was really poorly done) and then a light coat of shellac over it to seal it so that the tape would stick good. Here's a before and after on my Jazzmaster. Keep up the good work!!
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Ben wrote:

Cosmo, you're doing beautiful work and really getting things done. On shielding the cavities...I thought about brass plate or the prefab brass tubs but figured I might have to do a bit of routing to make that fit. In the end, I was really happy with my results using the copper tape. I bought a roll from Amazon for $10-15 and it's plenty for several guitars. The extra work I did was to remove as much of the original shielding paint as I could (which was really poorly done) and then a light coat of shellac over it to seal it so that the tape would stick good. Here's a before and after on my Jazzmaster. Keep up the good work!!

thanks! the shielding looks great. I shielded my squiers with copper tape years back and it worked very well. I also recently found a company that makes shielding paint that is light years beyond what stew mac sells. It's a very conductive Nickel, like $23 a small jar. did my MIM jazzmaster with that and then lost the jar when we moved.

may do tape again just for the cost.

Last edited: Jan 23, 2021 14:41:17

Nice job with the shielding...much easier to do on an in process build than a complete guitar. I've got a roll of copper shielding tape from Amazon also. Great stuff and you get a ton for little $$$. I shielded the pick guards on my Hallmark 65 Custom and a Tele (which I don't have anymore). Both pickguards were really full of static and nois and I got tired of rubbing them down with anti static laudry sheets. Did the backs of both guards with the tape and worked like a charm. No static and noise, even in cold dry winter months.

Much easier for Cosmo to do now that's why I mentioned it again. I had to take mine apart and pull the pickups. I used a roll of heavy duty aluminum foil from the grocery store and contact adhesive spray on the pickguard. In my case, the original Roadworn JM wiring was pretty sloppy with long leads left on the pickups. I removed a total of almost 24" of excess wire from the controls cavity and redressed the wiring layout..I think that helped a lot too. This Jazzmaster is quiet as a mouse now!!! Looking for to an update Cosmo..good luck!!

quick sloppy family photo:

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Last edited: Jan 23, 2021 18:53:21

Handsome bunch!

Ben wrote:

Much easier for Cosmo to do now that's why I mentioned it again. I had to take mine apart and pull the pickups. I used a roll of heavy duty aluminum foil from the grocery store and contact adhesive spray on the pickguard. In my case, the original Roadworn JM wiring was pretty sloppy with long leads left on the pickups. I removed a total of almost 24" of excess wire from the controls cavity and redressed the wiring layout..I think that helped a lot too. This Jazzmaster is quiet as a mouse now!!! Looking for to an update Cosmo..good luck!!

I got lazy AGAIN and bought some copper tape. spent the afternoon shielding all the squiers in the house. the tape takes much longer to apply than the nickel paint, but it's also 1/3rd the price. did 3 guitars tonight after sanding off the original shielding paint.

the jag will probably get the tape too.

i CANNOT wait for the tuner bushings. want to string it up so bad.

SandBug wrote:

Handsome bunch!

thanks! the squier bullet continues to impress me. such a fun guitar to play. i'm eyeing some single coils to swap. my partner picked up the jag and said it's too heavy. her loss/my gain.

we have strings! the bushings are a little tight around the tuner posts, the tuning posts aren't moving as freely as they should. so i may need to sand a little metal somehow. the store that sold them said they were for gotoh; but they arrived just in a ziplock bag.

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Last edited: Jan 26, 2021 10:20:03

Almost there! Looks like everything fits very well. And that fretboard looks nice and dark now. Great looking Jaguar! Too bad it's a bit on the heavy side for her. Cool

Yes, i agree those Mustangs are very cool guitars, the body is so thin, and along with the swimming pool rout the whole things is pleasantly light weight. I dig the necks too, they're not like typical Mustang necks, flatter profile and flatter radius. Cool guitar and it's going to be even better once you're done customizing it into a surf machine.

Just a word of caution, please be careful when fitting in tight bushings, I've read about folks forcing them in and it can crack the headstock, typically a crack forming from tuner hole to tuner hole. Of course wood will naturally compress and most bushings are meant to be snug anyway, and your's look to be just fine, but it's just something to keep in mind whenever fitting metal into a relatively thin piece of wood.

SandBug wrote:

Almost there! Looks like everything fits very well. And that fretboard looks nice and dark now. Great looking Jaguar! Too bad it's a bit on the heavy side for her. Cool

Yes, i agree those Mustangs are very cool guitars, the body is so thin, and along with the swimming pool rout the whole things is pleasantly light weight. I dig the necks too, they're not like typical Mustang necks, flatter profile and flatter radius. Cool guitar and it's going to be even better once you're done customizing it into a surf machine.

Just a word of caution, please be careful when fitting in tight bushings, I've read about folks forcing them in and it can crack the headstock, typically a crack forming from tuner hole to tuner hole. Of course wood will naturally compress and most bushings are meant to be snug anyway, and your's look to be just fine, but it's just something to keep in mind whenever fitting metal into a relatively thin piece of wood.

I sanded each hole by hand after running a 3/8 bit in reverse. i did get a little lacquer check on the first one when pressing it in, but the rest are fine so far. i'm not worried about it as I have a fresh can of gracey capri orange and some nitro clearcoat. just waiting for the decal. i will probably wait a while before doing the headstock.

it is incredibly bright and lively unplugged. feels exceptionally good so far. it already blows my old squier jag to pieces.

the frets feel a little scratchy like the bullet mustang, which REALLY surprised me. i have some polishing sheets but i really did not plan on having to do that.

also agreed on those bullet mustangs. they're the deal of a century. she loves the flat radius and satin neck without me ever prompting her on what she likes about it. she doesn't like the japan mustang at all. very interesting.

Last edited: Jan 25, 2021 21:51:47

work on the jag continues: installed string tree in the proper location, shimmed the neck with 2 pieces of sand paper. still not enough height to fit the mute. I'll probably order stew mac shims; OR if I'm feeling saucy, pick up some veneer and hit the belt sander.

high e bends are fretting out, everything else is pretty good. will see what happens when the staytrem bridge arrives. need to grab a straight edge and a fret rocker. never done fretwork before.

the 2001 AVRI vibrato has the e strings resting on the vibrato screws. if the staytrem and shims don't create clearance, I may swap vibratos with my bass vi (2015 vibrato). none of my more recent vibratos have that issue.

a lot of people take their partscasters to a tech for setup, but I'm determined to do everything myself. I've obviously got the time. and honestly, one string fretting out near the heel and needing more of a break angle are simple fixes. this thing has been very impressive. love the neck.

Last edited: Jan 27, 2021 02:26:26

pickup cavity plugging time! alder finally got here. 2 lovely board feet of 4/4. surfaced two sides and one straight rip. will need sealer at minimum. had to hand shape these so I won't bother finishing it. just gonna shield it and call it a day once routed. I've spent way too long on this.
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Last edited: Jan 29, 2021 23:00:11

That's a lot of work, and I'm sure it'll be well worth it. It's a labor of love so it's supposed to take as long as you like.

My favorite part of any build is when all the parts are in the final stage of assembly and I can see my new instrument materialize. Parts transform into something playable. Exciting!

staytrem arrived. pickup routes finished. ended up shielding with tape since I have some. opted for some PV65 pickups. once they show up I'll wire it all up. i forgot how much top end sparkle gets lost with the staytrem bridge. however, more sustain and smoother vibrato action compared to the american professional placeholder bridge

I love playing this thing.

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Last edited: Feb 04, 2021 19:08:57

time to get this puppy wired!
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been working a TON which is good. but the jag was neglected.

as of tonight; the mute is on, neck is shimmed, full setup complete. I have Gracey's capri orange paint for a matching headstock. I'm going to refinish my JM baritone in coral to practice before I attempt the jag headstock. need a better quality decal though...

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Last edited: Mar 01, 2021 00:01:43

Lookin great!

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