I’d wanted to put together a Jazzmaster guitar for a while, but had a few false starts, I then got offered a ‘B grade’ JM kit from GSPBASSES at a price it was impossible to ignore.
I knew already I wanted the guitar to be ‘Surfburst’ having seen an aged/relic’d version in Coda music while doing conga lessons, I then found some images of original ones.
Rather than use the standard not so great bridge, I opted for a roller bridge from Wilkinson, this meant that I would have to modify the pickguard and enlarge the bridge holes in the body. I went for a relatively cheap trem as I’m not planning on using the trem much, ordered a parchment pickguard from eBay, then drilled out the holes that secured the trem and guard to the body.
I then had to drill out the bridge post holes and enlarge the bridge holes on the pickguard. This was done on my grandads drill press, I measured everything about 20 times I think before committing to drilling the holes.
I also drilled out the strap button holes which was the last thing to do before the body was ready for sending away for paint.
The back of the neck (up to where the headstock transition starts) was finished with Ezeoil, it’s great to work with and feels amazing once finished with wax. I also drilled out the tuner holes, string guide and rolled the fretboard edges.
The body and neck were then sent off to Rich for paint with some reference images of the Surfburst finish I was after. Along with a suitable decal for the headstock.
With the body and neck gone, the pickups were ordered from Mojo along with the wiring harness.
As per usual, Rich was doing a fantastic job and sending me progress pictures along the way
With everything back with me, it was time to shield the body, match the wiring harness to the pickups and ground wire then assemble. I used stick on copper shielding.
Body assembled
Before fitting the neck, I performed a fret level and dress. The neck was then attached, it needed a shim to get everything playing nicely, I fortunately had one I’d previously bought from Stewmac.
The guitar plays brilliantly and sounds just as good thanks to the amazing Mojo pickups. Stunning looking guitar 🙂
