Jazzmaster project

[M29]

Hello,

I am having a bit of trouble with my Jazzmaster project. I am using a Squier neck that I plan to replace with a Warmoth neck later on if this neck does not work out although this neck is actually very very very nice but it appears to be too thick fitting in the neck socket of this Warmoth body. This puts the strings too high with the bridge.



http://webpages.charter.net/tankm4/jazzmast5.jpg

My Squier strat is in the background and you can see the neck sets much lower in the body. The Warmoth neck socket is 5/8ths inches deep which is supposed to be standard Strat depth. What I was wanting to know is how thick an American Strat neck heel is to see if I need to plane off some of this Squier neck. The Squier '51 neck which is in my surf green Strat is about 1/16th less in thickness then the Squier Strat neck I am using for my Jazzmaster. This 1/16th does not appear to be enough to get my strings low enough for the bridge.

Could someone measure their American Strat heel thickness for me?

http://webpages.charter.net/tankm4/jazzmast4.jpg

Thank you for your time and help.

M29

[duhvoodooman***]

Just about 15/16" on my '89 American Strat Plus.

[F_BSurfer]

on my HWY 1 it is also 15/16

[M29]

Hello,

Thanks guys that will do just fine, I have something to go on now.

Thanks again.

M29

[M29]

Hello,
I did some grain filling on my Jazzmaster project. Here are some pics.

I picked up some paste grain filler at a local hardware that is working good so far although it is taking quite a while to dry. In this pic I am spreading the filler onto the body that I had already put a nitro lacquer wash coat on. A wash coat is a coat of paint that is somewhat thin so it will get into the pores of the wood easier to seal off the grain.
My plans were to use a dark filler to accent the grain but I decided not to as the more I thought about it, it would have probably made the grain too agressive and gaudy, a picture is included at the end of this post.



Once I spread the filler on, I worked it into the pores of the grain, sometimes using my fingers. I then let it set for about 30 minutes. Most fillers suggest 15 to 20 minutes but this product suggested a longer time period and it took that long to flash off or dull. This is the point you want to get to so you can take off the top layer. I used a plastic bondo spreader to scrape the excess filler off and then used a piece of burlap cut from part of my hunting gear to wipe the rest off across the grain. The idea is to keep the filler (in) the grain depressions and not wipe or lift the filler (out).






Because this is taking so long to dry I hung the body up in front of a fan.

http://webpages.charter.net/tankm4/jazzmast12.jpg

I have since sanded the body with 240 sandpaper and am letting it dry more just to be sure it is good and dry before I put the nitro lacquer clear on. I should say that I am not using any sanding sealer as I do not like mixing substrates and this will be a clear natural finish so I am going straight clear nitro lacquer all the way.

This images shows my test sample of what the dark grain filler would look like, it is in the area with the red circle. This will be covered up by the pickguard. I think it would have been too gaudy, plus I plan to get or build a neck with a Pau Ferro fretboard down the road that should look great with this natural grain.



I hope this helps some.

M29

[tot_Ou_tard]

Wow! I agree M29, it looks better without the dark filler. Are these steps standard for a natural finish guitar or did you decide on these steps on your own?

[M29]

Hello tot,

This is pretty much standard practice and is what my dad taught me when I was younger. You can use clear sanding sealer, it does help seal the grain which will help you get a smoother finish but you can get the same finish by adding more clear. It takes more patience letting each coat dry overnight but I have quite a bit of patience with something as serious as this. I don't like having trouble with different products under my main paint, which can add to adhesian problems or blotching and what not. I don't want to say that you will have these problems using sanding sealer and people use sanding sealer all the time with great success, I even use it ocasionally. I just want a clear mind going through a serious project like this, I don't want any surprises along the way. Sometimes sanding sealer will change the shade of a clear natural finish ever so slightly and I don't want that to happen either I just want nice clear nitro, the filler is coloring it more then I want it to all ready.

This site is very helpful with this subject although you may already have there. http://www.reranch.com/reranch/

Yeah that dark filler kind of popped out at me once I tested it. What I had in mind was to do a burst with the dark grain accent. This would not show much of the dark grain because of the shading around the edge and might not look so bad. I also thought about a transparent black burst with a solid black along the edge. I am happy with this natural finish now that I have started it.

I hope this helps tot

M29

[Tone2TheBone]

M29 - I have always liked how you describe your projects with photos. Thanks!

[warren0728]

looking good m29.....keep us posted on your progress...

ww

[M29]

You are welcome tone, I am not good at writing I have to work it over many times to make it sound coherant. I probably spelled coherant wrong

I have a lot of projects going right now and hope to help out some here. I just got my ebony pre-slotted fretboard and Gibson style LP Custom inlays for that along with a Stewmac router base for my Dremel. This should get me started on my neck through that I am going to mate with my Epi LP Studio body. I have never done inlays before so that should be fun to watch I need to get out to get the wood for the neck so it can be drying while all this is being done. Hopefully next week I can do that. I found a chunk of mahogany about 4x4 by 40 some inches that may work for my laminates in the neck. It has been setting at my dads for a long time so that should be good and stable.

Thanks again tone for the kind words on my work. Glad I can help.

M29

[Tone2TheBone]

You are welcome tone, I am not good at writing I have to work it over many times to make it sound coherant. I probably spelled coherant wrong

I have a lot of projects going right now and hope to help out some here. I just got my ebony pre-slotted fretboard and Gibson style LP Custom inlays for that along with a Stewmac router base for my Dremel. This should get me started on my neck through that I am going to mate with my Epi LP Studio body. I have never done inlays before so that should be fun to watch I need to get out to get the wood for the neck so it can be drying while all this is being done. Hopefully next week I can do that. I found a chunk of mahogany about 4x4 by 40 some inches that may work for my laminates in the neck. It has been setting at my dads for a long time so that should be good and stable.

Thanks again tone for the kind words on my work. Glad I can help.

M29

You bet. The project you described above sounds really interesting. I'd really like to see photos of that progress! You're doing a fine job sir and you make the perfect Mod for this forum.

[M29]

Hello,

Well it has been a while since I posted any progress on my Jazzmaster style Warmoth project. I have been putting coats of clear nittro on since the last time I posted and have been letting them dry a few days between each coat. Good thing I am in no hurry, it is going to take a while.

One thing I want to mention is that when you put the first coat of clear or sanding sealer on, always sand before you add any more clear. This first coating makes all the grain stand up and if you don't sand (cut) them off now they will be buried in the first coats of clear and will haunt you the rest of the way through your project. This goes for any wood that you are painting, sealing or clearing. Once this initial coat is smooth you are on your way. I should mention here that if you have a stained piece of wood, be very very carefull when sanding this first coat of clear, you don't want to go through the stain. All you have to do it sand lightly to knock off the nibs of the grain. It is best to sand between every other coat as well but don't miss that first one.

Here is a shot of the body with about three coats of clear.



I tried to do a macro shot of the grain depressions but It did not come out that great. If you look closely you can see the open grain that has to be filled with clear. The largest part has been done with the grain filler but the rest will be done with clear. Between each coat I sand off as much clear as I can to keep the thickness to a minimum. I don't want to put too much clear on or it will end up cracking years down the road, this cracking we used to call alligatoring as it looks just like an alligators skin. I know you guys have seen it on old guitars. It is inevitable that it will crack in many many years but if you keep the build up to a minimum it will last longer. I use a small flat hard wood block to sand the clear down flat, you don't want any gullies from the shape of your fingers in your final finish. You want to build up the clear in the depressions and sand off a good portion around them so they level out eventually and make a glass smooth finish.




Early on I keep sanding with the grain in case I break through the clear into the wood underneath. It is okay to sand through if you are working with straight wood with no tint or stain. If you sand through to your stain you will end up with inconsistencies and light spots and blotches. So it is very serious stuff when sanding the clear coats on a stained piece of wood. I use 220 grit through all the clear coats until the last one and then I go to 320 after 220.



Well this will be going on for a long time, I hope to get started on my LP project soon which I can work on while the clear is drying.

I am no expert but I hope this all helps some.

M29

[warren0728]

very nice m29....thanks for the update!

Looking forward to seeing the lp project too!

ww

[kerc]

That body is looking great!! Beautiful grain...

[M29]

Hello,

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Well...I am going to order my neck for my Jazzmaster project. I need to get started putting clear on it so it will be ready when my body is finished. I am applying the last few coats of nitro clear on the body and will have to let it dry quite a while before I do a final polishing and put the neck on. I have been waiting 3 or 4 days sometimes a week between coats so each coat is good and dry before I put on the next coat. This has been a test of patience as it always is with nitro but I am glad I have waited it should be good and stable.

Anyways...I am looking at a Warmoth neck with a Pau Ferro fretboard and white binding. This will be on a Strat neck. I am curious what you guys thoughts are on the white binding? Do you think it will look too gaudy? I am thinking about going with a white pickguard either solid or pearl and I thought it would look good to carry the white look up the neck with binding. I really like a bound neck, (I like Gibson's) but I don't want it too look overdone or gaudy. I was also thinking abalone dots. What do you think, would the abalone dots be pushing it? Here is a picture of what it looks like from the Warmoth site.



My other thoughts were to go with a tortoise guard or possibly black. Oh man...I don't know...

Here is a shot of it before clear mocked up with a Squier neck I had laying around.

http://webpages.charter.net/tankm4/jazzmast6.jpg

Thanks all.

M29

[sunvalleylaw]

I personally don't think it will look gaudy at all. Will look nice with that nice vintage shape. Great work!

Hello,

Thanks guys for the kind words.

. . .
Anyways...I am looking at a Warmoth neck with a Pau Ferro fretboard and white binding. This will be on a Strat neck. I am curious what you guys thoughts are on the white binding? Do you think it will look too gaudy? I am thinking about going with a white pickguard either solid or pearl and I thought it would look good to carry the white look up the neck with binding. I really like a bound neck, (I like Gibson's) but I don't want it too look overdone or gaudy. I was also thinking abalone dots. What do you think, would the abalone dots be pushing it? Here is a picture of what it looks like from the Warmoth site.
. . .
Thanks all.

M29

[M29]

Hello Steve,

Thank you. Hey I got thinking...that image from Warmoth is pretty close to my pic so I got into photoshop and resized it a little and tried this. Now I need to mess with it some more and put the white pickguard on it



It don't look too bad!

Thanks again Steve.

M29

[sunvalleylaw]

Hello Steve,

Thank you. Hey I got thinking...that image from Warmoth is pretty close to my pic so I got into photoshop and resized it a little and tried this. Now I need to mess with it some more and put the white pickguard on it



It don't look too bad!

Thanks again Steve.

M29

You are welcome! I thought I would like the look. Glad you do too. As long as you are photoshopping around, through a white pearloid one on there. That might look cool too!

[tremoloman***]

Man am I jealous... your guitar is a beauty! Outstanding work! I'm happy to see I'm not the only Jazzmaster fan on thefret.net!

I'm working on a similar project but going the poor man's route. (Squier Jagmaster body, MIM bridge, etc.).

Please let us see and hear it when its completed!
-Trem