And i would love to build you one.

But. It would probably wind up costing you in the $500 to $700 range, depending on where the neck came from.

So you can see the problem i face.

That thing sounds nifty, but is horribly ugly.



And regarding bridges: The Mustang bridge is superior.

As long as it is in good shape. Once they get old and loosen up a bit, they can be a royal pain to get to return to pitch correctly. When they are working right, i do like the feel of them though.

Though, the length of the Jazzmaster trem arm is pretty fantastic.

Depending on what goes in there, that isn't exactly obscene or anything.

Shit parting out a Jazzmaster would run you about that much, and that can become a real poop shoot.




Something for me to keep in mind.

Yeah, the prices i did were with decent stuff, like GFS pickups, but not the top top of the line.

Building the bodies from scratch brings the price down a bunch from places like Warmoth or whatever, but if one is realistic about how many hours it takes to make and finish the bodies, the price tends to climb back up pretty quickly. Like, a (unfinished!) warmoth jazzmaster body is what, like $180? If made 100% from scratch, one could maybe do it for half that. A finished Warmoth is about $330? Depending on how shiny it is done, one could probably DIY a finished body from scratch for between $100 and $300.

Or for instance, my Lowestang body, once finished, made out of the cheapest possible wood, will have cost maybe $30 in raw parts, most of that in paint. But it will have taken probably 10 to 20 hours (depending on how far i take the finishing process) of cutting/sanding/routing/sanding/finishing/sanding/buffing to get done. At $10 and hour, that is $100 to $200, bringing it to a realistic $130 to $230 for the finished body. Made out of Lowes 2x8 pine. Using decent wood brings the material cost up another $20-80 depending on what one starts with. Before you know it, you are coming right up on that Warmoth price, and still only paying yourself fucking $10 an hour.

Factoring in, that my last normal non-retail job required considerably less skill, and still paid $30 and hour, and you start to see what a dickpain doing this shit for money is.

And that $10 an hour is all you get. To cover rent, electricity, heating, potential injury...

It is still something i intend to do... Just the idea of it, and the practice of it, are a fair bit different. And i deserve more than $10 an hour for fucks sake. But i am prepared/willing to get (lots) less for doing something i enjoy, rather than getting $30 an hour to install phone systems or something. But it is also way way less than even the number indicates, because, it is not a consistent $10 an hour, rather it is only $10 an hour when there is a guitar being built that is, or is going to be, sold.

Or, of course, in other words:

Yeah, it is a tough business.

Especially when you are competing with chinese factories:

http://www.rondomusic.com/partsbodies.html

http://store.guitarfetish.com/Necks-and ... _c_70.html




Not to mention shops like these, allparts etc. etc.

http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Jazzma ... JZMAO.aspx

http://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Allpar ... O-21B.aspx




It gets a bit silly. Damned internets.

I have actually heard good things about those GFS necks, but i wouldn't touch those Rondo bodies with a 10 foot pole unless they came attached to the $100 guitars they are from(and belong with).

In a $100 guitar you can deal with it, but if you are building something nice, you wouldn't want it. The holes won't match fender necks, the routing can be real sketchy, and they invariably weigh considerably more than you would expect. While i am using the SX neck on my Lowestang, partly, the new guitar's construction is because i wanted to ditch the body that the neck originally came attached to.

The GFS bodies have mixed reviews. Seems to be relatively inconsistent QC, highish weights, sometimes they are compatible with Fender spec necks, sometimes they need to be plugged and redrilled to get things together right.

The All Parts stuff is decent, but for that much for an unfinished body, i would sooner go Warmoth, or even better, USACG, whose body shapes are a bit more correct.

Again though, for an unfinished body, i could build it for probably $80-150 myself, depending on wood choice. Finishing it nicely, is the time/money sink. And it would be again with the unfinished All Parts/Warmoth/USACG bodies. Tack on about $100 at least for paint and labor, and you would be at a more realistic number. And you are still probably underselling yourself on labor.

I want a natural finished alder JM with a copper top.






Is it really so much to ask for?

Like copper paint? Or copper sheetmetal?

That is where I am at.

One is far more practical.

One is far more badass.

But will probably turn your arm greenish.

Unless you clearcoat it, then it won't look as gnerly as it ages. Also, not sure what the longevity of clearcoat over metal can be expected to be. Maybe if it was painted like a car? But cars don't usually go clear straight over metal anyhow, instead using primers and paint layers to stick to.

Hmm. I don't know.

What does copper sheet cost?

You could use a cheap guitar for an experiment if the copper was available cheap enough...

Or even copper foil.

Any imperfections like crinkling would probably look cool, but you could probably get a pretty clean layer of copper foil on there easily enough, depending on the thickness.

http://basiccopper.com/copper-sheet--rolls.html

http://basiccopper.com/thicknessguide.html

http://basiccopper.com/18-x-4-1-rolled-sh.html




Depending on how thick, it really isn't that expensive. That middle link is to a guide, I think 5 mil is probably the thinnest you could go with ... doesn't tear by hand or wrinkle too easily, but cuts easily with scissors and won't add a super retarded amount of weight.

Whoah dude.

I KNOW RIGHT?


Blue for Jazzmaster, Green for Jaguar

Even the boring ones are awesome.

There is quite a few there.

But damn is it ever pricey compared to the straight shiny copper. In fact, I really had the flat shiny surface in mind for the JM.

One of those patinas would be cool though for sure.

You could always just DIY it, Warhol style: