Help me pop my cherry

Deijavoo

So, always fancied building a bitsa, and bought an unfinished Jazzmaster body last night.

So erm, HELP!!

I'm absolutely shit at these sorts of things but it's a bucket list job and so I'd like to try and make a decent effort. What better place to ask than you kind bunch. 

I'm wanting a neck next, ideally a block inlay one but I'm not paying those crazy Warmoth import prices. What can I use to finish the body? I'm thinking natural (swamp ash) oiled with black scratchplate, maybe some Mojo silver foil pickups and one of these mastery bridges I hear so much about. 

Guess I need to get some sandpaper and soldering iron first though. Any general tips are really appreciated.

Sarge

Excellent! Testing times ahead for thee!

Soldering iron : if a straight iron get at least a 40watt,you'll need it for the pot cases.
Maplin do a decent soldering station, affordable too with spare parts available.

Wet n dry sandpaper : klingspor or Halfords, everything else I've tried has been below par.

Tru-oil or Napier London gunstock oil are superb for easy finishing with a really "organic" feel.

TTony

Enrol in the Bailey online BYOG course. You'll learn plenty, even for just putting together a bitsa.

RedRabbit

Don't get a cheap soldering iron.  I bought a few ebay/amazon "bargains" for around £10 and thought that soldering was hard to do well and that I was crap at it. 

I then spent a few extra quid on a half decent soldering station with temperature control and it turns out soldering isn't that tricky.  It was a little while ago now I but I don't think it was more than £20.

Deijavoo

Cheers guys, don't scrimp on iron, get on a course, sandpaper and oil check. :-)

Deijavoo

Telecaster neck on a JM?

http://www.axecaster.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_1&products_id=341

ThePrettyDamned

Deijavoo;660820" said:

Telecaster neck on a JM?









http://www.axecaster.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_1&products_id=341

Wrong neck heel. You need a strat neck really.

Get a good book - there are a few classics that cover most stuff well.

meltedbuzzbox

Try northwest guitars for a neck. I think the limit is £180 on the price and they have all kinds of options

@GSPBasses might be worth a shout?

I would strongly urge you to go for a Jazzmaster pickup set over any foil variety. The foils dont even come close in terms of sound. 

See Marc at Mojo, he is the king of offset pickups (and ask to have the bridge overwound ;-) )

A mastery bridge is a great choice and my preference but they are a touch pricey. 

Get your vibrato from ebay. The AVRI unit is usually around £35 ish

hope that helps

Deijavoo

Thanks guys, totally appreciate the advice.

ewal

I think you'll need a custom neck like the one's northwest guitars do if you want block inlays - they're not easy to come by.

And +1 for Mojo jm pickups with an overwound bridge.