Think I'm gonna build a JM.

[popvulture]

I joined OSG and posted over there, but I know plenty of people here get into building guitars as well... I'm looking for a little advice, and maybe to get turned on to some new companies / cool options.

As I said over in the guitar forum, I've never owned a JM. I really like the '65 reissues, but there are a couple of things I'm not crazy about... mainly the bound neck (it's fine but I'm not nuts about it), and the sunburst looks a little bogus if you look at it up close (no wood visible, more of a weird, almost pointillist sort of grain that makes me wonder how they're applying it). These two things have led me to think that I could build something much more to my liking, for less than the AVRI's $2300 price tag.

I'm thinking an ocean turquoise body, fairly thick v-shaped neck w/rosewood board, natural headstock. Mastery bridge/vibrato, probably Lollar pickups. Re: the pickups, I'm a huge fan of Lollar, but open to other suggestions. I like the idea of one of his JM P-90s in the bridge, standard JM in the neck. Some people like to nix the rhythm circuit—I plan on keeping it.

What neck and body companies should I be looking at? Body-wise I'm most drawn to MJT. I don't want any kind of significant relic job, but I would like to go with their closet clean route just to knock the new off of it a little bit. Neck-wise Musikraft seems to offer some great options. The roasting is pretty nice, especially considering I could do that to have a slightly darker neck without having to use vintage tint lacquer, all the while improving the sound / sturdiness. That does add 100 bucks to the price, though

What are your experiences? Lemme know!

[neonblack]

I was thinking about building a JM too. No significant mods or anything, just some BLK TRI pickups, transparent black finish and an anodized black guard. Rosewood fretboard too. Mmmmmm

I would go with mjt for sure. Unless you wanna go full DIY and get an unfinished body from Saylor.

[popvulture]

Unless you wanna go full DIY and get an unfinished body from Saylor.

Oh yeah, no plans to go that hardcore. This will be my first build, so I'm gonna just focus on assembly rather than any kind of manufacturing/finishing. Thinking of just going with a Musikraft neck because of the legit fender shape... not nuts about the USACG headstock shapes being just so slightly off. I don't mind significantly differing ones, but just slightly tweaked shapes look kinda bootleg to me. Silly, maybe.

[neonblack]

Not silly at all. I want mine to honor the original as much as possible.

I mostly just want a finish that isnt offered. And honestly my last build was a tad expensive and took longer than I liked but that's mostly because I went with a newer builder who is now no longer in business. So I may not even build one, I may just get a Classic Player Jazzmaster and upgrade it.

But if I build one I'm definitely going with MJT.

[popvulture]

What's the finish? And MJT doesn't make it? Have you asked them about a one off? They seem to have assloads of options, wouldn't be surprised if they'd do a special order.

[neonblack]

Oh no I mean fender doesn't offer it except on the modern player jag. Its that sexy trans black and I'm pretty sure theyll do custom colors if it's reasonable

[popvulture]

Ah missed the part about transparent black in your earlier post—was on my phone and overlooked. That'd be super sweet... wasn't familiar with those BLK TRI either. They look fucking sick... I wonder if the output would be a little high for me, but I'm definitely interested.

Dude, was just thinking how badass these would look with the ocean turquoise body I was talking about, black guard. Oy.

[neonblack]

Yeah, that's the only thing I'm wondering too. Resincum has a set and he seems pretty happy with his. But he's all about the noize so I dunno.



I want these on a blacked out jm

[Iommic Pope]

If I recall correctly, BLK TRI dude plays a partsmaster, it looks pretty sweet, so I'm banking on his knowing his shit....?

[popvulture]

Yeah I bet they sound fucking killer, just wonder how much high end you lose with the higher output. I've gotta have plenty of that high end ring, but maybe it's got it, who knows... I'd love to hear somebody chime in (no pun intended there, ugh) but apparently these aren't even available yet...

For reference it looks like the Lollar bridge JM P90 is 9.4K, and these are around 12.5K. Really curious now. I've heard that ditching the rhythm circuit on a JM leads to brighter, clearer toanz, so maybe this would be a good instance to do that.

EDIT and yeah should add that I'm sure the BLK TRI guy does know his shit, just depends on what he's after. I tend to want more chime than doom, but maybe this is, you know... CHIME OF DOOM.

[GuitarSlim101]

I have heard great things about MJT. Haven't used any of their bodies myself, but they do look fantastic.

Also, CHIME OF DOOM would be a great band name.

[Iommic Pope]

Pretty sure he could wind you something that Chimes and Dooms?

[neonblack]

Yeah pretty much all his sales are custom/one-off stuff. Definitely nailing that aesthetic though. Looks like something you'd find in a dwarven ruin or a crashed UFO.

[Iommic Pope]

While exploring Dwemer ruins, you have found some rad guitar pick ups....
Yields a +25 Tone to any attack and +30 radness to all weapons equipped.
Special ability gained: DOOMCHIME.

[neonblack]

I want to get a custom headstock decal that says Doomchime