Modding my Squier VM Jazzmaster

[npfrs]

I bought this guitar with the intention of modding it but haven't gotten around to it. This past week I ordered a bunch of parts (mostly cosmetic) and spoke with a few different techs and it's time to move ahead with the mods.

• Mastery Bridge
• Replace knobs/trem tip/switch tip/slider/pickup covers with white versions (witch hats!)
• Paint roller knobs white
• Replace tuners with white versions

That's pretty much all cosmetic (except the Mastery which falls under "duh") but there's more...

Danelectro PU behind the bridge

I ordered a Danelectro Yesteryear pickup to mount behind the bridge. I plan on making the rhythm circuit the controls for that pickup so it'll have it's own vol/tone and the slider will be on/off.



Killswitches

Killswitches for both circuits. I know it might seem like - wait for it - overkill but I'm thinking killswitches for each circuit so I can get some unique patterns by using them both on a feedbacking guitar. I want them to produce sound when pressed and have the guitar muted otherwise. I would achieve this by having a switch to put each switch in/out of the circuit (slider for the Dano, mini-toggle or small press-button for the others). For the Dano pu I'd likely mount a smaller switch up near the rhythm controls...



...but for the main switch I'm looking at mounting it just above main pickup toggle and using one of these...



Fun!

Sand the neck

Take a bit of the gloss off eh?

:rockin

Anyways I'm making this thread so I have a place to post the progress and also to make sure I follow through.

Any other recommendations for mods?

[kbit]

I really like the behind the bridge pickup and killswitch ideas.

However, feedback with the push buttons being on instead of off might be hard to maneuver?
Make guitar feedback -> engage switches -> hit push button before strings stop resonating -> switch out smoothly
It doesn't seem impossible by any means, just more difficult than having the push buttons be killswitches that are always active.

[Gone Fission]

Sand the neck if you want bare wood, Scotchbrite pads or fine steel wool (with measures taken to keep it away from the pickups) if you just want to knock off gloss and plasticky feel.

That 20 watter is hot, BTW.

[coldbrightsunlight]

The pickup behind the bridge gives me bonarz. Need a cheap JM so I can do that...

The feedback keyboard idea sounds amazing, I'm sure it's possible but I'm no wiring wizard.

[npfrs]

Got some key parts today...



Found a store that stocks the Mastery bridge. Also picked up a bass pickup cover to put over part of my trem. Why? So I can rest my hand on it while picking behind the bridge. Also sourced a locally available Danelectro lipstick pickup to put behind there. Things are coming together.

I've even been reconsidering some of my original ideas and thinking of new ones, such as possibly doing away with the rhythm circuit and putting a Jaguar-style pickup selector where the toggle is.

I've even been contemplating putting a 1/4" input up top so I can run something, like a mic, into my guitar and through my pedals... but that's more a wild thought at the moment.

[DarkAxel]

Great ideas!! I've got literally the same guitar, but i only got the bridge pup wound to Antiquity spec and changed the saddles to Graphtechs

planning to change the bridge and tremolo arm some day... thinking either Mastery+Staytrem arm or full Staytrem setup

please do tell how do you find the Mastery on it

[Obulus]

I'd definitely be interested to hear how that feedback keyboard thingy will work out, great idea! Also, you will not be disappointed by a pickup behind the bridge but you should consider getting a separate output for it if you have room for it. Being able to feed the main pickups and behind the bridge pickup to different effects/amps is a big part of the magic to me!

[Decibill]

Gonna be fun.....

[npfrs]

Just got off the phone with a tech and we were discussing the killswitch idea. I don't know why it never occurred to me before to have push-pull pots instead of mini-toggles!

As it stands, I have the knobs/switches/covers on order, killswitch should be sourced locally (hopefully) tomorrow, the danelectro pickup got sourced locally today (as the place where I'm looking to get the work done), and now it's just to decide on whether or not to replace the JM pickups (I'm thinking Duncan Antiquity I in the neck and the bridge...?)...

[backwardsvoyager]

Also picked up a bass pickup cover to put over part of my trem. Why? So I can rest my hand on it while picking behind the bridge.

holy shit that is a brilliant idea, why have i not thought of that before.

coincidentally i'm currently having a custom jazzmaster-style guitar built by Harvester which will have a lipstick pickup behind the bridge with the controls for it in the rhythm circuit section. might have to look at getting a bridge cover too!

awesome awesome thread. looking forward to seeing this come together

[theavondon]

Got some key parts today...



Found a store that stocks the Mastery bridge. Also picked up a bass pickup cover to put over part of my trem. Why? So I can rest my hand on it while picking behind the bridge. Also sourced a locally available Danelectro lipstick pickup to put behind there. Things are coming together.

I've even been reconsidering some of my original ideas and thinking of new ones, such as possibly doing away with the rhythm circuit and putting a Jaguar-style pickup selector where the toggle is.

I've even been contemplating putting a 1/4" input up top so I can run something, like a mic, into my guitar and through my pedals... but that's more a wild thought at the moment.

YES!
I did the same (well, mastery bridge) to my CAR VMJM, and then put a gold anodized guard on it. I play it pretty much most of the time now.

[npfrs]

I want to put a tort guard on it I think...

[npfrs]

Found a bunch of possible killswitches - what is $8 for one on Allparts was $6 cash for this bag at a local electronics surplus...

[npfrs]

I just had a huge epiphany... the other day, at the shop, the tech had mentioned putting a Fuzz Factory in somebodies guitar before. It got me thinking about pedal guts in guitars and - I could put an EHX Freeze in there and have the killswitch after it!

Tell me why this would or would not work/be awesome!

[npfrs]

I've been doing a lot (I mean A LOT) of thinking the past couple of days about some "crazy" options....

• ●Taking out the rhythm circuit and replacing it with a 1/4" in so I can plug a mic (old CB, bullet mic) into the guitar and run it through my effects
  ●Putting a middle humbucker in (Gibson Dirty Fingers)
  ●Putting a bass pickup under the low E (Local H style) and running it into a separate out
  ●Put a Fuzz Factory in the guitar - heh.

In the end, rather than trying to make this guitar do absolutely everything, I need to understand that multiple guitars are a good thing, haha, and limit it to a few mods - for now...

So here's the plan (already have parts):

• ●Replace all hardware with white equivalent (knobs, pickup covers, slider, rollers, tuning pegs)
  ●Scotchbrite the neck to remove some gloss*
  ●Mastery bridge*
  ●Place Dano lipstick pu behind the bridge; have rhythm circuit controls activate it
  ●Place bass pu cover over bridge to allow place to rest hand for intricate behind-the-bridge picking*
  ●Place EHX Freeze in guitar, after both pickups, before output; in/out of circuit with push/pull on vol knob; use arcade button as momentary latch; use mini-toggle between vol/tone knob to turn on-board battery on/off
  ●Place killswitch after freeze, before output; in/out of circuit with push/pull on tone knob; normally-open, only allows sound trough when pressed*
  ●Red tort pickgaurd
  ●New Swiss decal*

That's the master list. I think it'll make this guitar pretty versatile. I keep it tuned Open D and have 12 flatwounds on there now. I'm going to switch back to regular 12's with all the changes. I use it a lot of fingerpicked looping but, with the mods, it'll be a pretty nice all-around Open D guitar.