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Well, I had some extra money and I saw a Squier Jazzmaster body on OSG, so I decided to snag it up. Later at work my boss's wife reminds me that I got a bonus check due to our outstanding sales for the 2nd quarter. Neat! I then remembered that skully was selling that maple strat neck so I picked it up as well. While looking at a pair of SD Antiquity II pickups on Reverb a pedal I had listed sold. Wow, must be a sign. Holy shit. This was a morning like any other and a few hours later I have most of the important parts for a guitar I've wanted for a long time. So much for that Bass VI I was gonna buy.

Well, now I need some other parts. OSG hasn't been much help yet, so I need y'alls help. Would a USA pickguard fit a VMJM body? I found a pink tort guard on eBay and think that is my jam, but it says it is for USA JMs and won't fit Japanese JMs shouldn't be an issue right? Next I need wiring, think I found a decent kit, sordid. Finally I need a bridge. I was thinking of a Mustang bridge until I can justify a buying a Mastery. Would there be issues with the Strat neck radius? No idea what that radius actually is, but I think I'm just gonna wing it unless someone tells me otherwise. Any other advice that might help me? I've never pieced a guitar together from scratch before and I don't want to overlook anything.

You'll just have to redo some (all, depending on spacing) for the holes etc for the pickguard, but it's a Squier body, not the Mona Lisa. Attach away.

Mustang bridge will be fine. It was what folks used for a long, long, long time when somebody came in with a Jazzmaster or Jaguar that had lost its bridge (real common in the era of "toss it in the case and forget about it" or as a pile of parts).

I've got a Mustang bridge that I was using just fine with the strat neck. If you need a vibrato, I've got a Fender blacktop trem as well. Pm me if you want either!

A USA pickguard will fit a VMJM just fine. You will need to buy a U.S. part to go under the roller knobs for the rhythm setting though, so a heads-up on that. Bridge-wise, would recommend Staytrem over Mastery. Cheaper & makes intonation a breeze.

If the Strat neck has a 10" or 7.5" radius neck then a standard / non-adjustable Mustang bridge will work well. If it has a flatter radius like 12" then I'd recommend the Warmoth modified Mustang bridge to allow you to set the action lower on the D and G strings.

My Jazzy is a MIJ 66 reissue with the stock tailpiece, Mustang bridge, and a Staytrem trem arm and collet. The Staytrem stuff is solid and is less expensive than the Mastery. It's good enough for Johnny Marr.

Well guys I think I got everything I need en route to me for now! And maybe I will go with the Staytrem when upgrade time comes. I bought the Mustang bridge from skully so it should work out nicely. Maybe I won't even care to replace it?

Full spec sheet:
Sonic Blue VMJM body
Fender 60th anniversary Strat neck
SD Antiquity II pickups
CTS electronics
Mustang Bridge
"Aged Vintage" pickup covers and knobs
Pink tort pickguard.

This is the stuff dreams are made out of you guys!

Should be 100% fine.

99% of the Staytrem/Mastery installs are from people who insist that the internet says so and wouldn't know how to set up an offset if you put a gun to their head (including a lot of techs).

You'd swear these instruments were unplayable before 2005!

Eh I'm not so worried about the install. I'm pretty whatever when it comes to my guitars. I have a *rough* idea of what I'm doing. I get things playable and then when I feel things are out of my control I drop it off with a tech. Staytrem does seem to make more sense though, but Mastery has that Nels Cline mojo.

I don't think Nels would touch this Jazzy with a ten-foot-pole though so IDGAF. :P

I'm so excited you guys! I've never had a real Jazzmaster before! My Mustang is gonna be so jealous!

rfurtkamp wrote:Should be 100% fine.

99% of the Staytrem/Mastery installs are from people who insist that the internet says so and wouldn't know how to set up an offset if you put a gun to their head (including a lot of techs).

You'd swear these instruments were unplayable before 2005!

I wouldn't say they were unplayable. I played my jaguar with a stock bridge for a lot of years & am fine setting up a stock bridge. One thing that makes a Staytrem worth the cash in my opinion is the security of knowing that the loctite or whatever isn't going to crap out in the middle of a show.

Yea, just pointing out that everyone assumes these days that the stock bridges have issues.

I never had a problem with Loctite giving out but I used the blue stuff I use on firearms. If it stands up to full-auto, it stands up to me playing it!

You won't put a pink paisley pickguard on that body.

You won't.

I dare you.

Pink paisley? God no. I won't ever rock paisley anything. Ever. I DID order a pink tort guard for it. When I realized that it wouldn't be here until halfway through next month (CHIIIINAAAAA!!) I ordered a cheap white one for the meantime.

This one doe: http://m.ebay.com/itm/For-US-Jazzmaster ... nav=SEARCH
Oh and I bought a Couch strap today too.

I'm so bummed that 2 people are taking all of next week off at one of my jobs so I'll be doing like a 60 hour week. No time to build guitar

Pickups got here today though!

interested to see some pics when you start putting it together man

im in the process of building a jazzmaster too...same sonic blue squire one as yours

My mods are:
- I got a 5 ply black pickguard sheet and cut out to the shape
- single humbucker in the bridge (Dirty Hesher) and a volume knob.
- changed the bridge to a staytrem with a extra rubber bit on the base to fix the bridge as i'm not a fan of the rocking bridge, especially as i dont plan to use the trem.
- Im getting an aluminium neck...which may take a bit longer to get...but can't wait!

ill post some pics when i finish the pickgaurd and pickup install..

I will definitely be posting pics when stuff starts showing up! All I have so far are the pickups, and I don't think they're worth photographing!

Hang them from your junk. Take photos.

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