Custom Cobain Inspired Jazzmaster

HNB

When Fender announced they were making a MIM Cobain Jaguar I was pretty excited about it. My only issue is/was I don't really like Jaguars or Mustangs. I want to like them, but so far I just don't. I like Telecasters and Jazzmasters best. (And contoured Jag-Stangs which seem to be the only short scales I bond with.)

I have had this Sunburst Blacktop Jazzmaster for awhile.

DSC09321 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC09335 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

I did enjoy it stock but I ended up trying to sell it. I didn't get any takers so I decided to modify it. I have two Jazzmasters with standard pickups and such and I have one I am building with WRHB's I have. I was going to put those in the guitar, but ended up getting a Black Blacktop Jazzmaster I am going with. Since I had routed it for WRHB I thought I should put humbuckers in it and make a Jazzblaster for a different Jazzmaster option. I thought on what pickups to use and though "I want to try a Super Distortion." Then it hit me, why not try to make a Jazzmaster look like a Jaguar?" Then I though, "I could try to make it look like Kurt's Jaguar!" I don't dig Jaguar switches, so a toggle would be better. I don't use rollers much in my Jazzy's so I figured I could just screw it down to the wood with black tape under it to give the appearence of something under it. I checked bodies, and it looks doable. Tony at Pickguardian.com does great pickguard work, so I am excited to see how it looks when the guard he is making me comes in.

The funny thing is the Blacktop Jazzmaster logo looks very similar to the strange decal that was on Kurt's Jaguar.

DSC09341 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

So I got to work ordering parts. Stuff I picked up is below.

Black TOM Bridge

Creme DiMarzio Super Distortion

Creme DiMarzio Anniversary PAF

Three 1meg Split Shaft Fender Pots

Jaguar Roller Plate

Jaguar Custom Toggle Plate

Jaguar Custom Volume Plate (With four holes.)

Three Chrome Knobs

Switchcraft Jack

Creme Tip Toggle

On/On Switch for Toggle Plate (Going to be a coil splitter for fun.)

Custom Nitro Red Tortoise Pickguard from Pickguardian.com

Duncan Strap Locks

Extra Strap Knob for Lower Horn

My neck has upgraded locking tuners and I am keeping the Blacktop tremolo because I won't be using it for anything other than a stop tail. Below are pictures of the progress. More will be added as things happen.

DSC01813 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC01863 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC01864 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC01902 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

IMAG0632 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

HNB

DSC01930 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC01931 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC01933 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC02005 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC02029 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Straight6DOHC

Excellent. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

HNB

Straight6DOHC said:
Excellent. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

Thanks! Right now I am sort of at the mercey of the custom parts I am having made. My plates might not be done until January since they are being fabricated and hand polished. (I don't like parts sitting, but I need the guard and plates before I can do much more.) I can't even work on glueing in the wood in the switch cavity area until the guard comes back and I know where I need it.

Straight6DOHC

I've ordered a Squire Jaguar that I'm hoping to make look more Jaguar-ish. I'm hoping it'll be a work in progress. I'm interested to know why you are having the (switch?) plates custom made - are these not available to buy?

HNB

Straight6DOHC said:
I've ordered a Squire Jaguar that I'm hoping to make look more Jaguar-ish. I'm hoping it'll be a work in progress. I'm interested to know why you are having the (switch?) plates custom made - are these not available to buy?

I am getting a Kurt style one where there is a toggle and one switch instead of the normal three switches. The volume plate on Kurt's also had three knobs and a jack instead of two knobs. That custom plate will have all the holes I need. 😀

Straight6DOHC

Ah, right, I understand now. I had thought normal plates wouldn't fit what you have and that got me worried. I've taken images of a classic and the squire and the pick guards have screws in different places. I'm sure I could modify a Squire pickguard to acomodate the plates. I'll need to suss out what the Squire control knobs do and if I even need to wire in the (classic) Jaguar switches to do something. I'll need to get a feel for the guitar before anything else, but I'm very keen to have something that resembles a guitar that I've hankered after since the late '80s.

HNB

Straight6DOHC said:
Ah, right, I understand now. I had thought normal plates wouldn't fit what you have and that got me worried. I've taken images of a classic and the squire and the pick guards have screws in different places. I'm sure I could modify a Squire pickguard to acomodate the plates. I'll need to suss out what the Squire control knobs do and if I even need to wire in the (classic) Jaguar switches to do something. I'll need to get a feel for the guitar before anything else, but I'm very keen to have something that resembles a guitar that I've hankered after since the late '80s.

Probably can be done fine. Only thing is you might have to drill a couple new holes. On mine where the upper plate is needs new holes because the plate doesn't match perfect. Same deal for the lower volume/tone plate. Two holes might match up, but the third doesn't for me. Not too big of a deal. Holes I won't end up using will be filled with wood filler and covered by plates or pickguard, so it won't show.

HNB

I asked Tony from Pickguardian.com to send me an image sample of the nitro tortoise he is making my guard out of. Here is what he sent me.

Tortoise by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

😁

paltic

nice project man!

HNB

paltic said:
nice project man!

Thanks! Waiting is the hardest part. 😉

lazyjedeye

This is a really cool idea. I too tried many Jags in my day but always had a hard time with the shorter neck while standing up.

Looking forward to the finished product.

HNB

lazyjedeye said:
This is a really cool idea. I too tried many Jags in my day but always had a hard time with the shorter neck while standing up.
Looking forward to the finished product.

Thanks! I am hoping the pickguard will be done in a week or so. I don't like to wait, but if you want good stuff, it usually results in a bit of a wait. 😀

johnnykazz

HNB said:
Thanks! I am hoping the pickguard will be done in a week or so. I don't like to wait, but if you want good stuff, it usually results in a bit of a wait. 😀

Everytime you build something, it's always amazing! Love following your builds man. Keep up the truly awesome work!!

HNB

johnnykazz4l said:
Everytime you build something, it's always amazing! Love following your builds man. Keep up the truly awesome work!!

Thanks! I appreciate it. 😀

HNB

Oh my God, the tortoise from pickguardian.com came today. Tony did AWESOME work. It is stunning. Here are pictures of my progress. I screwed the guard down (with pickups in) to help me screw the upper horn plate to the wood. Since Kurt never seemed to use that portion, I left it wood and just put some electrical tape under to make it look sort of black. I put pickguard screws in to all the holes on the plate so there are none empty. It is looking good. I just need the custom plates to come and I can get it wired and get the wood glued in where the toggle plate screws down. I am VERY pleased with it so far. I set the chrome knobs on to show what it should look like.

DSC02414 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC02419 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC02420 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

DSC02422 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

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DSC02427 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

lokalfuz

HNB, who are you having fabricate the plates for you? Is it expensive?

HNB

lokalfuz said:
HNB, who are you having fabricate the plates for you? Is it expensive?

It is a guy named Paul Rhoney. He makes guitar building templates and does custom metal plates. They are around $45-$50 each. They are very nice. I had one and didn't think I was going to use it and sold it. Now I have to wait for this batch to finish. Here is a pic of the one I had. If you like I can send his email to you as a message.

DSC00612 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

HNB

Oh and this is how I am thinking of doing the headstock once my bound neck comes in.

DSC02431 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

lokalfuz

HNB said:
It is a guy named Paul Rhoney. He makes guitar building templates and does custom metal plates. They are around $45-$50 each. They are very nice. I had one and didn't think I was going to use it and sold it. Now I have to wait for this batch to finish. Here is a pic of the one I had. If you like I can send his email to you as a message.

DSC00612 by Hentai No Baka, on Flickr

Yeah, that would be appreciated, thanks!