'Jazz-Stang' - Even possible?!

ricj

My first post here so hi everyone! I really don't know very much at all, especially on the tech side of things so apologies in advance..! 😡

Bit of backstory: I was a drummer for 12 or so years but 3 years ago I went back to the guitar. I have always been a fan of 'thinner' necks and was initially playing a Squier 'classic vibe' tele which at the time I thought was the perfect neck for me. I then went to visit my old singer in London and borrowed his broken jag-stang. I took it apart, cleaned it up, fixed the wiring and replaced the switches and have been playing it non stop for the last year. I now honestly don't think I could happily play another neck. It has made me a much better player than I thought possible and just feels so right.

The flipside of all this is that my favourite guitar of all time is the Jazzmaster. I've wanted one for years and finally got to try one recently but the neck just didn't feel right to me at all.. It really annoyed me at the time but I just couldn't spend that much money on something that doesn't compare to the feel of the Jag-stang neck.. Which got me thinking: Would it be in any way possible to fit a Jag-stang neck to a Jazzmaster body?? I think I already know the answer but would say, a custom guitar builder, megaguitarexpert be able to find a way to make it work?

If it is in some way possible then I could have what would be my ultimate guitar. If not, I guess I will just have to settle for a Jag-stang of my own.

robertoriginal

it would be possbile by moving the bridge. or just have a custom body made for your jag-stang neck is the shape of a jazzmaster. it would probly be a bit easier to go the jaguar route, but anywho.

measure from the nut to the bridge on the jag-stang, that should be 24 inches. then measure from the nut to the bridge on the jazzmaster, that should be 25.5 inches.

take the jagstang neck, put it on the jazzmaster body, measure from the nut to the bridge, it will probly be aroudn 24.8 or something. meannig you would have to move the bridge up about an inch to get it to intonate properly.

ricj

Thanks for the reply.

So a Jag-stang neck would actually fit on/into a Jazzmaster body and It's just a case of bridge re-positioning? Would it be ridiculously expensive to have a custom body made and then build up from scratch? If i was to buy a nice, genuine Jazzmaster body, I'm not sure i'd want to defile it by moving the bridge/drilling into it (but then It would most likely be an expert doing the work and not me!) Would that inch of movement mean re-positioning of the bridge pickup?

I really appreciate any help/advice cos if it is possible and not at a ridiculous price it will be getting done!

ps: What did you mean by taking the jaguar route? Putting a Jag-stang neck into a Jag?

redman1401

Jag-stangs use jaguar/mustang scale necks so yea. You wouldn't be able to just drop it into a jazzmaster body, since one is 24'' scale, the other is 25.5'' scale, but since a jaguar is already meant for 24'' scale, its easier to use a jaguar body for it.

robertoriginal

what he said. the jaguar and the jag-stang are the same scale length so in reality you may just want to look into getting yourself a jaguar. or at least trying a few out to see how to like them. the japanese jaguars used the same neck profile and specs at the jag-stangs, the newer blacktop and hh have different fret sizes and fretboard radius than the original.

check out warmoth, they do custom cut bodies, and there are a few people on this board(i think) that do custom bodies. if you are near a city or something then if you did some re-search you would be able to find a tech or luthier that could help you out more and possibly make a body for you.

buying all the parts(if you already have the neck) would be less than buying a jazzmaster and trying to get it to work with your jagstang neck

ricj

Cheers guys.

So it seems a 'Jazz-Stang' is probably not a viable option.. (at least not without spending sh*tloads of cash)... I'm sure getting someone to build a guitar from scratch for me would not be cheap?! Can custom or modified body builds be requested from Warmoth? Oh and just to clarify, I don't actually own the Jag-Stang i'm playing at the moment. Its on long term loan to me. I could own it for the next 5 years or it could have to be returned next week so i would like my own guitar at some point.

So putting a Jag-Stang neck on a jaguar could be the best option... I've never actually played a Jaguar (or at least not since i've become serious about playing guitar). How do their necks compare to the Jag-Stang neck? And how does the sound compare to a Jazzmaster?

redman1401

Jaguars are basically short scale jazzmasters. they have the same body shape and trem and can be wired the same way. In fact HNB did the exact opposite, he wanted the cobain jaguar but wanted 25.5 scale so he turned a jazzmaster into a cobain jag. I can't really compare to the jaguar necks because my jag is the cobain one thats mexican made so spec wise its a bit different than standard jags, but compared to my japanese mustang its just slightly thinner.

robertoriginal

the mid to late 90's jaguar necks are the same as the jagstang necks. same factory and same scale. the sound is differnet than a jazzmaster. different scale, and different pickups.

best option. get a jaguar, put jazzmaster pickups in it.

redman1401

Profile wise though i'm not sure though, if i'm not mistaken the jagstang had a custom profile to it compared to the others, but was very minor, but yea like robert said, just get a jaguar body, maybe a jaguar blank that has the bridge routed, and have your tech route it to be like a jazzmaster, then get a custom jazzmaster style pickguard done for it and voila, a short scale jazzmaster.

ricj

redman1401 said:

just get a jaguar body, maybe a jaguar blank that has the bridge routed, and have your tech route it to be like a jazzmaster, then get a custom jazzmaster style pickguard done for it and voila, a short scale jazzmaster.

My god I like this idea! I like it a lot!! I think you may have just solved the problem of creating my perfect guitar!!

SO: Get a Jag body (warmoth?) Would a jaguar body in its standard/stock form be able to take Jazzmaster pickups or would the body need altering to take the bigger sized pickups? If so how would I go about this? What do you mean by 'bridge routed'? And from who/where would I get a custom Jazzmaster style pickguard made? And just to clarify one final time - the jag-stang neck would fit and intonate with a Jag body perfectly?

So basically if I could put the pickups/controls/wiring of a Jazzmaster into a Jaguar body, the trem, bridge and neck would all 'work' perfectly with a Jag-stang neck?

And could all this be done for a fairly reasonable price if I shop around carefully?

If so it's getting done!

robertoriginal

get everything from warmoth unless you find a tech/luthier near you who can preform the work.

the jag-stang neck will fit and intonate perfectly on a jaguar body.

no, jazzmaster pickups will not fit into a jaguar body without needing to be routed out.

if you go to warmoth you will be able to tell them everything you want, they can preform it for you, but it will not be cheap. Or rather it won't be as cheap as having a luthier or someone like that doing the work for you.

ricj

Hmm. It's hard asking the questions on here as I have so many!

So it would be a better idea to buy a body (not sure where from?) and have the work done locally? What would need to be done to a standard Jag body with tremolo already installed? Basically just a bit of wood chopped out so the pickups would fit? What about the trem? Would any work need to be done there? The Jag trem system looks the same as the Jazzmaster to me? Is this the case? And what about the custom pick guard? Warmoth? When you want something custom like this doing do you have to send them an email describing what you want? And how much are we talking for them to produce this custom body for me?!

Sorry for all the questions but I really don't know anywhere near enough to consider entering into this project without gathering all possible information!

ricj

If I was to buy this: http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/fender-classic-player-special-jaguar-hh-sunburst-seymour-duncan-p-rail-pickup-in-bridge/1027259710

for example, take the neck off and sell it, how much would need to be done? I don't know anything about the suitability of the classic player range for this project but the fact this guitar has humbuckers suggests the body would be slightly different inside and therefore possibly more suitable for jazzmaster pups? Could the roller controls on it be re-used in the jazzmaster re-wired configuration also?

These classic players seem to be going for pretty reasonable prices second hand so If they are suitable it'd be a good prospective buy to keep my eye out for..

robertoriginal

i wouldn't take the neck off of that and sell it, that uses a TOM or Tune or Matic bridge which has a diferent fretbaord radius than a normal jaguar.

a normal jaguar is 7.25, the classic player series is 9.5, and the "HH" series is a compound radius.

anywho.

the body would still need to be routed out.

the rhythm section for the jaguar and the jazzmaster are the same.

the bridge assemble for the jaguar and the jazzmaster are the same.

please. buy a jaguar, and have a tech route out the body for jazzmaster pickups and route the guard for jazzmaster pickups. i see you are over seas, i may be able to direct you to someone who can do the work for you at a reasonable price.

robertoriginal

i would like to reiterate that the late 90's jaguars had the same necks at the jagstang. as stated before the contour of the neck is slightly different but not really enough to notice, i used a feeler gauge a few years ago and measured the difference between my 96 jagstang neck and a 96 jaguar neck. the difference was negligible at best. your honest to goodness best bet is to buy a second hand japanese jaguar. and take the body to a guitar tech to have jazzmaster pickups installed.

that would be the easiest and cheapest way. and routing out the body and guard for the pickups will take less than 2 hours total time.

ricj

Yes I am in the UK. Which is a shame really as it seems so hard to pick up any second hand equipment at a reasonable price and ordering anything from the US means hefty import/customs charges etc... I don't really know where to look to buy second hand online other than ebay which never seems to have much in this country or gumtree which is only any good if you live near enough to be able to go and buy in person. Do you know of or can you recommend any trustworthy guitar/music specific websites for buying second hand?

Thanks for the advice on the custom player series. I had a feeling that might be the case as I was looking at/comparing custom player Jazzmasters a while ago. Its good that I now know what i'm looking for! What kind of price do you think I should be paying for a second hand Japanese jag? And would getting the custom pickguard made be easy?

And if you could direct me to your tech contact that would be great! I think this is my nearest tech/luthier guy http://www.jxgguitars.com -how do his prices compare?

SO just to sum up again what I would need: Japanese Jag + Jazzmaster pickups + Jagstang neck + custom pickguard + guitar tech = the finished product?

redman1401

Pretty much, though as to the body having to be japanese, that's debateable, but yes a jag body, jazzmaster pickups, the jagstang neck, have a jazzmaster style pickguard done and take it to a tech to route the pickups out.

ricj

If not Japanese then what alternative? I need a pretty clear idea of what I need to look for and what will work with the neck. But if I can find a Jag/Jag body for a reasonable price it's definitely getting done!

Still no idea where I would go for the custom pickguard?

Cheers!

robertoriginal

the same person that can route the body can make a pickguard, its not hard at all. from start to finish(using the original as a template it takes less than one hour)

a japanese jaguar will have the same neck feel that you like. thats why i suggested the jap jag. plus there are more of them around since they have been in production longer. tho.

if you are DEAD SET on having that jagstang neck put on, even tho you said it was on loan. then you could put it on a mexican jaguar body, but would have to change out the bridge or have the bridge filed for the radius of the jag-stang fretboard.

ricj

Ahh right so a Japanese Jaguar neck feels very similar to a Jag-Stang? Are we talking similar to the point where I'd actually not really be able to tell the difference? If that's the case then it'd be much easier (and cheaper!) - I'd much rather skip having to buy a Jag-Stang neck if i could get away with it! And if i didn't like the feel I could always fit a Jag-Stang neck at a later date.

Finally what would you consider a reasonable price for a second hand Jap Jag in reasonable condition and can you recommend any decent places to look for one? (I only really know ebay at the moment...)

The plan is becoming clearer by the day!

Massive thanks for all your help so far