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So I decided to take my old JS back to wood and refinish it and while I was at it, invest in a few (okay more than a few) upgrades. The finish was a saga. I started with Wudtone’s ‘Lady Teal’ but I wanted solid colour and that was really the wrong finish for that task. I then tried Nitro in ‘Lake Placid Blue’ but with zero margin for error and an expensive lesson in how important following the instructions regarding temperature is, this was also a fail (barely, but a fail). The final finish I laid straight over the nitro. I used Dulux Duramax ‘Dark Blue Metallic’ enamel. It came out really well. I’m happy with it anyway. The upgrades include Hipshot, locking-nut, vintage tuners; Mastery bridge; pickups (Dimarzio Area 67 in the neck, and an SD P-rails in the bridge); ToneShaper Mustang wiring kit (swapped in a linear pot for the tone); neck plate; hardtailed the tremolo; and re-shielded the cavities. My wiring needs a tweak as I’m only getting the 67 to work, but I’ll do that in due course. My kids were able to present me with it this morning for my birthday. ? https://www.dropbox.com/sc/67sc47lnf2v32fi/AACbgAnp40XssAxfAQOc0UZea

I really like the idea of a dark blue (or dark green) JM with matching headstock. There doesn't seem to be any production model matching this description. So I had been thinking of putting one together using body and neck from a UK builder (guitarbuild.co.uk or gspbasses, or another) and doing the paint job myself. Can I get material quality comparable to eg Fender japan this way? I know that there's no resale value in this route, so let's leave that aside for now. Alternatively I could get a reasonably priced JM (maybe a japanese or a classic player. Maybe even a JMascis squier), and repaint. However this would be a much more time-consuming job than starting with a new body, and if I'm painting the headstock then I guess I'll essentially be removing the logo and a lot of the resale value, even if I put a new decal on. I was planning on adding aftermarket bridge, trem and pickups, so that works in favour of a build (so I'm not wasting money on hardware I'll be ditching). I'm trying to get the best Jazzmaster I can within a budget of about £700-£800 GBP. I'm aware of the low resale value of builds and it's not a major consideration. Any suggestions?

I'm thinking of making a Kurt Cobain 'tribute' mustang. Not because of the Cobain aspect, but because I've always wanted one and dont have the money for a vintage one or a reissue. I'm gonna make this Mustang out of pre made parts since I've only got enough wood for my other guitar I'm making (all hand made) and since I want it to be as accurate as possible. I'm going to get a premade body like this one since its the perfect colour compared to Kurt's in the EMP (wheras the current fender sig's and the japs are slightly different) http://s1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii523/IDanClarkI/?action=view&current=fenderbody.png the only problem I'm facing is the neck. I dont have access to painting and finishing tools (hey, I'm 16) and I cant find an LPB headstock ANYWHERE. So I figured I'm gonna have to see about getting one finished for me (with a special 'lefty' logo -i.e 'Fender' only-) I photoshoped an image of what I want it to look like here (only with white tuners of course) - KNOW ANYONE HERE WHO COULD DO THAT? http://s1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii523/IDanClarkI/?action=view&current=fenderneck.png other than that, its all gonna be AllParts stuff I guess. It may take a while since I'm dividing my time between building my custom one (Im gonna make a thread sometime soon) and because of the obvious cash flow issues since I'm modding things and making things all at the same time The Specs NECK- 'C' shape, 22 frets (vintage style), vintage ivory dots, 7.25" radius, maple neck, rosewood fretboard urethane finish(or possibly non to give it that worn feel) 1.625" nut width 24" scale length white 'lefty style' fender logo BODY- alder body (mustang shape) lake placid blue w/competition stripe (light blue) urethene finish SS routing ELECTRONICS/HARDWARE- SS pickup configuration - standard black neck p/up and black hot rails in the bridge mustang sliding switches 1 vol 1 tone (not sure of the values on his, but I'm going with 250k pots black mustang knobs chrome plate stumac gotoh TOM bridge mustang tremolo white mother of pearl pickguard vintage style white tuning pegs strap locks This may take a long time to materialise (probably wont be done by the end of the year) but I'll keep posting updates when something happens. I think Ive got pretty accurate specs. (its even gonna have a black EB nylon strap and .11 blue steel's ;D) lemme know if I've missed anything If youve done something like this, post some photos!