This is a 2018 Fender American Original 60s Jazzmaster neck with a bound Rosewood fretboard paired with a Limited Edition 2018 Fender 60th Anniversary Jazzmaster body in gloss Black, both with nitrocellulose lacquer finish. If you've ever wished Fender made an American Original 60s Jazzmaster in black and disappointed they didn't, then look no further because here's your answer! I made an almost identical one of these a few years and this one came out even nicer.
For those of you skeptical or wary of "Partscasters" I'll stop you right there and assure you that this one consists of the highest quality components and attention to detail. I didn't merely stick the stock neck and body together but upgraded many things in the process. I specialize in both custom built guitars and Jazzmasters and make sure my builds exceed what you would have gotten from a factory built model. As my feedback shows and past customers would expect, this guitar is no different and held to the same high standards. Please read further for all the details as it is well worth your time so you know exactly what you're getting:
Condition wise, the body has its share of nicks and scratches here and there from honest use. Other than that, the body is in overall very good condition. The neck is in excellent condition with no fret wear, dings or dents on the back, etc.
If you've followed me over the past couple of years you know how much I love Jazzmasters and "Offset" Fenders in general. Since there's a general lack of proper "vintage style" black Jazzmasters available I thought this would be a good opportunity to build one. Especially since both the neck and body are nitrocellulose lacquer and a cohesive pairing.
These Classic and American series vintage style "Offsets" from Fender sit on a great foundation, but I'm really surprised how they sell any of them because they're setup so horribly from the factory and buzz like crazy with anything less than a set of 12s. Even many of the American made offsets have this same problem because of the same original location of the tremolo (further back), vintage style floating bridge and the lack of break angle on them. This on top of some mediocre hardware and electronics choices from the factory, I decided I would overhaul many of these issues so you can enjoy this guitar with a set of 10s and not have to string it up with bridge cables or use one of those Buzz Stops that not only changes the look of the guitar but the feel and tone as well. I had an American Vintage '65 Jazzmaster which I loved (as well as too many guitars in general) but recently sold for financial reasons and it's seriously taken a lot to fight the urge to keep this guitar as it came out so great and looks absolutely gorgeous! These modded ones will hold their own against American models any day of the week.
Please read further to see the list of upgrades as well as how the guitar was setup:
Nice balanced weight around 8.1 lbs
-WD Music 3-ply Parchment pickguard replacing the stock tortoise one. Tortoise goes better with black than it did with the other 3 60th Anniversary colors, but part of my objective with these was to also make something more unique looking and the Parchment really pops!
-Fender American Original 60s knobs and Vintage White trim. To really match with the American Original 60s neck I replaced the stock Strat knobs and pickguard covers that were in Aged White to the Vintage White ones from the same model, that are a shade lighter but still darker than Parchment. The knobs are also nicer screw-on witch hat style ones than the push on Strat ones
-The stock '65 American Vintage Jazzmaster pickups have been retained. These are great vintage style Jazzmaster pickups that read in their expected range of 6.7k each
-CTS 500K solid shaft audio volume and tone pots. These are what really took these pickups to another level. The stock 1meg pots can sound a little shrill, so I bumped them down to 500K which make that top end a lot smoother but still plenty of highs on tap. I also switched to solid shaft to accommodate the new knobs
-American Vintage Jazzmaster Tremolo with lock and push in bar with vintage white tip ($100+ upgrade). This is the stock tremolo from the American Original 60s Jazzmaster and allows you to lock the tremolo if you break a string as well as more easily measure the string tension via the tremolo. It's a lot harder to properly set these guitars up when you don't have the lock to help you gauge this
-StewMac 0.5 degree full wood neck pocket shim. This is one of the main reasons why these guitars are never setup right from the factory and buzz like crazy and don't sustain with lighter gauge strings, regardless of country of origin this is an issue of the origin Jazzmaster design. This allows the bridge height to move up and increase the break angle after the bridge and give you enough tension to use lighter gauge strings without having to use a Buzz Stop or heavier strings while still retaining that classic Jazzmaster feel. The problem with using a Buzz Stop is that it increases the string tension so much that it starts to feel and sound more like a Strat or Tele and that more loose Jazzmaster magic is gone
-Revised 2018 American Professional Jazzmaster narrow spacing 9.5" radius bridge with Mustang style saddles (over $120 upgrade). This is the current updated version of the American Professional bridge that has the modern 2-1/16" (52mm) string spacing that brings the strings further away from the fretboard edge and a lot more comfortable to play. The original version of the American Professional bridge (and stock bridge) had the vintage 2-3/16” (56mm) spacing and was almost unplayable in my opinion. Fender quietly made this update a couple years ago and essentially makes this a lot more like a Staytrem bridge (and same spacing as the Mastery bridge too). Like the original, it still has the Mustang style saddles and tighter threading screw posts so it doesn't sink down overtime when you play
-American Vintage bridge thimbles. These came stock on the American Original 60s model and have the wider standard diameter and are constructed better than the import version it came with stock (these are also wide enough to fit a Mastery bridge if for whatever reason you prefer those without worrying about changing the thimbles because it's already been done). When the neck pitch and break angle is setup properly on these guitars as I've done, I still prefer the American Professional bridge and also love the more traditional look over the Mastery
-Treble bleed circuit (.001uf cap and 1/4w 150k resistor in parallel) to allow the highs to remain when you turn the volume pot down and not get muddy.
-Orange Drop .033uf and .022uf lead and rhythm circuit tone caps. These are the traditional Jazzmaster tone cap values and an upgrade over the stock ones
-Gavitt 22 gauge vintage push back cloth wire with Rhythm Circuit mod. Built a new wiring harness and the original PVC wiring has been replaced with the vintage push back cloth wire and color coded like in the American Vintage and American Original series.
-Fender American Vintage pickguard shield as well as fully shielded the pickup and control cavities with copper tape for reduced noise and much quieter operation. These guitars can be quite noisy without
(Luckily these models already have good quality CTS pots for the rhythm circuit and Switchcraft output jack so I did not need to touch those)
-Lock washer added to the 3-way toggle and also turned the switch 45 degrees so it's at an angle and easier to switch than side to side
-Fender/Schaller strap locks and buttons (locks inside case compartment)
-Matching Fender American Original 60s Jazzmaster serial number neck plate. Since the serial number is not typically on the back of the headstock on most American Original models, it is on the neck plate which I made sure to keep with the neck
-Kluson Supreme 18:1 Staggered tuners ($50 upgrade). These are the best vintage style Kluson replacement tuners out right now and still retain that same classic look, but with a much finer tuning adjustment over the stock 14:1 tuners and also a better break angle over the nut on the D and G strings for better sustain. Not to mention these are genuine Klusons while the stock ones are not
-Rare Fender G&G Deluxe Jazzmaster hard case in black tolex with black leather ends/handle and orange plush interior. These cases are rare because they were not sold as retail but could only come from an American Vintage series guitar, not to mention it's also a major upgrade over the cheap Pro Series case the 60th Anniversary came with stock. It’s not only built better but slimmer and sleeker and a well over $300 upgrade alone. And what a pairing with the orange and black! Key included in the compartment
On top of these upgrades, it has also been cleaned, polished, oiled and conditioned the pau ferro fretboard and fully setup with brand new D'Addario EXL110 (10-46) strings with enough relief in the neck balanced for both lead and rhythm and a light touch (5/64" string height on the low E and 4/64" on the high E strings). The saddles have been perfectly intonated and the bridge already has the 9.5" fretboard radius. The nut slots have been cleaned and filed for optimal contact and take off points for better sustain. The neck and bridge pickup heights are adjusted to 5/64" on the bass side and 4/64" on the treble side.
I fully stand by the work and believe this guitar is going to feel and play better than any other stock American Original 60s or 60th Anniversary Jazzmaster you're going to pull off the shelf new at the store or find NOS and will put it against any of the American Vintage, Original, etc. versions any day of the week, all because of things like the over $500 worth in upgrades (which doesn’t even include the labor) and attention to detail in the setup. You're just not going to get that from a new model unless you perform all of these upgrades and do or pay for the work yourself. Why not just be done with it, have all the upgrades already completed with an awesome hard case and come out ahead with a better feeling, playing and sounding completely unique guitar? :)
Below are the stock specs for the neck and body respectively:
American Original 60s Jazzmaster neck:
60th Anniversary Jazzmaster Body:
• Body Type:Solidbody
• Body Shape:Jazzmaster
• Left-/Right-handed:Right-handed
• Number of Strings:6
• Body Material:Alder
• Body Finish:Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Color:Black
• Bridge/Tailpiece:6-saddle vintage-style adjustable with floating tremolo tailpiece
• Tuners:Vintage-Style
• Number of Pickups:2
• Neck Pickup:Classic Series 60s pickups
• Bridge Pickup:Classic Series 60s pickups
• Controls:1 x volume (bridge), 1 x tone, 2 x thumbwheels (neck volume, tone), 2-way slide switch (rhythm/lead tone), 3-way toggle switch
• Case Included:Hardshell case