A Jazzmaster

[Madison]

The latest.
A 1980 Greco JM700.
Yeah, overpaid for it but.........these never come up for sale.(Greco fan)

Has some battle scares but nothing too major.

So far I replaced the nut, shielded, dressed the frets, and scratched my head and cussed over the bridge until I simply cut grooves in it to fix it.
Might still get a buzz stop but for now....it's ok.

Kind of hurts my fingers just a little playing it so I assume I still need to get a good diamond crowning file and a fret end file.
G. Hoffman's thoughts helpful here?

Still have to fill some nicks in the back of the neck.

Stable as hell (even with serious abuse) , stays in tune, and sounds great.
Can get some surfy goodness fer sure.
Smoooooth tremolo.
Hate to say it but now, when I pick up my Strat it's tremolo feels stiff as a board; not fun (subject to change....still like the neck on that Strat)

The paint is really cool.
It looks black with no light cast on it but it is actually a very dark green with some metal flake.

Anyway, this guitar makes me want to play more often.
Cheers.

[G._Hoffman]

So far I replaced the nut, shielded, dressed the frets, and scratched my head and cussed over the bridge until I simply cut grooves in it to fix it.
Might still get a buzz stop but for now....it's ok.

Kind of hurts my fingers just a little playing it so I assume I still need to get a good diamond crowning file and a fret end file.
G. Hoffman's thoughts helpful here?

The bridge will always drive you nuts.  Get a Mastery Bridge.  I know I say that a lot, but they really are that good.

I use an 8" mill bastard file to crown frets with the edges ground smooth and rather round.  The only thing I ever use the "fret crowning files" for is to round over the ends of the frets.  It takes more skill, but gives you a lot more control.  However, if you haven't recrowned the frets, you haven't made the frets better than they were to begin with.  Its not a job you can do half-way.


Gabriel

[Madison]

Mastery Bridge not at the top of the list at the moment.
Will probably be if.......I get totally fed up.

Thanks for the tips.
Gong file hunting.

[Platefire]

Well that's a copy of a JM that actually looks like a JM. I've seen a lot of copys where they followed the JM general theme but took their own liberties. That one looks just like a fender. Congrads on a new ax.

I'm as old strat fan and go on and on about my Peavey Preditor International (stat copy H/S/S) but everbody just ignores me  but the thing just sounds and plays awesome. Not much incentive to spring for a fat strat when I'm happy with the predator. Platefire

[Madison]

Thanks Plate.
It was your repair post that actually inspired me to get into JM.
It's a pretty good geetar.
Fender specs for sure.

>>Not much incentive to spring for a fat strat when I'm happy with the predator.

That's all that matters isn't it?
If it's your guitar for keeps then.....do what you like and enjoy.

[smackoj]

If there is an expert about guitars in the world? I would have to give a hat tip to a fella named Billy Gibbons. He is a master tone man and I've heard he has 3 or 4 large warehouses in CA with collectibles including restored hot rods and lots of guitars. One of his prize gits is a pink strat given to him by Jimi Hendrix when he was in the 'Moving Sidewalks' and doing the opening act for a Jimi tour. Billy commented in an interview, that he doesn't pay attention to the name on the guitar or where it was made because good guitars are rare and you have to play a lot of them to find the good ones. Even the best names in guitars make lots of them that are not 'special'. So, his advice is to play lots of guitars and especially 'unplugged' so you can hear the tone of the wood it's made out of. If the wood sounds nice and has sustain on it's own, then it should sound even better plugged in.

 

[Madison]

>>If the wood sounds nice and has sustain on it's own, then it should sound even better plugged in.

Man, my memory is cloudy but I could swear I remember seeing an interview way back in the '80s with SRV.
He was on the tour bus just strumming away during the interview on a Strat unlugged and said the same thing.
Maybe I am thinking of Billy.

A lot of guys took these old Grecos and the like copies on tour to save wear and tear on their expensive axes.
I understand that Billy played a Tokai at one point.

[Platefire]

That pink strat BG had from Hendrix was stolen at one point but he was able to get it back. I recall when Tres Hombres came out---I lived with that album for a while. Seen ZZ in Shreveport, La once in the 70's. Thats when Dusty was still playing that old Fender Tele? Bass and Billy was switching off between Pearly Gates and the Flying V--wearing cowboy outfits. They were Good and They were Loud!

Regarding my el-cheapo experiance---in the 90's I bought a MIK 1987 Squire Fender Bullet from a friend because it felt and sounded so good and he wanted to use the money to buy a real strat. The bullet was all stock and I played it several years as is. Latter I got the bright idea to put some pickups out of an American Std. Strat to upgrade it. It never sounded as good as those old original pickups with the exposed bar magnets on the bottom that I took out. A little over a year ago I traded the Bullet even steven for the Peavey Predator and put it in the old bullet case. I'm still getting a lot of milage out of that original $150.00 investment 


 

[smackoj]

I didn't know that about the pink lady! glad he got it back. I wouldn't be surprised if a petty thief has a couple broked legs either. 'it's not nice to mess with mother nature'

The early ZZ sound was kind of a search IMO for material that could showcase their talents....."Cause I'm bad, I'm nationwide" sealed that deal for me....one of the top 20 songs of all time.