New Jazzmaster build

[EL34]

The parts list:
When I turned the Jazz-O-Caster into the Baricaster, I had the Strat neck laying around
It's a really nice All Parts maple neck.
I have a black Jazzmaster pick guard that I took off the Squier Jazzmaster
I have the nut that was on the Jazz-O-Caster neck so I don't need to make a new nut
I have string trees on hand
I have a set of Jazzmaster pickups that came off the Squier Jazzmaster, but I will probably order another set of Mojo Jazzmaster pickups
I'll have a listen to the Squier pickups first and then decide

I ordered a Primo Jazzmaster body in Mystic teal from All Parts that has the Strat trem routing's
All Parts stocks several colors of the Primo Jazzmaster bodies
The quality is outstanding on these bodies.
https://www.allparts.com/collections/primo?filter.p.product_type=Bodies&sort_by=title-ascending

So now the build begins
My Strat neck fit the body pocket perfectly.
Just a tiny bit snug and the neck screws aligned perfectly.

I had to drill all the pick guard holes.
I will be drilling and installing the two pivot post for the bridge
The tuners dropped into place because that is what was on the neck on the Jazz-O-Caster

The Tuners are Fender 0990820100 American Standard Guitar Tuning Machines
I have these on 3 guitars and they are great
https://a.co/d/c2bucLj

The bridge is Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster '86-Present Electric Guitar Bridge
I have this bridge on 3 guitars also
It has a push in trem arm
I hate screw in trem arms
https://a.co/d/9lmU8bZ

I installed a Gibson pickup switch, two CTS 250k guitar pots and a Switchcraft 11 jack

The bridge will be here later today
It's always a bit nerve wracking drilling those trem post holes in the right place

[EL34]

Here's a scaled down pic of the new Jazzmaster

This neck was always awesome and so I am glad I get to use it again

I am waiting on a set of Mojo 59 Jazzmaster pickups
The pickups that are in it now are the ones that came in the Squier Jazzmaster

They are much hotter than the other Mojo sets I have
I like the Mojo ones better

I'll have a demo tune after I get the pickups installed

[EL34]

The Mojo Jazzmaster Pickups will be here today via UPS

I tore down the Jazzmaster to install a Fender TBX tone control
It has a center detente and - or + for Bass and Treble
I have this on two other guitars and like it

I also Polished the frets
They are several years old and needed a polish
They will need a fret leveling in the future

I adjusted the truss rod to take a tiny bit of relief out

The body cavities were painted with conductive paint but did not have a path to ground
The body came that way from Primo
That's the black paint you see in the images
I added some small strips of conductive tape to join the front pickup cavity to the back pickup cavity and control cavity
And a small loop that comes up and over the top to contact the pick guard conductive strips

I added some conductive tape to the underside of the pick guard
The pick guard made a static noise when you rubbed your finger across it
Both of my Jazzmasters do this and I was hoping to make it stop
Touching my hand to ground and rubbing the pick guard did not stop it, so I am not sure if the conductive strips fix will stop it.
EDIT: The static stopped.
I pickup up the other Jazzmaster and it still has static, so it's not a humidity issue in my shop.
I will do the same thing to my black JM next string change.

The body cavities were not connected to ground and so now the pick guard contacts the body strips I added.
So now the pick guard and the body cavities are both grounded
I did a continuity test with the pick guard in place and now the body cavities are connected to ground

[EL34]

.

[dogburn]

I love that green color, and it goes really well with the black pickguard.

[EL34]

I like that green also.
It's way better in person than in the photo

[EL34]

The Mystic Teal Jazzmaster is alive and recording

https://el34world.com/Misc/Music/files/DesertBreeze.mp3

[EL34]

I added a triple string tree and a custom decal

I have info here
https://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?board=9.0

[EL34]

Next mod up is a roller nut

The 3 string tree still seems to hang up a bit on the B and E strings
I ca probably get rid of the string tree after that

Fender makes one called the LSR roller nut
I am installing a knock off of this same nut

Basically, the strings roll in the groove between two ball bearings

There's a ton of positive feedback on this and other roller nuts like the Wilkinson
Jeff Back was one of the famous users of that one

[EL34]

I got the roller nut installed
I cut the slot using a CNC machine with a tiny 3/32" endmill
It took multiple passes going towards the bridge
I was only taking maybe .015"  each pass
When I got the nut fitting tight I took .001" cuts a few times to get a perfect fit
The width needs to be .219" wide

The depth is deeper than the old nut
The slot needs to be .105" to .115" deep

You need to buy a #51 drill and have a very tiny Philips screw bit that fits the two screws or you will strip the slots on the screws
You can see how the strings ride in between two very tiny ball bearings

[EL34]

Here's the PDF install instructions

[EL34]

First report on the roller nut
.
This thing is really good so far
The trem bar feels way smoother and all strings return to perfect tune
I am not using a string tree for the test

On the Fender deluxe tuners, the top four post are shorter and pull the D, G, B and E strings down at a sharper angle than the E and A strings
Some users I saw on the web reported more top end
I am not sure about that yet but it may be true
Just dial back the tone knob if you want to change that
I am using a Fender TBX tone control, so I don't know how a stock tone knob would react

EDIT: I got 2+ hours of play time and I am impressed with the roller nut
Plus I don't need a string tree
Perfect tuning using the trem bar

[EL34]

I did a sound clip of the Jazzmaster with the new roller nut

https://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=33354.0

https://el34world.com/Misc/Music/files/MrMoto.mp3