Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

As many of you may know, I'm working on a project involving a Fender Jazzmaster guitar. My son wanted to modify the guitar with humbucking pickups, and remove the rhythm circuit which he felt was useless. With advice from Paul and others we managed to design and create a custom wiring harness and pickguard. The issue now is, what do I do with the body? as it needs to be routed out to make room for the humbuckers.

My first issue is I'm still hesitant to route the body as it's so beautiful but, I can't seem to find a reasonably priced one that may already have routes or other non-reversible mods. Second is, whether this body or another is to be used, what do I use to route it without spending a fortune on tools?

I went to Home Depot yesterday and the associate there mentioned that while tools like routers, dremels, bit are readily available, i would need other items like clamps, and something to protect the finish while I was doing the work. Seems impossible to get it done without spending $100-150. She made two suggestions. One, find a local woodworker with a router and have him/her do the work or...Take a drill bit, mark it with tape for depth, drill many holes then use a flat screwdriver, or other tool to wedge out the rest of the wood. I'm not fond of that idea as the margin for error is too slim. I can see myself drilling holes straight through the body, or hacking out extra and unnecessary large chunks of wood.

the pickguard and assembly that needs installation:

I'll say the obvious,expected thing...

You'll get what you pay for, whether in tools, services, or results.

Don't hack.

When doing this type of work I make a simple pattern of the pickup shape. Then attach it to the body with double face carpet tape and router the opening with a pattern bit. A pattern bit has a bearing at the top that will follow your pattern jig.

What Ken neglected to say is that this kind of pattern needs to be made of a rigid material, like styrene, acrylic, or thin plywood or Masonite.

jingle_jangle wrote:What Ken neglected to say is that this kind of pattern needs to be made of a rigid material, like styrene, acrylic, or thin plywood or Masonite.

And if you have enough Masonite, you can make a Danelectro while you're at it.

Good luck!

jingle_jangle wrote:I'll say the obvious,expected thing...

You'll get what you pay for, whether in tools, services, or results.

Don't hack.

Agreed. My reluctance to purchase the proper tools is due to the fact that it's very unlikely I will get involved in a project like this again .

I'm hoping I can find a local woodworker who has the proper tools and for him/her this job would be considered so simple there'd hardly be much cost. Still have my eyes on a couple of JM bodies that I hope can be cost efficient enough for me to save the original.

jingle_jangle wrote:What Ken neglected to say is that this kind of pattern needs to be made of a rigid material, like styrene, acrylic, or thin plywood or Masonite.

Actually I use 1/2" or 3/4" pine as it is easy to work with. My pattern bit has a 1.25 cutting edge so I can get enough depth for most jobs. Of course I would not have a problem using any of what Paul mentioned. I just generally look to the scrap pile and use what I have on hand. If it is complex it will go to the Multi Carver.

er-hm u could have use the original pickguard and get pickups made for it here :
http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/Offsets.shtml
and avoid all the routing involved...

grazioso wrote:er-hm u could have use the original pickguard and get pickups made for it here :
http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/Offsets.shtml
and avoid all the routing involved...

True, we thought about it, and in fact contacted Mr Novak however, this is a project for my son. He went through the trouble of sampling many different types of pickups in different situations and choose the TV Jones that we purchased, as well as the layout for the controls etc.

Hindsight 20/20 I may have avoided this project altogether had I known what a process getting the pickguard made, and the routing would be. I can't seem to find a local woodworker to do the routing, and was referred by local luthier to Sadowsky who would likely charge me a fortune for the service.

Check with Roger, you might be surprised at how reasonable he might be. I recently sent my Zon Sonus 5/1 back to Zon to have a second pickup installed, it was quite reasonable given Joe had no setup to place the pickup where I wanted it, as it was not in a location he uses for any instrument he makes.

There are a lot of places you can get a standard jazzmaster body with humbucker routes... Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars are two, off the top of my head.

jps wrote:Check with Roger, you might be surprised at how reasonable he might be. I recently sent my Zon Sonus 5/1 back to Zon to have a second pickup installed, it was quite reasonable given Joe had no setup to place the pickup where I wanted it, as it was not in a location he uses for any instrument he makes.

I'll be in Brooklyn tomorrow. Guess it couldn't hurt to get a quote.

egosheep wrote:There are a lot of places you can get a standard jazzmaster body with humbucker routes... Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars are two, off the top of my head.

+1!

Went to Sadowsky today. They only work on their own instruments. The worker referred me to someone in Manhattan who could do the work, but he wanted $175. For that price, I agree I can get an unfinished Warmouth body. As I was leaving a friend called. He happened to have a woodworker at one of his properties doing some work. With body in hand, I went over to get his opinion. He offered to do the routing gratis. I should have it back Thursday.