DEMO Jazzmastery Baritone Rebuild

[jjjimi84]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

A while back I built a JM using Warmoth body and neck, Sunday Handwound Pickups and Mastery Bridge and it looks super cool! TBH it is kind of awkward to sit with and I had a wiring issue that needed to get sorted so I decided to go wild and swap the neck on it. In the process, I end up taking it completely apart, putting it back together, taking it apart again and all along I lead you on a wonderful journey. Grab a hold of my hand!

Where is the fizzy lifting soda?

The details of the video are in the details but on the forum, I want to talk dirty about the process of this video for a minute. I thought this was going to be a super easy thing to film and make a video of..... Turns out I know very little about baritone guitars and the associated tuning and string length. With a Jazzmaster there is a bit of extra length behind the bridge and the tail piece, when you add that length to the additional length of a reverse head stock guitar you get a rough measurement of 39.5 inches. Most manufacturers contacted, stated they only wind strings to a length of 38.5. The hunt is still on and if any of you have any ideas, please let me know.

There were many headaches and changes along the way, between the wiring ideas to the screw getting striped in real time, I tried to capture as much of my process in getting this build right.

As it gets played and brought into the rotation more, I feel like it would be a bit more interesting to have the G&L Tone controls in the upper controls instead of stock wiring.... Next time....

Alright back to filming, any SLO 30 fans out there?

 

[jjjimi84]

Shoot!

One thing to mention is the song that runs during the tear down process was the baritone guitar into the @bean Glitchee into a @cooder Bignoise Phase Four with a @Robert Ocelot into a Destiny Behemoth going straight into my interface.

This was a weird way to compose music but I needed like 5 minutes of music. Using ezdrummer 3 and the song creator button I built a drum track and put it on a loop. Grabbed the Baritone and improvised for about 20 minutes just getting a very loose structure, that is one of the guitars in here. Set up another track and improvised and boom, track 2 and then same for track 3. It is the fastest I have ever made any piece of music and it happened in about 45 minutes to an hour. The mix is just panning and volume fading but it turned out well and kind of matches along to the video.

This was so much fun and easy that it made me work on a live stream setup with the Destiny Behemoth and the youtubes.

 

[Erik S]

Nice Job.

Those jamz were great.

Now I want a Baritone.

 

[daeg]

After six years of tweaking a Squier VMJM, I finally put together a Jazzmaster a few weeks ago.

Also went with Sunday Handwound pickups. Really really happy with the result. I'll check out your vid a bit later.

 

[damianvila]

Love the colors of that guitar.

 

[jjjimi84]

Nice Job.

Those jamz were great.

Now I want a Baritone.

You should do it, the extra low end is so much fun.

After six years of tweaking a Squier VMJM, I finally put together a Jazzmaster a few weeks ago.

Also went with Sunday Handwound pickups. Really really happy with the result. I'll check out your vid a bit later.

Sunday Handwound for the win! I got the standard woody set and love it! Plays really well with distortions.

Love the colors of that guitar.

I lusted over a blue burst for a long time and then found this…. The pictures do not do it justice.

I did make one mistake, the song had another pedal. Instead of using the ocelot I used the VFE wooly bear, the vfe-ified version of the foxx tone machine.

 

[Deperduci]

glad you found a new toy for the rhythm section this side of high tuned bass. Just got the templates for a meteora and a 3x3 neck.. may have to look for a bari template separate from the body

the left hand(reverse is a selling gimmick) headstock does sting for string lengths but would it be the same with a righty(tuners on other side)?

 

[jjjimi84]

glad you found a new toy for the rhythm section this side of high tuned bass. Just got the templates for a meteora and a 3x3 neck.. may have to look for a bari template separate from the body

the left hand(reverse is a selling gimmick) headstock does sting for string lengths but would it be the same with a righty(tuners on other side)?

You would think so but I contacted daddario and a few of the smaller string companies about it. None of them had a solution but now properly armed with detailed pictures it is time to check back in and see what they offer. The neck could also use a bigger shim because the action is quite a wrestle.

 

[jjjimi84]

 

[Paradox916]

just in case you didn’t realize, your reverse headstock and all the issues it brings, you purposely inflicted the frustrations that embodied being a left handed kid… your headstock mocks a decade of trama ( I don’t think I played a proper left handed guitar till I was about 25) you did this to your self…you get no sympathy for me sir…

 

[szukalski]

Love it! Was that some Coheed?

 

[Deperduci]

I tried politely saying... the 6th string tends to be little shorter than than the bottom 3... and that action.. oofdah, think that's the Flea slap setup. string to fret is what the string to board should be. The Hendrix look is almost cool, but they had normal left hand guitars before he left the army... I digress it's yours Dan, maybe try the strings from a thinner guage bass set?

 

[joeyd]

We're using a very similar setup! My Warmoth baritone jazzmaster is on the wall next to me (roasted maple neck, swamp ash body) although with Wolfetone humbuckers and a strat-style bridge. I was playing around with my bridge recently and ended up with a similarly high action. I play in drop g so there isn't much string tension to overcome so I'm not sure it's that big of a deal. I actually had to stick to medium gauge strings (68-14) for proper tension. Even without the reverse headstock the 28 5/8 scale is tough to string-shop for. Ernie Ball is my usual go-to but their e is too short. So I kind of feel your pain. I was considering buying some 65 or 70 gauge bass string singles but D'Addario's are juuuuust long enough for me.

 

[jjjimi84]

just in case you didn’t realize, your reverse headstock and all the issues it brings, you purposely inflicted the frustrations that embodied being a left handed kid… your headstock mocks a decade of trama ( I don’t think I played a proper left handed guitar till I was about 25) you did this to your self…you get no sympathy for me sir…

Hahahahaha, oh man! I never even thought about it that way, mind blown! Left handed headstock looks cooler IMO, just a beacon of kewl.

Love it! Was that some Coheed?

Sentry the Defiant! The Afterman records hold a very special place in my heart. Good ear!

I tried politely saying... the 6th string tends to be little shorter than than the bottom 3... and that action.. oofdah, think that's the Flea slap setup. string to fret is what the string to board should be. The Hendrix look is almost cool, but they had normal left hand guitars before he left the army... I digress it's yours Dan, maybe try the strings from a thinner guage bass set?

Thinner gauge bass strings? You are a madman but I love it! Great idea!

We're using a very similar setup! My Warmoth baritone jazzmaster is on the wall next to me (roasted maple neck, swamp ash body) although with Wolfetone humbuckers and a strat-style bridge. I was playing around with my bridge recently and ended up with a similarly high action. I play in drop g so there isn't much string tension to overcome so I'm not sure it's that big of a deal. I actually had to stick to medium gauge strings (68-14) for proper tension. Even without the reverse headstock the 28 5/8 scale is tough to string-shop for. Ernie Ball is my usual go-to but their e is too short. So I kind of feel your pain. I was considering buying some 65 or 70 gauge bass string singles but D'Addario's are juuuuust long enough for me.

Drop G……

Is that brown note territory? The idea of a hybrid guitar bass string set might be the ticket.

How and what do you play in drop G, that is super low.

 

[joeyd]

Oh yeah you'll for sure shit your pants if you play an open chord. I leave a capo on the first fret at all times to prevent that. You've got 23 frets available still so no big deal.

It only seems super low because you're thinking in guitar. I think it's pretty common to tune baritone's to b. Drop g is only a little bit lower. It's a great tuning for gloomy cowboy riffs (make sure you play everything under 60bpm for full effect). I use it for all of my leads (I usually play black metal and shoegaze).

 

[Alan W]

Great video, as always! I keep wondering when everyone is going to discover how great baritones are—hopefully your video will forward the cause!

I was thinking my baritone action was similarly high, but just measured it; 2.5 mm from string bottom to fretboard at the twelfth. That’s with 14-68 strings tuned to B. I tend to play clean, and unless I play hard, there’s no fret buzz, so I’m sure you can get yours lower. I did have to do minor spot fret leveling when I first set it up.

There’s a great tool for getting out stripped screws.

PZ-58 | ENGINEER INC.-Global

Removes Broken screw, Stripped screw & Rusty screw. Innovative and patented Screw Removal Tool Neji-Saurus can grip a low-profile screw head securely owing to the vertically-serrated jaws and extract the stubborn fastener without slip. Much faster than a fluted screw extractor. Just Grip and Turn!

www.engineertools-jp.com

yup, same company that makes everyone’s favorite solder sucker.

 

[Deperduci]

it'd be hybrid but they do make bass strings at .030, .040 and .045, could work your way down from there. alot of baritone string sets look like they go to .068~.070, that's Dstring territory on a standard bass.

 

[Paradox916]

Drop G……

Is that brown note territory? The idea of a hybrid guitar bass string set might be the ticket.

How and what do you play in drop G, that is super low.

Literally every demo I have done has been in drop G .. well not the last one, an architects cover that was G# F# B E G# C# (C#)

 

[daeg]

Sunday Handwound for the win! I got the standard woody set and love it! Plays really well with distortions.

I vented to the guy over Reverb DM's about how I love the JM Neck sounds but can never find the right Bridge Pickup.

He made me a Woodchime Neck and Woody Bridge set and I've never been happier with a guitar.

 

[jjjimi84]

Oh yeah you'll for sure shit your pants if you play an open chord. I leave a capo on the first fret at all times to prevent that. You've got 23 frets available still so no big deal.

It only seems super low because you're thinking in guitar. I think it's pretty common to tune baritone's to b. Drop g is only a little bit lower. It's a great tuning for gloomy cowboy riffs (make sure you play everything under 60bpm for full effect). I use it for all of my leads (I usually play black metal and shoegaze).

If shitting your pants is cool consider me Miles Davis! It is like going to drop c on a normal guitar? I am going to give it a whirl tonight, a little Destiny Behemoth maybe a weird pedal and a low tuned baritone to start vacation.

Great video, as always! I keep wondering when everyone is going to discover how great baritones are—hopefully your video will forward the cause!

I was thinking my baritone action was similarly high, but just measured it; 2.5 mm from string bottom to fretboard at the twelfth. That’s with 14-68 strings tuned to B. I tend to play clean, and unless I play hard, there’s no fret buzz, so I’m sure you can get yours lower. I did have to do minor spot fret leveling when I first set it up.

There’s a great tool for getting out stripped screws.

PZ-58 | ENGINEER INC.-Global

Removes Broken screw, Stripped screw & Rusty screw. Innovative and patented Screw Removal Tool Neji-Saurus can grip a low-profile screw head securely owing to the vertically-serrated jaws and extract the stubborn fastener without slip. Much faster than a fluted screw extractor. Just Grip and Turn!

www.engineertools-jp.com

yup, same company that makes everyone’s favorite solder sucker.

Thanks Alan! This video was a labor of love and had to somewhat be fashioned into shape, there was over an hour of footage shot across three weeks and that kind of project takes a lot out of this old timers brain....

Going to try to add a thicker shim and then reset the neck and adjust it. Having to adjust a neck with the truss rod bolt on the body side sucks. Why do they do that?

it'd be hybrid but they do make bass strings at .030, .040 and .045, could work your way down from there. alot of baritone string sets look like they go to .068~.070, that's Dstring territory on a standard bass.

Going hybrid! Thank you for the insight, I am off of work this week and will be painting a ton and trying to resolve this string issue.

Literally every demo I have done has been in drop G .. well not the last one, an architects cover that was G# F# B E G# C# (C#)

Now I am going back an re-watching your videos. Your videos look so great and sound dynamite!

I vented to the guy over Reverb DM's about how I love the JM Neck sounds but can never find the right Bridge Pickup.

He made me a Woodchime Neck and Woody Bridge set and I've never been happier with a guitar.

Sunday Handwound is super kind and I love hearing other stories like that! Great customer service and the price is really affordable for hand wound pickups.

Sorry about the late response, once Thursday hits my work week shoots into overdrive and I don't get to look up until Sunday morning.

Have a great Sunday everyone!