Fender Custom 60s Jazzmaster Shell Pink MAJOR American UPGRADES CME Case USA

Description: This is a 2023 Fender Chicago Music Exchange (CME) Exclusive Player Jazzmaster in Shell Pink alder wood body with a 3-ply Parchment pickguard paired with a 2023 Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster Special neck with a Pau Ferro fretboard. 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" Shell Pink Jazzmasters available I thought this would be a good opportunity to build one. 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. 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: I love nods to tradition but am in no way a purist and always appreciate subtle modern touches which is exactly what I was going for when I paired this body and neck. Despite being part of the "Player" series, these Chicago Music Exchange exclusive models actually use Vintera series bodies and is very much a traditional Jazzmaster style body with rhythm circuit and 3-way toggle routes as well as the tremolo in the original location which is further back from the bridge, unlike many of the "Modified" or standard "Player" series Fender Jazzmasters where the tremolo is moved closer to the bridge and usually paired with an Adjusto-Matic or Tune-O-Matic style bridge (and a mismatched radius to that of the fretboard!) While keeping the body traditional I decided to go more modern on the neck with a 9.5" radius one. Most of the Fender Jazzmasters, usually American models, that have both the 9.5" radius and original tremolo location are usually paired with narrow-tall frets, which are very popular today. While narrow-tall are nice, I still have a soft spot for medium jumbos but unfortunately the necks Fender make that are both 9.5" and medium jumbo are usually paired with those "Modified" bodies with the moved tremolo location, which was the case with the original body this neck came from. Pairing it with this body gave me exactly what I was looking for, so this is a rather unique combination for Fender production guitars unless you go Custom Shop. Condition wise, it has some signs of very light use, a small scratch or nick here or there and some pick marks but other than that, the body and neck are in excellent condition with no fret wear and nice shiny frets. These traditional and 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 (I know, they're absolutely gorgeous looking guitars, so probably form over function in most cases. Even 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. These modded ones of mine 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: Weight is around 8.2 lbs -WD Music 3-ply Parchment pickguard. Classic color that looks amazing with a nice subtle contrast to Shell Pink -Fender '65 American Vintage knobs and Vintage White trim. To finish that '65 looks, I replaced the stock Strat knobs and pickguard covers that were in Aged White to the Vintage White ones from the '65, 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 -Fender J. Mascis Signature Jazzmaster pickups. These are similar to the stock '65 American Vintage Jazzmaster pickups but with Alnico 2 pickups (instead of Alnico 5) and a little hotter output around 7k /3.6h for both pickups (roughly 6.7k range of both the neck and bridge for the stock '65 pickups). Like the 65's they're vintage correct Jazzmaster style pickups with 1/8" height coils, fiber bobbins, vintage cloth push back lead wire and plain enamel magnet wire. It's not lost on me that I put one man's signature pickups into another man's signature guitar but I thought this would be a great pairing as a different flavor to the usual Alnico 5 pickups on my last Shell Pink Jazzmaster builds. These pickups have an awesome smoothness to them -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. The Rhythm Circuit has also been modified so that it works with both the neck and bridge pickup when engaged and the 3-way toggle works as it does like in the Lead circuit. -CTS 500K 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 -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. Also great if you wanted less heat for a sound more like the stock '65s -Orange Drop .033uf and .022uf lead and rhythm circuit tone caps. This is the same value as stock but generally considered an upgrade -Fully shielded the pickup and control cavities with copper tape for reduced noise and much quieter operation. These guitars can be quite noisy without -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 -American Vintage Jazzmaster Tremolo with lock and push in bar with vintage white tip. This 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 0.25 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. 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. 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 most stock vintage style Jazzmaster bridges) have the vintage 2-3/16” (56mm) spacing and are 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, which is no longer available outside of the UK (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 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 -Fender/Schaller strap locks and buttons with white felt washers -Fender American Vintage tuner bushings replacing the narrower and cheaper stock ones -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 -Radius'd, Sanded, smoothed and polished the nut and sharp edges for a more comfortable feel similar to the American guitars. A lot of these Mexican Fender guitars have almost no refinement finishing on parts of the guitar like the nut or fret ends. This is a lot more comfortable now. -Fender American Performer lightweight aluminum transistion Logo neck plate. These neck plates are about 0.5 oz vs the normal 2 oz steel plates and help with shaving some weight off -CME Exclusive Fender Classic Series Jazzmaster wood hard case in pink tolex with white leather ends and white plush interior. The original guitars didn't come with hard cases and you can't have one of these guitars without a vintage style hard case (a $200 upgrade alone!). The case has a little wear on the edges from use but is in overall very good condition and fully functional. 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 most Jazzmasters you're going to pull off the shelf new at the store and will put it against any of the American Vintage, Original, etc. versions any day of the week all because of things like the quality components and attention to detail in the setup. You're just not going to get that from a new Fender production model unless you perform all of these upgrades and do or pay for the work yourself. Why spend over $2000 on an American Vintage Jazzmaster that'll still need work and not play as well? 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 guitar? :) Below are the stock specs of the original CME guitar the body is from: Tech Specs Body: Alder Body Finish: Gloss Polyester Body Shape: Jazzmaster Neck Material: Maple Neck Finish: Satin Urethane Finish on Back of Neck with Gloss Urethane Headstock Face Neck Shape: Modern "C" Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm) Fingerboard: Pau Ferro Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (241 mm) Number of Frets: 22 Frets Size: Medium Jumbo String Nut: Synthetic Bone Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm) Position Inlays: White Dots Truss Rods: Standard Truss Rod Wrench: 3/16" Hex (Allen) Bridge Pickup: Pure Vintage 65 Reissue Jazzmaster Neck Pickup: Pure Vintage 65 Reissue Jazzmaster Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone Pickup Switching: Series/Parallel 4-Way Select Switch Electronics: Body routed for, but not outfitted from factory with, rhythm circuit. Ready to be installed with ease by your tech. Bridge: 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Adjustable with “Floating” Tremolo Tailpiece Hardware Finish: Nickel/Chrome Tuning Machines: Standard Cast/Sealed Pickguard: 3-Ply Parchment Control Knobs: Aged White Plastic

Price: 1799 USD

Location: Washington, District Of Columbia

End Time: 2024-08-17T15:35:47.000Z

Shipping Cost: 90 USD