ShortScale.org

I've discovered I love the comfort of a Mustang's smaller body and shorter scale...but I still like the pickups, trem and switching of a Jazzmaster's 'lead' circuit. What I want is the best of both...the Jazzy sound from a Mustang body and scale. I don't care about the rhythm circuit and I'd prefer a chunkier neck than a 'stang - possibly a Jag neck? - so I'm thinking...

1. buy one of the new Pawn Shop 'stangs, and mod the living daylights out of it. Remove the slide switches, rout the body for JM pickups or swap the stock units for humbucker-sized JMs and possibly swap the hardtail for a JM/Jag tailpiece.

2. return to Manland and start from the ground up with a Jag neck and a 'stang body blank. The advantage of this option is I can choose the colour and trem options.

I think this is actually doable - this is an example of what I'm thinking of and I'm sure someone around here has tried it too - but I'd be interested to hear what the rest of you think. Being in the UK means I get stung by VAT and Arselfarce ransom charges for importing stuff like a Warmoth body and neck, but pickups and hardware shouldn't be such a problem.

So yeah. It's just something that occurred to me during a slow stretch at work today.

take care, the body wood and the scale of the neck influence the sound. The pups do 60% of the sound.

and your project will cost you a lot!?

I like the JM tremolo on the Mustang

Ask Cooterfinger if he'll make you a body. His work is phenominal and he's great at doing things differently from the standard setup if that's what you're after. You should escape customs too.

I have always liked the look of this weird hybrid



I think with all the Jazzmaster parts on a mustang body it looks a bit too crowded. The one HNB had was pretty cool though.

From painful past experience, importing outside of the EU is rough, unless the sender claims it's a gift or deliberately undervalues the contents of the parcel on the customs docket...which is illegal of course and the sort of thing I never do and wouldn't recommend. I don't have a problem with paying VAT but it's just a royal PITA to get hold of any non-strat/Tele guitar parts without paying through the nose, assuming it's the right spec part in the first place. Arselfarce and their stupid ransom charges can burn in the fire of a thousand suns too. [/rant]

*takes a deep breath*

Duly noted Re: Cooterfinger. A custom body may be my best bet here. I absolutely LURVE the Bilinda-stang, which is what got me thinking, "hey! It's possible to get the trem system I'm comfortable with on a Mustang!" Routing that out would be the hardest job there, since cutting a pickguard for different pups isn't that big a deal.

My only worry about the scale and wood is the conventional wisdom of shorter scales giving darker tones with less string separation. For JM pickups this might be a problem since they're fairly dark by single coil standards. I have a spare set of stock CIJ JM pickups lying around though, plus a couple of 1 meg Dimarzio pots so wiring-wise I'm almost set already. If anyone can vouch for the Creamery I could get some nice pickups wound to custom spec from them. I've yet to find any pickups, on any guitar, that feel as 'right' to me as a Jazzmaster's. How much of that would still be there in a 'stang body, I'm not sure. It''ll be fun to try out though!

EDIT since sholkham posted while I was typing: yeah, the difference in body size may make it a bit crowded. There'd be just two pickups and a three-way toggle in the guard itself, with one volume, one tone and jack mounted on the control plate. I think a 'stang pickguard is *just* big enough to accomodate the notoriously HYUGE Jazzy pickup cutouts.

I reckon this could also be my perfect combination: JM pups + Mustang body & neck.

Very interested to see how this one turns out!

I'm actually having almost the exact thing done - a Mustang body with a Jaguar trem made by Cooterfinger. I was considering putting Jaguar pickups in it, too, but decided that whatever pickups I use will be whatever will fit in the traditional routes. I even thought about trying lipsticks, but I'm not sure if I want to do that or not. Of course, I live in the States, so it's a little easier for me, but sounds like a cool project.