Chuck's JZA-1

[wokkaboy]

ah ok cheers Pabs, wondered how the trem worked

[Chuck]

Kit has arrived! And have had the obligatory bit of a poke about checking things out.

Interestingly the JZA neck is significantly narrower than the PBG strat necks – maybe almost 2mm narrower at the heel. I only know because I wanted to see if the reverse headstock neck I bought previously would fit - it doesn't! Only things that need a bit of work are the neck pocket (it's a bit out – the base isn’t flat) and the headstock (preshaped and pretty roughly so will need to tidy up the lines).

Body seems great, a little rough in places but nothing that will be an issue once I sand. Given I’m staining, the grain is okay – the one piece of wood that’s a bit different runs just on the lower half and will only be really visible from the front below the trem unit so not too bad.

Can't wait to get cracking!

[ThreeBbass]

Lookin' good!

[Chuck]

So this morning I figured I’d do a bit of a trail with cutting aluminium plate. I’ve found a local supplier who has offcuts quite cheap (570 x 490 sheet for $8) . Originally I’d thought 3mm thick would be the go, but instead I went with 1.6mm – certainly seems stiff enough for the purposes I have. I grabbed a short metal cutting bit for the jigsaw and went to work. After the rough cut I tried a variety of approaches to get it closer to right: files, sandpaper, and a drum sand bit on the drill press. All three worked in their own way, but there’s still a bit of work to get it finished nicely. Given my dislike of creating pickguards this was much more straightforward than I’d expected. The thin aluminium is quite easy to work with. I’ll also make some control plates before deciding whether to go full alloy pickguard or combine it with a regular pickguard (Jaguar style).

Here's where I'm at - the sheet still has the protective film on it and I've tried to avoid scratches, but I'm pretty sure there'll be some to address when I peel it off. More shaping and fine-tuning to go, but it's a good start. I'd certainly recommend giving it a go if you've got a project it could work on.

[wazkelly]

Looks good Chuck. Is the aluminium polished or brushed finish?

[Chuck]

Looks good Chuck. Is the aluminium polished or brushed finish?

It's brushed so should be a little easier to work with I'm thinking - the brushed finish is what I think I'll go with.

[wazkelly]

More forgiving with any slight scratches and all the fingerprints.

[JB RETRO]

Aluminium cuts quite fine with Carbide router bits but only for finishing off. I cut Aluminium with my drop saw, reverse angle tooth on the blade, and I also trim it with my Makita planer. A little bit of CRC spray or similar helps with cutting and lube.

[Chuck]

Aluminium cuts quite fine with Carbide router bits but only for finishing off. I cut Aluminium with my drop saw, reverse angle tooth on the blade, and I also trim it with my Makita planer. A little bit of CRC spray or similar helps with cutting and lube.

Cheers JB - good to know.

[Chuck]

Quick question for the brains trust: I've just noticed that the bridge post holes aren't square - the one on the high E side is about 2mm closer to the neck pocket. Now the optimist in my thinks this could help with intonation and is meant to be like this. The pessimist says I'm going to need to plug and re-drill. Thoughts?