Tommy's JZ-1 Build

[tommycarlos]

OK. Starting off the diary before the kit has even arrived cause I have some questions... and I am excited

My plan is a rather chaotic paint job involving quite a few spray colours and some experimentation. Getting some paint tomorrow to start tests on random wood I have lying around.

Also, although for my first one I should probably deviate as little as possible from the vanilla kit, I have some ideas for mods already (uh oh).

To that end, I have a couple questions... hopefully someone will see and know the answers:

1. The pickups: Are the pickups in the JZ-1 a straight p-90 size? Could I just get p-90's from somewhere and use them instead with no pickguard modification?

2. The bridge: Is the bridge a standard tune-o-matic style? Could I get a roller TOM bridge and drop that in without modifying the body?

3. The neck: Are the necks from these kits standard in any way? If I wanted a better neck maybe later on, would something else fit? heh.

OK. That's it for now

[pablopepper]

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. No. The kit necks and bodies are matched for best fit, a neck from another kit might fit it, but if your talking about switching to a Fender neck then I would be very surprised if it fit without modification.

[Fretworn]

Some people have found that not all TOM style replacement bridges have the same post spacing. So it would be valuable to measure the post specs for the stock bridge and make sure it matches any upgrade you get. Any online retailer worth their salt will provide the tech drawing of the bridge.

[tommycarlos]

Fantastic. Thanks for that.

I care more about the bridge and the pickups being easily upgradeable.

For the bridge I was considering a roller bridge (Wilkinson, etc) to help with vibrato use.

[phrozin]

if you plan doing more kits maybe stay on the easy path with your 1st build if you not 100% on painting you can get in to trouble, the guys on here are all pretty willing with lots of builds under there belt and help with problems a set ups.

[Dedman]

with the bridges just measure the center width of the posts, most are 74mm but some vary ( metric and imperial I think) I've used Wilkinson roller bridges on a couple of builds and they are good bridges but in every case I've used one, the kit had come un-drilled (custom ordered).
Also check the height as fender jazz/mustand bridges are lower than gibson style

[tommycarlos]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll just build this one stock and get a feel for it. In the case of pickups and bridges etc, I can always mod it later (or on the next one, hah).

Going for a sprayed cloud-like mix of sky blue, purple, and white. Hopefully I won't mess it up. The biggest risk for me is my impatience.

[Sonic Mountain]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll just build this one stock and get a feel for it. In the case of pickups and bridges etc, I can always mod it later.

This is a wise approach, there will be stacks to learn even on a stock build. I'm only a few kits in but I'm already planning to revisit my first for upgrades now that I've lived with it for a while.

[Andyxlh]

Impatience is the real killer, try to give it lots of time to dry. I use polyurethane clear on the stuff I do, minimum 2 weeks drying before cut and polish, so I'm used to waiting!
I agree with using the stock parts to start with, I have done a couple and found the stock stuff to be pretty good, especially the machine heads and tuneomatic bridges.

[tommycarlos]

Speaking of impatience... watching the AusPost tracking information just stop updating for 3 days is harrowing. Long drive from WA, hah.

Doesn't look like it'll get here before Xmas after all... bummer.

Edit/Update: I got a txt from Auspost. Due for delivery tomorrow! This is gonna be an interesting weekend.