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JZ-6 build
Like so many people who watched "Get Back" last December and saw John Lennon playing the Bass VI, I said to myself, "I want one of those!"
It's also been a year since I built my last kit, and I always make it a point to try to build something that's a bit off the beaten track.
And then I found the JZ-6. I know it's not exactly like a JZ-6, but it is interesting, and sort of fills a similar evolutionary niche - a bit like penguins and puffins.
So, this is my sixth build, my third PitBull, and only my second solid body, and only my second bolt-on neck. I'm not sure I'm going to miss threading all the electronics through an f-hole, though.
The box arrived today - less than a week from Australia to the UK, which is kind of impressive.
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And while I wait for the Bass VI strings, the sandpaper, and the Wudtone finishing kit to arrive, I did the only thing I could do without all that stuff - I reshaped the headstock.
I went for something between a P-Bass and a late 60s Strat.
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Welcome back.
A few people have made Bass VI conversions. A selection of points to note.
The bridge may need some hole enlargement to fit the Bass VI strings, but nothing too complicated.
And the standard kit tuners aren't as good with the thicker base strings as the vintage slotted type.
There is also the fact that the kit scratchplate is a standard JZ type, and not elongated for its baritone application (likewise the body routs for the pickups, so the bridge and middle pickups are further forward than they should be. A couple of people have done some extra routing and made their own scratchplates with repositioned pickups to match the original.
A neck shim may be a good idea to get the bridge sitting higher and improving the string break angle over it. But as the bridge isn't a grooved cylinder Fender-style one, it may not be necessary. An easy post-build modification if required.
All the best with the build.
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Thanks!
I’ve been following the threads here on JZ-6s and have seen the discussions about pickup spacing.
My plan of action is to build as is and see how I feel about the sound. If I’m feeling bold, I might give reconfiguration a try.
One thing I’ve thought about - the distance between the 3rd pickup and the bridge on the JZ-6 is about the same, relatively, as the distance from the pickup and the bridge of a P Bass. Which is, as we all know, is the most perfect electric string instrument ever designed.
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They’ll all work, you just won’t get quite the range of sounds from bright to dark as the original. But some people prefer that as they feel the bridge pickup position on a bass VI can be too bright for bass work.
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I bought a modified JZ-6 that gave me a blank body and the neck as I was not interested in a trem and didn't know what pickups I was going to use.
Have purchased a low profile roller Tune-o-matic that I can make new custom rollers if necessary, will have a through body string setup via some vintage style ferrules on the top face, will be using a blank Jazzmaster pickguard so I can place the 2 P-90 pickups I am using where ever I want and have some Ernie Ball 6 String Slinky bass strings.
As for the tuners will wait and see what I need. Just waiting on finances to become available due to the 6 other guitars that are ahead on the list and favourable weather to sit outside and sand all the parts before I put on the finish. Was looking at a Walnut stain for the body but have seen a nice Butterscotch that may get the nod.
Looked at the fret work on the neck and will probably remove the kit ones and replace them as I don't like the angle on the ends.
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Yay! There can never be too many Bass VIs in this world! Good luck on the build. I love my two so very much.
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I’ve got some time to wait before the Wudtone finish arrives, so I did a full assembly, because it’s a Fender-style, so it’s easy enough to take apart again.
I’m using D’Addario Bass VI strings. I also took advantage of the PitBull offer to upgrade to Grover locking tuners, so that initially presented an interesting and unanticipated challenge. I figured out that I can strip the wrap on the three lowest strings and use the core for the locking device. I feel rather clever, we’ll see how well that works over time.
The action is pretty good, I had to take the 2nd and 3rd frets down a bit and add a bit of relief to get rid of a few buzzes.
The route for the whammy is pretty tight and when the strings are under full tension, the front of the plate is pulled up to the edge of the cavity and the whammy doesn’t move. I think I can fix that with a bit of filing.
The stock pickups sound pretty good. There’s no noise, so I don’t think I need to do any shielding.
I somehow wired the two tone pots in the wrong order. The good news is that there’s enough play in the wires to swap them, so I didn’t have to bother firing up the soldering iron. The bad news is that I was clumsy fitting it back together, and broke off one of the leads, so I have to fire up the soldering iron anyway.
The only hitch right now is that my usual method for pulling Tuneomatic bushings isn’t working (dropping in a shelf stud from a Billy bookcase and screwing in the post). They won’t budge. I can finish with them in, but I didn’t install the ground wire. If I can’t get them out, I’m thinking that I can make the end of ground wire very “bushy” and jam it up against the bushing through the hole and then glue it in place.
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To remove bushings I have in the past just screwed in a bolt or the screw that comes with the Tuneomatic, depending on the style, and use a piece of wood/cardboard/carpet to help stop any marks on the face and used a claw hammer and levered the bush out.
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Thanks for the tip!
I was a bit nervous about trying it, but the claw hammer approach worked. I was able to get both out without damaging anything
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Well done! Always nerve-racking doing something like that, but at least you were doing it before any finish went on, so you could have probably steamed out any dent if you did make a mark.
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The D’Addario strings are notorious for having the same issue as the Fender ones that come with the Squier VIs... the low E is just too light and feels... floppy.
However, that's on the Squier, if that hasn't been your experience on the JZ-6 that's great news. If anything, I would have thought it'd be worse on the JZ-6 since the total length (from tremolo anchor to machine head) is shorter than the Squier VI... 🤔
I currently use Fender Super 250s (.024 - .100) on mine, but I just got some Stringjoy ones from the US that I am going to trial (.026 - .095). The Fender ones are strangely becoming hard to come by locally... so...
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Total length has nothing to do with the string tension. It will affect how it feels to bend strings, but for straightforward fretting, it makes no difference. The string frequency equation using of vibrating length, mass per unit length and tension still mean that if the scale length is the same, then for the same strings, the tension will be the same.
It’s only when you start bending strings and overcome the static friction at the nut and bridge that the extra lengths of string come into play and it becomes easier to bend a string a certain distance. However, for a longer overall string, you have to bend it further to get it to the same raised tension (say up a semitone) as a shorter overall string length. So in the end you still apply just as much force with your fingers, but it feels a bit easier through most of the bend action.
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Started the finishing. Using Wudtone T-Bird, and I'm going for a solid colour using the "stipple and wet sand with olive oil" approach.
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I haven’t heard of that method before.
Presumably you just dab the finish on and then sand that when dry using the oil instead of water to stop the wood expanding in the holes. Or do you sand when the finish is wet to spread it around and push it into the wood?
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You let it cure for a day or two and then sand with olive oil. I'm guessing that that slightly liquifies the surface and turns the finish dust into another, very thin layer.
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I’ve been thinking about the pickup configuration. I’m going to install the stock setup first and live with it for a while, but I’m leaning toward the idea of a pickup closer to the bridge with an SSH configuration, with coil splitting in switch position 2.
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Third colour coat on the body and second clear coat on the neck.
I'm probably only going to do three coats on the neck. The body will have around three more colour coats and then around four clear coats.
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I'm thinking of using Forstner bits with a hand drill to carve out a cavity for a bridge humbucker, as I don't have a router and can't justify the expense of one.
Has anyone had experience doing it that way?
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Will it be exposed or will it be covered by a pickguard?
If exposed, you'll need to keep it very neat (even with a pickup surround). Whilst Forstner bits are a good way of removing a lot of wood, unless you have good chiselling skills for the final removal, you may find that finishing off the sides with a sanding drum on a Dremel is easiest. My woodworking skills are such that I certainly wouldn't do a rout for a body-mounted pickup (with no surround) without using a router.
Don't forget that the central spike on a Forstnet bit (depending on its diameter) can be between 3-5mm long, so allow for that when drilling and don't go deeper than you need to as you don't want holes poking out the back.
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I'm hoping to simply use a surround rather than a pickguard.
I don't have a Dremel, and don't have plans to get one. The challenge for me is that I'm a guitarist, not a woodworker, so I can't justify the expense of a Dremel or a router. Also, I'm a terrible woodworker, so I'm afraid that a Dremel would simply be wasted on me anyway.
Electronics are another story - I used to make all my own MIDI cables and patch cables to custom lengths, mainly so I could have a tidy patch bay. So I'm looking forward to the design and soldering of the electronics.
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Well, the best of luck with it!
You've got an almost solid-coloured body, so if it does go a bit wrong, you should be able to patch it up.
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I am a Toolmaker not a guitarist. Been a tradesman for 40+, have played the guitar for 26ish and modified guitars for 30+ years. I have the opposite reason and ideals about guitars than most other people on this site. Neither of us is more right than the other, just depends on your own views.
While I do good work on guitar building my philosophy is they are made to play, not display. Setup and ease of play is more important than putting 40+ coats of finish. I do a job once and I get it right first time, hopefully fingers crossed. When I saw just 2 guitars by 2 people who only had 3 initials in their names, EVH and SRV, I knew looks don't make a guitar sound better. Most of us are doing the best we can with what we have but sometimes some of the information that is given is, shall we say, misleading and in some instances dangerous.
People here like to justify why they need a new piece of machinery to perform tasks that can be done by a hand tool. I get it, I love using million dollar machines to make stuff but while guitar building gives most people here and excuse to purchase a new toy, for me its the opposite, it gives a reason to use my hands and brains to overcome easy tasks. Don't get me wrong, I still have a pedestal drills, scroll saw, bandsaw, angle grinders, welders, routers, lathes and other devices of death but seeing as am not getting paid to do my building then if it takes a week rather than a day, who cares. But I still like to finish my builds yesterday and play the guitar the day before I started the build but now finances are the thing holding me back now that I retired back in 2016. Doesn't stop me from buying, just finishing as per the 8 I have in waiting.
Being a tradesman I have the safety of the people I train as the most important part of my job, as well as my own. Giving advice to someone I cannot directly advise in person about how to perform a task is irresponsible and puts that person in danger, something I cannot do. Reason why I would never tell anyone to use a power tool when the same can be done by hand as I am not there to direct you or turn off the device once you have been thrown around the workshop a few times. I modified a mates tele one time by installing a set of P90 pickups all by hand and it didn't have a surround to cover up any, shall we say, design features. I shall now tell you how to perform the same all with hand tools and it is easy, just take your time.
To make a cut-out for a pickup is easy with hand tools, just time consuming. First off get a sharp chisel. The only difference in quality is how many times you have to sharpen the chisel so get one that is priced right for you. I got a set of Irwin chisels, comes with 3 different widths for around the $40 mark and comes in a handy canvas holder so as you don't cut yourself or damage the cutting ends. Look on Youtube on how to sharpen them, Crimson guitars does a good tutorial but it is quite expensive with the tools he uses. All of it can be done on a oil stone and use a leather strop. Or just glue down some wet and dry onto a flat surface, I have used the marble bench top in our kitchen, should be back on solid food in about 6 months. The strop can be substituted with an old thin rubber mouse pad and use some Brasso to give a final shine to the cutting face. All my chisels and knives can shave a fleas rear end at 3 feet. That is the easy part, now comes the fun.
The most important part is being able to mark out where you want it and the correct size. Try on a piece of spare wood first is the best advice. Seeing as you already have a colour on the guitar, I always use green painters tape as a backing on all my guitars even before I sand the body. Seeing people mark directly on a guitar makes the job harder, in my opinion. The green tape makes the marks stand out and I don't have to sand a pencil line that was applied with too much enthusiasm. I normally use Sharpie ink pens so marking on the tape just makes sense and the tape is easy to remove even when left on too long.
When I did the P90 I needed a 6mm radius in the corners, so I used a 12mm brad point drill. I marked directly on the drill my depth I wanted as masking tape can ride up as the drill warms up. The next bit is the secret ingredient that makes making cut-outs easy, dressed pine. I used a piece of 70 x 30mm dressed pine as the sides are square. I had already marked out the size I wanted on the tape I then clamped 2 pieces of pine at right angles on the lines I had marked out, clamped on the 30mm face to the guitar face. This gave me the corner where I wanted to drill the corner radius and it also gave me a reference to drill the corner at right angle to the face. It takes some practice but it gives you a visual to drill the holes square to the guitar face. Once you drill the corners then you use the Forstner drill bits to remove to major waste. With these bits I use masking tape for depth as the head is much bigger than the shaft so the heat isn't a problem. I use a piece of tape that is 50 to 70mm long so it is much wider than the head on the drill bit and I double it around the shaft so it sticks out on both sides of the drill. Reason being is as the drill removes the wood the chips are on the surface, when you get to the right depth the tape will remove the chips telling you to stop. Much easier and safer than trying to see a mark on a drill bit. Some times smaller bits are better than large bits as you can remove more with smaller ones than the larger ones and the centre has a point that allows to to overlap and drill half holes.
This is where the sharp chisels and dressed wood comes into play. The guitar I did was bass wood so was easy to work with, the guitar body your working with is slightly harder so expect to sharpen the chisels more often I also got by without having to use a hammer but when I do I use a dead blow plastic faced hammer. Now to accurately shave the sides square to the guitar face this is where you clamp the dressed pine along the lines you have marked out and by holding the rear face of the chisel against the dressed pine it gives you a square cut and also stops you from going oversize with your hole. Start with the chisel against the face but just about the guitar body so as you don't start removing wood from the dressed pine. Just do one side at a time and you can start with the wood inside the outside line and work your way back out to the finished size. Always have the guitar supported on a flat surface so if you get excited and start smacking away with a 40 pound sledge hammer you don't have 2 guitars where you should have 1.
This is the technique I have used in various situations, not just on guitars. Do with the information what you want, modify it to suit your situation and tools. Use items to help elevate your skill set and reduce mistakes. Rather than using dressed pine you could use Aluminium angle iron but seeing as the price of wood is cheaper I go for wood.
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I didn’t end up using Forstner bits. I just used a wood bit to take out a good amount of the wood and and then used chisels.
It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, but thankfully, the pickup mounting ring will cover the glitches.
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If it works, it works! Well done.
Is it deep enough at the ends to accommodate the pickup mounting screws and legs? If not, you should be able to deepen the ends with just a drill.
I normally wait until I’ve fitted the strings before finalising the pickup/pickup ring position so the pole pieces line up as best they can with the strings. Just tape the pickup in place until it’s strung up.
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The humbucker just arrived and the fit is good - so I’m pleased with that.
I’m not so pleased that I cut the ears a couple of mm’s too wide.
I guess that’s why they make plastic wood. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cf41cd8898.jpg
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The excitement of watching paint dry.
Tomorrow will be a week of curing and I can put it all together.
I can’t wait!
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Getting ready to assemble
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I love your simple rig using a keyboard stand for hanging the guitar and neck to cure.
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And it's all together!
Still waiting on the waterslide for the headstock, and I'm looking for some inexpensive "oven knob" Jag-style knobs to replace the speed knobs.
I'm using the stock single coils, which sound surprisingly good, and two of the stock pots for the two tone controls. Those, I'm not so thrilled with - I'm guessing they're linear, so basically they do nothing at all between 10 and 3, and then fall off a cliff between 3 and 0. I don't use tone much, so I'll replace them some day I'm in the mood to, but no rush.
The humbucker is a IronGear Tesla Shark bridge pickup, and I've got a push/pull volume pot to do coil splitting.
It sounds really good - I'm very pleased with this one.
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The build went very well, except for the moment when I first plugged it in and got very low output and massive hum from the humbucker.
I spent a couple of hours looking for a bad connection with no luck. Just before I fell asleep last night I took a quick look at the schematic on my phone and realised that I had forgotten a jumper to ground on one of the legs of the push/pull.
I got up early this morning, soldered the jumper, and everything worked perfectly.
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Thanks! I also turned it into a workbench for soldering and assembly.
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Just noticed that the compression artefacts in the photo make it look like there’s lots of orange peel in the finish. There is actually none at all. The grain is intentionally visible, but there’s no orange peel.
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And finally finished with the arrival of the waterslide logo and the oven-style knobs
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