Fender Custom 70s Jazzmaster Black Ebony MAJOR American UPGRADES G&G CME Classic USA Gold Foil

This is a 2023 Fender Chicago Music Exchange (CME) Exclusive Player Jazzmaster in Black alder wood body and 3-ply Parchment White pickguard with a 2023 Fender Gold Foil Jazzmaster neck with a matching Black headcap and Ebony fretboard with bar inlays. I built two nearly identically ones over the last couple years that were wildly popular and quickly got snatched up, when the opportunity to build another came up I knew I couldn't pass it up.

It's probably cliche for me to say at this point, but it really did take a lot to not list this guitar and just add it straight into my personal collection because of how great it turned out and how unique it is. This one is easily the best of the three and the playability and balance of the neck is incredible. The Gold Foil Jazzmaster on its own isn't quite my cup of tea, but the fact that it was paired with such a great neck with the black headcap (despite the body being a Candy Apple Sunburst) and 70's Jazzmaster logo, I knew when I came across the neck I had to do something cool with it.

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" Black 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. This neck is truly unique in that it not only had the medium jumbo frets and 9.5" fretboard radius but it also had a black headcap AND the 70s logo (the majority of Jazzmasters are going to have 60s and 50s style logos). 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, most notably the body has a few light scratches and maybe a small nick here and there as well as some swirling typical of black bodies you have to look close and in a certain angle and lighting to notice. Aside from that, the neck is essentially in excellent near mint condition and unused, so overall it's in excellent condition.

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 right around 8.1 lbs

-Fender American Vintage II '66 3-ply Parchment pickguard. Rather than go with a Black pickguard or even Mint Green as I've done a number of times with Black Jazzmasters, I wanted to go with Parchment which is a shade darker than regular White, but to still give that contrast despite also having a matching Black headstock.

-Fender Aged White pickup covers and rare Aged White Witch Hat knobs. The stock covers were already aged white as well as the knobs but the stock ones were Strat style push on knobs. Instead of keeping the stock Strat styled knobs I opted for these rare Fender Aged White Skirted Witch Hat Jazzmaster knobs. Not to be confused with the Pure Vintage '65 Jazzmaster knobs in the lighter Vintage White color used on many American Vintage, American Original and American Professional models.. These are not sold as parts and have only been used on a couple Fender models making this even more unique. Now the covers and knobs are both aged white and pair beautifully with the parchment pickguard for a harder contrast than vintage white

-Modified stock '65 American Vintage Jazzmaster pickups have been retained. These are great vintage style Jazzmaster pickups that read in their expected range of 6.7k each. The slight modification I did was slightly raise the D string poles on each pickup to give it that hybrid stagger like on many Lindy Fralin pickups to help compensate for the drop off in volume when going from a wound D to unwound G that usually occurs when the pickups are not staggered for this. This results in a more balanced sound

-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 ($150 value). 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 like the stock one, but it's also just an overall much better tremolo

-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 black felt washers

-Fender American Vintage tuner bushings replacing the narrower and cheaper stock ones

-Kluson Supreme 18:1 Staggered tuners ($79 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

-Fender G&G style Deluxe Jazzmaster hard case the American Vintage II '66 model in black tolex with black leather ends/handle and orange plush interior. An undeniably classic look. 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 $300 upgrade alone!). Key included in the compartment

On top of these upgrades, it has also been cleaned, polished, oiled and conditioned the ebony 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 pickup heights are adjusted to 5/64" on the bass side and treble side with the bridge pickup 4/64" on the bass and 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 well over $2500 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 completely unique 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