Godin Jaguar Mastery project

[GM Reszel]

I acquired a cracked headstock Godin LG neck and a damaged '62 Jaguar body. Instead of selling them off I've decided to make a marriage of the two.

Biggest deciding factor for me assembling instead of selling is the discovery of the Mastery bridge for Jazzmaster/Jaguar et al. The bridge looked so awesome I decided to make a guitar with it.

Details to follow, stay tuned:

The next reason for me to continue with the build is the glove like fit of the Godin neck to the Jag body. When a neck presses in firm, but not stressed and can hold itself in the pocket just by a snug fit you've got a winner:

Also the radius of the heel is nearly perfect to the pocket of the Jag:

 

[wire-n-wood]

Interesting project. But is that a crack across the neck? (Second pic.)

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Id find a better neck...

 

[Black Squirrel]

I would make sure to get the exact measurements of the godin neck, to figure the scale out, alot of brands the bridge is in a diffrent location so the neck is a diffrent length (I think That why you never see G&L and fender mashup partscasters)

Edit: I can tell in that one pic it is not going to work You can see the Godin Neck mounting holes above the heal of the jag Body which tells me the Goidin neck is made to sit lower in the body so your scale length will be askew.

 

[GM Reszel]

Yes the neck is cracked (to be repaired). It is a very good neck with ebony board, fretwork is great. It will make a nice mate to the jag. The Godin scale is 25.5" and I'll relocate the posts (marked onto the blue tape). I don't think there's an easier bridge to install: two thimble cups and two 3/8" holes, no rout. Call it frankenstein but it will work.

 

[Chris Scott]

The Mastery bridge is awesome - great experiences with this fine product.

Neck repair is a no-brainer imo.

Looks like a fun project - good luck!

 

[GM Reszel]

The Mastery bridge is awesome - great experiences with this fine product.

Neck repair is a no-brainer imo.

Looks like a fun project - good luck!

Thanks Chris,,,have some wild ideas in the works,,,we'll see how it goes...

 

[m-m-m]

Cool project. Offset waist meets offset fret markers. Sounds like a good marriage to me.

I'm guessing that you'll have to have a pickguard made - my vote is green pearl. Should look great on the white with that neck. Just tell 'em not to drill the bridge holes.

http://www.wdmusic.com/fender_jazzmaster_pickguard_jz-1428gr.html

edit - well that's the jazzmaster version ... whoops

 

[Rockledge]

You can't beat Godin stuff.
I suggest finding out what guitar the neck came in order to find out what kind of bridge it had. Perhaps it had a stop tail piece with a set radius on the bridge. Which, if you find that out it could open your bridge options up a little as opposed to being stuck with bridges that have individual height adjustments.

 

[Chris Scott]

You can't beat Godin stuff.
I suggest finding out what guitar the neck came in order to find out what kind of bridge it had. Perhaps it had a stop tail piece with a set radius on the bridge. Which, if you find that out it could open your bridge options up a little as opposed to being stuck with bridges that have individual height adjustments.

Iirc, the LG series has a TOM-style bridge, and I seem to recall they're a 16" rad.

I'm sure he's got radius gauges...

 

[GM Reszel]

The bridge will have plenty of radius adjust. m-m-m, Yeah, hadn't noticed offset waist to compliment the inlays - good eye. As for the pickguard I'm going to fashion one from a piece of plexi - I have lots:

I'll opaque the back, color to be determined.....hmm,,,green...

 

[GM Reszel]

Neck fixed (easy fix and now sturdy) holes drilled ready for bridge. Next to make the pickguard and save the big bucks for the pickups I intend to use (not typical Jag or Jazz). Might be awhile..see you then, GM

Some random pics:

 

[Chris Scott]

Movin' right along I see - bitchen!

While I'm thinking of it, some of the Masterys I've installed have a tendency to the saddles boogiein' around a bit - I guess a particular frequency hits the saddle/screw assy. and it just starts to "walk" a bit.

Not a biggie in anyone's estimation, but you'd do well to keep a eye on it - it happened to my bandmate's Bigsby-equipped Tele, and a drop of shellac on the adj. screw was all it took. When I think of all the handjive I've put into Jag and JM bridges to try and get them to work properly, all the while thinking that "...ok, but it still sounds like ****"...VERY well-engineered piece, that is.

Looking forward to see how this one comes out!

 

[GM Reszel]

Movin' right along I see - bitchen!

While I'm thinking of it, some of the Masterys I've installed have a tendency to the saddles boogiein' around a bit - I guess a particular frequency hits the saddle/screw assy. and it just starts to "walk" a bit.
and a drop of shellac on the adj. screw was all it took.

Yep Chris, movin' right along (for now anyway . I'll have to finance the pups (brand tba) and/or hope for ebay bargain. Thanks for the shellac tip and for the interest, kit,
GM

 

[GM Reszel]

Today cut the plexi for the pickguard. One side is perfect the other scratched to hell. I wet sand that side (had to be 'frosted' anyway to prepare for finish adhesion).

Finished piece is ready to be cut to pickguard shape, pickup holes, etc:

 

[GM Reszel]

Progression of things:
Pickguard cut and painted.
My disclaimer - these days it's mostly about time between tasks and available resources.
With that said, cut the pg, painted it black with some rattle can black and laid it on thick. The nitro made the plexi go cracky - I loved that 'error' and after the first coat flashed, I sprayed the next coat really heavy in the hopes the whole thing would crack,,,,not so. Oh well, this is a first run pickguard until I get the pups I really want (to be disclosed later) and the color I want (heck, I don't know that yet, but black works for now).

I always have thought the Jaguar body is one of the most futuristic designs and ergonomic - so comfortable. But then (and no disrespect to Jag/Jazz purists), the fat and bulbous strat head to that body - ugh! I think the Godin head is a perfect compliment. However, what to do with the beautiful, blue translucent flame Godin overlay....I'm afraid that's going away (well, getting covered).

The big block of cherry wood btw is the tailpiece,,(huh?),,,,stay tuned.
Progress pics as follows:

 

[leray1]

Great vision! They look really good together.

 

[GM Reszel]

Great vision! They look really good together.

Pure luck - lucky enough to get the two damaged parts, how well they fit and I agree the designs were made for each other.

 

[GM Reszel]

Updates: Dowels in the heel, finish touch up.

The heel had holes drilled for the Godin (one very visible even with the neck in place), one too close to one of the new neck holes I drilled for my Jag body and all just annoying.

I cut scrap mahog and used my hand drill to 'turn' custom dowels on my nut shaping file. You can mill them to fit really tight. If one wanted to spend the time matching grain you could probably make the patches invisible. You can see the one that will show even with the neck in place will look pretty good.

If you don't have a band saw you can easily accomplish the task with a coping saw. You have to be gentle on the pressure when turning with the drill as they'll snap right off.


Next for the finish touch up:
This is why you don't use a fast wheel (nearly 3500 rpm) to buff on nitro (you blink and that's about it):

I hate touch up and quite honestly not that proficient but like I said earlier these days with limited time and resources I throw caution to the wind, hope for luck and learn a lot. So I wet sanded the area to level and blend it with the surrounding area (enlarged the wound about 4 times - but you have to blend it in thickness-wise). Then I sprayed some primer (rustoleum). Sorry I didn't photo some of this work,,,time, time, time.

Then took it to the hardware store (remember those) and matched it up to the cap on a can of Krylon (Ivory) to match the Fender Olympic white. Caps rarely match the contents exactly, but like I said,,,throwing caution..

So here's the thing about mixing different paints - you're not supposed to be able to do it; Particularly Krylon which if you paint it too thick and come back the next day to add coats it will either crackle and lift or 4 years later it's still soft and your guitar ends up with impressions from your case, strap, fingernail, etc. My thing will be to try thinner coats and plenty of cure time.

So, the touch-up looks ok, not great but I'm happy. I blended and feathered about a third of the way up (by the arm cut, to the trem cavity and down the side by end strap button). It ain't perfect by a long shot (the patch is a bit more greyish,,,but it squarely fits into the 'close enuff for R&R' disclaimer). Here it is before clears:

So that's it for this installment, thanks for looking, GM.

 

[m-m-m]

Awesome - it never occurred to me to turn my own dowels in a drill, but I'm gonna have to give that one a shot. That hole that lies outside the pocket won't be noticeable if you don't know where to look. Great work!

Finish looks pretty good from the pics too. I spent my 20's selling paint, and I've heard all the lacquer incompatability and horror stories. Here's hoping it works out.

Can't wait to see what your going to do with that tail piece ...