Dillion Jazzmaster

[jjthinline]

Hey all. It's been a while since I posted anything. Have a question...I just got my hands on a Dillion jazzmaster copy. It has P90 pickups (huh?) and a more strat style trem bridge (kind of annoying), but other than that, it is a pretty good copy. It was in great shape, and I ended up paying nothing for it. A guy that I did some session work for paid me in a guitar after he lhe had no more $. So...I have always loved Jazzmasters, and now I have sort of head start on a parts-JMaster. What would you guys (I know that there are some reall JMaster fans in here) reccomend that I switch out to get a more authentic JMaster tone. The first thing that popped into my mind is the unsightly bridge (can be seen on the Dillion website), but I'm not sure if that would involve routing (uggh) and I'm not sure exactly how far back the bridge l need to be. Suggestions? BTW...I had a question about the age and armed with my serial #, emailed customer service at Dillion. I was pleasantly suprised to get a few emails back from John Dillion, who turned out to be a very nice man. I like the guitar a lot, just want to have as authentic looks and tone as possible without dropping $1400 for a USA Fender one. Thanks guys. James.

[lure555]

First thing I'd change for a more authentic JM tone are the p/u's. P-90s are pretty far-removed from the standard JM pups. I think you'll have a hard time getting rid of the Strat bridge, as the JM/Jag vibrato takes a fair amount of top-routing.
I built a JM with P-90s and dig them a lot, but then again, I wasn't going for a straight JM tone.

[jjthinline]

Thanks a bunch lure. That is some good advice. BTW...do you have any pictures of your JMaster? I'm just curious to see what it turned out like and maybe scavenge for ideas.

[lure555]

Here she is!

[jjthinline]

Thanks man...how much would you estimate most guitar shops would charge to put on a vintage style bridge and trem assmbly? Is it quite an extensive job?

[lure555]

I'm sure you could find someone to do it, but it would leave a hole in the middle of your guitar. The routing for a Strat vibrato is done on the bottom of the guitar, while the routing for a JM/Jag is done on top. I'm not sure I'd want to lose that much wood.

[jjthinline]

Good point. I hadn't thought of that yet. :)

[ES350]

Fralin makes a P90 with Alnico slugs instead of magnets on the keeper plate below the coil---more of a JM design that would drop right in the existing rout. An underwound set might get you in the ballpark...just a thought.

[PhatTele]

Yea, if you're going to convert one of those to something more like a traditional Jazzmaster, I'd talk to Lindy about how to do it. The JM PUs are going to be in the low 7Ks while the P90s will be up in the low to mid-8Ks.

I have a Jay Turser Mosrite-style guitar that came with a JM-style tremolo (the new ones have a Burns style tremolo) and some slug pole P90s that were wound to the low 7K range. It definately captures a warm but clean JM tone. It's actually a really nice guitar...especially for $200.