REFIT & RESTORE Episode 3: Electronics and Pickup Refresh on a 1961 Fender Jazzmaster

[@JonnyJin]

Guitar maintenance aside... I'm very impressed with your Sean Connery impression

[@tremelo68]

Definitely should be a lot more Connery voicework! That was fantastic

[@travisstubbs8854]

it was spot on

[@danc.732]

I *AM* happy, healthy, and safe!

[@Wolf_K]

lol

[@j.b.55]

OK…..you inspired me to dive in to my 1959 Jazzmaster. For years it had lost its mojo….was it the pickups? Nope. Watched this video….opened it up and went from solder joint to solder joint….checked EVERY connection….resoldered any grey ‘cold’ looking connections. Nice shiny solder. Sorted the wiring in that nice tight pathway around the neck pickup. Used little pieces of brown paper tape like the original. Carefully reassembled the body. Polished the frets….shimmed the neck With a proper full maple shim. Lubed the nut slots….new set of all nickel Gibson ‘Les Paul’ 10-46(red silk wrapped ends. Set the action. Set pickup heights. Plugged into my JTM45 Offset Limited edition head/Cab…OMG!!! There she was in all her glory….blanket lifted off the sound!!! Chimey as hell and 1meg of tone like it used to sound 10 years ago!!! I am SO happy! Nels Cline was my inspiration but you convinced me to revisit the wiring. Haven’t been able to find the problem before…found lots of thin/frayed connections and possible ground breaks. Mostly poorly soldered connections. Many thanks 🙏

[@ChanceCooper125]

I hope you charge enough for your Jedi master level work, Mike. It’s like a labor of love every time you work on a guitar. Your attention to detail is admirable. I work in the software industry and you remind me of all the truly excellent engineers I’ve worked with over the years.

[@cranberryjerry1514]

As a big fan of both my Old Pal Mike and underutilized words in the English language, I gotta say I always really appreciate your fondness for the word “detritus.” You’re simply the best.

[@kevinmilam13]

Totally agree that the Connery imitation is top notch

[@Puisheen]

Bless you

[@Duzz14]

It’s amazing I thought for a second it was dubbed in

[@RushMayhemIV]

This is the best series on youtube. Now we need a jaguar one! I can send over my Japan Jaguar bass that desperately needs help!

[@xzatious]

Testing with a multimeter before you install everything! That's definitely where I went wrong with my hollow body harness attempt.

[@Puisheen]

I've been there, believe me

[@joepeinado3035]

You are THE offset JEDI ! Like listening to Master Kenobi🥹

[@mcfontaine]

Attention to detail, that’s the mark of a true professional. Again a brilliant video, so relaxing.

[@Puisheen]

Mark I hope you're well!!!

[@mcfontaine]

@@Puisheen Mike, I’m doing great and all the better for your videos my friend. I hope of you are safe and well.

[@noisegenerator]

That lap steel trick is brilliant! I'm loving this series!

[@Puisheen]

Thank you so much for watching!

[@Vecsen12]

I’m in the process of building my first partsmaster and I’m learning so much from your channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge of these amazing instruments with us.

[@Puisheen]

Hey good luck with the partsmaster!

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

Same here !

[@themikepadua]

Hey Carmela, just wondering how your build turned out? I'm super interested in making one, now!

[@miggy301]

Love you man you’re so cool. I’m barely getting into guitar and I’m 17 idk if that’s good but I’m trying. Want to do something with music in life and people like you inspire me

[@Puisheen]

Aw hey, you inspire me! There's nothing better than diving into music, I hope it serves you well!

[@nicholaschavira1743]

music is amazing. It will be a lifelong friend. Keep at it!

[@devon8419]

Thank you so much for those series, watching every episode as I get my buddy's '59 jazzmaster playing again

[@rootsradical]

Nice Against Me! shirt! Me and some friends just did a cover video of one of their songs, and I'm playing a Jazzmaster! These videos are great, I look forward to more as they happen.

[@greasymonkeyguitars9292]

I'm really loving this series! Great job Señor Adams!

[@Puisheen]

Thank you!

[@robertevans6428]

The trick with the lap steel is genius!

[@jeffreyorzell]

Well I went against your better advice and am starting a jazzmaster build so I could get a bigger neck without paying a whole bunch. Still waiting on the pickguard, body and pickups but I’ve got everything else. I’m going daphne blue with a matching headstock on the bound, dot neck. Felt the neck after I put some nitro on there and immediately thought of you yelling “SKINNY NUTS” lol. All in all, I’m super excited to try my hand at putting an offset together and your videos are going to help me so much in the build process!

[@MattXScott]

I with the guitar techs in New Orleans had the passion you do. I'm scared to bring my Jazzmaster to my available techs for set up, pickup change, bridge change, wiring mods and vibrato change....Really interesting videos. thanks!

[@MrFenderbender87]

Hey mike, great video brother, had a talk with the man himself, curtis novak! hes making me a mosrite custom bridge pickup for my jazzmaster. He speaks highly of you for sure!

[@Puisheen]

Looove his Mosrite pickups, good choice!

[@MrFenderbender87]

@@Puisheen I’m still waiting on them, he’s a very busy man! I’m very sure it’s gonna be worth the wait, btw mike how close are they to the original voice of the mosrite pickups ?

[@Puisheen]

@@MrFenderbender87 Pretty close but I'll admit I know a lot less about Mosrite than I do offsets. I think they sound great, if that helps, but how accurate they are isn't something I can speak to!

[@MrFenderbender87]

@@Puisheen thanks for the insight, im just glad curtis even offers these!

[@joeb564]

Great attention to detail.

[@alfonsjenz]

great job, great video! With your advices, I just finished my home-made jazzmaster. Sounds so great!

[@mynameisjonas80]

I may be mistaken, but it sounds like there's no hum cancellation in the middle position. I suspect that's why the pickup was turned over in the first place - it's actually a neck pickup that someone turned upside down and swapped the leads on, to effectively reverse the winding and the magnet polarity. I've done that myself on a few occasions (not with vintage pickups though).

[@thecaveofthedead]

Looking good. More learned as usual.

[@chrisst8922]

Singularity, warping, shields.

[@doogdoogdoogdoogdoogdoog]

Wristgrease is my favourite post-harcore band

[@hokis38]

Thank you very much for this very instructive video. I have a question about the position of the grub screw from the roller thumb. Where is at 10 exactly ? With potentiometer shaft at end of stroke ? Thank you.

[@bigpimpin110011]

The frets on my jazzmaster could use a level and crown and a bit tight to pay someone to do it. Would love to see how you think it's done best. Love the videos

[@1956Jambo]

Hi Mike, brilliant stuff. As an Edinburgh-based Scot, I must compliment you on your Sean Connery impression. Try the line “Q, you’re a shite...... for shore eyes!” Keep up the great work, it’s braw!

[@Puisheen]

Haha thank you so much, I'll ride this high I'm getting from this compliment for weeks I reckon

[@1956Jambo]

Exshellent! 😄

[@andrewglidden]

Mike, it’s 2024, three years after watching and commenting on your fine Sean Connery impression. Today I bought a 2004 CIJ Jaguar with a dead rhythm circuit. I popped the control plate and have spotted two disconnected wires - one red coming out of the cavity and a black from the switch. I remembered this video and am enjoying watching all over again, trying to see if I can pick up any clues as to where they might go. Also, oddly, the switch seems to be operating in reverse when activating the lead circuit - it triggers when up, rather than down…. Hope you are also happy, healthy and safe, and if you ever come to Shcotland I’d love to buy you a beer and thank you for all your brilliant offset videos and content in person! Andy from Edinburgh.

[@johnbanks2275]

eh mike awesome what about a jaguar kit build or at least a wiring project and explain a diagram thanks

[@LanceJordan]

Hey is there any way you can provide an exact diagram of how you wired this? I'm stuck on mine, can't seem to figure out how to correctly wire the toggle switch and grounds without using the body ground and not sure if it will even work. The jazz circuit is working fine as expected. The Bridge p/u works in the lead circuit, but the neck pickup gets no sound. Please help!!!

[@blackmooselodge8348]

Great videos, thank you! Also the Darth Baritone that Creston made you is insanely cool. Question-how do you test phase between pickups?

[@The-Beatles]

Are the crosswire colors white,black,red ,yellow,green,and blue? Thank you for the wonderful video

[@BadChizzle]

Bing bang boom!

[@BasBach]

Hey dude I got a scary story my Squier vm jazzmaster stopped sounding the bridge pup and I took a look and the coil from the winding broke off so naturally I tried fixing it myself and I did except it sounded so harsh after and was like 13k when measured. Safe to say I got a new one a few weeks later. The scary part is I unwinded a bit of coil to be able to reach the little hole. After all this I decided to not do that again.

[@Puisheen]

Yeah it's tricky and a little scary every time!

[@tims.3370]

Love these vids.

[@tonyfdesign]

What happened to not using electrical tape?

[@FreedomDenier]

Hey!! I just recently bought a fender road worn jaguar and my tremolo doesnt seems like it wants to stay in, and the vibrato doesnt seem to work at all no matter how hard you try to use it just wondering if anyone has any solutions to this. Should i upgrade to an avri trem?

[@Puisheen]

Upgrading to AVRI might be the best way to go here, those import trems can work but always feel a bit wonky

[@jamesmarkham7489]

Hello mike. Loving the series. "She knows about shrinkage, right?" Is there a budget jazzmaster harness out there or is it just cheaper to but each piece and assemble all together?

[@Puisheen]

I prefer to do it myself, but Emerson, 920D, Madebyanokie are all good ways to go

[@ChrisCanMakeStuff]

Headphone noise warning for the trimming and filing section!!! :)

[@giuseppezotta1625]

Hey Mike, I'm completing my handmade jazzmaster, which scheme do you recommend me to follow for the wiring? I found seymour duncan one’s

[@danielallen2510]

Is having two different metals an issue with shielding? Example: copper tape in the body but aluminum plate on the pickguard?

[@Puisheen]

Nah, not really.

[@conorfowler]

Really enjoyed this, gotta appreciate your dedication to cleaning up that soldering work. Would lemon juice be a decent substitute for vinegar? I'm sure it would smell a lot better!

[@Puisheen]

I'm not sure! I do gravitate toward vinegar for how mild it is compared to other things I've used

[@terrydavenport7480]

I am about to purchase a squier jazzmaster. I want that old Cure sound any suggestions or information you can give me. Need the help

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

I she that you need shome asshistansh with your shield?

[@stefanhenrico]

I have a question that I was hoping you could answer re: pots... I bought a harness for my partsmaster and the pots are a bit bent. if I want to replace them, which ones should I get? 500? 250? 1k? I have installed a set of Fender Pure Vintage pups.

[@Puisheen]

I can only speak for myself, but I always stick with the stock 1meg. Your mileage may vary!

[@stefanhenrico]

@@Puisheen Good enough for me :)

[@collinownsyou]

Hey mike, Is it possible to install a mini toggle "fat bat" switch in place of the rhythm slide switch on a jag? Would it be a On-On dpdt switch?

[@Puisheen]

Does 'fat bat' refer to, like, the toggle switch on the TVL? I'm not familiar with that term but if you're replacing the RC switch an on/on DPDT is what you'd want

[@stevenburschinger8897]

I've got a new American pro II jazzmaster, and I'm getting weird signal loss and noise from the rhythm circuit pots, almost exclusively when playing in the lead circuit. Will probably bring it to my tech, but does anyone have this same issue?

[@Puisheen]

That's really interesting, they shouldn't be doing anything with the RC switch down. I haven't seen this issue, but something could be mis-wired

[@stevenburschinger8897]

@@Puisheen thanks for the response! yea i thought each circuit was separate from the other. I did tighten the pickguard screw closest to the RC volume roller, and that seemed to help. it does come back intermittently though. i'll bring it in to my tech this week. your videos are great i'm learning a lot! cheers!

[@LupusYonderboy13]

A little late on this video, but does anyone else think that this dude is like the guitar nerd version of Bob Ross?

[@ajsrhodes]

Where are you located?

[@kevincorbin9875]

Dang it, now I want a Jazzmaster. Great. How do I explain that to my wife?

[@johngeddes7894]

Shouldn’t ALL guitars get the “Royal” treatment as seen here on (internet) TV?

[@Wolf_K]

Solder waiting for updates.... lol ;)

[@bryantcrawford214]

I'm sure purest nuts are flipping out watching this video.the masking tape that was pulled off the electronics are going for like 250-500 dollars a little piece or more.yes vintage masking tape that was pulled off old fender guitars is going for crazy money and I take it that people are buying it.good videos bro.cheers

[@cool555breeze]

Electrical tape is the WORST.