1994 Fender Japan Limited Edition Jazzmaster Electric Guitar

This beaut did not last long in the shop. I finished it one day and it was gone the next and I had to sneak some pictures of it while it got picked-up!

It's a 1990s (1994 per the suggestion of its build), Fender Japan Jazzmaster and it has a Limited Edition serial number. Said Limited Edition meant gold hardware and a '60s-style build.

Luckily-enough, much of the foundation of this instrument is original -- pickguard, gold hardware, the neck pickup, tuners, whammy tailpiece, bridge baseplate, and whatnot. The wiring harness is completely new (and much-upgraded) and the bridge pickup is a Strat-style Alnico V unit stuck under the JM cover. The pickup covers and knobs are, of course, not original. It also has a filled battery box on the back from when this had an active EMG pickup fit at the bridge. Yikes! ...and let's also mention that it got speednecked.

Sarah gave this a level/dress of the frets and I spent an inordinate amount of time putting it back together to turn it into a player. It came here with a half-finished, but good-quality wiring harness that ported-over from a different pickguard, but I did have to get it all soldered back together with the pickups, fit a replacement 3-way, and finish adding grounds to the whole circuit. Someone (wisely) fit Mustang-style bridge saddles to the old bridge base and I also added some ferrules that fit over the bridge posts and lock the position of the bridge better in the cups that recess into the body. This greatly increases tuning stability and keeps intonation spot-on.

Suffice to say, this thing plays like the cat's meow, now -- and feels and handles like an old '60s JM, for the most part. Other bonuses are a fairly lightweight build and the extreme aging to the (originally Olympic White?) finish. The red on yellow is so cool!