This is virtually the guitar my husband has, except his is a 57, and someone painted it fuchsia before he got it.

Jazzmasters have those two big single coils which have a nice, full tone, still get that top-end extension that makes single coils so sweet, and has a different midrange character than P90s.  Nothing sounds quite like it, and it's a sound that's good for the way I play - I can't use humbuckers, as the sound is too compressed and makes me play too hard trying to get sparks out; strat single coils are too thin for a lot of what I do, especially as I'm in a 3-piece band at present and I have a lot of room to fill.  My amp is forty years old and single-channel-non-master-volume, so I rely on volume and pickup selection for most of my distortion - P90s, Jazzmaster pickups, that sort of thing gets the "BRAAAAAANG" when I hit a big chord.  As for the age: reissue Jazzmaster pickups are nothing like the old ones, the wood is better on the old ones, and a '58 (the first year) means I get that awesome anodized pickguard.

I could get a more recent Jazzmaster reissue and put in original-spec pickups that a couple small-shop dudes make, but if I'm going to go the non-vintage route I'd rather save up even more and get someone like Saul Koll to build me one. 

The bridge design is pretty badass.  I don't like strat-type vibrato systems, and CERTAINLY not those hideous Floyd Rose pieces of shit that everyone was all up on in the 80's - if I'm going to go with a vibrato at all, I like bigsbys and, yes, Jazzmaster/Jaguar types.  It's supposed to be subtle, an interesting effect, not some idiot wang bar.  A lot of people complain about the bridges on Jazzmasters, but that's because they use skinny little strings rather than 11s or 12s like they were designed for.  I use heavy strings, so it'll work fine.

Also: fetishism.  I love old guitars and amps and such, especially strange stuff - this isn't strange so much as awesome, but whatever.  The Jazzmaster is also the choice of a number of my favorite players.  Elvis Costello?  Fuck yeah.

[/geeeeek]

OKAY SO I REALLY LIKE GUITAR STUFF

See, that post is very helpful.  I'm thinking about trying to build my own guitar from scratch, so I'm always curious about what people think brings higher quality to one.

I want one or both of these: http://www.coldsteel.com/bagwill.html

Well, to clarify.....I'm talking about BUYING pickups and a neck (with an uncut headstock so I can shape as desired) and the like, but buying the wood as a solid piece, doing the routing and assembly myself, etc.

Considering I know jack and shit about it, it'll be a trainwreck, but I'm trying to learn to play guitar and it's also something I've always wanted to try. So, I figured, why not?

Some people juggle geese!

Goslings!  They were juggled!

PLEASE get me those.

Please?

Well, I can dream, can't I!

This!

Pretty please?

...THAT'S what that is?

My grandmother has one.

Quote from: Antero on April 02, 2007, 10:39:29 PM

That'll be interesting, certainly.  What's your budget like?

At the moment, I don't really have one.  I'm just in the "scheming" stage right now, and looking for suggestions.

Well, depending on what you're looking for:

Carvin sells strat-style kits which are fucking solid guitars (my main guitar is one of their other models) and if you order over the phone you can get the kit totally tricked out with all sorts of options.  I also really like their necks, and their single coil pickups. 

Warmoth sells just about everything you can imagine, though you have to make sure they get your order right because if they give you the wrong thing they tend not to fix it.  They sell, among other things, routed body blanks - i.e. the pickups and (oh so critical) neck pocket are routed, but the body is unshaped.

USA Custom Guitars does basically anything wood-realted with guitars, costs a little more than Warmoth, but is pretty much universally considered superior.

As for just necks, This fellow sells handmade necks made of some really interesting woods, for not that much cash.  Never tried one, but they look balls awesome.

As for electronics, the best price performance option (aside from the Carvin single coils, which, as mentioned, I really dig) is Vintage Vibe Guitars.  The man makes top-of-the-line stuff for less than most custom pickup builders, including a lot of cool single-coil variations that make me giddy with glee.