Tele w Jazzmaster tremolo- done!

I've had this wine red 2000 MIM standard tele body for a couple of years now, and it's become my guinea pig- it's been an esquire, Keef style (neck 'bucker), and recently I got a dremel/router and put a humbucker in the bridge position with a chopped GE Smith style bridge. That was cool, but i couldn't keep my hands off (and I got dremel fever). So I thought it would be cool to pop a jazzmaster/jag tremolo in it. I've done the Bigsby thing before, but I've always loved these floating tremolos and was up for something new. You can see a bit of the sloppy route from the bridge 'bucker exposed, but it came together good enough for me (the body's a bit banged up all around anyway). these bridges are notoriously a pain in the ass (I used the Mustang style to avoid some of the rattling/moving saddle issues) to set up. I had to experiment with neck shim heights until I had just the right amount of string tension to keep the high E from slipping out of the saddle, but without the strings resting on the rear flange of the bridge as before reaching the saddles. I finallly achieved this by slipping a slim piece of index card wrapped in foil (for camouflage) under all of the saddles. I'm sure some of you are cringing about how this will deaden the resonance/brightness of the tone but it sounds better than rattling saddles or the "sitar" effect when the strings don't clear the bridge flanges. Anyways, it's got a matched set of GFS 'lil punchers (the lowest output set) and a neck from a MIM 50s Classic. Sounds great, definitely less sustain and ring than a typical tele, but more clang and jangle, kind of Gretsch like on the bass strings, and definitely Jazzmaster-like in the pick attack/decay. I gave it the "Walk, Don't Run" test and it passed with flying colors. The trem is smooth and stays in tune great. But enough of my yackin', here she is-

Looks cool, you gotta love a mongrel lol.

Lookin good!

Wow, that tele looks absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys, gonna go play it right now while I can (hard to squeeze in the time with the 1 and 4 year old running around).

That looks really cool. Nice job.

That's really something. I think I'd round it out with a chrome pickguard

I love the JM trem; I think it's the best. Great idea, I want one, too!

Love it.

not sure if you've seen it, but in the film 'It Might Get Loud', Jimmy Page plays a Tele with a JM trem. it sounds absolutely awesome, and something i plan on doing one of these days!

btw, everyone should check out 'It Might Get Loud' if you haven't seen it yet. absolutely AMAZING film! it was free to watch on either Hulu or YouTube Movies a couple weeks back (i can't remember which)...might still be available. i can't remember if it was listed under the "Documentaries" or "Music" category, but shouldn't be hard to find.

Sweet guitar and awesome movie!

That's pretty darn slick. I've always wanted a trem on a tele. I had a Bigsby for a while but it never felt as good as my Gretsch. I was looking at the new Squier Jazzmaster till I saw your post.

That's really cool

nice! I also thought of it might get loud first thing when I saw this guitar.