# MJT build



## JeremyP (Jan 10, 2012)

I am a big fan of old well used guitars and relic builds. Something about them always feels really great to me. My favourite guitar at the moment is a Fender CS 52 tele that I scored from a fellow forum member. It has a big boat oar neck that I absolutely love. However I am a little hesitant to bring it places with me and drag it all over, and leave it out of the case leaning against stuff etc because it is my favourite and fairly expensive and I don’t want anything to happen to it. So I decided to try and put together a similar guitar that I could use as a beater. It ended up costing me a bit more then I wanted to spend but in the end I am really happy with the results. 

I bought an alder MJT body off of eBay. I also got the neck from auroracustomshop on eBay. The neck was an all parts fatty neck. The guy from aurora custom shop relic’d it and did the tuners and decal for me as well. When the neck came it was a touch too big for the pocket. I brought to my friend John Dzubinski who mounted and lined the neck up for me and did an AMAZING job as always . I bought a bunch of aged hardware from a few different spots. The pickups are Craig Vineham’s broadcaster set, which are one of my all time favourite tele sets and the bridge is an older fender Pat. Pending bridge. I am still trying to find a good aged guard for it and was even thinking of trying to age it myself . If anyone had any good suggestions or links to videos on how to age a pickguard I would love to hear them. I have heard of the coffee method and wondered if anyone here has tried it. Here is a couple pics of the finished product.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I am curious about that neck profile.

As Im lusting after another blue guitar (hey, the jm is turqouise...) this is bad timing haha.

That thing looks like a blast.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Man thats nice. great colour and look to it. My MJT Tele is my favourite and it didnt cost an arm and a leg.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Nice looking guitar. But .....

These threads always seem to end with either:
- played and sounded so good I only play this one now and got rid of 'the good one'
- never got it to play and/or sound as good as 'the good one', so I moved it along

Hope it works out for you.


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## Cardamonfrost (Dec 12, 2018)

Holy cow! This is what I am in the process of figuring out. I started an esquire build recommendations thread. After talking to a couple shops I am starting to kick around the idea of just buying the stuff from eBay as you did.

You actually combined approaches and bought the parts and had someone savvy build it. Gotta say, it looks spectacular. If you already have a favorite, it should get played, and you should send this one to me.

If I could hit "Like" twice, I would.

C


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I also have an MJT tele, I got him to do a hollow swamp ash body, the total guitar weight would be about 6 pounds and it sounds great. I did his lightest ageing. He adjusted the colour of the burst for me as well to make it look older and faded, really cool.


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## Cardamonfrost (Dec 12, 2018)

Huh, I cant find AuroraCustomShop on ebay or reverb.


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## numb41 (Jul 13, 2009)

Here’s my ‘71 for a possible reference. The pickguard is original. It’s not mint, but it has a little bit of “texture” to it. Not sure how else to explain it. 









JeremyP said:


> I am a big fan of old well used guitars and relic builds. Something about them always feels really great to me. My favourite guitar at the moment is a Fender CS 52 tele that I scored from a fellow forum member. It has a big boat oar neck that I absolutely love. However I am a little hesitant to bring it places with me and drag it all over, and leave it out of the case leaning against stuff etc because it is my favourite and fairly expensive and I don’t want anything to happen to it. So I decided to try and put together a similar guitar that I could use as a beater. It ended up costing me a bit more then I wanted to spend but in the end I am really happy with the results.
> 
> I bought an alder MJT body off of eBay. I also got the neck from auroracustomshop on eBay. The neck was an all parts fatty neck. The guy from aurora custom shop relic’d it and did the tuners and decal for me as well. When the neck came it was a touch too big for the pocket. I brought to my friend John Dzubinski who mounted and lined the neck up for me and did an AMAZING job as always . I bought a bunch of aged hardware from a few different spots. The pickups are Craig Vineham’s broadcaster set, which are one of my all time favourite tele sets and the bridge is an older fender Pat. Pending bridge. I am still trying to find a good aged guard for it and was even thinking of trying to age it myself . If anyone had any good suggestions or links to videos on how to age a pickguard I would love to hear them. I have heard of the coffee method and wondered if anyone here has tried it. Here is a couple pics of the finished product.
> 
> View attachment 290962


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

zdogma said:


> I also have an MJT tele, I got him to do a hollow swamp ash body, the total guitar weight would be about 6 pounds and it sounds great. I did his lightest ageing. He adjusted the colour of the burst for me as well to make it look older and faded, really cool.


2 pounds of that project has to be that bridge. Truly wondering how that guitar sounds with the hollow aspect, those pickups and the heavy milled bridge plate


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

This thread is making me want an MJT strat body...


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## JeremyP (Jan 10, 2012)

Cardamonfrost said:


> Huh, I cant find AuroraCustomShop on ebay or reverb.


auroracustomshop on eBay


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

vadsy said:


> 2 pounds of that project has to be that bridge. Truly wondering how that guitar sounds with the hollow aspect, those pickups and the heavy milled bridge plate


It sounds surprisingly good, the pickups are Bardens-so not entirely typical tele sound but cool nonetheless. Loud, no hum a bit more hifi than usual. I had a 60’s Custom Shop Tele when I put this together, and this one was the keeper.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

zdogma said:


> It sounds surprisingly good, the pickups are Bardens-so not entirely typical tele sound but cool nonetheless. Loud, no hum a bit more hifi than usual. I had a 60’s Custom Shop Tele when I put this together, and this one was the keeper.


hopefully you didn’t take my comments and question to mean your Tele would sound bad. I assumed they were Bardens, and along with Rutters you’re obviously using great parts for the build. I like it.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

vadsy said:


> hopefully you didn’t take my comments and question to mean your Tele would sound bad. I assumed they were Bardens, and along with Rutters you’re obviously using great parts for the build. I like it.


No, its a fair question, I didn’t really know how it would sound either.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

zdogma said:


> I also have an MJT tele, I got him to do a hollow swamp ash body, the total guitar weight would be about 6 pounds and it sounds great. I did his lightest ageing. He adjusted the colour of the burst for me as well to make it look older and faded, really cool.


Oooooh, thats nice Scott.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

marcos said:


> Oooooh, thats nice Scott.


Jerome set it up and did the nut and stuff so it plays really well.


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## Cardamonfrost (Dec 12, 2018)

JeremyP said:


> auroracustomshop on eBay


Thanks! They have a pretty sweet collection of necks.
C


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## Festus McCorkindale (Dec 17, 2017)

What a great guitar! My MJT telecaster is my favourite telecaster. And yes, I managed to unload a Fender CS Telecaster because it just sat around after I got the MJT.


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

JeremyP said:


> auroracustomshop on eBay


@vokey design loaned me a Strat he put together that has a quarter-sawn roasted maple neck from these guys on an MJT body & it’s killer! 

The nitro finish is well done & the Aurora Custom Shop has addressed any potential fretwork issues that often plague “off the rack” AllParts necks. Great playability with a nice, slick feel.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

zdogma said:


> Jerome set it up and did the nut and stuff so it plays really well.


I have to get mine set-up. Its okey but i'm sure he could make it even better.


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## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

marcos said:


> I have to get mine set-up. Its okey but i'm sure he could make it even better.


I have a MJT/Musikraft build from Jerome and he did a superb setup, highly recommend @zztomato


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

vokey design said:


> I have a MJT/Musikraft build from Jerome and he did a superb setup, highly recommend @zztomato


Agree. Jerome has done a few of my guitars and he is one class act.


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## RYAN1987M (Feb 19, 2019)

Looks great - thanks for sharing!


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