ToneShaper Wiring Kit, Jazzmaster

I got this because the lead circuit volume pot on my J Mascis Squier JM started crapping out - crackling, cutting completely out, etc. Made the guitar unusable, and since this, my most inexpensive guitar also amazingly happens to be one of my favorites among those costing up to 10x more, I decided she deserved a complete electronics overhaul. This was partly due to only having had it for about a year, so I took the fact that a pot was already failing as a sign that the other components might be sketchy too, so thought I might as well redo the whole thing while I had it opened up rather than just swapping in a new volume pot. Didn't want to change the pickups at the same time because, amazingly again, I really like the stock pickups!

So.........kit is as advertised - it doesn't include the bracket or rollers for the rhythm circuit which is reasonable since they aren't likely to ever fail. Unfortunately for J Mascis Squier owners (can't speak for the Fender J Mascis), the supplied CTS roller pots do not fit the rollers. The CTS roller pot shafts are super thin - around 3.8mm compared to about 5.8mm for the stock ones. I considered maybe bushings for the shafts but probably super hard to find and the shafts are smooth (solid, not split) so they might just slide around on the shaft. Also considered screwing in the grub screw to its last thread, but didn't want the rollers wobbly since the tolerances in the pickguard are tight as it is. So I had to keep the made in Korea pots in there.

The rest of the kit was fine. Switches are switches, jacks are jacks. Did include a nice, ample selection of wire (both cloth and plastic covered). Also included a treble bleed which I generally like, but no specs on the cap or resistor and since JMs don't usually have them, I just left it off. The caps I got were those gold Mylar type. Haven't used them before so I tested them and was pleasantly surprised - extremely tight tolerances, only 1000th off for each cap. The large CTS pots were also super tight to the 1 Meg spec. Didn't test the roller pots that I didn't use.

One final note that might explain why the volume pot crapped out so soon. There was a good bit of sawdust left over from routing still in the main cavity. Both lead pots had a light coating on them. I'll bet the sawdust got inside the pots which might explain why my initial tries with Deoxit were futile. Probably just created sodden muck in there. It was a good lesson. I'm going to make it a practice to pop the hood on all my guitars and check for debris in cavities. Hint - I found some in 2 expensive Gibsons so far, but just not as much. So it's probably a good habit to get into.

Overall, fine kit at a decent price just a shame I couldn't use the roller pots.

The parts seem of very good quality and were easy to solder with more than enough wire included.. I measured the specs and the pots had a very low tolerance, almost as labeled. Very nice! As I have to wait for other guitar parts I cannot test it at the moment but i´m sure it will be good. Shipping was ok too with no hidden costs for me as a foreign customer. Thanks!

Still completing a jm build. These arrived quickly and appear to be of high quality. So far I’ve only assembled the pots etc. Plan to solder next weekend.,

I purchased this kit because I was building an offset guitar clone and I wanted to wire it in a vintage Jazzmaster wiring harness. I had to purchase the rhythm circuit bracket and pots/switch as well. It was easy to wire, and has an amazing sound that was exactly what I was looking for. High quality all around. Recommended.

Simply the best!