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Re: 27 years ago I bought a Jazzmaster...

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:41 am
by mgeek
jonathangolub wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 4:29 pm
The finish on there now is a candy apple red with gold underneath. But there's no 'paint stick' mark in the neck pocket and no nail holes, so not a factory finish.
This doesn't have any bearing on whether it's a refin or not but they didn't do the 'paint stick' thing until '62 or something.

Anyway, this thing is really cool! I vote for either waiting patiently for the right '59 neck to turn up at a price you're willing to pay, or maybe getting a more likely looking modern replacement...avri or something, and a proper scratchplate, and calling it done. The finish may not be og but it looks cool

Re: 27 years ago I bought a Jazzmaster...

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 5:52 am
by panoramic
welcome to the forum dude

Re: 27 years ago I bought a Jazzmaster...

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 10:15 am
by jonathangolub
mgeek wrote:
Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:41 am
This doesn't have any bearing on whether it's a refin or not but they didn't do the 'paint stick' thing until '62 or something.
Thanks for the insight... there's no chance this is a factory finish though, right? Someone here said it's not nitro, and I looked at it under a blacklight and didn't see any weird green glow but I'm not sure if I did that test correctly. I also don't know if Subway Guitars refinished it in 1985. It certainly looked more than 7 years old when I got it in 1992.

I'm keeping my eye out for a good neck... I might try and pick up one a rosewood RI neck before they're all gone, since they're now making them all with Pau Ferro. But the neck that's on there is actually solid, it just needs a refret. I might just do that and get a repro decal (for vanity only, I'm not selling it and I would never try to pass it off as a Fender neck.) The only thing that's off is the headstock shape, and it's only a little different.

Re: 27 years ago I bought a Jazzmaster...

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:14 pm
by otis
Hi, interesting guitar!
About the originality of the paint; In late 1964, early 1965 Fender started using gold as an undercoat for Candy apple red.
Before that, they used silver.
If your Jazzmaster's body originates with the trem and the pots, and if the finish has a gold undercoat as you mention, it can't be original.
From the pics I can't tell wether it's silver or gold.

Re: 27 years ago I bought a Jazzmaster...

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:44 am
by mgeek
jonathangolub wrote:
Mon Mar 25, 2019 10:15 am
mgeek wrote:
Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:41 am
This doesn't have any bearing on whether it's a refin or not but they didn't do the 'paint stick' thing until '62 or something.
Thanks for the insight... there's no chance this is a factory finish though, right? Someone here said it's not nitro, and I looked at it under a blacklight and didn't see any weird green glow but I'm not sure if I did that test correctly. I also don't know if Subway Guitars refinished it in 1985. It certainly looked more than 7 years old when I got it in 1992.

I'm keeping my eye out for a good neck... I might try and pick up one a rosewood RI neck before they're all gone, since they're now making them all with Pau Ferro. But the neck that's on there is actually solid, it just needs a refret. I might just do that and get a repro decal (for vanity only, I'm not selling it and I would never try to pass it off as a Fender neck.) The only thing that's off is the headstock shape, and it's only a little different.
I'm no expert but it just doesn't look right for a factory finish imo. Very cool though, and I'd certainly leave it as is. Nitro ages really quickly, so if it was seven years old when you got it, it'd be feasible for it to have looked 'old'.

Your guitar, so obviously do what you gotta do, but if that neck needs a refret, I'd just think of the money that would be spent on that as budget that could go towards a more 'proper' one. I'm sure I've seen original early sixties JM necks go for not insane amounts, especially if they've been refinned

Re: 27 years ago I bought a Jazzmaster...

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:02 am
by jonathangolub
otis wrote:
Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:14 pm
If your Jazzmaster's body originates with the trem and the pots, and if the finish has a gold undercoat as you mention, it can't be original.
From the pics I can't tell wether it's silver or gold.
Thanks! I read that as well... it is a gold undercoat, so not original. Probably done by Fat Dog at Subway in 1985, but maybe it was done by someone else before he got his hands on it.