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My worry was that the neck would be stickier after refinishing, but didn't know if a little added barrier would be good for it. I love the way it feels now, so I should probably leave it alone and just get the decal reapplied to the headstock and cleared (if going to sunburst).

Still undecided on color, though. Part of me says to go back to sunburst with some checking in the finish to match the neck wear.. and the other part is just at all of the vintage color choices... one that hasn't been mentioned that I'm loving is an aged Sherwood green.

Tracking says pickups should make it to Novak today!

savantjk wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:10 am

Recently bought a 1959 jazzmaster that previously had the finish stripped, but all intact other than a weak neck pickup - sending both to Novak for a lookover/repair. My question is - do I leave it stripped or refinish it? Will one help the value more than the other or is it just a matter of preference at this point? I wish it had the old finish intact but couldn't pass on the deal.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

i would leave it as it is. maybe put a decal on the headstock and thats it and play the hell out of it

Pickups are back from Novak and reinstalled in the guitar. Bridge checked out fine, but the neck had to be rewound. But we're playing again!

The new obstacle encountered is that while the pickups were out, a little shrinking or warping occurred and now the pickup height adjustment is limited. The guitar tech I use said that the pickups were pretty tight before but he got them out without too much fight.. The pickguard was kept on the guitar while the pickups were out, but still having some trouble. The solution I've seen on here is carefully using a heat gun. Is there anything better if it's a more mild case like this? He also said I need new foam for the pickups. Any suggestions there?



Lastly, I've been back and forth on a few colors - Sherwood green, charcoal frost, and the original sunburst - and need to choose. Have been talking to Danocaster and need to make up my mind so I can send it to him. I have no anticipation of selling the guitar - but would doing a later custom color on a '59 negatively affect the value versus refinishing in the sunburst? Part of me says sunburst is original to the guitar and makes more sense, and the other part says it's refinished anyway and someone may love a 59 with a later custom color like charcoal frost. Like I said, no intention of ever selling... But in a scenario like in the future I needed the money to help my son or something.. what's the better choice? You guys are way more well versed in the matter than I am.

What color would make you want to keep it? Totally understand the idea of thinking about resale in case you don't dig it but make it yours first. As long as its tasteful you'll have no problem moving it on even if it is a non-period correct color. I dislike CFM and tort. I've seen some greened out CFM+tort combos that are totally great though, so its case by case. I'd probably go for a aged Oly white, or black. Boring yes, but classic and not far our of reach for this era. Sherwood works too. I've seen a '59 SG+tort example that was amazing, despite having a very christmas look about it. I still think a blonde finish would be really cool, despite the alder - I don't care what they say!

One quick note on refins. Beware, Dano will do what he wants with it to some degree. I had him refin a '64 of mine. He is totally open to to how you want it but he still just does his own thing. I only regret not being absolutely specific with him. I got a refin that was a little too relic'd for my tastes and I ended up selling the guitar very soon after. Kinda bummed me out. Just food for though. Not a knock to Dan, he's a great guy to work with and is highly regarded for obvious reasons.

Is it the pickups cavities that shrunk? Looks like it from the pic. Very typical. Even if you take the guard off for a bit it's probably going to contract a little after being on there for a long time. I dremel mine. It take some surgical precision but I like it better than using files. It's also faster. I just go slow and try to remove a little at a time. I cannot stress that enough - it takes time. I feel better doing this for a couple reasons. One - it allows you to have a serviceable guitar again and Two - it helps prevent the guard from cracking.

How to the pickups sound now that they're back in? I've also had Novak repair a set of '63-ish PUs . Could not believe how good they sounded or how he managed to repair with a full rewind. I got lucky the coil was only broken near the outside windings I guess.

kosmonautmayhem wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:39 pm

What color would make you want to keep it? Totally understand the idea of thinking about resale in case you don't dig it but make it yours first. As long as its tasteful you'll have no problem moving it on even if it is a non-period correct color. I dislike CFM and tort. I've seen some greened out CFM+tort combos that are totally great though, so its case by case. I'd probably go for a aged Oly white, or black. Boring yes, but classic and not far our of reach for this era. Sherwood works too. I've seen a '59 SG+tort example that was amazing, despite having a very christmas look about it. I still think a blonde finish would be really cool, despite the alder - I don't care what they say!

No plan to sell. Really just asking for a hypothetical situation.. an attempt to use another angle to help make a decision on color. I've looked at so many guitars that my head is bogged!! The greened out charcoal frost is what I was referring to when I mentioned charcoal Frost, and Dan has a very nice look to his. I'd like to be more mild with the relic bit, but not make it look too fresh and contrasting with the natural aging on the neck.

kosmonautmayhem wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:39 pm

Is it the pickups cavities that shrunk? Looks like it from the pic. Very typical.

Yeah, the covers still fit, just right where they round for the screw mounts..

kosmonautmayhem wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 29, 2018 8:39 pm

How to the pickups sound now that they're back in? I've also had Novak repair a set of '63-ish PUs . Could not believe how good they sounded or how he managed to repair with a full rewind. I got lucky the coil was only broken near the outside windings I guess.

Sooo good! Have been playing through my Silvertone 1484 and '62 bassman cab and it's been a fun combo. Have a '64 Harmony H303A 5w that I added an external out to and it's running to the old Silvertone 2x12 cab - good tone there too but not near as much bottom end as the other. Only thing is my neck pickup has more punch with my height adjustment off..

Sandpaper wrapped around a pencil will reshape the curves of the pickguard
Go gently.

mcjt wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:15 am

Sandpaper wrapped around a pencil will reshape the curves of the pickguard
Go gently.

This. Pencil or a dowel rod might be a good place to start before breaking out the big guns.

Will give it a shot!

A local repairman gave me a dowel approximately the same size as the roundings, and some gritty and some fine sandpaper. "Glue this to each end, and go,easy". Worked perfectly.

With regard to the cavities shrinking - and you probably know this already - nitrocellulose is flammable & will combust if heated up too quickly, either with sandpaper (less likely) or a dremel (more likely). Patience, as others have suggested) is key here so be ultra cautious. What ever you do, I'd definitely not use a heat gun!

80 is WAY too rough.
Try 250 or so, wrapped around a pencil or dowel.
Maybe even wet sanding to try and avoid ignition?

savantjk wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 04, 2018 9:02 am

My worry was that the neck would be stickier after refinishing, but didn't know if a little added barrier would be good for it. I love the way it feels now, so I should probably leave it alone and just get the decal reapplied to the headstock and cleared (if going to sunburst).

Still undecided on color, though. Part of me says to go back to sunburst with some checking in the finish to match the neck wear.. and the other part is just at all of the vintage color choices... one that hasn't been mentioned that I'm loving is an aged Sherwood green.

Tracking says pickups should make it to Novak today!

Send it to Danocaster. He refinished a 59 body for me in sunburst, and he is the absolute best. I can send you some pics. I’d go sunburst. I just think restoring it to vintage correct era is the best idea. Especially if it’s really an 11 hole guard. Don’t Refin the neck. Leave it alone. Congrats on that score also. That’s amazing.

Congrats on an amazing find! If you like the wood grain, another option is to give it a blonde wash finish where you can still see the grain. Paired with a gold pickguard might look something like this:

Seems like an appropriate time to post one of the most famous OSG Jazzmasters ever...



It's actually a '58 but who cares? It's gorgeous!!

I'm sure that others have already made the same comment, even if you don't intend to sell it, but if you want to preserve it's resale value the only real contender for a refin would be to restore it to what it was previously, it appears it was originally sunburst, if you can find a refinisher to reproduce a 59 era sunburst then that would be your best bet. To imitate age you could get a light relic job done as well. You got it cheap so I wouldn't spare any expense getting it refinished, as even if you pay top dollar you're still going to be way ahead in terms of potential for profit if you sell it.

I'm sure it would be tempting to get it finished in a hard to find custom colour, but it is worth remembering that a lot of guitar collectors are traditionalists and purists, in a collector's market were people can, and do obsess over "untouched solder joints" among any other ridiculous notion of originality. However it indicates that high end guitar collectors originality is important, where originality has been compromised returning the instrument to as close as original as possible will always be your best bet in retaining its dollar value.

It should also be remembered that a lot of custom colours, when not original and worth top dollar for rarity, are often very niche, personal choices. For example, I imagine that very few people enjoy coral pink on a vintage instrument for any other reason than the fact that it is super rare, and those that do enjoy it are a minority, a lot of these customers colours are likely so rare because no one wanted their guitar finished in that colour originally.

See also the restored and refinned gold guard Jazzmaster Bencrit recently sold in the for sale section. An excellent looking guitar and lovingly restored from the condition it was purchased in. It was either a 58 or 59, stripped but in rougher shape than yours was, almost certainly it was sunburst originally, he had it finished in Fiesta Red, a popular colour, however it took a while to sell. In my opinion, for what it is worth, the reason for the slow sale was because of the colour choice not being originally available on that instrument.