1962 Jazzmaster (overspray)?

[kidtwist]

This was sold to me today as an oversprayed 62 jazzmaster.
Just wondering if anyone sees any red flags. I'm not an expert and maybe I'm must being paranoid but there's no neck date, and the neck seems very new-looking to me. It's apparently had a refret (if not a new neck). In any case I have three days to return it. It sounds great though. I'm sure the dealer is honest but that doesn't mean they can't be wrong. If asking this kind of question is frowned upon I can delete this post.

[Ursa Minor]

Looks like a total refin to me.

[Embenny]

Those dots look way too white to me. I've never seen them that bright on a '62. I would be able to tell a lot more with it in my hands than in these photos, but I'd be suspicious of a replacement neck.

The body doesn't have a paint stick mark, which would be fine for a '62. Is that wear on the lower bought underneath a layer of clear nitro? If so, definite overspray rather than refin on the body.

[kidtwist]

Thank you both.

The dots are about the color of the pickup covers. They look a bit whiter in the picture than in hand, though they do get a bit whiter closer to the body.

As far as I can tell there's no clear nitro over the dings on the body. The salesman did say he thought the overspray was old.

[Ursa Minor]

The dots look whiter because whoever did the refret likely planed the board. My 63 jag has whiter dots near the heel since more had to be taken from that area to get it flat when it was refretted. If they're clay dots they'll wear back into that brown color eventually.

Still hard to tell about the body exactly from pics. I'll have a better look later on a bigger screen.

[Axolotl]

Looks like a refin to me as well. The burst has too much red a too little black, almost like a sienna vibe to it. Of course finishes could be irregular. But why would anyone overspray a guitar in such pristine condition? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Is that wear on the lower bought underneath a layer of clear nitro? If so, definite overspray rather than refin on the body.

mbene085, I think what you refer to as wear in the lower bout is actually dust from them old Fender cases that are slowly pulverizing I guess. (you can see some more dust on the case itself, above the lower bout) My 59 gets wood dust from its case in that very spot and at the headstock too (and I've seen other old JMs with its cases doing this too)

The dots look whiter because whoever did the refret likely planed the board. My 63 jag has whiter dots near the heel since more had to be taken from that area to get it flat when it was refretted. If they're clay dots they'll wear back into that brown color eventually.

Yes, that could be the case but the dots on the side of the fretboard also look a bit too white.

Also, I see no date on the neck heel. I understand stamps started by march 1962, but shouldn't there be a pencil date?. About the claydots, well, they do look much, much whiter than my 59's. Maybe more pictures of the neck and decal would help. But that neck heel screams AVRI 62 to me.

My gut says it's not all original. It's a beautiful guitar though. If the guts are all original and the seller will price it accordingly (newer neck + refin) it might be worth keeping?

[Ursa Minor]

Good call on the white side dots. I didn't notice at first. Would like to see more neck pics to make a better determination.

Also - don't know how this escaped me at first but that neck pocket - if it's pre-paint stick - should be all black. But this one has been stripped. Besides, the whole body and the quality of the burst seems too new and the kind of color I'd expect from a burst of this era.

[mgeek]

I'm not even a major fender nerd and by the time I'd finished scrolling through the pics I felt this was an obvious refin.

If you paid anywhere near to the price of an original finish cost for this, I'd return it.

The blotchy red band on the back isn't out of the question but isn't 'normal' looking for a sunburst of this era and that coupled with the attempt to fake the paint stick mark in the pocket, on a guitar that wouldn't have originally had one clinches it.

That said- if you paid a 'player' price and it's a good guitar, then...

[andrewaward]

100% refin - neck pocket is all wrong and the burst style isn't Fenders work.

The lack of neck date on the neck butt and the amber switch tip could point towards it being a late 59/60 jazzmaster...………..is there any pat numbers on the decal? I'm guessing the neckplate will point to 62, and that's why they have sold it as such......

[Enzo]

Does the headstock decal have patent numbers or wear? That does it look like it may have been replaced?

Does the body have dowel marks in the appropriate places?

[kidtwist]

The price was $3699.
In any case, I've decided to return it.
Thanks your help everyone.

[andrewaward]

For a dealer that’s not a bad price for a refin

[Enzo]

Just took a closer look and I think I may have used to own this guitar at one point! The serial number was 70555, and the pots had been changed to 250k pots. Exact same burst. It had a chip on the back, towards the bottom left of the neck plate. It was sold to me on reverb as a full refin (neck and body)! I sold it to the next owner for $2800, same price I bought it for since I needed the cash badly at that time. If it’s really the same one I owned, I thought it was a great guitar, and maybe the best jazzmaster I’ve ever owned in terms of playability.

[kidtwist]

Yes, that is the serial number. Small world. In any case its available again since I just returned it.

[Enzo]

Man, if I was not in the middle of changing jobs, I’d buy it back in a heartbeat. Definitely not a collector’s piece but boy did it sound and play nice...