1966 Fender Jaguar
Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:50 pm
Just got lucky and scored my dream guitar. A 1966 Fender Jaguar. It's all original, which is good and bad, because it makes me a bit nervous to work on it. I have a 64 Jazzmaster that I love and am not precious with because it's refinished, and has a ton of non-original parts on it. But this Jaguar is 100% original, warts and all. Sunburst with tort. I'll try and get some good photos posted asap.
I have a few questions:
1. The low "E" tuner isn't super smooth feeling, almost as if the gear inside is rusty or dry or something. It's holding tune okay, but definitely slips more than the other strings, and is always the first to go out of tune. What's standard procedure here for bringing these back to life? They are the 70's style stamped "F" tuners like this: Tuners Or should I be cautious and just buy a repro drop in set? I want this guitar to be played, not just be a museum piece.
2. The bridge pickup is incredibly weak sounding, but works. Is that just how they used to sound? I guess this is hard to say without hearing it. But compared to the neck it's really, really thin.
3. Is there anywhere to get replacement mute foam? The foam on this mute is long gone.
4. Refret. It's a bound neck, and the frets are okay, but could use some love. Should I try and get them crowned? Will a refret destroy the binding? This is my first guitar with a bound neck, so I'm less familiar. As I mentioned, the 64 Jazzmaster I have had to be refretted totally which was fine because it has no binding and wasn't original in the slightest. That guitar rules now. I just want to make this Jaguar to be as playable as the Jazzmaster without destroying the value. Obviously I care about the guitar, and not the collector money mentality, but it would be silly of me to mess with a vintage guitar too much if it can be avoided.
I have a few questions:
1. The low "E" tuner isn't super smooth feeling, almost as if the gear inside is rusty or dry or something. It's holding tune okay, but definitely slips more than the other strings, and is always the first to go out of tune. What's standard procedure here for bringing these back to life? They are the 70's style stamped "F" tuners like this: Tuners Or should I be cautious and just buy a repro drop in set? I want this guitar to be played, not just be a museum piece.
2. The bridge pickup is incredibly weak sounding, but works. Is that just how they used to sound? I guess this is hard to say without hearing it. But compared to the neck it's really, really thin.
3. Is there anywhere to get replacement mute foam? The foam on this mute is long gone.
4. Refret. It's a bound neck, and the frets are okay, but could use some love. Should I try and get them crowned? Will a refret destroy the binding? This is my first guitar with a bound neck, so I'm less familiar. As I mentioned, the 64 Jazzmaster I have had to be refretted totally which was fine because it has no binding and wasn't original in the slightest. That guitar rules now. I just want to make this Jaguar to be as playable as the Jazzmaster without destroying the value. Obviously I care about the guitar, and not the collector money mentality, but it would be silly of me to mess with a vintage guitar too much if it can be avoided.