Squier VM Jaguar refinish

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corporatetom
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Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by corporatetom » Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:55 am

Today I finally started the refinishing project I've been day-dreaming about for some time, and planning seriously the last few months. I have a Squier VM CAR Jaguar I bought new 2012. I've experimented with some different mods on the electrics, latest was a 4 way switch, Marr style series bright switch, and Rothstein PTB mod for bass and treble cut on the thumbwheels. I also modded for dual volumes - that did not work out well! They seemed to interact strangely with each other, maybe because of the 4-way switch.

When I added the 4-way switch mod I also made my own aluminium control plate, and then did the other two controls plates to match. They look a little rough and industrial, but I like that.

I always wanted a Jaguar in Ocean Turquoise Metallic. I found a Montana metallica spraypaint "Caribbean" that looked pretty close to me. I have a couple of cans but still haven't tested it yet so fingers crossed it's acceptable (I will test it before using it on the guitar!)

I find the PTB bass and treble controls really useful - but the thumbwheels are awkward for making quick adjustments. So I want to have volume-bass-treble on the lower control plate instead and install a sidejack for the guitar output (the part of the project I'm least confident about). I'll keep the series bright switch and in place of the thumbwheels add a blower switch for the bridge pickup. The stupid big knob will not be coming back.

The one things I am missing right now is a decal for when I've painted the headstock. And because I'm a nerd I would like a Squier Jaguar decal! So far no luck finding one though.

Today I got from this:
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To this:
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After reading a lot about it I'm going to try to sand back the finish rather than try the heat gun approach. I want to do more than just scuff up the existing finish, but not sand down to naked wood either - I'm hoping to find something in between where I still have a smooth guitar that I can prime and paint. Could turn out to be wishful thinking!

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jthomas
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by jthomas » Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:16 am

subscribed

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hillerheilman
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by hillerheilman » Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:41 am

Interested to see what the results are with Montana lacquer. I’m considering using them for a small finishing project sometime. Not the metallic stuff, but still.

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Bradley-Jazz
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:56 am

Looks a great project - look forward to seeing how it comes out. The aluminium plates look really good!

I had the Rothstein PTB on my MIJ JM (with Seymour Duncans). I recently took it all out and put in a more traditional JM wiring but with modified rhythm circuit. Like you, I didn’t like the fiddlyness of the roller wheels for the main tone controls. I also found I really didn’t like having two volumes on a JM.

I wonder if your best bet might be making another control plate and squeezing the three knobs up and keeping the jack on the plate (like a Cobain Jag) rather than drilling a new hole...?
All the cheeses....

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by corporatetom » Sat Jul 04, 2020 3:16 pm

Bradley-Jazz wrote:
Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:56 am
Looks a great project - look forward to seeing how it comes out. The aluminium plates look really good!

I had the Rothstein PTB on my MIJ JM (with Seymour Duncans). I recently took it all out and put in a more traditional JM wiring but with modified rhythm circuit. Like you, I didn’t like the fiddlyness of the roller wheels for the main tone controls. I also found I really didn’t like having two volumes on a JM.

I wonder if your best bet might be making another control plate and squeezing the three knobs up and keeping the jack on the plate (like a Cobain Jag) rather than drilling a new hole...?
I have thought about the three knobs plus jack on the same plate - it's seems like a very tight fit for using the knobs though. I should probably do a proper mock up of that though before making any drastic new holes in the guitar!

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Embenny
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by Embenny » Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:19 pm

You can get these for under $10 from EY.

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The knobs might be spaced better than just adding a hole to an existing plate, but I'm not certain of that.
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by Zork » Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:54 pm

Is this your first time refinishing a guitar? I did my first refinish last year and learned a ton while doing a ton of mistakes. Here are my two worst mistakes in a nutshell:

Mistake 1: Hanging your guitar: It's much easier to avoid runs when your guitar is lying flat. Especially when painting the sides.

Mistake 2: Thick coats or "wet coats" (especially when spraying clear): There's a lot of advice out there to spray a thicker "wet coat" after two or three light coats or "mist coats". Don't do it. Spray all of your coats as thin as possible. Take your time.

Good luck. OTM is the perfect color for a Jag.

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by CROSS_guitars » Sun Jul 05, 2020 12:40 am

aw man!
Can't beat that CAR finish though!

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by MayTheFuzzBeWithYou » Sun Jul 05, 2020 3:42 am

Go for it!
What you‘re planning sounds wonderful!
Also: cool plates! I like this raw, wild look!
Got brushed steel ones on one of mine.

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corporatetom
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by corporatetom » Sun Jul 05, 2020 9:16 am

It is my first time, so I really appreciate all advice! Today I started sanding. As you can see on the back of the guitar there's a mix of going to far (bare wood) and not getting far enough. I got through to a white coat I thought that would be perfect, I just need to get that on the whole body but that was easier said than done!
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I did a colour test on cardboard, looks more blue in the picture, but in person it looks like it's within the OTM spectrum to me:
Image

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by my main man » Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:27 pm

I know it's annoying to get tips you didn't ask for but here are a couple other quick things to keep in mind for your first refinishing project. I've made these mistakes and they're not the worst thing in the world, but I notice them on each guitar I've made the mistake on.

-if you sand through to bare wood in any spots, you're going to need to do some sort of sanding sealer over those spots, otherwise the finish ends up being slightly rougher and it looks bad in person. it doesn't have any sort of cool "relic" vibe or anything. it just ends up being something you stare at and want to fix every time you sit with your guitar. (i've done a couple coats of clear coat over the spot and then sanded it back before priming and it's worked fine.

-after you're comfortable with the amount of finish you want to remove, take one of those padded sanding blocks that's in the sandpaper section of the hardware store and go over the edges to round them off again. you'll lose a bit of the roundover with block sanding. the first guitar I refinished was a Tele that I still keep wanting to go back and fix because some parts of the edges are still rounded and others are super sharp.

-in the final sanding/polishing phase, take your time. wet sanding sucks. it's boring and it takes a long time and can be oddly tiring. I've learned that I prefer to do 3 different grits per night instead of trying to do all of them in one shot. when I do that, I rush and it doesn't look as good.

-just make sure you take your time during each step and fixing mistakes as you make them if it's something that will annoy you in the long run.

good luck! refins are equally fun and frustrating.

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by corporatetom » Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:41 am

my main man - that's really helpful stuff, thank you!

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by corporatetom » Mon Jul 13, 2020 2:15 am

The guitar is fully sanded now. I also did a mock up with 3 knobs. It's a squeeze, but looking at the body it seems pretty thin for drilling a side jack. At least for someone doing it for the first time. So I think I'll play it safe and leave everything on the front of the guitar.
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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by andy2514 » Mon Jul 13, 2020 3:25 am

Love this project man. I'm keen to see how you get on with the Montana paint - I tried using the Montana Gold cans but found it didn't dry hard enough. The metallic hopefully will be a different story for you!

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Re: Squier VM Jaguar refinish

Post by corporatetom » Tue Jul 14, 2020 11:04 am

I really hope the Montana is going to be ok - I'm using their primer too and I'm not sure how good it seems - I don't have anything to compare it to!

I'm realising that every stage of this is going to be a massive stress. So far I've got this:

Image

I did a couple of coats of clear first as suggested, then sanded with 400. Three coats of the Montana primer and you can still see the places where I had sanded through to the wood... I have a spot I need to sand where I hit the guitar on the side of my spray booth cardboard box. I think I'll skip the box when I go to colour and just try to cover a corner of the garage with paper.

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