First Vintage offset! '66 Jag

[ceilingfan]

Yeah the more i play it, the more i realise how badly it needs a refret. But thats cool i knew what i bought and after paying what i did ill be sure to get it done asap.

Why original sunburst paint is so highly valued/sought after ill never understand. I mean unless Your collecting or hung up on originality. But us players, surely personalizing something like colour should be encouraged so to speak or less taboo.
That was not meant as a personal attack on people who think otherwise.

The main thing stoping me is not being able to play it for the 2-3 weeks it will take to refinish haha!

Well, there are a few reasons people feel strongly about it.

1) There are a limited number of original, unaltered vintage fenders. Every time you strip one, that's one fewer in the world, so it's kind of like burning a very limited and non-renewable resource.

2) It makes no sense economically. Refins lose at least 30% of their value, so if you paid $4k for that guitar, a refinish is like lighting $1200 on fire if you ever want or need to sell it. Especially staring down the dark tunnel that is the oncoming recession or depression, that seems like an unwise move, but even in the best of times, that's still unwise.

3) Sensible and easy alternatives exist. I mean, if you yourself are not hung up on "originality", you can buy a finished body in any colour you like for like $400, or an unfinished one for even less if you enjoy doing it yourself, and move every other part over to the new body. Or, you can find a refinished one for way less money, get the refin, and do whatever you like to that one while both saving an intact original and saving a whole bunch of money.

I think it's #3 that elicits the strongest emotions. I mean, it does for me, at least. In the last 2-3 years I acquired both a beautifully refinished '65 jag and a vintage parts '64 with a less beautiful refinish job for a combined price not far from what you paid for your original sunburst. In fact, I recently traded my original '65 sunburst and the return I got on that could have covered both.

This isn't 1983, when the only way to get a brown jaguar was to make a vintage sunburst one brown. There are multiple ways to get what you want without permanently altering and devaluing a vintage guitar. It's one of those "permanent solutions to a temporary problem," the problem being that you just spent $4k on a guitar whose appearance you don't like.

Just trying to impart some wisdom I've gained through the purchase, trade, and sale of several vintage Fenders.

Edit: I see most of my points were already made by others by the time I submitted this. Sorry for the redundancy.

Thanks for your post, I'm really enjoying hearing every bodies opinions and of their love for these vintage instruments.
As i said, this is my first vintage instrument and I honestly had no idea what to expect opening the case for the first time. They are seductive to say the least.

I guess the way I originally saw it was, i found the cheapest functional Jaguar I could in Australia. There were only two options both sunburst 65 and 66. The intention "oh its cheaper than buying a refinish in a nice colour from America and its stock sunburst so its nothing 'special', hence i can strip it and make it into something id like more".

However upon receiving it, the character of the old finish did have an effect on me. Hence why I posed the question in my original post. I'm not a fan of having a crazy amount of guitars. I own 4 electrics and an acoustic. However as i see it now it be more wise to buy a cheaper reissue and strip it if I'm super inclined to go the wood grain look and deal with having more instruments. The original paint clearly holds value historically, I'm not to worried about the 10-20% loss of refinishing it monetary wise.

But i think now id hate the idea of taking one of these guitars and erasing its factory fender appearance as you said yourself they are no longer in production.

thanks guys, this has been a good eye opener for my respect of vintage instruments.

[Embenny]

Thanks for being open to our opinions! I'd like to think more original guitars could have been saved if people had resources like OSG to help them find alternatives

I understand your line of thinking. I'm in Canada and jags are less common here, too. But what you'll find is that patience is really a virtue in the vintage guitar market. I scored my '65, two-owner original sunburst jag just a couple of years, locally, for $2700 CAD. It was the first time in a few years of semi-casual searching that a good deal popped up in my own country.

I actually traded that guitar away, twice, and each time got something that made me happier and was worth more, so I really felt it was my "lucky guitar", but that's that's story for another thread. Waiting for the right deal, either to purchase or trade, is half the fun for some of us.

[daphnebluejaguar]

Get a custom color MJT/warmth/whoever and put the original body away

I agree - if I were you, ceilingfan, I would buy another body, either in the colour you want, or in any colour, and then refinish that instead - also means less soldering/desoldering to do!

[iainmayfield]

that yellow tinged sunburst is just the best - it looks great with the b&b neck - please don't change the finish!!!

[ceilingfan]

that yellow tinged sunburst is just the best - it looks great with the b&b neck - please don't change the finish!!!

Have no fear my decision has been made I will not be doing anything to the finish . I have loved it from the moment I opened the case and the colour has only grown on me since. I just couldn't believe I was enjoying sunburst and assumed the feeling would changed but it hasn't. Others opinions have also helped solidify my opinion about these vintage guitars and how to treat them.

All i will have done is a re-fret they are about down the the wood at this point.

[timtam]

My one experience with a vintage refin was circa 1980. My friend bought a very dull, dark (dakota ?) red, beat up L-series jag locally. A jag was his dream guitar, and it cost most of the money he had ($300 ... remember almost no one wanted jags or JMs then). It was the only jag I think I saw for sale locally that decade. I guess there was some notion that such guitars were vintage then (it was only about 15 years old), but a clearer notion that while it was a rare jag, it didn't look very good (not just somewhat road-worn, but dull). There was certainly no real notion that such guitars should be preserved in their original state at all costs, not even just to preserve its value, let alone for posterity. My friend had it professionally refinished in a stunning candy apple red. Which transformed it.

Would we do it again now, or live with a dull, uninspiring, but intact vintage guitar ? I don't know. Did it decrease what it is worth now ? ... probably ..... but maybe not if you actually saw it before the refin and put a value on that. Was it amongst the best looking vintage refinished jags you'd ever see ? ... yes (assuming you like CAR). Did the refin make it a much nicer guitar to own ? Absolutely.

So I guess I'm saying I don't think original finishes always deserve to be preserved. Certainly not then ... and probably not now either. I expect some disagreement.