JAZZMASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ? ? ?




Seasons greeting and blessings to you all! I thought I'd show you all my early Christmas present!
Bestowed upon me by Richard (Forumite Chabenda) with the hopes that I can make it playable once more! It's been through quite a bit and will need some work but at the moment I'm happy! ?

Glamour shots:










This is a guitar that I will cherish and it is highly unlikely that I'll ever sell it. The guitar itself is has been heavily modified over the years in order to try and make it playable and as I have it now, it's not in the best of shape.
Issues:
- The fretboard has been planed down by a half (2-3mm), and has lost its radius, to remove deep grooves that were played into the board. the frets are also wholly uneven.
- The original bridge pickup is broken and has been replaced by a Seymour Duncan Vintage JM pickup. I plan on rewinding the original pickup. (is this a good idea?)
- Replaced parts include pickguard, bridge, pickup and tuners replaced with Klusons
- Guitar was refinished. I'm not sure what the original colour was (Chabs?) but at the moment it's a sunburst thats a tad scruffed up.
- The electronics are barely working... Probably because they're 50 years old?
- The Fender logo is also a sticker that was redone after the refinish.

So here's my dilemma... Do I repair it to playable standard while keeping it as "stock" as I possibly can, or do I strip it to the bones and turn it into basically a new, playable guitar?
For the latter, I'd probably refinish it, either replace the rosewood board or cut an entire new neck, clean up all the parts (which I wouldn't do if I was keeping the 'stock' vibe) remove all scratches and rust, rewire it completely, rewind the old pickup, and possibly get a new pickguard
(I'd keep the old parts of course...)

Obviously this choice will damage the value it still had but as I said, I don't plan on selling it. The other problem with this is that when I whip out a brand new looking guitar, no one will believe it's a '61 Fender from the old Fullerton Factory... Then I can't show off :'(
So what I've got is an old guitar with tonnes of mojo and I can either try and preserve that and sacrifice some playability or totally ignore that and end up with something entirely "new"

Any advice? Help? Ooh's? Aah's?

Thanks in advance ? and Merry Christmas to you all! (or just happy public holiday if you don't celebrate.... Don't complain you got a free day off! ? )

Nice guitar! With a ton of work but that's part of the fun ?

I'd keep it as stock as possible. It's not everyday you get an early 60's fender

Have fun!

Wonderful acquisition!

AFAIC, it's a players' instrument now. Do whatever you need to to make it playable - it's already lost it's "closet classic" value (and then some). Just don't do anything further cosmetically unless you have to.

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Wonderful acquisition!

AFAIC, it's a players' instrument now. Do whatever you need to to make it playable - it's already lost it's "closet classic" value (and then some). Just don't do anything further cosmetically unless you have to.

nice!!!!

indeed, like alan said, it lost all its collectors value already since mot of the hardware is replaced as well as refinished and the slabboard shaved

so, do whatever you feel like ? although go ahead with the pick up

If you got time, patience and a few bop you can restore this to almost original if you want to that is. Second hand goodies are plenty full available in the USA. You should be able to find original old electronics, and who says cannot put e new fingerboard on it ? I would not worry about value now, you got most like at a very good price so if you "restore" it as good as possible it will always have that value and that will one day reflect when you decide to sell it.

Nice one dude :goodtimes: Just promise you'll at least put new strings on it ?
I'd do a bit of both - keep the "mojo" and roadworn looks where they appeal to you but maximise playability too. So sort out the neck and whatnot but keep some of the wear that only affects it aesthetically - so it still has bits that look like they're from '61.

Nice find Choklit. If I were in your shoes I would mod it to restore the fret board radius, new frets and pickups as per original. This axe is a definite keeper and a project worth tons of drool. Leave the "houding" acquired over the ages as is though

Thanks for the replies guys. I took it apart yesterday to check on the internals and in probably gonna have to replace all the electronics in one go instead of just changing the faulty ones. At the moment I'm debating whether to attempt adding a radius to the existing board or if an entirely new board is in order... I also want to remove the sticker and add a water slide decal onto the headstock.... Frets I'll probably do standard as opposed to stainless steel. All of the hardware works fine so none of that needs to be replaced. I'm probably just gonna clean all the gunk off the moving parts and leave it on the parts that don't make a difference.

Also, anyone know where I can get a replacement trem arm for the US jazzmaster system?

Dude... incredible.

Like Babbalute said, maybe try get used original parts from eBay. Like you said, its a keeper, so maybe just add and replace when you have the financial means and when stuff comes available. It will most likely take years, but you'll add to an already amazing instrument, and I know how hard it is to bide your time and wait, but it will in all likelihood be all the better for it. It sings just looking at it.

Thanks guys ? yeah this one is gonna be a nice project. At the moment I'm looking at selling off a few builds and using some of that profit to buy what I need for this one. I'll take my time with this one though... No need to rush it and make mistakes. It's also gonna be a great learning curve for certain things like steaming off a fretboard and adding a new one... Looking forward to it and I'll keep you guys posted on any future happenings ?

Well, Chocklit, if it was mine I would start with a fret dress. The neck has been idle for years, the frets are all new and it's possible that, now that the neck's been under string tension for a few months, ? that a fret dress may make it playable for a few years.

Flippen hell, that's an awesome guitar! Congrats! :goodtimes: :applause: Wow, you must be as chuffed as a puppy who just dug up a dinosaur bone in the back yard... ? Yeah, fix her up and play her man, you won't be sorry.
I don't have the cahunas to tamper with a vintage neck like that myself though and would rather save up and have somebody else do it. I'll be too scared I stuff it up and end up with a mojo enfused ornament instead of a kick ass guitar. :-[

Congratulation ! That's awesome, those guitars are sweet, i love a good old guitar ?