OffsetGuitars.com

I can tell you I'm still very exited about this!
When I was checking a '66 that was for sale locally, I was offered this refin '64 (the guy said it was a '63).
It's a recent refin (with a give-away relic job )
I played the guitar and was rather a bit underwhelmed, but I knew it had old strings and a bad setup.
So I went back a week or 2 later with my friend Patrick to have a second opinion; I decided to go for it and hope a decent setup would change the guitar's character(it did completely! )

The seller was asking 2800 euro at first, but I got him down to 2500(no case).
It has a Mastery bridge and I could get the original bridge with it.
After selling 2 guitars and a a cabinet (all sold really quick) I got the guitar last Saturday.

The vintage bridge he offered with it had one post that was damaged and only 5 original saddles and screws, a bit of a bummer, but I decided I got a fair deal after all.
At home, I gave it a good setup (a mahogany neckshim, truss rod adjustement and a new set of 010's).
While the sound of the guitar opened up incredably, I began to notice something about the neck.
The frets buzzed at some points and the wood of the first frets looked awkward.
At one point, I wasn't sure if the neck was a bit warped.

So I contacted Jerry (OSG's ohm-men) to give his opinion about the guitar.
Some moments after I phoned him I realised what had happened: someone sanded the fretboard between the first 5 to 6 frets. It has a slope fronm fret to fret of 1mm (I took a picture of it).
I felt like I was lured into a bad deal and really didn't know what to think; luckily I could see Jerry the next day.

He told me he had seen the guitar before, a friend of him presented it to him some 3 years ago. He thought it was a very great sounding Jazzmaster (it is!), but didn't notice the messed up fretboard at the time (neither Patrick or I noticed it at first either).
He thought I should return it to the seller since fixing this issue would be close to 500 euro (partly new fretboard and refret).
I was only partly convinced; I guess I was in love allready.

I tried another vintage Jazzmaster for sale locally and was totally underwhelmed.
This made me realise I had really an exeptional guitar in my hands.
That evening, I went back to my friend Patrick to tell him about the issue and to ask him what he'd do.
He confirmed what I was feeling; this Jazzmaster is as good as a Jazzmaster will get, dispite the damage to the rosewood.
The slope isn't affecting playability btw; it probably was made to make low frets still playable. some people really come up with criminal solutions for a simple refret!

Yesterday I got a mail from Jerry. He wrote he spoke to the guy that offered him the Jazzmaster at the time.
He still has the original bridge and I'd get it since he has no use for it!
What a nice guy; I never met him but I'm sure I like him!

Anyway, here are some pics. Sorry for the poor quality; my son crashed our camera and I used the ipad. I just don't know how to get good pictures with it.

enjoy!





Like I said, the 'relic' job isn't the best one. Relicing isn't something I would consider if I refinished the guitar, but as this is a 52 years old second-hand Jazzmaster, I can't be too picky.
For a moment, I thought about adding scars myself to make it look more natural, but than I thought about all the self-made relics I've seen on the net and luckily I changed my mind.
The idea of creating hairline finish cracks with a can of cold air (or a car in the winter) somehow seems more persistant... if anyone has some do's and dont's on that matter, I'd like to hear them.



I know the PAT PEND trem isn't historically matching, but the trem-unit of this Jazzmaster was full of sandpaper-scuffs. It looked really awfull. When I told the seller about this he offered to change it with this pat pend trem he had laying around. The stronger spring is very noticable, I think I like the feel of this one, wich to me is more important than historical correctness.


Nice matching headstock. I noticed the decall is perhaps not historical correct either. In mid 1964, the 5 pat number decall changed to 6 numbers. The neck is from June '64.
hm... I guess they stamped the neck before they did the finish...



The back of the neck is (artificially?) worn. guess the neck had a refin as well; it may be more difficult to see in the pics but I see darker areas under the finish.


The guitar got assembled at the end of 1964




The area where the neck was molested. It's quite horrible, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the only thing about this guitar that puts me off (apart from the 'relicing ' on the back of the body).
It'll teach me some relativation at best...


This ####### screw won't get out!
Somebody knows a trick?


I really can't complain about the tort...



together with my heavily abused and refin Hagstrom HIIN

If you have thoughts or suggestions; feel free!
ciao
Tom

that's a nice looking one!!! Always a good decision to take the the better playing one over the better looking one.

How do you like it in comparison to your AVRI('s)?

PJazzmaster wrote:that's a nice looking one!!! Always a good decision to take the the better playing one over the better looking one.

How do you like it in comparison to your AVRI('s)?

Thanks!
I like it very much too!
There realy isn't a comparison with all the AVRI's I had; this Jazzmaster sounds so full, so pure.
When playing a chord for instance, all the strings ring through seperately, staying articulate till the sustain dies out.
With my AVRI's, notes more melted together and the sound became more 'muddy' if that makes sense.
It just vibrates and rings out loud when played loud, and sounds subtle and rich when playing softly and quiet.
In fact, it invites me to revise my playing style; it asks me to play with more feel and subtleness.
It really inspires me the moment I pick it up; it looks like it wants to tell you the next chord or riff when you touch it.
I know this sounds all very much as a cliché, but it's how it feels to me to play a very good guitar.
What a pity I'm such a mediocre player...

I'm not sure what will happen to my Costello; it's by no means a bad guitar, on the contrary so, but it just can't compete with this one...

congrats! beautiful guitar!

What a great guitar! I had a '64 once and loved it!

Enjoy!!

Love it! Sounds to me like you got a good deal on a great guitar - enjoy:).

I think you made the right move. Better to keep a guitar you connect with than to seek one that is more perfect on paper but might not inspire you.

Regarding the decal...could the heackstock have been refinished at the same time as the body?

Thanks everyone for the appreciation.

mbene085 wrote:I think you made the right move. Better to keep a guitar you connect with than to seek one that is more perfect on paper but might not inspire you.

Regarding the decal...could the heackstock have been refinished at the same time as the body?

Hi, you know, an authentic instrument seems desirable and it's sometimes hard to know wich alterations (or rather amputations in this case) can and can't be tolerated.
Reading threads on OSG were a lot of other members share this obsession about authenticy and looking at all those beautifully preserved 60's Jazzmasters doesn't really help to keep an open mind and a realistic perspective.
I'm not blaming you, dear forum-members, I know it's my problem!
I really needed the opinion of a friend to convince me this alteration of the fretboard I worried about isn't as important as I made it.
Anyway, thanks for reconfirming this!

The headstock is indeed refinished at the same time the body was. I didn't point this out clearly.
The refinisher should have used a different decall though. I don't think he was aware of the changes to 6 patent numbers and the different typografy. http://jimshine.com/jazzmaster/intricac ... jazzma.htm

Congratulations Otis! Seems you found a great guitar. I like '63-'64 Fenders a lot. The most important thing is you found one that sounds excellent and also inspires you to revise or improve your playing style. I can really relate to that, since I have my vintage JMs my playing definitely improved, even when I pick up other instruments.

Whatever happened to the fretboard it can be rectified in the future when you need new frets. It's hard to tell from the pics but it seems to me there isn't that much wood gone, a carefully applied veneer could be enough to fix it.

If the pickguard screw is still stuck: first of all try to find the best fitting screwdriver or bit you can find. Then remove all other screws and use the guard as a lever to gently apply pressure upwards while turning the screw. If this doesn't do the trick you could try to use a Dremel to carefully grind a slot in the screw head so you can use another flathead screwdriver to move it. This is a bit risky as you might weaken the screwhead too much and it could break when you turn it. Even then: if that happens you should be able to remove the guard, giving you a bit more room to work with. You could try to grind a slot in the top of the screw shaft (I like using my .013 or .017 topnut file) and turn it with a small flathead driver. Once the guard is away you could also try and gently heat the screw with a soldering iron before trying to turn it, this could just be enough to get it to move a bit easier. I hope this all makes sense.

Vinkie wrote:Congratulations Otis! Seems you found a great guitar. I like '63-'64 Fenders a lot. The most important thing is you found one that sounds excellent and also inspires you to revise or improve your playing style. I can really relate to that, since I have my vintage JMs my playing definitely improved, even when I pick up other instruments.

Whatever happened to the fretboard it can be rectified in the future when you need new frets. It's hard to tell from the pics but it seems to me there isn't that much wood gone, a carefully applied veneer could be enough to fix it.

If the pickguard screw is still stuck: first of all try to find the best fitting screwdriver or bit you can find. Then remove all other screws and use the guard as a lever to gently apply pressure upwards while turning the screw. If this doesn't do the trick you could try to use a Dremel to carefully grind a slot in the screw head so you can use another flathead screwdriver to move it. This is a bit risky as you might weaken the screwhead too much and it could break when you turn it. Even then: if that happens you should be able to remove the guard, giving you a bit more room to work with. You could try to grind a slot in the top of the screw shaft (I like using my .013 or .017 topnut file) and turn it with a small flathead driver. Once the guard is away you could also try and gently heat the screw with a soldering iron before trying to turn it, this could just be enough to get it to move a bit easier. I hope this all makes sense.

Thanks for the technical advise!
I guess I'll try the dremel, very very carefully not to touch the guard (i'll tape it off first and perhaps hold a piece of metal sheet near the edge of the screw, just in case...).
The first method will prove too difficult cause I allready tried a lot of different screwdrivers (and WD-40) but the screw only got worse.
Also nice to know that warming up the remaining screwshaft would facilitate everything.
thanks a lot Vinkie!
I hope I can give updates with under the guard pics soon!

edit: I tried the tremel but find it too dangeroes/ not precise enough.
I also had a flathead screwdriver that fits in but the screwdriver would rather twist or the screwhead rip than the screw would turn.
I'm taking it to a tech before I mess up the pickguard.

Looks nice! Congrats!

Beautiful! Great looking jazzmaster and I think a pretty good deal. Very cool!

Excellent!

Love it!

nice find, Otis!! I would worry more about the fretboard than the screw, but things will get sorted out eventually, I guess. I'd just rip the screw out, but maybe that's not the most vintage correct advice. hope your tech can solve the issue in a nondestructive way. enjoy that beauty!