NGD - 1964 Fender Jaguar

[Colin]

Just arrived yesterday, this lovely 1964 Fender Jaguar. Took a punt on eBay and got it for a decent price. Gladly it all checks out. **Except the pickups that have been swapped out at some point **
Really great playable condition, but as you can see the pickguard has shrunken a little and t̶h̶e̶ ̶"̶c̶l̶a̶w̶s̶"̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶r̶e̶m̶o̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶v̶i̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶e̶r̶, the neck is absolutely amazing and it sounds brilliant. The finish has went through some pretty drastic checking over the years and the logo on the matching headstock has faded a little bit too, but all adds to the "old" feel I guess. Overall really happy to have it in my possession!
Here are some pics.

[FrankRay]

Looks like it was originally olympic white, and then refinished at least twice.
Very nice!!

[46346]

really cool! i'm not a fan of CAR, but that looks rad and has the right vibe.

i agree that it is probably a refin, judging by the neck pocket - lack of a clear 'paint stick' impression... even around the white... i don't recognize that round symbol either, it looks different than other markings that Fender used, is it the mark of another professional finisher?
i dig the wide-spaced checking pattern. definitely a cool vintage vibe. i wonder if it is Oly white underneath? or white primer... it seems the white had covered all of the pocket at one point.

can you tell what the round stamp says? i'm really curious. congrats!

[Colin]

Looks like the stamp of Marty Bell out of San Diego (who does a lot of sparkly finishes for G&L), so likely been refinished by him at some point in the '90s I would assume. And now its ended up here in sunny Scotland.
Source: http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic.php?p=38626" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[FrankRay]

Weird that someone removed the claws. It reminds me vaguely of a child wearing her dad's boots without them.

[Colin]

Weird that someone removed the claws. It reminds me vaguely of a child wearing her dad's boots without them.

Yeah I've heard of people removing them to combat feedback, but it definitely looks more like a definitive jaguar with them on.

[Embenny]

So was the neck pickup replaced, or just the cover? That's a strat cover. The red + tort combo plus neck pocket definitely point to a refin. Having said that, there's gorgeous aging of the finish and I love the red + tort combo!

Congrats, she's a beaut.

[Colin]

So was the neck pickup replaced, or just the cover? That's a strat cover. The red + tort combo plus neck pocket definitely point to a refin. Having said that, there's gorgeous aging of the finish and I love the red + tort combo!

Congrats, she's a beaut.

No idea on the pickup front if Im being honest, Ive took some pics so if anyone can shine a light on this then that would be cool,

[Embenny]

That's definitely a strat pickup whose bottom bobbin was shaved to fit the rout.



See how there's a triangular protrusion? You can see it was carved down and taped. The leads are coming out of the middle, which is a telltale sign as well.

Jag bobbins look like this, with a straight and narrow bobbin and leads coming out of the sides:

[Colin]

That's definitely a strat pickup whose bottom bobbin was shaved to fit the rout.



See how there's a triangular protrusion? You can see it was carved down and taped. The leads are coming out of the middle, which is a telltale sign as well.

Jag bobbins look like this, with a straight and narrow bobbin and leads coming out of the sides:

Yeah I'm happy that the body and the neck are from the era, the small details are there like the clothed coloured cables, red disk capacitors, L serial number, stamp on the neck etc. but the pickups are certainly replacements by the looks of it. God damnit.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Maybe now's a good time to try'n chase up the seller for a partial refund, if you want to try'n source original, period correct pickups, that is.

[Pacafeliz]

OH GOD YES. an aged mint guard and it's PERFECT!!!

[Embenny]

Maybe now's a good time to try'n chase up the seller for a partial refund, if you want to try'n source original, period correct pickups, that is.

I would definitely follow up with the seller. I don't know how much you paid, but generally refins (should) go for 30% less than an original sunburst, and the missing pickups are a ding on the value as well.

If you paid less than market value of an original sunburst jag, you may still be in good shape. If the seller charged you as though this was an all-original CAR, that would be venturing into the realm of fraud. I don't know what this was represented as, so you may not have been mislead. It's still a beautiful vintage jag...just one with a refin and replacement strat pickups of modern provenance.

[Colin]

For sure, I'm chasing the seller up as we speak, it's disappointing that the pickups aren't the real deal. That's the risk of ebay but right? I paid 2 grand sterling so it's still a pretty good price for the rest of the guitar, I'll keep you informed with what the seller says. Might be a chance to get some Novaks dropped in there or something.

[Colin]

Odd thing is though it sounds really great, I wonder where the pickups came from.