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66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 9:04 pm
by will
So, I spotted a '66 Jazzmaster getting parted out on ebay. ...the pictures were really bad, and the descriptions were as vague as any I've ever seen.


For instance, here's the entire three-word and one date description of the body:

"1966 fender jazzmaster body"
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...and the neck:

"1966 fender jazzmaster neck"
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"buy it now" got the best of me and I picked up the body and neck, and the seller ended the other auctions and sent along the switch, pots, and neckplate - that was nice and unexpected. Luckily, it arrived pretty quickly, the pickups worked (6.0K, 6.8K), and the neck wasn't warped.

Here are a few pictures after I spent some time cleaning it up and adding some parts (pickguard, knobs, a slider switch, output jack, and wiring.)

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...looks like it started out sunburst

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Also, I had a chance to straighten out the tremolo plate while everything was apart for cleaning.

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I forgot to take a picture after the gaps were filled in in the cloth wiring!

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Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 9:18 pm
by will
Next up, I need to dress the frets, glue down the binding that is popping up, and find something to make a new inlay for the fingerboard - I was going to try something called "Acrylester" that looks like it might be a good match for the plastic stuff Fender used to use.

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Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:36 pm
by zhivago
Excellent save!

looking forward to see more! :)

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 11:56 pm
by PorkyPrimeCut
Agreed. This looks great already. Quite an unusual but very cool colour!

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 11:58 pm
by Pacafeliz
That is SO cool, congrats!!!

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:01 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
Actually, if it's no trouble, can you measure the length of the thread on the vibrato arm, where the plastic too should be, and take a close up pick of the other end (that pops into the tail piece?

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:25 am
by Axolotl
Love this so much! :? Thanks for saving it! If you find a good replacement material for the second block let us know. Such an awesome find.

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:58 am
by PorkyPrimeCut
Axolotl wrote:If you find a good replacement material for the second block let us know. Such an awesome find.
It's a long shot but you might want to message Ben (theworkoffire). Hopefully he won't mind me mentioning this. He had a sheet of stuff he planned on using. It had a repeat pattern but you could easily cut it at different ares/angles & you'd never know. Perhaps he'd be willing to cut off a small portion?

Also, if you find something suitable but it's too pale you can rub brown dye over it, then rub it straight off. That'll "age" it slightly (I did it on a build of my own).

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:43 am
by will
PorkyPrimeCut wrote:Actually, if it's no trouble, can you measure the length of the thread on the vibrato arm, where the plastic too should be, and take a close up pick of the other end (that pops into the tail piece?
Here are a few pictures. The line that's about 2mm from the end of the bar is actually wear from the bar spinning in the collet - when the bar is used less, it it pretty much tapers directly from 4.2mm to 4.66mm at the end.

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Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:46 am
by will
PorkyPrimeCut wrote:Agreed. This looks great already. Quite an unusual but very cool colour!
It is kinda like Ocean Turquoise, I think. ...though I don't know if that was the intention of whoever painted this one! I was already planning on refinishing a guitar to Ocean Turquoise (the paint is in the mail) but I think I'd like to play this one for a while before I take it apart to do a proper refinish.

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:47 am
by will
Axolotl wrote:Love this so much! Thanks for saving it! If you find a good replacement material for the second block let us know. Such an awesome find.
I'll post some information once the stuff I'm trying arrives in the mail. The material Fender used is a little strange - it is quite translucent, so sometimes the maple beneath really shows through!

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:04 pm
by antisymmetric
:-* Really good to see the reversal of fortune for this guitar- it's fallen into the right hands! Keep us posted. :)

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:36 pm
by will
...so I had a Coronado II neck waiting for a project and I started thinking: "I wonder what would happen if I stick some good masking tape to the inlay and give it a sharp tug?"

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The inlay material is strange stuff - lots of bubbles! It looks like it is some sort of cast material. I wonder what the inlay process was like at Fender.

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Now I have a complete Jazzmaster and a Coronado II in need of an inlay.

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Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 1:53 pm
by zhivago
Hehehe! that's a quick and cool fix! 8)

Some things are meant to be! :)

I have a real soft spot for this era Jazzmaster....my first one (which I always refer to as a '67), was actually a late '66 guitar...October of '66 if I remember correctly.

It had a great neck profile...very fast...mine was CAR...body refin, but the headstock was original (and fairly trashed) 8)

Re: 66 Jazzmaster rescued from parting-out

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 2:16 pm
by PorkyPrimeCut
will wrote: Image
Ha! Great (and pretty light) work!!

(thanks for the arm measurements too).