1959 Jazzmaster restoration

Bringing your older offset back to life.
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bencrit
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1959 Jazzmaster restoration

Post by bencrit » Sat May 20, 2017 6:41 am

I posted a shot of a 1959 Jazzmaster I recently purchased that will need some restoration. It's been stripped to natural and also has a couple partial cracks in the body that will need to be addressed. They run lengthwise across the body, but obviously only go partway. Provided they are clean cracks ( which is what it looks like) we should be as easy as injecting glue into the cracks and clamping the body properly together? I'll probably have to sand it a little bit to prep it for the paint job, and also to ensure that everything is level. If anybody has any tips or advice, it would be appreciated!

Here is a shot of the problem area

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And here's a shot of an original custom color 59 that I am going to model this project after. It's going fiesta read!

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FYI this latter shot was on Terry Foster's Instagram feed. I believe it's his guitar
Last edited by bencrit on Sat Jun 10, 2017 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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will
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Re: Cracked 1959 Jazzmaster Body Repair

Post by will » Sat May 20, 2017 12:09 pm

I've had good luck using ratcheting straps for clamping:

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The cracks on the body look like they were caused by the body being stored in some inhospitable environments and shrinking over time. You might not be able to clamp them closed - in that case, you should be able to clean up the cracks to get any old gunk out of them, and then glue in some thin slivers of wood.

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bencrit
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Re: Cracked 1959 Jazzmaster Body Repair

Post by bencrit » Sat May 20, 2017 12:17 pm

will wrote:I've had good luck using ratcheting straps for clamping:

Image

Image

The cracks on the body look like they were caused by the body being stored in some inhospitable environments and shrinking over time. You might not be able to clamp them closed - in that case, you should be able to clean up the cracks to get any old gunk out of them, and then glue in some thin slivers of wood.

Very good idea. I'll have to inspect it more clearly when it arrives. But I'll give your idea shot.

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bencrit
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Re: Cracked 1959 Jazzmaster Body Repair - Update

Post by bencrit » Sat May 27, 2017 5:19 pm

Well, got finally got some time to get started repairing these cracks on this jazzmaster body.

Reminder, this is what I started with: a close-up shot of the witdest crack

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Used some Irwin clamps to get it as tight as I could. Got it pretty well shut, although you can still see evidence of the crack.

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Will need to use wood filler to smooth this out, but no big deal.

Need to wipe away the excess glue, but it's pretty tight:

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Last edited by bencrit on Mon May 29, 2017 5:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

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theworkoffire
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Re: Cracked 1959 Jazzmaster Body Repair

Post by theworkoffire » Sun May 28, 2017 3:57 am

Great!

I'd leave it to sit for a good while before starting with filler, just to make sure things re-settle properly - that glue joint will be under quite a lot of tension, so might flex a bit with the clamps off until things even out.

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bencrit
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Re: Cracked 1959 Jazzmaster Body Repair

Post by bencrit » Sun May 28, 2017 5:34 am

theworkoffire wrote:Great!

I'd leave it to sit for a good while before starting with filler, just to make sure things re-settle properly - that glue joint will be under quite a lot of tension, so might flex a bit with the clamps off until things even out.
That is a good point! I've got a couple more small cracks to clamp up, so this won't see any wood filler for at least 3-4 days.

Thankfully, I am still in the excitement stage of a new guitar project. I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be kicking myself, saying: "why did you take up another project!" :P

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bencrit
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Re: 1959 Jazzmaster restoration

Post by bencrit » Sat Jun 10, 2017 5:45 pm

Well, I am making good progress on prepping that 1959 jazz master body for paint.

So far I have reglued all the cracks, stripped that horrible varnish, and have begun using a little wood filler to make sure the body is prepped for paint.

There were so many dings along the bottom edge I opted to just sand it smooth and use wood filler to re-create the rounded edge.

I still have some work to do to make sure everything is level, but it is moving right along

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Still has the original finish in the neck pocket and cavities:

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palesnow67
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Re: 1959 Jazzmaster restoration

Post by palesnow67 » Fri Aug 18, 2017 9:33 am

Damn, good job

anymore progress?
Or you at that "damn why did i take on another project" stage? haha
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