I asked the GC rep at the counter some questions. He says the original owner clearcoated over the original finish. Ouch. Still, it FEELS great, it SOUNDS great, and I don't intend to stick it on a wall or in a display case, so who cares if its collector value just plummeted?
The GC guy also tells me the thumbwheels don't work and the tuners aren't original.
Okay, didn't take long to figure out that the thumbwheels work fine (guy had no idea how the circuit on a Jazzmaster works) and the tuners are, in fact, original, but the strap buttons aren't. I conveniently fail to mention this to him and walk out with my new '78 Jazz for $1800.
Kind of an odd one, I guess, being a '78 with block inlays and a bound fretboard- I heard they stopped doing that in '77. Maybe it is a '77? Who knows.
Okay, so I went to pull the bridge out to swap the saddles and it didn't come out. Original owner filled the thimbles with rubber tubing. Luckily, it was no match for the careful application of a claw hammer and a wood block.
I also popped on a spare volume knob I had. Since I didn't want to mess with the original pot, I cut a piece of wood to fit inside the knob to hold it against the remaining half of the shaft. It worked, but the knob doesn't match. Ah well, one more thing to buy.
Wow, the finish is still glossy under the pickguard! Much more vibrant, too, especially at the edges where the red shows through.
Electronics look original to me, though I admittedly don't know my way around Jazz/Jag electronics very well.
I bought a shiny new Allparts Mustang bridge and popped the saddles off to stick 'em on the plate from the original bridge. As soon as I screwed the first one on, the spring launched the saddle against the bridge wall with a clack. I pulled it off to see that the screw had stripped the saddle. Total piece of shit. I went to the hardware store and got a half dozen tiny nuts to hold the saddles in place. Then I went to drop the bridge back in and... the set screws in the posts were stripped and unadjustable. Mr. Previous Owner had used the rubber to float the bridge where he wanted it- he missed, by the way, the action was way high.
I didn't want to use the crappy Mustang bridge I had or these awful chrome-plated brass saddles anymore, so I headed to the local vintage guitar shop to grab a nice steel set since eBay looked a little... expensive. Got a nice old one for $50, but it was missing some screws and springs. After taking apart the original bridge and the POS Mustang bridge, I pieced together this.
It works! I can adjust the height and everything! I'll deal with the intonation once these strings are stretched. So now all that's left are the '78 strap buttons and the whammy bar, which are being shipped as I type, and a knob, which honestly isn't a top priority right now.
In conclusion, this guitar is AMAZING, I love it to death, and it's been totally worth dealing with the bridge crap. It nails the tone I love so much perfectly- a distorted, chimey surf tone ala Man or Astro-Man?, a great 90's sci-surf rock band that's a big influence for me. I couldn't be happier with this massive, heavy, ancient piece of wood. Also, Tonepros Mustang bridges can screw off.
Leftovers!
