'61 jazzmaster

[peavey64]

hello
i have a 1961 jazzmaster with gold hardware that somebody painted red in the past.
underneath the pickguard is a piece of tape with some writing on it ( see picture )

can someone tell me what it means, i think it is : gold jm - gold hdwr and some codes ( paint ?)
i want to restore the jazzmaster to it's original color


thanks
perry

[øøøøøøø]

WOW.

I have a '62 with factory gold hardware and a one-off "candy blue" finish. I think it was originally that color, because the headstock finish is definitely original, though the body has been refinned and is a slightly (very slightly) different shade of candy blue. it's not a metallic like LPB, but rather a true 'candy' finish with a silver undercoat.

I say all that to say that special-order one-off colors are not impossible. They were out there and Fender WOULD do them. I've seen other true one-off custom colors before.

So don't necessarily assume that it has to be Shoreline, which is definitely the "correct" gold for that era.

Although Shoreline does look good on a JM.

I wonder if the P.O. # 7-653 means "production order," or if it could theoretically be a paint code of some kind. I think DuPont used paint codes that were similar to that format. For example Sherwood Green was 2526-H, Sonic Blue was 2295. Shoreline Gold was 2935-L. I wonder if you could do some research into seeing if any of the paint companies had a paint code of 7653, and seeing if that was a gold color by chance. Longshot, as P.O. probably means "production order."

Here's what I would do in your situation.

Pretend you're an archaeologist. Get some 600 grit sandpaper, use a pink pearl eraser as a sanding block, and VERY CAREFULLY wet-sand through the red. Go slowly, and prepare to have it take forever. Once you break through, you might find that at least a little bit of the original color remains underneath. It's possible the red was painted right over the gold, and if that's the case, you can carefully remove all of the red and restore the original finish that way, and truly have a very valuable instrument.

If that fails, pull the brass shielding out and see if there is some original color in the cavities, or maybe the neck pocket. Maybe that would give you a hint to see if it's Shoreline or a true one-off gold color.

Besides mine and now yours, I have only seen one other vintage JM with factory gold hardware. Not saying there aren't a ton more out there, because I don't know, but I do know that I've been around old guitars for awhile and I especially pay attention to jazzmasters, and I don't see them every day.

Good luck on your hunt.

[painted wood]

perhaps purchase order 7- 653?

I agree with Brad. Go with the very careful wetsanding with 600 or 800 grit and see if you can remove the red and reveal the original gold underneath.

I have heard of Fender using another gold color other than shoreline, however shoreline would be period correct.

Gold w/ gold hardware =

That is definitely original factory writing from '61 on that tape...so cool.

[OffYourFace]

Since it has gold hardware AND a tort guard, I would guess that it originally came from the factory as a Blond. See if you can determine whether or not the body is Ash or Alder... maybe you can see the grain in the neck pocket. If it's alder, anything's possible I guess... maybe someone took in their sunburst JM for a factory refinish and gold hardware upgrade (hence the P.O.#). Post more detailed pics of your guitar 'under the hood' when you get a chance.

Either way, that is an amazing looking guitar

[MikeMaster]

My guess is that it is a custom ordered 61 JM (Gold JM Gold HDWE) Probably a big f___ deal in 61 which would require a special production order. That tape is a dead match to the harness tape and of course the saw tooth cut is from early Fender. All that extra stuff probably cost a whopping $75 back then.

[glimmertwin]

Nice!

...minus the gold hardware that looks exactly like my JM - even the tile underneath it matches something in my house. I had to get up and go make sure no one had stolen mine in the dead of the night. I'm really curious if it turns out to be gold on gold - that would be amazing.