'59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

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Dane_Brammage
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'59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by Dane_Brammage » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:43 am

Hello everybody.  This will be my first Jazzmaster.  (When it's done.)

I bought this body off ebay a couple of months ago.  It is supposedly a 1959 sunburst that was later re-finished in Firemist Gold.  Not sure if I entirely believe that.  There's no sign of the nail holes, and shouldn't a '59 have fewer pickguard screws and the original shape of control cavity routing?

Oh well.  I'm like the guy on the X-Files, "I want to believe."

The colour is... interesting.  It's very gold in some lights, kind of metallic brown in other lights.    ???
Image
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I'm tempted to refinish it back to sunburst, but on the other hand I'm lazy.  Plus the lacquer checking is kind of cool and the colour gives it a cool '50s vibe, so it'll stay as it is.  It needs a few minor repairs: one of the tailpiece screws is snapped off, and a few of the pickguard screw holes have cracked into the control cavity.  A screw extractor and some superglue should fix those.

I have a '63 Strat neck, so I'll use that for now.  Everything else, I'll buy new parts for now and try to replace them with vintage parts as I find them.  (That way I'll eventually end up with two guitars without my wife noticing!)

Where is the best place to buy the parts?  The only place I've found that sells the gold pickguard is Allparts, but they don't seem to have all the other bits.  Guitarpartsresource.com seems to have just about everything else, but not the gold pickguard.  I think I'll get the pickups from Curtis Novak.

I'm aiming for something like this:
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by Stereordinary » Wed Nov 28, 2007 10:55 am

Dane_Brammage wrote:...I'll buy new parts for now and try to replace them with vintage parts as I find them.  (That way I'll eventually end up with two guitars without my wife noticing!)
You're my hero.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by theworkoffire » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:08 am

So I'm not the only one that thought of that ruse, then! Guitars by stealth are the best kind  ;)

This project looks amazing - you seem really relaxed about the whole thing, which is great. I tend to think gold guards can go either way but your gold-on-gold combination just looks gorgeous in the DR pic. Really look forward to seeing this come together.

Try Angela's for parts, too, though I'm no expert on US suppliers.

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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by ugly casanova » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:09 am

that finish looks pretty cool, but i wouldn't put a gold pickguard on it because the colors won't match at all. :-X
if i were you i'd put a vintage white pickguard on it!

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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by daydreamdelay » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:10 am

stereordinary wrote:
Dane_Brammage wrote:...I'll buy new parts for now and try to replace them with vintage parts as I find them.  (That way I'll eventually end up with two guitars without my wife noticing!)
You're my hero.

that's a fantastic idea.. mind if I use it too?!  ;D

I think it's going to look incredible, I love Firemist Gold.. so sexy

not sure what to tell you about the nail holes and guard screws for a '59.. I know my previous 60's JM's had the doweled nail holes and I assume a '59 should too, it'd likely be covered by the refin though. If the guitar originally had a gold anodized guard I believe it should have 9 holes but I dunno if they used more for material like tortoise shell at that point  ???

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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by mcjt » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:34 am

I don't know, guys. I was always really fond of this guitar that appeared on ebay some time ago:
gold and gold can work, don't you think?
otherwise, mint green would look great on gold too.
and go stealth, yeah!

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Last edited by mcjt on Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by PorkyPrimeCut » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:42 am

Isn't Doug's guitar pretty similar to that??

Is that Doug's guitar??

I don't see any sign of a swimming pool.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by blacktiger » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:06 pm

I think that they moved to 13 hole tort guards by the end of '59, so it could still be a '59, but it definitely wasn't originally a gold guard.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by mcjt » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:12 pm

when i built Daphne 2, i started with a vintage body and bought all parts from Warmoth, Angela and GPR.

If there is no hole from the main cavity to the tremolo cavity for the ground wire, it should be a 59-62, i believe.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by mynameisjonas » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:17 am

PorkyPrimeCut wrote: Isn't Doug's guitar pretty similar to that??

Is that Doug's guitar??

I don't see any sign of a swimming pool.
yes that is doug's guitar, a few months before he bought it. i think the guy who won the auction that pic is taken from was the guy doug bought it from. back then it had jumbo frets and an incorrect decal IIRC. but doug has another neck on it now.

here are some more pics from that auction:
http://www.offsetguitars.com/personal/jonas/doug59/

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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by Kawentzmann » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:23 am

mcjt wrote: I don't know, guys. I was always really fond of this guitar that appeared on ebay some time ago:
gold and gold can work, don't you think?
otherwise, mint green would look great on gold too.
and go stealth, yeah!

Image
The one rhythm player in the Del-Tones played one like that. I always admired the classy look. Much better than Dick’s The Beast in my eyes.

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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by fuzzking » Thu Nov 29, 2007 4:15 am

Dane_Brammage wrote: The only place I've found that sells the gold pickguard is Allparts, but they don't seem to have all the other bits.  Guitarpartsresource.com seems to have just about everything else, but not the gold pickguard.
GPR do have a gold guard that fits Vintage/AVRI in their Ebay-store every now and then. They have the correct thickness.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by mcjt » Thu Nov 29, 2007 4:35 am

we should measure the thickness on the GPR guards. i have one, and i think it is cheezy THIN.
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by fuzzking » Thu Nov 29, 2007 4:45 am

mcjt wrote: we should measure the thickness on the GPR guards. i have one, and i think it is cheezy THIN.
I did:

GG comparison thread
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Re: '59-ish Firemist Gold Jazzmaster project

Post by Santiago! » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:28 am

thats another goldmember!
santiago leon.-

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