New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Bringing your older offset back to life.
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will
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New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Thu Apr 21, 2016 11:42 am

I decided to swap around / sell some parts and put together a kinda-authentic Jazzmaster. ...I've only ever had a Jazzmaster made from a newer body and a Coronado neck.

This Jazzmaster body popped up on ebay - it didn't go for a bonkers price, so I managed to pick it up from the seller along with a Jaguar mute he was also selling. (the mute is for another project - it's not going on the Jazzmaster, I promise!)

I was totally surprised when the package arrived in the mail and there were a few extra things wrapped up in the bubblewrap - he included an original owner's manual, bridge cover, brass tub, and trem plate too, without even letting me know that he'd be sending them along. So nice!

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Ah-ha! So that's how this thing works!

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I scraped the newer paint off of the neck pocket, trem, and pickup routs, (I'll post photos later) but I only have seen part of what might have been a penciled-in date. I'm guessing that the body is from 62 or 63 since it has tall bridge thimbles, traces of where a paint stick was used in the neck pocket, a hole for a wire leading to the trem rout, and the bits of sunburst finish that I've seen are in an old lacquer. ...I think it'll get a nice Sherwood Green refinish.

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A neck popped up a few days later on ebay - it was kinda expensive, but it was too close a match to the body to pass up:

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I'm happy with how this is coming together so far - I'll post some updates as they happen. ...next steps: remove the Fiesta Red refinish and track down a pickguard!
Last edited by will on Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:59 am, edited 2 times in total.

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HH1978
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by HH1978 » Thu Apr 21, 2016 12:11 pm

That will be an exciting project! The neck looks really nice!

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2fLAz
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by 2fLAz » Fri Apr 22, 2016 5:20 am

following !

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will
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sat Apr 23, 2016 8:41 pm

Almost all of the non-original paint has been scraped off of the likely areas for markings, but no dates that I can see:

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The neck arrived in the mail - in surprisingly good condition!

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I'm going to need to glue a bit of alder to the sides of the neck pocket for a better fit, and to the side of the heel next to the neck plate so that the neck plate won't overhang the body.

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I think I might stick with the aluminum pickguard - it seems like a big expense to find an original one that isn't too shrunken to be usable. Also, I swapped the guts from a Johnny Marr trem into the original trem plate that came with the body - everything fit well (though I did need to hammer the old plate flat again!!

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terminalvertigo
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by terminalvertigo » Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:29 pm

do you want a mint or tort guard? i'm sure spitfire can get you close if its the latter :)

looking good man :) i love the neck on my '63 8)
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by andy » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:49 am

I really love the look of the red and gold combo! Especially with the white plastic bits.
Send me western swing vids

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will
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:53 am

andy wrote:I really love the look of the red and gold combo! Especially with the white plastic bits.
Yeah - the gold pickguard looks really nice with the Fiesta Red! - I'd probably keep it this color if I didn't need to do a bit of work on the body around the neck pocket (and if the previous refinisher didn't use grey automotive primer!)

Besides, I've always wanted an offset in Sherwood Green.
Last edited by will on Sun Apr 24, 2016 7:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:59 am

terminalvertigo wrote:do you want a mint or tort guard? i'm sure spitfire can get you close if its the latter

looking good man i love the neck on my '63
I'm undecided - I think Sherwood Green looks pretty nice with either a mint or tort guard. The gold guard lines up nicely with all of the screw holes, so I'll try that one first. The Spitfire guards are very nice, but the price is almost up there with an original guard sometimes. ...I figured that I'd try out the gold guard first, and keep an eye out for an old original guard that doesn't look like a shrinky-dink in the meantime.

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:50 pm

I learned some stuff on Paint Stripping Day.

I'm almost positive that the body is a '66. The big clues are an "ES" stamp faintly visible between the pickup routs, and that the body was originally a "fauxburst" - one of the ones that the CBS penny-pinchers made from several (in this case SEVEN) pieces of wood sandwiched between two pieces of 1/8"thick plywood.

I recently sold an Electric XII body that was a fauxburst - I didn't think that I'd end up with another one so soon!



"ES" stamp:

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You can see the stripe of the edge of the plywood top layer in this shot:

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Well, that's the first time I've seen someone try to repair wood with solder!

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sat May 07, 2016 5:40 pm

I put some more time into sanding - the forearm contour was barely radiused, so I worked on that a bit to make the radius more consistent around the edge of the body.

Also, I put some "E" strings on and screwed the parts together to see how the strings would line up and if everything would fit. It looks like I'll need to add a shim to the treble side of the neck pocket and dowel/re-drill the holes in the body for the neck screws ...then I'll be able to avoid adding material to the side of the body since the neck plate won't overhang anymore.

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sat May 28, 2016 4:12 pm

I finally got around to doweling and re-drilling the neck bolt holes. I was a bit worried about the drill bit wandering as I drilled through the neck pocket, so I marked the new holes inside the neck pocket and drilled one of them all the way through.

I used this first hole to transfer the placement of the neck bolt holes to the back side of the body. I drilled the next three holes halfway through the body from the front and back so that they met in the middle - that way, even if the drill bit wandered, the holes on the front and back of the body would at least be in the right place.

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by PJazzmaster » Sat May 28, 2016 4:53 pm

will wrote:
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Fresh looking rosewood and nice grain :w00t: :-* :?

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by Pacafeliz » Sat May 28, 2016 10:59 pm

god that's SO cool!!!
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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will
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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by will » Sun May 29, 2016 8:01 am

Pacafeliz wrote:god that's SO cool!!!
Thanks!

It's weird that the neck and pickguard line up when the neck is pressed against the bass side of the neck pocket. I had kind of figured that CBS would have increased the sloppiness by making the neck pocket larger on both sides instead of just one, but everything lines up with the neck bolts re-drilled and about a 3/32" shim on the treble side.

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Re: New Project - 63 Jazzmaster parts pile!

Post by kontingent » Sun Jun 05, 2016 11:16 am

Great project, looks killer.

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