help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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gregovertone
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help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by gregovertone » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:46 am

heres the deal.

i want a vintage jazzmaster, but goddmamn, i won't pay gbase/ebay prices.

i found a 67.

refin white
all orig pickups, electronics, everything.
1 block inlay (7) seems to be missing.

non orig case.

$2k.


i think i'm gonna do it. i bought one of the new silverburst SG's, and they are pulling about $2k in on ebay.
$1k profit. hooray.


ok.
this is where you come in.


what the hell do i look for, outside of regular 'old guitar' things, when buying a vintage jazzy?
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by burker » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:50 am

Well for vintage intsruments, I know I like the back of the neck to not have been refinished, so it has that smooth played in kind of feel, so is the neck refinished also?

other than that, don't really know what to say....

I like white Jazzmasters though. 8)

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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by gregovertone » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:59 am

roughly what it looks like
Image

the relic look falls between that, and this....


Image
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by Stereordinary » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:12 am

I'd try to talk them into a straight trade for the SG first.  Failing that, I'd still eBay the SG and buy the JM.  I'd like to see that guitar on this board, but it also sounds like a good deal on a guitar that wouldn't take much besides some cleaning to be restored to it's former glory.
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by i love sharin foo » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:17 am

It should have the witch hat knobs for being a '67 too. Does it still have the original tremelo arm? Also, does it have F tuners or Klusons? The Klusons are generally more desirable and are worth a bit more. Is the headstock matched to the body? If not, does it look like it still has the original finish and logo? If the neck still has all of the original finish and the original logo, that would be a selling point for me. If there did happen to be any changed hardware and things like that, they can be tracked down later, but once an original finish is gone, it's gone for good.

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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by daydreamdelay » Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:50 am

can you snap a few pics of it and post them here.. that would help quite a bit

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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by gregovertone » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:34 pm

thanks guys.

i will try to get pics, but the store is about an hour out from where i am.


justin---that is great info. that is the shit i need to know before buying this thing. its been there for about 2 months, which is either a blessing for me, or cuz it has passed over numerous times.
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by i love sharin foo » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:36 pm

gregovertone wrote: thanks guys.
  its been there for about 2 months, which is either a blessing for me, or cuz it has passed over numerous times.
Yeah, it's hard to say for sure. A lot of these seem to sit around for a while because people aren't that interested in them compared with Strats, Les Pauls, Telecasters, etc. I guess that is kind of changing now though  :(  Good luck on it though! If it has been sitting in the shop for a while, maybe they will deal with you on it. If everything else is original save for the case, refin, and the missing block, The full $2000 sounds like a pretty good price at the rate things are going.

Justin
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by gregovertone » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:40 pm

yea. $2k is WAY too much.....but perfectly reasonable by todays standards :)


i planned on beating them up on the price. i don't want to drop more than i get for the sg. $2k out the door, tops.

to be fair, they are good guys, and always take care of me.

any other thoughts as to what to look for?
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by i love sharin foo » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:47 pm

gregovertone wrote:
any other thoughts as to what to look for?
If you can get it opened up to take a look at the internals, check the wiring. It should be cloth covered still. You could write down the pot codes to make sure they're correct. There are a couple websites that help decipher the codes. You could print some of that out and take it with you. The neckplate should be an "F" plate with a number somewhere around 180000 to 210000.

Justin
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by i love sharin foo » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:53 pm

Here is a great reference for the source codes and dating on pots and some other components:

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/pots.html

Also, check out the code on the heel of the neck if you can. It's probably a 13, which was a left over Strat neck and is correct for that year.

Justin
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by daydreamdelay » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:55 pm

Justin basically covered it for what you can tell from the outside.. if they can pop the pickguard and pickup covers off that'd be even better, you'll want to check the pickups to see if they're original. The original pickups for that era should be dated and gray in color, also check the pots and wiring.. varying color cloth wire is original.. plastic isn't. The neck plate should be an F plate and like Justin mentioned you'll either have Klusons or F tuners, both my current '66 and past one have Klusons


inside should look something like this..

Image

Image

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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by daydreamdelay » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:58 pm

Justin was too quick for me  ;D

like he said check the heel.. 13 strat code is definitely common, both of mine have that and I know Yannis '67 did... does yours Justin?


Image

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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by zhivago » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:01 pm

daydreamdelay wrote: Justin was too quick for me  ;D

like he said check the heel.. 13 strat code is definitely common, both of mine have that and I know Yannis '67 did... does yours Justin?
indeed :)

mine was 13OCT66B :)
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Re: help me buy a vintage Jazzmaster

Post by i love sharin foo » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:02 pm

daydreamdelay wrote: Justin was too quick for me  ;D
???

;D

daydreamdelay wrote:
like he said check the heel.. 13 strat code is definitely common, both of mine have that and I know Yannis '67 did... does yours Justin?
Yeah, mine has the 13. I don't think I have ever seen a '66 that didn't, but I'm not positive.

Justin
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