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Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:12 am
by Dan_Q
Hi All,

I was late sharing my last project and had to write a massive post to catch up, so I'm doing this one not far beyond initial thoughts! :blush:

I've had my jagmaster for years, i think i got it around '09/'10 ish. It was my first offset, back then there really wasn't much else available or more vintage spec at a squier pricepoint. It's an anniversary neck plate so think that makes it 2002? Long scale version, made in china.

It was in OK order, certainly seen some action, but the previous owner did get it playing well, setup nice. There's a crack in the finish at the neck pocket, the neck has been shimmed, i think there is also a crack in the wood between the neck pup and the neck heel under the pickguard, and plenty of paint chips on the bottom rear. However- despite this- it's stable as hell, and plays really nice- so i've never modded it, just played it. I think one or two of the tuners have sheared at some point, but i have a box of a few of these from when I've replaced them on other squires over the years. Aside from restringing and cleaning, it's needed nothing else. Here's a recent pic.

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This guitar hasn't been in use for 5 years- and needs a good clean, the elecrics are crackly / inoperative too. I've been reluctant to sell with it being my first offset, and i really like the neck. Whilst going through my parts during lockdown I've unearthed an old HH pickup set and switches I'd planned for a project that never made it, so decided that i'd build those into a guard, clean up the neck and frets, maybe a nitro overcoat and get it back into use.

I'll log any progress here, it'll be slow, but I'll plonk the odd update in as I go along. I have a scratchplate which recently arrived for it, I will take a snap when next at the workbench :)

First question I have- As these things are getting older / rarer now- would it me sacrilegious to do a nitro over poly re-fin on it? As usual, thoughts, comments- good bad or ugly- all welcomed! :)

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 2:57 pm
by Dan_Q
Did a little on this recently- have a pick guard and dropped the old pups in- needed a bit of fettling, the JB copy had bulky wires under the tape- Still needs wiring, hopefully do more on it this weekend

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Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:42 pm
by Lost In Autumn
Nice. I have 2, one from 2000 and one from 2001, both silver sparkle. the 2001 has bee converted to Baritone, both hav substantial upgrades. these are highly underrated guitars!

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2020 6:33 am
by X-Ray Spex
Dan_Q wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 02, 2020 3:12 am
Hi All,

I was late sharing my last project and had to write a massive post to catch up, so I'm doing this one not far beyond initial thoughts! :blush:

I've had my jagmaster for years, i think i got it around '09/'10 ish. It was my first offset, back then there really wasn't much else available or more vintage spec at a squier pricepoint. It's an anniversary neck plate so think that makes it 2002? Long scale version, made in china.

It was in OK order, certainly seen some action, but the previous owner did get it playing well, setup nice. There's a crack in the finish at the neck pocket, the neck has been shimmed, i think there is also a crack in the wood between the neck pup and the neck heel under the pickguard, and plenty of paint chips on the bottom rear. However- despite this- it's stable as hell, and plays really nice- so i've never modded it, just played it. I think one or two of the tuners have sheared at some point, but i have a box of a few of these from when I've replaced them on other squires over the years. Aside from restringing and cleaning, it's needed nothing else. Here's a recent pic.

Image

This guitar hasn't been in use for 5 years- and needs a good clean, the elecrics are crackly / inoperative too. I've been reluctant to sell with it being my first offset, and i really like the neck. Whilst going through my parts during lockdown I've unearthed an old HH pickup set and switches I'd planned for a project that never made it, so decided that i'd build those into a guard, clean up the neck and frets, maybe a nitro overcoat and get it back into use.

I'll log any progress here, it'll be slow, but I'll plonk the odd update in as I go along. I have a scratchplate which recently arrived for it, I will take a snap when next at the workbench :)

First question I have- As these things are getting older / rarer now- would it me sacrilegious to do a nitro over poly re-fin on it? As usual, thoughts, comments- good bad or ugly- all welcomed! :)
Are you me? This is so weird, I also have the exact same guitar as my first "proper" guitar that I played to death in my teens. It has no frets left and the pickups are junk so I hope to do it up with a baritone neck and maybe a single splittable neck pickup in the future. Also the finish rules and is kind've rare these days, don't refinish itπŸ˜‰

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:47 am
by Dan_Q
Lost In Autumn wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:42 pm
Nice. I have 2, one from 2000 and one from 2001, both silver sparkle. the 2001 has bee converted to Baritone, both hav substantial upgrades. these are highly underrated guitars!
Cool man i really liked the silver colour 8)

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:52 am
by Dan_Q
X-Ray Spex wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 26, 2020 6:33 am
Are you me? This is so weird, I also have the exact same guitar as my first "proper" guitar that I played to death in my teens. It has no frets left and the pickups are junk so I hope to do it up with a baritone neck and maybe a single splittable neck pickup in the future. Also the finish rules and is kind've rare these days, don't refinish itπŸ˜‰
Ha ha nice one great minds think alike :) sound like a great idea converting to baritone! I'd like to do that with a guitar at some point 8)

Fair point on the finish. It is cool, agreed. Just this one is abused, chipped and cracked- and if i shoot nitro over it, it shouldn't be a massive job to get it back to how it is now. I do like the feel of nitro. Jury is still out, plenty of time to make my mind up. If anyone else has opinions please share! :)

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:03 am
by Lost In Autumn
Dan_Q wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:47 am
Lost In Autumn wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:42 pm
Nice. I have 2, one from 2000 and one from 2001, both silver sparkle. the 2001 has bee converted to Baritone, both hav substantial upgrades. these are highly underrated guitars!
Cool man i really liked the silver colour 8)
They’ve got me hooked on sparkle finishes so much that I did the pink one next to is and am currently doing a sapphire blue sparkle Jazzmaster


Image

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:25 am
by s_mcsleazy
i do like me my jagmasters so i'm keeping an eye on this one.

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:40 am
by X-Ray Spex
Dan_Q wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:52 am
X-Ray Spex wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 26, 2020 6:33 am
Are you me? This is so weird, I also have the exact same guitar as my first "proper" guitar that I played to death in my teens. It has no frets left and the pickups are junk so I hope to do it up with a baritone neck and maybe a single splittable neck pickup in the future. Also the finish rules and is kind've rare these days, don't refinish itπŸ˜‰
Ha ha nice one great minds think alike :) sound like a great idea converting to baritone! I'd like to do that with a guitar at some point 8)

Fair point on the finish. It is cool, agreed. Just this one is abused, chipped and cracked- and if i shoot nitro over it, it shouldn't be a massive job to get it back to how it is now. I do like the feel of nitro. Jury is still out, plenty of time to make my mind up. If anyone else has opinions please share! :)
I have all my other bases covered and I love playing baritone but don't currently own one so it just makes sense to do it that way.

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:47 am
by Steadyriot.
Do the refin, nobody cares about old Squiers and you won't sell it anyway.

Re: Dan's Jagmaster Refresh

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:16 am
by s_mcsleazy
Steadyriot. wrote: ↑
Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:47 am
Do the refin, nobody cares about old Squiers and you won't sell it anyway.
i kinda do. what i've found is finding jagmasters that aint been modded to fuck is getting really difficult. i dont mind pickup changes and maybe a new pickguard but finding a good jagmaster is getting hard. most i've seen have stupid routing or really bad refins.

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both these started life as jagmasters. the white one is now basically a jazzmaster. it's one of my favorite guitars but it's still good. the red one had a lot of issues when it arrive. the guard was fucked (finding replacement guards was easier said than done) and the wood between the neck pocket and the pickup route was gone. snapped off. had to replace that. the old pickups were long gone. at the time the only way i could get a new guard made for it was to find another jagmaster that hadn't been hacked up.
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this is it now. not perfect but better than it was.

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this is the cleanest silver sparkle i've ever found. its got a horrible vinyl effect pickguard (which i kinda like) but they squared off the pickup routes to fit those pickups. i had to redrill the strap buttons because they really fucked that up. that was a fun afternoon. it's got a univox ripper clone in the bridge now.