'63 Jazzmaster -- your appraisal, please, OSG

[GreenKnee]

You cannot conclusively test with just your eyes, although you can make educated guesses. Unless you have the guitar in-hand it's hard to be sure.

As for the refund age, well, there are a lot of clever people out there. Take this 65 Jaguar I bought that the UK dude Rexter refinished and appropriately aged. It was almost indiscernible from an old finish in person...

That's a stunning refinish, actually tempts me to have my refinished '62 returned to its former burst glory. Rexter closed though didn't they

[lnwt]

That Jag looks so lush

I was wonderful. I eventually sold it because I had 3 mid-60s Jags and this was my least favourite. It went to another forum member then on again into the unknown.

I'm sure we'll see it again

Why did you sell it?

[JSett]

That Jag looks so lush

I was wonderful. I eventually sold it because I had 3 mid-60s Jags and this was my least favourite. It went to another forum member then on again into the unknown.

I'm sure we'll see it again

Why did you sell it?

*cough*

[JSett]

That's a stunning refinish, actually tempts me to have my refinished '62 returned to its former burst glory. Rexter closed though didn't they

Yeah, Jon did a really exceptional job bringing it back from a former terrible refin. He shut up shop which is a brutal shame but he had his (legitimate) reasons.

[lnwt]

I was wonderful. I eventually sold it because I had 3 mid-60s Jags and this was my least favourite. It went to another forum member then on again into the unknown.

I'm sure we'll see it again

Why did you sell it?

*cough*

I meant to ask why it was your least favourite

[JSett]

I meant to ask why it was your least favourite

Preferred the necks on the others, and they were black and lake placid blue...so the Sunburst was a bit drab for my tastes

[shigginpit]

Hey, I'm certainly not a vetted opinion here or any kind of expert so take this for what you want, but there's probably not much question as to whether the paint is nitro. The linked pics on imgur with the pickguard removed show shrinkage or checking of the finish (whichever you want to call it as) on both the front face of the body between the top of the rhythm pickup and the base of the neck pocket where it's usually covered by the guard, as well as checking on the rear of the guitar southwards of the neck plate. I can't closely examine the rest of the finish given that the lighting doesn't provide sufficient contrast to see anything definitive beyond that the chipping in other areas appears to be genuine wear. Nothing is 100% without some chemical testing but shrinkage is a lacquer specific characteristic.

I don't think this guitar had a full refinish, but I'm also suspicious about the black having been touched up at some point. The spray pattern and texture in the neck pocket is weird, the wear around the neck pocket circumference from removal and replacement of the neck is also disproportionate to the overall condition of the rest of the outermost burst color. Just hypothesizing that paint is usually the thinnest on corners and sharp angles and if it was already exposed prior to touch up, the wear-through might logically reappear in this area first.

Also, looking at the bridge thimble which has already had attention called to it, the stress from removal or reinsertion is fairly evident. Just using my eyes tells me that the wood had probably contracted and they had trouble getting it out and then back in (probably using a hammer and not a press) because the top of that low E side thimble is pretty smashed up whereas the high E side thimble isn't displaying anywhere near the same amount of wear. Overall, it's a beautiful guitar and unless it bothers you then I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I've had 2 pre-cbs JM's, a 62 burgundy mist nitro refinish that was otherwise 100% original and a 63 that was not a what you'd call a very pretty or original guitar, but I really loved them both. Interestingly, while both were B width necks, I found the neck carve on the 63 (stamped oct 63) to be a bit slimmer tapered and there was nothing about it that I'd call chunky. My experience with pre cbs fender guitars in general is that there's very little consistency between them.

Anyhow, the only important points I would make were that someone was not very careful when reinserting that thimble, so I'd be very cautious if ever a time comes when it must be extracted as the wood might be a bit more prone to cracking on that side. The other point was that the paint (respray or not) is most likely nitro given that there's lacquer shrinkage evident in the pictures. I probably need to stop looking at pre-cbs guitars or something bad is going to happen to my bank account, I hope you're enjoying this one as much as I would and thanks for looking over my opinions but remember, these are only opinions so make determinations on your own. Again, it's a beautiful guitar and you should treasure it.