1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by greg-r » Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:20 am

Hi guys!

i bought this jaguar from a friend of mine and we both dont know if this is an official colour or what the heck it could be haha. he once took it appart and it seemde to him that its either a ground-coat or a really really old refin of some sorts. but it seems strange because theres no traces of another colour on the body below the electronics for example. heres a pic in daylight:

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i dont have pictures of it when he took it apart unfortunately. but i know its a really early model. neck date is august 1st 1962. any ideas?

cheers guys!

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Sweetfinger » Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:32 am

Used to be white. That pickguard has really faded, too.

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by greg-r » Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:50 am

you think thats a faded white? is that even possible to fade this much??? its beige!! haha. but then it should still be white under the pickguard no?

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Surfysonic » Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:03 am

My two cents: Olympic White tends to age into a lovely yellow-cream (which can be expedited by direct sunlight, too). If you are saying the finish color under the pickguard is pretty much the same as the exposed parts, then it's possibly an early refin job at some point. If so, the body's original finish might have been 3-Tone Sunburst (the standard model in stores at the time) and someone at some point wanted the premium look...but without a matching headstock.

Love the pickguard - is that the original pickguard as far as you know? I've got a couple of Spitfire pickguards based on that (assuming it is) original look. Absolutely stunning! :?

Beautiful guitar in any case! 8)
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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by greg-r » Sat Jun 19, 2021 11:41 am

Thanks!! As far as i know the pickguard is original. Love the colour of it too, never seen any others like it. Its a perfect match to the bodys color too in my opinion!

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:16 pm

Could it be Desert Sand? That was used on Duo Sonics in ‘58-59. Might have still been a custom color available in ‘62, for Tele or Strat at least. If not it might have been refined to match another guitar like a Strat?

Weren’t the custom color whites done with matching headstock?

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by bterry » Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:06 pm

Most likely a refin.

Is the finish somewhat transparent so you can see grain through it, or is it solid? Is the original finish visible in the neck pocket, trem cavity or under the guard?

Probably either blond or white, but if it’s a refin it could be anything. Not likely desert sand as it fades to grey.

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by whitewatersky » Sun Jun 20, 2021 1:34 pm

Great reading about colours here:

http://www.guitarhq.com/fender.html

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Highnumbers » Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:10 am

Without the matching headstock (and no visible grain for a Blond), I'm inclined to say this is an old refin.

It really doesn't look the same way that a seriously faded Olympic White should look, and a '62 Jaguar would almost invariably have a matching headstock. That model was the flagship for the new custom color chart, and the matching headstock was a big change in '62.

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Embenny » Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:58 am

Highnumbers wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:10 am
Without the matching headstock (and no visible grain for a Blond), I'm inclined to say this is an old refin.

It really doesn't look the same way that a seriously faded Olympic White should look, and a '62 Jaguar would almost invariably have a matching headstock. That model was the flagship for the new custom color chart, and the matching headstock was a big change in '62.
Sorry, but this just isn't correct. Especially around '62, non-matching headstocks on custom colours happened a whole lot.

The '62-'63 catalogue doesn't even show a single matching headstock:

Image

Image

A plain headstock cannot be used to determine originality of the body finish of a '62 offset.
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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Highnumbers » Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:39 am

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:58 am
Highnumbers wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:10 am
Without the matching headstock (and no visible grain for a Blond), I'm inclined to say this is an old refin.

It really doesn't look the same way that a seriously faded Olympic White should look, and a '62 Jaguar would almost invariably have a matching headstock. That model was the flagship for the new custom color chart, and the matching headstock was a big change in '62.
Sorry, but this just isn't correct. Especially around '62, non-matching headstocks on custom colours happened a whole lot.

The '62-'63 catalogue doesn't even show a single matching headstock:

Image

Image

A plain headstock cannot be used to determine originality of the body finish of a '62 offset.
That catalog was most likely shot in early '62 (or even 1961?) before matching headstocks became the standard on custom color models.

Which is precisely why it's extremely uncommon to find a pre-62 Fender with a matching headstock.

The vast majority of 60s JM/Jags after Q1 1962 had a matching headstock unless it was sunburst or blond.

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Embenny » Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:47 am

Highnumbers wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:39 am
That catalog was most likely shot in early '62 (or even 1961?) before matching headstocks became the standard on custom color models.

Which is precisely why it's extremely uncommon to find a pre-62 Fender with a matching headstock.

The vast majority of 60s JM/Jags after Q1 1962 had a matching headstock unless it was sunburst or blond.
All I said was that a plain headstock on a '62 doesn't prove it's a refin. I never said the majority of '62s have plain headstocks, just that plenty of them made it out into the wild, so that's not a way to judge the originality of this particular guitar's finish.

Admittedly, I did miss that OP mentioned an August stamp (I thought we were going off year information only), but Fender was consistently inconsistent with finishes and plain-headstock CCs even later than that have popped up with good provenance. Not to mention that necks and bodies can end up swapped over the years, so an original CC body might have been restored with an original sunburst neck at some point in the past.

It's just not reliable to judge the body finish by the headstock finish. A look at the neck pocket, routs, and under the guard would give far more useful information.
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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Highnumbers » Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:59 am

Of course, the rule is "never say never" and exceptions always exist.

But we are going by ONE photo, with a claimed neck date of August '62 when Fender was deeply into matching headstock CC by that point. If we had more photos, a much more educated discussion could be had without the guessing game.

But I wouldn't be assuming a non-matching headstock CC in August '62 is original, based on one photo.

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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Embenny » Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:08 pm

Highnumbers wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:59 am
Of course, the rule is "never say never" and exceptions always exist.

But we are going by ONE photo, with a claimed neck date of August '62 when Fender was deeply into matching headstock CC by that point. If we had more photos, a much more educated discussion could be had without the guessing game.

But I wouldn't be assuming a non-matching headstock CC in August '62 is original, based on one photo.
Well, yeah, I totally agree. I don't recommend assuming anything is original based on a single photo. Especially with something as quirky as a vintage Fender where features blend and overlap, it often comes down to subtleties. Like if the neck has bits of black paint stuck to the heel, even if the body looked convincing.
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Re: 1962 Fender Jaguar - do you know this colour?

Post by Highnumbers » Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:28 pm

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:08 pm
Highnumbers wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:59 am
Of course, the rule is "never say never" and exceptions always exist.

But we are going by ONE photo, with a claimed neck date of August '62 when Fender was deeply into matching headstock CC by that point. If we had more photos, a much more educated discussion could be had without the guessing game.

But I wouldn't be assuming a non-matching headstock CC in August '62 is original, based on one photo.
Well, yeah, I totally agree. I don't recommend assuming anything is original based on a single photo. Especially with something as quirky as a vintage Fender where features blend and overlap, it often comes down to subtleties. Like if the neck has bits of black paint stuck to the heel, even if the body looked convincing.
Yep, and a replaced neck is entirely possible too, in which case the body finish would/could still be original but the guitar is not "original" per se.

I still don't think the body color looks right for an aged Olympic White, but that pickguard is pretty sunblasted and it's possible the body is just evenly faded to that tan color.

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