Please tell me about this old Jazzmaster

[ringosan]

This was my father's Jazzmaster, I believe it's a '62. I am trying to understand more about this instrument and thought this would be a good place to ask about it. I am an experienced player and was an amateur luthier for a few years a while back but I am no electric guitar or Fender expert.

From what I gather it's all original but I'm not sure the body finish is... this looks to be a blonde finish, but the wood looks like alder to me (I was told all blondes were ash) and the neck and pickup routes look an awful lot like this was a sunburst finish originally. The pots look right but don't match; was it normal for Fender to use pots from different manufacturers on the same guitar? Any thoughts or insights about this guitar are much appreciated and I'm happy to answer any questions if I can

[MattK]

There are many with far greater knowledge than mine here, but (a) that is a drop dead Jazzmaster, one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, (b) I agree it seems like a refin with the yellow dye under the shields, but it looks very old and could even be factory since nothing seems disturbed, and (c) it all looks legit otherwise, wiring is immaculate (edit: I missed the wire splice on the bridge pickup), although they are different pots they look like they're factory.

[JVG]

Beautiful guitar. Agree that the evidence suggests 1962 is likely, but it could have been assembled a bit later, using a 62 neck.

My knowledge comes mostly from http://guitarhq.com/fender.html, which is considered a generally reliable source.

Neck stamp is September 1962. I can’t quite tell if the board is slab or veneer…looks more like slab, which was standard until around August 1962. If so, this may be be one of the last slabs.

Headstock decal has no patent numbers, as was standard up to (and including) 1962.

Neck plate number fits in the range generally associated with 1961.

One of the pots has manufacturer code 137 on it, which indicates it is CTS, followed by 6026 (i think), which would be the 26th week of 1960. Can’t see the code on the other pot, but if it has 304 it would be a Stackpole pot, which was Fender’s main pot brand in the 50s.

The flat “pancake” tone capacitors were mostly used from 1963 onwards, but some 1961-62 Fenders seem to have them.

Are there any hand written dates on the pickups or any of the body cavities (including vibrato cavity)?

[OffYourFace]

Nice guitar!

The body has been refinished. It was originally sunburst. You can tell by the amber color in the pickup routs and that dark brown in the neck pocket.

I also think the neck was refinished and given a new decal.

The pots are fine, that brand mismatch is normal because for whatever reason, Fender used a Linear pot for the JM's volume and maybe Stackpole didn't make one? or they were on back order that week/month.

[caples]

Definitely a body refinish, looks like a neck refinish and decal replacement to me also, the spacing and font on the decal isn't the same as factory. Beautiful jazzmaster though, the blond refinish is beautiful.

[parry]

Noticed the oversized repro decal, too. I'd guess the body was originally burst as well.
Regardless... that thing is absolutely beautiful

[repoman]

Gorgeous looking JM.

[Highnumbers]

Yep also notable in the replacement decal that is spells “synchronized” with the H and not the misspelling Fender had on the originals.

Definitely a refin, it was likely sunburst originally so the alder body isn’t surprising.

[BoringPostcards]

Gorgeous looking JM.

Seconded

[ringosan]

Thanks all, I definitely learned a few things here.

[MattK]

How did I miss it? but the decal with the wrong JAZZMASTER font and the SYNCHRONISED spelling is definitely a repro.

[JVG]

Yep also notable in the replacement decal that is spells “synchronized” with the H and not the misspelling Fender had on the originals.

You have a super keen eye. That’s an awesome pick-up!

And yeah, now that it’s mentioned, the font does look a bit off in places.

[welshywelsh]

Yep also notable in the replacement decal that is spells “synchronized” with the H and not the misspelling Fender had on the originals.

Never knew this! Just checked mine and yep no "H"

[Highnumbers]

Yep also notable in the replacement decal that is spells “synchronized” with the H and not the misspelling Fender had on the originals.

You have a super keen eye. That’s an awesome pick-up!

And yeah, now that it’s mentioned, the font does look a bit off in places.

Yep also notable in the replacement decal that is spells “synchronized” with the H and not the misspelling Fender had on the originals.

Never knew this! Just checked mine and yep no "H"

Yep, AFAIK Fender never spelled this with the "H" until the full CBS era transition (late 1965).

It's an easy shortcut to tell if the decal on a guitar is a replacement. For many years, you could not buy a reproduction decal that spelled it "syncronized" so there's plenty out there with the wrong decal.

[ludobag1]

nothing to say more but it is really beautifull