NGD: Fender Jaguar 1963 - advice on refinish needed.

[superficial]

Here's the 1964 catalogue showing tort on white, and on burgundy mist ...

I stand corrected in the most pleasing way - thank you!

BMM for my money, then. But I'd do a matching headstock too (unless that is some kind of crime against vintage gear).

[Highnumbers]

Here's the 1964 catalogue showing tort on white, and on burgundy mist ...

and apparently this 1960 JM is all original tort on fiesta:

For what it's worth -- that catalog shot of the Jags is the only image that ever appears when people discuss non-matching headstock custom color Jags. Never seen one of these in the wild.

It's extremely likely that all the guitars in that photo are pre-production examples made in late '61/early '62 and rushed for a catalog shot. Not standard production models, and that would make them the exception to the rule.

That '60 Jazzmaster is normal though, it's from the era before 1962 when matching headstocks became the norm. In fact, there's a good chance that Jaguars are the reason that matching headstocks became the norm - they arrived in early-62, the same year that the factory implemented a bunch of changes including the stamped neck heel, veneer fretboard, nitrate mint guards on non-white custom colors and the matching headstock. A year of standardization for Fender, across the range.

[MattK]

Fair points, I’ve heard the preproduction issue raised before. I don’t recall any in The Golden Age book for example. But if you’re a BMM enthusiast with a beautiful tort guard, that photo is a good excuse (and doesn’t need a headstock refinish either).

[Highnumbers]

For sure, BMM with a tort guard is a surprisingly delicious combo.

Same with CAR and tort for some reason, I always like that. I'd have a really hard time removing a factory headstock decal just for the purposes of matching the headstock color, that's going too far.

[MattK]

I agree

[RavenCrest]

I would look for verification of the original color scheme, then find a skilled painter to do the original finish. Personally it makes me cringe to see a vintage Fender with the finish stripped to the bare wood. Full disclosure I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to the vintage guitars. I'd rather see a well worn well played Fender or Gibson with a significant amount of finish wear rather than see it stripped.

[tqi]

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[RavenCrest]

That sort of metalflake I think is too much for a vintage Fender. That being said, my opinion is just like well...an opinion out of many.

I think an aged white with tortoise guard would be striking. Here are some other color combinations that would be slick imo.

Black with a tortoise guard
Black with a white guard, matching headstock
Candy apple red, white guard, matching headstock
Lake Placid Blue with white guard, matching headstock
3TS with a tortoise guard

If it were me I'd go with this

[SashaB]

Got the guitar 31st December just in time to put under the New Year tree.
Refinished, bridge pickup rewind and refretted. Sounds awesome

[RavenCrest]

As someone else mentioned, that line where the 2 pieces are joined kinda sticks out. As much as a French polish would look great my vote would go for a nitrocellulose blonde body-only refin. It's a slightly translucent finish so you'll still get some of the grain showing through but it'll disguise the eyesore behind the tailpiece.

I think a jag in that color/finish would look spectacular.

[OffYourFace]

Got the guitar 31st December just in time to put under the New Year tree.
Refinished, bridge pickup rewind and refretted. Sounds awesome

What happened to the original pickguard??

[SashaB]

The pickguard was too shrunk at the pickup switches when I got the guitar and after I removed it to check what is under it, I couldn't fit the bridge pickup back into the hole. I still have it, so probably I will try to follow some advice on the forums for its restoration, but so far we agreed with the luthier who was doing the finish that we buy a new one.

[RavenCrest]

The pickguard was too shrunk at the pickup switches when I got the guitar and after I removed it to check what is under it, I couldn't fit the bridge pickup back into the hole. I still have it, so probably I will try to follow some advice on the forums for its restoration, but so far we agreed with the luthier who was doing the finish that we buy a new one.

Once the shrinkage has gotten too prominent, is it even repairable?

[PorkyPrimeCut]

The pickguard was too shrunk at the pickup switches when I got the guitar and after I removed it to check what is under it, I couldn't fit the bridge pickup back into the hole. I still have it, so probably I will try to follow some advice on the forums for its restoration, but so far we agreed with the luthier who was doing the finish that we buy a new one.

Once the shrinkage has gotten too prominent, is it even repairable?

Holes can be very carefully enlarged with something like a Dremel but you have to go easy as the material can combust. But, yeah, some guards are just too far gone.

Also, if the guard's taken off the body it should be securely screwed to a flat piece of wood, preferably with dummy pickup covers in place, to prevent it from shrinking even more.

[RavenCrest]

The pickguard was too shrunk at the pickup switches when I got the guitar and after I removed it to check what is under it, I couldn't fit the bridge pickup back into the hole. I still have it, so probably I will try to follow some advice on the forums for its restoration, but so far we agreed with the luthier who was doing the finish that we buy a new one.

Once the shrinkage has gotten too prominent, is it even repairable?

Holes can be very carefully enlarged with something like a Dremel but you have to go easy as the material can combust. But, yeah, some guards are just too far gone.

Also, if the guard's taken off the body it should be securely screwed to a flat piece of wood, preferably with dummy pickup covers in place, to prevent it from shrinking even more.

Combust?? I had no idea. LOL