This is more of a makeover than a proper restoration, but who knows, maybe it will turn into a restoration some day…
So I bought my first and so far only Jazzmaster from a friend back in 2005. Although I was (still am) into Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and particularly Wilco, I had not been actively looking for one, but when the opportunity came up I took it. Here’s what it looked like until recently:
Unfortunately I don’t know much about its history incl. the pretty horrible refinish and how the different parts ended up being the same guitar. My friend had bought it as a ‘62 but did realize that neck was much younger. As he is left-handed, he had moved one of the strap pins to the neck plate (hence the extra hole in it). He also had the guitar signed by Robert Smith at some point. When I got it, the signature was barely visible and it soon disappeared completely.
Here’s what I’ve found out so far, based on the info found on these forums. Feel free to chime in if I’ve missed anything.
Body is from 1961, based on the body date, the serial number and the taller style thimbles.
The pickups have black bobbins and they could possibly be from around ‘61.
Neck is from 77 or 78. The bridge could also be from 77/78, based on the saddles (same threads on all of them) and the less rounded area where the bridge height is set.
Wiring and aluminum sheet are probably original, although the pots are from ‘72 and ‘78. I don’t know about the pots in the rhythm circuit, because I couldn’t remove the rollers. They seem to be stuck.
Knobs are no-spoke strat style knobs. No idea how old these are, but definitely not original.
So almost 18 years after the purchase I finally decided to have the body refinished, get a nicer pickguard and set everything up properly. The refinish and slight relicing was done by Mateusz Piotrowski in Toruń, Poland (restauracja-gitar.pl). He masked all cavities, so the body date and all other scribblings are preserved.
Here’s a picture of my son, helping me put everything back together:
The pickguard is a lavaguard, and I think it looks stunning.
So here it is, back in its natural environment:
I also bought a Halon bridge, and while I think it’s a great piece of kit and really well made, I ended up keeping the stock bridge, because it works fine. With an additional 0.5 degree shim (Tosicam branded, from amazon) everything just fell into place. It’s now practically impossible to get this thing to go out of tune. No rattling, no string slippage. If I ever find a ‘61 neck in good condition for a decent price, I might jump on it, but for now I’m super happy with how everything turned out.
Thanks!
... but in the neck pocket there's a sort of burgundy or oxblood paint may be... great job in all bye!!!
