Weird '66 Jaguar

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Gerardo62
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Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:11 am

I'm in the process of restoring and refinishing my 1966 Jaguar, at least I think that's what it is but I have my doubts. I bought it with insurance money from Coventry Musical Exchanges in 1992 after my Gretsch Country Gent was stolen in Amsterdam. I was wondering if anybody here can shed some light on it's authenticity. It had what I think was a very weathered 3 tone sunburst finish. A strange plastic shell encased the body (long since gone) that was attached at the strap buttons. You could play it with it on, I might've done actually for a couple of gigs until I realised it wasn't such a good look. It doesn't have a serial or patent number anywhere on the body or headstock. The tremolo assembly and stop tailpiece has the stamp" PAT #2,972,923" which according to the Fender site corresponds to the years 1986-99 for the use on Japanese made Jaguars and Jazzmasters. The neck has the date stamp "15 SEP 66B" which looks fairly authentic but as I said there's limited headstock info except for a letraset-looking logo. I'm aiming to getting it refinished in either Olympic White or Sonic Blue, installing Bare Knuckle custom made pickups, Staytrem bridge hopefully and I've just got a new Jaguar vintage neck. Any help or advice in trying to find out more about this guitar will be much appreciated. Fender 66 Jag.jpg

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:12 am

I thought I'd posted a pic of it, I'll have to figure out how to do that

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:20 am


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Paul-T
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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Paul-T » Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:20 am

I look forward to seeing photos.

For my two penn'orth, or two cents worth, I'd say, even if a guitar has many non original bits, best to keep the original finish or original colours.

If you look on this board, some folks have had a sunburst finish re-done in nitro and it looks fantastic. It has much more historic value that way.

Edit: that is a wild finish! Is that black stain? Still worth thinking about a sunburst, with a nice Spitfire guard it will look ace.
Last edited by Paul-T on Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by timtam » Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:54 am

Gerardo62 wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:11 am
The tremolo assembly and stop tailpiece has the stamp" PAT #2,972,923" which according to the Fender site corresponds to the years 1986-99 for the use on Japanese made Jaguars and Jazzmasters.
That's just the patent number for the tremolo. It's been on most Fender trems, including current ones ...
eg the AV62 / AV65 trem ...
https://darrenriley.com/store/fender-am ... 054466000/
Japanese ..
https://darrenriley.com/store/fender-ja ... 264248000/

So it doesn't tell you anything much about trem's date. I guess in your case it just dates from <= 1992 since that's when you got it.
Last edited by timtam on Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:01 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 5:59 am

Paul

Yes I think it is black stain. It was in a right state when I first got it but that was over 25 years ago so I've forgotten what it was like. Basically the finish was peeling off all over so over time I scraped it all off, you can see marks where I removed the finish near the rhythm circuit where the grain meets stain. If I find out it's a bona fide vintage Jag and I find out the original clour then I'll refinish it to original spec but if not then, what the hell, I might as well give it a new paint job. I'm saying "I" a lot, it'll be somebody else actually doing the restoration, probably Guitarlodge in Suffolk, UK.

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Squirrel » Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:06 am

I'd say the neck is legit, purely on the basis that it has a veneer fretboard which most fakes don't have as they're too much of a pain in the ass to make. Have you tried checking the pot codes? Also, it's hard to tell in the photos but it looks like the pickguard and pickup covers have been spray painted black. It might be worth sanding them down with 1000 and 2000 grit sandpaper and polishing them up if they're original.

Also, the plastic cover you're talking about is probably a Parker Body Guard. Possibly the most useless thing ever made as the plastic used to react with the finish, completely ruining it.

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Paul-T » Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:04 am

I didn't see the post about replacing the neck, I agree with Squirrel, it looks good to me. You have already bought a second one?
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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 8:02 am


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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Tue Dec 11, 2018 8:14 am

Squirrell, Paul-T

Yes it was a Parker Body Guard! I agree, totally useless. If it is an original neck then what happened to the patent number and there’s no serial number either. I haven’t checked the pots myself, I’m not much of a tech person, but they were replaced a few years ago with 250k ones (I think, does that sound right?). I didn’t like the sound of them so I got my guitar tech friend to put the originals back in. The original neck joint plate was blank, I replaced it with a Fender one with the F letter logo.
Thanks so much for your help and info that’s solved a 26 year mystery!

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Squirrel » Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:19 am

Gerardo62 wrote:
Tue Dec 11, 2018 8:14 am
If it is an original neck then what happened to the patent number and there’s no serial number either.
Someone probably just replaced the decal at some point, and someone probably put the neckplate on a Strat or Tele. Don't replace the neck, it's really not necessary and it'll totally ruin the guitar.

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by rbrcbr » Wed Dec 12, 2018 8:27 am

Yeah, the decal was definitely replaced. The one on there is way too close to the edge of the headstock and it's just plain off.
Here's what it should look like.

Image

Otherwise it seems the headstock shape is correct, the decal just really throws it off so it looks wrong. But yeah blocks and binding makes it definitely 66, you should keep that neck and return the other neck if you bought it brand new, considering it's just a reissue neck (nonetheless not correct specs for a '66). Unless this neck has a frozen truss rod or is warped beyond repair, there's no need to replace it. The original is way cooler anyway and is a good candidate for restoration (or matching headstock if you choose to do a custom color refinish).

I'd personally go for a custom color if you're going to refinish it - sonic blue or olympic white are great choices. But a good sunburst nitro refin is never a bad idea and guys like Danocaster will do a great job if you choose to do the refin.

I'll echo that you should see about the pickup covers - see if they were just spraypainted and try to sand them down to get them to their original state.,
The pickguard also looks like it may have been spraypainted black, see if you can restore that as well.

Looks like you have a great candidate for a restoration! Good luck! Let us know if you have more questions.

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by Gerardo62 » Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:35 pm

Thanks a lot for all your comments and advice. I'm definitely not replacing the neck now, I'll buy a body and build up my own Jag over time using the new neck. But that's a project for the future. In the meantime I'll restore this 66 Jaguar keeping an eye on preserving it's integrity and character and being sympathetic to the history of the guitar. If the pickups and scratch plate are ok after getting a sand down I'll keep them too. The refinish will hopefully be as close to the original but I haven't ruled out the Olympic White or Sonic Blue option. Thanks again folks, I'll post updates as and when the restoration develops, which will probably be in the new year.

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Re: Weird '66 Jaguar

Post by surfin_bird » Fri Dec 14, 2018 3:49 pm

Good luck with the restoration. Plenty of people here manage to get some good results after wet sanding a painted vintage pickguard. So I have high hopes this jaguar will be in a good condition again 8) .

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