Vintage Frankensguar project

Bringing your older offset back to life.
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Axolotl
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Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Axolotl » Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:13 am

After replacing the ol mangled neck of my 65 Jaguar for a 65 Mustang slab neck I got the idea of building a mostly original 65-66 Partsguar. Once GAS hit hard enough, I started hunting for parts. I've got on ebay a vintage body with several layers of paint. It came with the original tremolo, hardware, shielding plates and some wiring. I got a hefty discount on the body once forum member Will told me that it he had repaired a crack in this body a few years back. So thanks to will I got it on the "pretty good deal" realm :w00t: All this was a few months ago, the body got sent to my friend in the US who brought it to my country just yesterday. So here it is, with the aforementioned mangled Jag neck for a mockup (the neck is a 65 slab musicmaster neck that I'll be getting in the next few weeks):

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From what I gather, tremolo, shielding plates and knobs are original. Not sure about the control plates although they do look worn. Pots and switches are newer, neatly soldered. Wiring is clothed but looks too new to be original.

Body is kinda of a beautiful mess. The belly cut is a dead ringer for my 65 JM and Jag, so I'm fairly sure is from this era. Ht re-re-re-refinish is a ordinary goopy red that is definitely not nitro but doesn't feel like poly either. It feels somehow "waxy"? Maybe polyester? And there are about 8 layers of paint underneath! :wtf: At least, if it was painted so many times over, the body wasn't sanded probably more than once. The shapes look really nice.
I wet sanded a small spot until I got through the wood and counted 9 layers! Red, black, grey, orange sparklish/metallic (looks nice!), brown, gold, black, red and brownish.

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This body was going to be refinished without question, but then again, that orange metallic does look very nice in person. It's close to a very faded Candy Apple Red. I might try to sand it down to this layer first. It also looks like the thickest layer and will probably hold up alright. Other than that, I'm entertaining a burgundy mist, IBM or greened LPB refin.

As the rest of the parts, in about month I should get together with a vintage tort guard, a 64 neck pickup I bought from a fellow forumite and a 65 slab musicmaster neck. The tuners will be donated by the Jag mangled neck. Still a bridge pickup and neckplate to go. I will be posting here as this 60s Frankenguar project progresses.

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SummerLeftMe
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by SummerLeftMe » Mon Jan 06, 2020 1:36 am

Any update on this project? I'd love to see where this goes.

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Axolotl
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Axolotl » Tue Jan 07, 2020 9:46 am

SummerLeftMe wrote: โ†‘
Mon Jan 06, 2020 1:36 am
Any update on this project? I'd love to see where this goes.
I'm hoping to get all the other parts sometime this month. Pretty sure I'll give the orange sparkle layer a go though. I should start sanding it soon but life. I'll post pics and progress as soon as I get to it. I can hardly wait!

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jvin248
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by jvin248 » Tue Jan 07, 2020 3:24 pm

.

9 layers of finish!
I have a Tele I bought that the body must have been the Fender paint shop spray booth setup piece that accidentally got shipped. I counted 13 layers of actual factory coating. Weighs 9lbs with all that paint.

You'll have a fun project here.

.

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Axolotl
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Vintage Frankensguar project 2 years later -it's alive!!!

Post by Axolotl » Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:36 am

2 years later this project is finally coming alive. It took a while to buy the parts and have them sent all the way down to South America in the midst of the pandemic. And oh, yeah the refin took about a year. :wacko: According to the paint guy, who is the very best here but also a bit of an eccentric, the body needed quite a bit of attention prepping it up.

In any case, here it is in all its burgundy mist glory. It just needs wiring, strings, tuner bushings and it's pretty much ready to roar.

64/65 body, trem and plates
64/65 tort guard
64/65 black bobbin pickups
65 duo sonic or musicmaster slab neck (Original Fender decal with the model name scratched off. Tried the neck on my other Jag and it's pretty fantastic)
Staytrem bridge and trem arm
Repro L neckplate
Kluson tuners

In comparison to current prices, the whole project was quite a bargain. Of course the waiting time was insane (patientcaster anyone?) but now that it's almost done I'm so glad I stuck to it.

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will
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by will » Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:02 pm

Nice to see how it turned out.

Did the painter take any pictures of the process? I was curious to see what might have been hiding under all of that paint!

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Axolotl
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Axolotl » Sat Nov 13, 2021 8:25 am

^^^ Sadly the painter just send me a picture when the body was primed already. He told me it had some inserted wood on the side and about 10 old coats of paint, both things I knew already. In any case the Burgundy looks spectacular in person and I think the tort looks great with it. After so long wait this feels almost like having a new guitar out of the blue. Can't wait to have it wired, up and running!

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Pacafeliz
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Pacafeliz » Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:06 am

....don't wanna rain on your parade but to me that's pretty much :'( ๐Ÿ’”๐Ÿ’”๐Ÿ’”
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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Axolotl
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Axolotl » Wed Dec 08, 2021 10:52 am

Pacafeliz wrote: โ†‘
Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:06 am
....don't wanna rain on your parade but to me that's pretty much :'( ๐Ÿ’”๐Ÿ’”๐Ÿ’”
Hey, I love me some old/distressed/beat up finishes/refinishes myself, but this one was IMHO far from cool. The paint on it was ugly, thick, goopy and the body needed repairs, so I'm much happier with the fresher look in comparison. Now I have years to watch it age :)

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Surfysonic
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Surfysonic » Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:09 pm

Looks fantastic! I've become quite enamored with Burgundy Mist Metallic lately! :?
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clintburgess
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by clintburgess » Mon Dec 27, 2021 3:23 pm

This is a beaut. Hoping to find something similar to this as "restoration" project soon. Vintage jags seem to be very scarce right now, regardless of condition.

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Axolotl
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by Axolotl » Sat Jan 08, 2022 9:33 am

Finally all wired up and roaring! Love this thing, the neck feels great, the trem is super smooth and I got lucky with both vintage pickups I bought separately (one from our fellow forumite Jaguar018), they sound great!
It took over 2 years and half to finally get this ready, but it was sooo worth it, especially when I think I got most parts at pre pandemic price.

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Last edited by Axolotl on Sat Mar 19, 2022 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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sal paradise
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by sal paradise » Sat Jan 08, 2022 9:56 am

The focus on those photos makes me feel drunk.

Looks awesome though! Love the pink ๐Ÿ’•
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JagChat
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by JagChat » Tue Feb 01, 2022 7:17 pm

Well done - looks awesome!

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pakhan
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Re: Vintage Frankensguar project

Post by pakhan » Tue Feb 08, 2022 4:30 pm

wow,. what a resurrection! It should be revivalcaster!

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