Big time Help with my 65 Jaguar!

[Gibripper75]

Yes I am new to this forum, but not to forums. I only joined up to ask this one question and I guess others in the future. So here it is...
I bought a refinished 65' Jag years ago with all orig internals, but always wanted a 65' sunburst in original finish. Well I finally found and bought off of ebay a "1965 Sunburst body all original" in which I paid probably too much for. I put it in quotes because of some red flags that came up when I received the guitar body yesterday...
>The body appears to be thicker than my refinished 65'
>The body contour(top of guitar slope, not back half moon divot) is not very sloped and it too is thick
>An "ES" is stamped under where the shielding goes.
>The yellow sunburst part is not very transparent (which may not be unusual for its age)
SO either my 1965 refinished guitar's body is not original or it was sanded down in areas before being repainted OR
The body I just got in is a knock off or a factory second

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THE THICKNESS OF THEIR 1962-1965 JAGUAR....It will help determine things for me
PICTURES Here's the ebay Link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Look at the 4th picture down see how thick that body contour is or is that the way its supposed to be? Thanks

[MattK]

The more-opaque yellow is an example of the so-called "fauxburst" finish which was primered white under the sunburst, to hide lesser grain patterns:
http://jimshine.com/fauxbursts/fauxbursts.htm
"ES" on the body is a factory code for "enter special", i.e. not part of a standard production run. The Vintage Guitar Info site says

In 1966, Fender used the "ES" code a lot on their custom color instruments. At least for 1966, the ES code was used as some sort of default for custom colored instruments (be it Teles, or Strats or Jazz Basses). This two letters ("ES" for "Enter Special") seems to denote a special order, at least for 1966. Again this is has been seen lots of times on 1966 documented original custom color instruments. I have also seen the "ES" stamp on some 1966 sunburst instruments! (Perhaps these guitars were special show models, so extra care was taken in their finish.) The 1/2" tall 2-letter code were a factory color code, and are completely different than the 1/2" tall three-digit codes.

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html
So my guess is that you have a 66 body there, not a 65, which might account for the shape differences.

[Gibripper75]

Wow thanks! It does mention that this code was used from 1965-1968. The body's thickness is 1 9/16 where my other Jags body is 1 1/2 still a little weird to me. Unless my 1 1/2 body is a MIJ?

[joeybsyc]

It's possible it was built as a display guitar for a show or for a special order, and the thickness of the body may even be why it's marked special... just a thought, but it certainly looks original to me, based on the pics I'm seeing. Nice piece actually!

[Gibripper75]

Well I just emailed the seller and wanted them to verify its authenticity since they sell a lot of vintage guitars and parts. They should know, I just hope its not a serviceman's Phillipine copy or something.

[Stratelejazzuar]

i have a 66 jazzmaster that has the same burst as yours, very hard to see the grain, etc. although your body is a 66, it could be that the neck from that guitar had a late 65 neck stamp, so that's why the seller said '65.

i'm pretty sure the seller is a parts chopper, infamously known around here as "tuna". he's known for his parting out of perfectly good vintage instruments. from looking as his many auctions and seller accounts over the past few years, he generally seems to know his stuff and if there is anything unclear/unknown about a part/item, he'll say so in the auction description. besides the extremely high reserve and BIN prices, i wouldn't classify him as a liar/scammer, or whatever; i think most around here would say he's a bit of a bastard, tho, for the "chopping"

[Gibripper75]

Its a 1966 body he finally came clean and I am a little miffed, this is a guitar that I was planning on passing down to my kids.

[panoramic]

i;d rather have the dots and binding 66 than a 65, just me

[terminalvertigo]

Its a 1966 body he finally came clean and I am a little miffed, this is a guitar that I was planning on passing down to my kids.

is there no date code in the tremolo cavity?

Nvm I just checked the pics, since it is an original finish and there is no date code it could be a late 65 early 66

point is it's not wrong without a date saying it is, and the es makes it a bitmore unique

[painted wood]

killer looking body.

[Orang Goreng]

Ah yes, that seller (also goes by Tune-O-Matic) has a bit of a rep. Gorgeous body, though. The jag, not the seller. I don't know what he looks like.
There used to be quite some time between parts manufacture and final assembly (e.g., my JM has a June '64 neck date, but I noticed recently the pickups were made in December '64...the whole thing probably wasn't assembled until '65). I'd say your '65 parts would be completely correct with that body. It's not like Fender quality control dropped immediately after the CBS buy-out; it took several years.

I do think you grossly overpaid, but since that's water under the bridge now, just assemble the whole thing and enjoy it!

[diceman]

My '65 is eyeballed w/ measuring tape 1 11/16" thick.