NGD: Fender Jaguar 1963 - advice on refinish needed.

[PlayWithPride]

There are some really boring color options out there for sure. But given that it no longer has its original finish anyway, why not just go for it and make it something special?



Fiesta Red. And yes, get the headstock too. Offsets look weird with plain headstocks.

[MattK]

french polish is shellac right? Shellac is a common sealer under nitro, so if you wanted a solid colour refin later down the line it could be lightly abraded and the nitro shot straight over.

There’s a bit of oil worked in with the shellac in most French polishing which makes things a bit uncertain, nitro is forgiving but something might seep thru over time.
Cleaning and buffing out the existing finish would probably go a long way, and cost little.

[BoringPostcards]

There are some really boring color options out there for sure. But given that it no longer has its original finish anyway, why not just go for it and make it something special?



Fiesta Red. And yes, get the headstock too. Offsets look weird with plain headstocks.

He’s got a nice vintage tort guard, so if he wants to be vintage correct, he could go for Sunburst or Oly White. No other colours came with tortoise, that I’m aware of.
Custom colours always came with white guards, unless you got a refin done on a 3TSB or OW guitar.
Not saying he couldn’t still do Fiesta Red, if he chooses to do so, just that it wouldn’t be accurate with that tortoise guard.

[SashaB]

By the way, the pickguard shrinked a bit that looks to be rather common on these guitars... Honestly, after I removed it I was not able to fit the pickups in their holes but the screws are still going fine in the body where they should be somehow

Should I try to fix it or just go with a replacement one?

These custom colors in most cases went with a matching headstock, and I am not sure if refinishing a headstock would be a good idea

[MattK]

The original pickguard is a major element in what it's worth - you could talk to your luthier about the right way to save it. If it's removed it should be screwed to a board immediately to prevent shrinkage. If your luthier doesn't know this, they might not be the right person to handle a 60 year old vintage instrument.

[GreenKnee]

The guard on my '62 had shrunk whilst on the guitar around the pickups so I couldn't get it off or adjust the height of the pickups.

I managed to get the guard off by brute force, albeit gently, and then used a file to gently enlarge the holes for the pickups. I did it very quickly, 5 minutes or so, and then refitted. Haven't had an issue since.

I would recommend you do the same and get the guard back on ASAP before it shrinks further.

[Maggieo]

This is what I did with my stripped finish '64:


1964 Fender Jaguar, November 11, 2022 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

It started out as a burst and then was stripped bare, so Micah did the best possible burst and aged it just enough to fit with everything else.

[gishuk]

While it may not be vintage accurate, other custom colours do look amazing with tort too, Burgundy mist for example

[Embenny]

I would 100% keep that gorgeous tort guard, it's a great specimen. I also had to file around the pickups on my old '66 due to shrinkage, but that was no big deal.

I'm all for crazy colours on vintage Offsets when the original guard fits the colour scheme, but when the tort is that nice, I'd be inclined to keep it traditional. Totally a matter of taste, though.

[clintburgess]

Beautiful '63 and cool to see it in the condition you got it in. Blank canvas for sure. I'd say if you're going to do any kind of finish, for the sake of re-sale at some point (I know, we all think we will keep these things forever) you'd probably be able to get more for it if it had a quality, vintage-correct refinish. However, instruments can be so personal once we acquire them, so there is a case to be made for finishing it up in a way that will be most appealing for you, the owner.

Whatever you decide, definitely show us all the results once complete. Enjoy that jag

[zip73]

This is what I did with my stripped finish '64:

That finish and grain is a dead ringer for a ‘68 I once owned.

[superficial]

a quality, vintage-correct refinish.

Whilst I am inclined to agree on principle, I think the only ‘vintage correct’ option with a tort guard is sunburst? Custom colours = white pick guard I think.

So OP’s options to keep it authentic are 1) sunburst and 2) source another guard to use with a custom colour.

For my $0.02, that guard is lovely so it seems a shame to change it, and sunburst is boring. So I vote a wonderfully inauthentic aged Sherwood green + tort

[MattK]

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

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

[level3]

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

How come none of these have matching headstocks?

[MattK]

Beats me. That was the cover of the in-case manuals of the time too.