Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

The original shortscale guitars; Mustangs, Duo-Sonics, Musicmasters, Jaguars, Broncos, Jag-stang, Jagmaster, Super-Sonic, Cyclone, and Toronados.

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Bacchus
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by Bacchus »

Now cover it in stickers.
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

genius
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NickD
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by NickD »

MatthewK wrote: Thu Aug 18, 2022 11:03 pm I have no idea how you would get the original colour OFF the body to be honest. There was even epoxy putty in a few places and I scraped it back, sanded it out and you would never know. You could probably hammer nails in using the body.
From experience - a heat gun and scraper then sanding. Lots of it. Days.

Modern paint stripper won't touch poly in general - as you found.
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by sunshiner »

I watched an old youtube video where two teenagers started with an attempt to strip old paint off of a cheap strat body and refinish it and ended up just butchering it with a jigsaw because the paint was so difficult to strip off.
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

Yeah I stripped a poly Telecaster a few years back, easier because of the flat surfaces, but the finish had to be heated until it began to craze before it would come off.
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

Glamour time, I tidied the floor and got out my "proper" camera.
How it arrived -
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Headstock unchanged (but now strung with 12s)
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

About 10 years ago I had a white MIJ Jag and tried some upgrades, still didn't connect with it so I sold it. So I had these bits to hand:
- an AVRI bridge pickup I got for $5 on eBay (no cover or claw)
- plates from a Classic Player Jag
- another 80s MIJ trem tailpiece
- a Mustang bridge which I think is MIJ
- a bunch of cloth wire from the previous Jag I rewired
Since the pots were replaced and I was switching the plates, I figured I would just rewire the whole thing. The chrome stuff was both corroded and deliberately scratched up, so I swapped them out for the nicer CP ones. I was too scared to put the 64 pickup back in, I will clean it and see what I've got. Ordered a cover and claw for the AVRI bridge pickup and stuck a Strat cover on it for now.
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

And here it is, all done. I love it.
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The last pic is probably closest to its colour in real life. The body's really nicely shaped, much nicer than the 90s one I had before, and with the AVRI pickups it sounds pretty full and has that hard flat attack that makes the Jag different to anything else. It needs half a turn taken out of the truss rod for more relief, and some frets are worn, otherwise lovely to play. A keeper for sure.
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Bacchus
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by Bacchus »

Of all the guitars that shortscalers own, this one is the one I'm most jealous of.

Incredible. Absolutely beautiful.
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Nick
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by Nick »

What a transformation! Stunning and kudos for being skilled enough and having the patience to bring this back proper.
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by plopswagon »

I had a feeling it would turn out nice but this far exceeds my expectations.

Question though, is the bridge all the way down? You might need to shim that neck.
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Gavin
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by Gavin »

yeah, phenomenal work. it looks great.
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

well you're all kind people and I'm glad to share!
plops yeah there is a little way to go in the setup. It had a shim when I got it but because I was switching the bridge I did my usual, which is just put the neck on, deck the bridge, wind it up slightly to give it some movement, then raise the ends until I lose string buzzes. That happened at the low height you see, and since I like low action I left it there. However it's a bit dead-feeling to play and looking along the neck there is very little relief. So my plan is to take a half turn out of the truss rod and see how that goes. With Mustang saddles it's not string-jumping though.
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dots
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by dots »

tasty choice with the mustang saddles and just an all around spectacular job you've done bringing that guitar back to life. i kinda want one in that color with the matching headstock now. =]

blown away, very nice!
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

thanks again! It's kind of wild that this was the only matching-headstock Jag available between, say, 1971 (matching headstocks discontinued) and 1998 (some AVRI runs?)?
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by Doog »

Amazing! How'd you even get that bullshit off of there?
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

Gentle paint stripper, scraper, wet sanding, cutting compound then polish … and about six hours of pain … (there’s a montage on page 3)
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by taylornutt »

I bet it would look really good with black pickup covers.
J Mascis Jazzmaster | AVRI Jaguar | Tuxedo-stang |Fender Toronado GT |
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by cooter »

Amazing work. It looks so good.
Smells like Rock n' Roll
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MattK
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Re: Incoming - 1980s E serial Jag

Post by MattK »

Making friends with its 1985 sibling
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