DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Jan 27 2025 11:59 PM
New Old Guitar Day!
This came up for sale locally/online. The photos weren't too clear but the seller stated he bought it second hand in 1998, didn't modify it and barely played it since. A quick-scan online told me that E + 6 digits serial number MIJ Fenders (1984-1987) are somewhat collectable. So I arranged to meet.
The guitar looked cool. The back shows the most playwear, including finish chips (that I want to fix). It was filthy. Really filthy. It was missing the wiggle stick and has two white strat knobs.
Judging by the fret wear it had been played to death before the seller got it. It needs a refret. I bought it because it plays well despite that, because it sounds well, it's resonant and not too heavy (7.8 lbs). And because it looks cool and wanted a Jag for a while - but Fender isn't making traditional ones right now.
So here it is (after a thorough cleaning). I had a spare Staytrem bridge that dropped right in, and a spare Staytrem arm & collet. The collet has Imperial threads (UK and UsA) but screws into the MIJ vibrato. I was quite surprised at that because I expected it to have metric threads, being a MIJ guitar.
Last edited: Feb 08, 2025 07:29:01
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DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Jan 28 2025 12:09 AM
Did I mention it was filthy? I spent 2 hours cleaning it with naphtha and power towels. Wearing rubber gloves every minute of it (the case was also filthy - scrubbed it outside with kitchen cleaner and a garden hose). The fretboard took first price... so much finger cheese, dust, sweat, nicote, boogers etc. Worse than the pictures show. It was dried and hard. Had to scrub with a toothbrush, using naptha. Black chunks fell off. Yuk. I kept at it as long as the paper towels were getting yellow (the naphtha was drawing the filth out of the pores).
But it revealed a nice rosewood board, that then needed to then be oiled. Not sure if you can tell, but the frets are filed flat a the G and B-string, all the way up to the 11th fret.
More yukiness. The original bridge was setup stupidly high, with a flat radius and taped-up posts. It goes in the case, along with the original collet.
Last edited: Jan 28, 2025 01:55:20
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DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Feb 06 2025 02:55 AM
So it's been 2 weeks and I must say this is a lovely instrument. The neck feels good. The poly finish is thin, smooth and hard. Not sticky. It plays better than I thought it would because of the worn frets, both with a light and ham-fisted touch. But I'm having it refretted this February with vintage tall frets.
All electrics work, no crackles etc. It sounds like a Jag. Or rather: it sounds like a Jag sounds in my head. It does the surf thing I hear in the surf songs I listen to and practice. Neck and bridge pickups have the same output (6,3 Ohms) and string spacing. So they're the same pickup. Brass shielding plates in the body cavities, all interconnected with ground wires. I'm pretty sure the aluminum shielding tape on the pickguard isn't original (because there's already a big brass plate underneath it).
I've seen many comments in old threads about upgrading all electrics. But I see no need to do so. Moreover, it's a 40 year old guitar & almost all original. Offsets are made to be modded but not in this case.
But I do dislike the volume pot. The treble and most of the volume rolls off, from 10 to 8. So I keep it at 10. Which isn't really practical. Can anyone tell from the photo below if changes were made to original wiring design? I think I see signs of that: the piece of solder on the volume pot without a connection on it. Perhaps adding a treble bleed is possible?
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edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 793
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Posted on Feb 06 2025 08:53 AM
Looks like it's wired right, though someone may have relocated a grounding wire. Seems like a 1MA volume pot shouldn't behave like that, so if you don't like the drastic volume shift, you might try replacing that pot. And then you can see if it still makes a big difference in tone when you turn it down - if so, then you could add the treble bleed.
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DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Feb 08 2025 07:26 AM
edwardsand wrote:
Looks like it's wired right, though someone may have relocated a grounding wire. Seems like a 1MA volume pot shouldn't behave like that, so if you don't like the drastic volume shift, you might try replacing that pot. And then you can see if it still makes a big difference in tone when you turn it down - if so, then you could add the treble bleed.
Thanks. I did a bit more reading. I suspect the volume pot has a lineair taper. An audio taper pot should provide what I'm looking for in terms of the volume roll off.
Last edited: Feb 08, 2025 07:27:23
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DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Mar 11 2025 02:20 PM
New frets for the old Jag!
Jescar 55090 frets (tall and narrow). The board was levelled just a bit. Original nut reused. Neck is straight, action is low. Feels great! Kudos to Rikkers Gitaarbouw in NL.
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Tommy_Surfink
Joined: Dec 11, 2021
Posts: 13
South Coast
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Posted on Mar 15 2025 02:47 AM
Man, that's a such a cool find and well worth putting all the time and work into. Although I wonder if the pots are the original ones or not as a Jaguar should have solid shaft ones and the Strat knobs usually sit on split shaft pots? Might make the decision to replace them a bit easier. Lovely guitar though, enjoy
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DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Mar 19 2025 12:00 PM
Tommy_Surfink wrote:
Man, that's a such a cool find and well worth putting all the time and work into. Although I wonder if the pots are the original ones or not as a Jaguar should have solid shaft ones and the Strat knobs usually sit on split shaft pots? Might make the decision to replace them a bit easier. Lovely guitar though, enjoy
Thanks! I'm enjoying it a lot. The neck is fantastic. Without me bringing it up, the luthier commented MIJ guitars are most often quality items. 5000 years of woodworking history and pride of craftsmanship has an effect, he said. He's been a luthier for 40 years so I take him at his word.
You were right, The volume and tone pot were replaced. I didn't know they should have been mini-pots. I replaced it with this wiring harness (not the switches) I found online, second-hand but unused. It has a treble-bleed on the volume pot. 1 meg audio taper pots. Such an improvement over the non-original lineair pots that it replaced.
Last edited: Mar 19, 2025 12:02:48
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synchro
Joined: Feb 02, 2008
Posts: 4522
Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Mar 21 2025 09:11 PM
That looks great. A beautiful instrument, and Japanese made Fenders have earned a great reputation for quality. The fret job looks great and all of your cleaning work definitely has paid off. Replacing the wiring on a Jaguar isn’t for the faint hearted, but it sounds like it has paid off handsomely.
— The artist formerly known as: Synchro
When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.
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DrippyReverbTremolo
Joined: Mar 11, 2023
Posts: 161
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Posted on Apr 02 2025 01:35 PM
synchro wrote:
That looks great. A beautiful instrument, and Japanese made Fenders have earned a great reputation for quality. The fret job looks great and all of your cleaning work definitely has paid off. Replacing the wiring on a Jaguar isn’t for the faint hearted, but it sounds like it has paid off handsomely.
Thank you! The audio pots have the sweep/roll off I want to hear. I'm also experiencing the unique jaguar tone pot for the first time, in that it starts to act as a volume pot the more you roll off.
Also installed two correct knobs. Soaked them in hot tea for a bit to yellow the bright white stripe and dot.
For future reference here's what the rest of the guts look like.
Last edited: Apr 02, 2025 13:41:13
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