Olympic White Fender “1962” Jaguar. Final specification after rebuild
Changing the body, neck and pickups, in the re-evaluation of one of my very first project builds. An attempt to capture some genuine 1962 mojo, with modern components.
Olympic White “1962” Jaguar. Shimming the neck, and setup, after rebuild and upgrade.
Setting up my original “1962” specification Jaguar, after a complete upgrade and rebuild. New body… new neck… a complete new nut / neck / bridge relationship to balance.
All offsets assemble… Rationalising my various current offset builds, and planning ahead
With five offset builds currently competing for attention – I really need to focus, and build a check list of outstanding components. I can also take the opportunity to try and make each separate build as distinctive as possible.
Olympic White “1962” Jaguar. Fitting the pickups and restoring the wiring loom
Transferring the wiring loom from my original build, into the new body. Also – hooking-up a new pair of Seymour Duncan “Antiquity” Jaguar pickups. The upgrade (rebuild) on my “62” Jag is almost complete…
Olympic White “1962” Jaguar. Continuing to fit the cover plates… Adjusting the scratchplate
Scribing and modifying an acrylic scratchplate, in order to get all of the cover plates to butt up against it properly…
Olympic White “1962” Jaguar. Attaching the neck, and beginning to fit the cover plates…
Fitting the neck and scratchplate to my “’62” Jaguar body. Also beginning to port over some of the other components, from the previous build. Looks like I have a bit of work still to do, to get all of the cover plates to fit together properly…
Olympic White “1962” Jaguar. Shielding, laying the ground side of the circuit, (and why there’s no point getting hung up on perfection)
Installing brass shielding plates, (with a secondary copper foil cavity lining), in a “1962” style Jaguar body. Also – connecting-in ground wires from the bridge, and the tremolo plate
Candy Apple Red H/H, and Olympic White “62” Jaguars. Polishing both bodies at the same time
Polishing two Jaguar bodies. Streamlining the processes, and “doubling-up”, to get best results with the time and resources available
Spraying my replacement “1962” Jaguar body, with Olympic White nitro paint, and a gloss lacquer clear coat
Spraying my “62 vintage” style Jaguar body with an Olympic White, nitro paint, and clearcoating with gloss lacquer
Rebuilding my Olympic White Fender “1962” Jaguar. Setting the neck, and test-fitting the tremolo bridge
Drilling my replacement “62” Jaguar body for a tremolo. Ensuring the tremolo and neck are fitted straight and true.
Rebuilding my Olympic White Fender “1962” Jaguar. Sealing and priming a new alder body for nitro lacquer
Prepping and priming a two-piece, alder, “vintage” style Jaguar body – ready for spraying an Olympic White, nitro lacquer paint job
Rebuilding my Olympic White Fender “1962” Jaguar. Neck update – checking on that toning wax, and fitting the tuners
Continuing the saga of the repair, re-fit and preparation of two Jaguar necks, for a couple of my project builds. Lacquer repairs, finishing, hardware installation, and fingerboard toning
Progress with a couple of Jaguar necks… Toning a PauFerro fingerboard, and prepping a re-lacquered headstock, including hardware installation
Continuing the saga of the repair, re-fit and preparation of two Jaguar necks, for a couple of my project builds. Lacquer repairs, finishing, hardware installation, and fingerboard toning
Making up some home-made Jaguar shielding plates
A set of new, genuine Fender Jaguar shielding plates seems to be an impossible find here in the UK. Additionally – high shipping costs and import taxes means it’s not exactly economical to specially ship sets in from the USA. So – why not make a set, myself, from scratch?
Olympic White “62” Jaguar. Upgraded specification
Sometimes, trying to capture the intrinsic character of a particular instrument is more rewarding than merely grafting on the latest and greatest upgrades. In some ways, retro-fitting a standard type bridge to my Jaguar, might be seen as a step backwards. But with a Fender Mute, Flatwound strings and a bit of a tweak to…
The perfect setup for my “62” Jaguar? Maybe if I treat it more like an archtop?
So if I try to work with some of the Jaguar’s unique design features, take a good look at the principles at work, and treat the bridge more like I might on an archtop – what is that going to mean for the setup itself? Is there a way to achieve a perfect balance between…
Olympic White “62” Jaguar. Fixing and setting up that “troublesome” bridge
Clearly – the original Fender Jazzmaster / Jaguar bridge has it’s issues. For many – that’s enough of a reason to look for alternatives. However, I want to try and stick to the technology of the time on my “62” Jaguar project. If I can’t fix the bridge entirely – perhaps I can find a…
Olympic White “62” Jaguar. Installing a Fender Mute
Since I’m decided on following the “62” vibe of my Olympic White Jaguar, to its’ logical conclusion – and since I just happen to have a surplus Fender Mute assembly on my new, Vintage USA Jaguar body – there’s really only one thing to do. But I’ll have to learn how to install the thing…
The perfect Jaguar setup? Part two. Let’s face it. It’s the bridge – isn’t it?
One of the “received truths” about the Jaguar – seems to be that the original bridge design is at fault for just about everything – (although there are a whole series of common mods which address some sonic characteristics as well). With the bridge however – many of the “fixes” appear to cause problems, or…
The perfect Jaguar setup? Part one. Appreciating the design, and architecture.
Comparing the various Jaguar bridge options got me thinking. I just couldn’t work out what that Fender Tune-o-matic bridge was trying to achieve. Since I plan to have a few offsets to set up over the next few months, I need to work out how to solve some of the technical differences which make Stratocasters…
Fender offset bridge options – A tale of three bridges
With two new offset projects, and an existing Jaguar build to upgrade – I need to make a few choices. I’ve collected a few different bridge options over the past few months. Now might be a good time to go through the options, and work out which bridge might best suit each build.
Olympic White “’62” Jaguar. Time for a small, cosmetic restyle…
That’s the way it goes sometimes. Guitars get rotated around, and sometimes you don’t play a particular favourite for ages. I recently started a few modifications on my Ash Stratocaster and, looking around for an alternative to hand, I took my White Jag out of its’ case for the first time in ages. I get…
Olympic White Jaguar. Finished specification.
The Jaguar brought a new set of challenges. Nitro finishing, a fiddly wiring job and a bit of shimming to compensate for a higher bridge. The winter months have meant that the workshop is uncomfortably cold to work in – so the final finishing has been mostly done in the warmth of the kitchen. Over…
Setting up the Jaguar. Slotting the nut, intonation and string adjustments.
The Jaguar has been sitting for a little while, to let the strings stretch, the neck to adjust under tension and to generally let everything settle. It’s already pretty playable – but a proper setup should improve this even more.
Shimming the Jaguar neck pocket.
It seems the Staytrem bridge must be taller than the stock design Jaguar bridge. Either that, or the neck heel is too deep. The action on the Jaguar is well above what you’d call normal – even with the bridge screwed all the way down to the deck. Fortunately – there’s a cure.
Fitting the Jaguar pickups.
As with most projects, all the individual elements build one on another – each relying on the quality and accuracy of the previous steps. So fitting the pickups feels a little bit like putting the pinnacle on a house of cards. Here’s hoping all my preparation leads to an easy installation.
Checking the neck on the Jaguar.
The pickups for the Jaguar have arrived! Time to pull this project together – well, see if I can wrap up the construction anyway. I need to make sure the neck is good to go – so it’s in the best possible shape for the first setup.
Jaguar wiring – Day Two. Installing the circuit wiring.
I have a copy of an original, hand-drawn, Fender wiring diagram I found on the web. It’s dated 7th August 1962. That’s exactly the same week I was born, (and the same week Marylin Monroe passed). As I’ve mentioned before in previous posts – to me, the Jaguar design totally encapsulates that era. Rockets, chrome,…
Jaguar wiring – Day One. Building in the ground side of the circuit.
In the original, 1962 Jaguar design, all the ground side of the circuit ran via a series of linked, brass plates which fitted into the bottom of each recess cavity. However I end up doing the wiring – I’ll have to replicate this function in some way or other.
Getting ready for the electronics. Polish, Superglue and Copper foil.
I’ve got a pair of pickups and a wiring harness on order. In the meanwhile, it’s time to tidy everything up and get ready.
Staytrem modifications.
A quick change to the standard specification – but one which comes highly recommended.
Drilling through the nitro finish, and fitting the Jaguar tremolo plate.
There are six holes to drill in the newly polished Jaguar body, so that the chrome tremolo plate can be fitted over the large cutout.
Polishing the Jag.
The urban dictionary has an entirely different meaning – Hmmm. But polishing this Jaguar is actually quite a “Zen” way to spend a dull autumn day.
Clear coating the Jaguar body
Adding the protective clear coat to the painted body. This should eventually polish up into a lustrous, liquid shine.
More work on the Jaguar neck
There are quite a few processes to run before the neck is ready to go. The decals need sanding flat, and the fingerboard needs oiling.
Working on the Jaguar headstock
There’s plenty to do. Let’s start with some relatively easy stuff. Waterslide decals take me all the way back to the plastic construction kits of my childhood.
Hold the front page. Let’s make things complicated.
Let’s get another project up and running. I always find it useful to have, at least, a couple of projects on the go at any one time.
Garageland 