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Vintage Fender Jazz Refinishing

onlyruin

onlyruin

Supporting Member
Jul 4, 2023
42
316
#1
Hey all!

I just bought a '63 jazz that was refinished at some point in the last decade or so, and I am thinking I want to refinish it. It's currently a slightly over the top blue that I'm not in love with, and I'm also just incredibly boring and want a black (or sunburst) bass. I'm assuming this will probably reduce the value even further, but I'm not concerned about that.

I'm wondering if anyone has recommendation on a shop that does refinishing, or just vintage refurbishing in general. I'm in NYC and would prefer someone local, but I'm open to all suggestions!

Thanks y'all!
 
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#4
onlyruin said:
Hey all!

I just bought a '63 jazz that was refinished at some point in the last decade or so, and I am thinking I want to refinish it. It's currently a slightly over the top blue that I'm not in love with, and I'm also just incredibly boring and want a black (or sunburst) bass. I'm assuming this will probably reduce the value even further, but I'm not concerned about that.

I'm wondering if anyone has recommendation on a shop that does refinishing, or just vintage refurbishing in general. I'm in NYC and would prefer someone local, but I'm open to all suggestions!

Thanks y'all!
Click to expand...
I’m no expert, but what you need to decide at this point is what type of finish you want on your bass. Pre-CBS Fender basses such as yours were painted with nitrocellulose lacquer which really breaths, compared to heavier, plastically poly finishes. Either will look great, but the end result will somewhat impact your tone.

Many companies do great finish work - Pat Wilkins & Marty Bell in California, and MJT in the Midwest. MJT is one of the companies still offering nitro finishes (painting with nitro is illegal in many states.)
https://www.wilkinsguitars.com/
Marty Bell Finishing - PREMIER GUITAR FINISHING - Sparkle Finishes
MJT Aged Guitars

Good luck!
 
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#5
Did you buy that 63 jazz from jay rosen? That’s a cool bass, my vote is original sunburst by MJT or Fiesta Finishes. Just send em a pic of an original 63 jazz in sunburst and they will copy it, maybe with a light/medium relic package. Also, make sure to put the pickguard on another bass or screw it to a piece of flat plywood to insure it doesn’t shrink while the body is out being refinished.

edit: since youre into old jazzes, here’s a thread I’ve made making essentially a “carbon clone” of a 65 jazz
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/parts-build-in-progress-1965-jazz-bass-clone.1649221/

Here is a 65 P I had refin’d by mjt in Fiesta Red, great stuff!
IMG_5672.jpeg
IMG_5670.jpeg
IMG_5668.jpeg
 
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#8
onlyruin said:
Hey all!

I just bought a '63 jazz that was refinished at some point in the last decade or so, and I am thinking I want to refinish it. It's currently a slightly over the top blue that I'm not in love with, and I'm also just incredibly boring and want a black (or sunburst) bass. I'm assuming this will probably reduce the value even further, but I'm not concerned about that.

I'm wondering if anyone has recommendation on a shop that does refinishing, or just vintage refurbishing in general. I'm in NYC and would prefer someone local, but I'm open to all suggestions!

Thanks y'all!
Click to expand...
MJT aged finishes seems to be the gold standard lately. You could very easily remove the neck and send them the body so you’re not dealing with shipping the entire bass. That’s my $0.02
 
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#11
My subjective opinion... I'd rank Joe Riggio ahead of MJT. If you're open to shipping it to Missouri from New York, shipping to Riggio in Washington state would hardly matter.

The informed consumer standpoint: Lacquer is more vintage-correct, but as to whether it sounds better, John Suhr has something to say about that.

 
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#14
Grinderman said:
My subjective opinion... I'd rank Joe Riggio ahead of MJT. If you're open to shipping it to Missouri from New York, shipping to Riggio in Washington state would hardly matter.
Click to expand...

I've been poking around for similar reasons and these are the two that keep coming up for me as well, in that order. I have a couple 60s fenders which were badly refinished before I got them. I've thought about getting them back to original colors at least, but really don't want to deal with shipping.

I talked to a local vintage dealer and the guy they recommended/did their restoration work was Laurent Brondel. He's in Maine so for the OP it would be probably a 6-7 hour ride. But if you don't want to ship an instrument might be worth an email to see if he'd take on the work and what it would cost.

I haven't contacted him yet for my basses, haven't decided if it's worth the ride yet.

Laurent Brondel | Luthier

Mostly acoustics on his website, but lots of electrics on his social media, both restorations, modifications, and his own products

https://www.instagram.com/laurentbrondel
 
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#15
Just a plug for Jimmy Wilson of Landing guitars in Pittsburgh. He’s got a great shop all set up for spraying and he’s a very talented luthier.

No affiliation other than he’s a been a trusted tech & friend. One of these days I’m going to buy one of his medium scale builds.
 
#17
bassicmike said:
Be prepared for sticker shock.

I looked into having a guitar refinished. Estimate was north of 3K.
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That is ridiculous! I've done refinishing for over 25 years and most bare bodies would be about $500 and up, depending on what the condition is and what kind of finish is wanted. I refuse to do Nitro due to the poor quality and instability of the finish. Even if someone was doing a nitro finish, $3K is crazy. Now a crazy 3 stage candy with a bunch of graphics could get close to $3K, but not a "normal" refinish job.
 
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