by pcosmo » Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:57 pm
I don't think all Fender bodies were dated. If yours is an original finish..take it apart and hunt for a date....Theres a cutoff date (from the cfm website information) as to when they stopped marking the bodies...
Your guitar is obviously (edit...lets make that, most likely, based on the neck date) from late 1963....
And the logic states that we know it wasn't made (or sold anyway) BEFORE Aug '63....the number on the back of the plate is less significant in my opinion....
There was a change and a difference in "slab" or "veneer" necks for stratocasters during that time...I think it occurred before your guitar was made..
I know the 62's have thicker rosewood necks...don't know for sure about a 63 Jaguar, or if any Jaguars had slab necks. When was the first Jaguar production year?
My 64 Jazzmaster has the thinner veneer.. You can tell the difference by the profile of the rosewood where it joins the neck, or just by comparing two different necks with the different detail...
The pots are dated though and electronics are sometimes unique to specific years... There are some other ways to date the bodies....
its almost like a science/detecive type work....
I like to ask the prior owner if he knows the history of the guitar, just to start....
That guitar and finish are very cool...
Read the info on the sites and consider purchasing the video that describes early Jaguars..some dealers are knuckleheads and some are not....so be careful who you listen to ....If you want to show us some pictures here...we can help....good luck
Last edited by
pcosmo on Sat Apr 04, 2009 8:44 am, edited 1 time in total.