NGD: Fender Pink Paisley Jazzmaster MIJ

[solderburn]

Hi guys, 
I know we're not supposed to post reviews as soon as we get an instrument, but i just had to shout it out loud here! I just picked up this splendid beauty today.  I've been having intense G.A.S. attacks for about 3 months and i finally gave in.  It was worth the horrendous 2 hour drive from Orange county to San Diego during Labor day weekend traffic hell. 

Pictures don't do these guitars justice, I'd say it looks better in person, as most instruments do. 

Some things i like about this model are: "U" shaped neck profile, 7.25 inch radius, and of course the over-the-top look. It also has an excellent build quality, the fret work is perfect and everything on the guitar is just pristine.  It plays and feels top-notch.  I have huge respect for the builders in the MIJ factory. 

I reckon I'll be changing out the pick-ups to Seymour Duncan Antiquities, because the stock pick-ups are impostor Jazzmaster pickups that are commonly found in MIJ Fender JMs. These sound kind of in between a Stratocaster and a typical Jazzmaster, not bad at all, but not ideal for me since i want a more authentic sound. I'll be poppin' the hood soon to see what the pot values are too, but if i had to guess they sound like 1 MEGs, which i like. I'll also need to condition the rosewood fretboard, which is normal for a new guitar, and it's a process i find deeply satisfying. 

[thetragichero]

i've seen elsewhere how they get the paisley print on the guitar... if i recall it's a piece of fabric under a ton of paint - neat!
definitely won't go unnoticed playing this one!

[solderburn]

thetrajichero, I have no doubt you're correct about the process on the original paisleys from the late 60's.

As far as i can tell this one has a slightly different process due to it's modern source. When I first saw pics of this model online i thought it had silver metal flake under the pattern, but upon closer first-hand inspection i see that the bottom layer of the finish seems to have some sort of textured foil, then clear coat, then maybe some sort of plastic transparent sheet with the paisley pattern printed on it, then another coat of clear, then a pearl pink border sprayed on, then another coat of clear to seal it all up. That's as far as i can tell, but i'm by no means an expert.

And of course i barely leave my room, let alone play in front of people, so this guitar probably won't ever been seen with me in the wild. I just obtained it for my own greedy pleasure.

Here's another pic, this time using a flash, it shows the metallic aspect underneath the printed paisley pattern.

[sumgai]

Well, that certainly gob-smacked me upside the head!!


I had a paisley Tele while I was in Germany, Lo these many decades ago. It had been pretty badly beaten up by a previous owner, so I sanded it down to bare wood and did a natural finish. In the process, I didn't find any "fabric", but it was messy to remove, as in I think it was a special decal material that was somehow made to stay in place while being clear-coated. A normal water-based decal, like we often use for headstock names, that would've been easy to remove - not the one I got my hands on, way back when.

But you know, in this day and age, I'd almost bet that a guitar body could go "under the pen" (as in, a light pen), and a laser could literally shoot at a refractive surface material - where it didn't hit, the material remained in place. Sort of like etching a printed circuit board. And it's not a very large stretch of the imagination to see that they could do color in the same manner - it'd be only a matter of technology, and cost of all that versus doing it the old-school way (decal, etc.)


IMHO, of course.






sumgai

[solderburn]

Yes, sumgai, i agree it's probably some new fangled wizardy as such. I noticed they were able to accommodate all the contours perfectly, which by traditional methods i imagine would be tricky to do so cleanly. One of the reasons i got this guitar was that i knew i wouldn't be able to produce such a thing even with a lot of practice. The finished result reminds me of very fancy and expensive Japanese stationary. 

[thetragichero]

I'm reading wallpaper/contact paper was used originally. guess it is possible for me to be wrong. who'da thunk it

[solderburn]

thetrajichero, I believe you are totally correct that the originals were done with wallpaper then buried under clear. And i'm sure several methods have been used over time. 

[b4nj0]

Could it be the same method as those Fender "flame" finished guitars that fooled everyone at the time?

I watched a video series on everyone's favourite clip repository where the guy used the fabric and lacquer method. It wasn't as straightforward as you'd think and as noted lots of clear had to be layered on over the top. I'm not that struck on Paisley finishes per-se, but the timber and colour choices (lack of lilac tones!) in your new squeeze make me look on them anew because your's really does work very well indeed. Nice!

e&oe...

[solderburn]

b4nj0 , Thanks, i never considered myself a pink paisley type of guy, but i just got the bug while i was searching for a Jazzmaster. I surprise myself sometimes. I know this sounds crazy, but ideally I think I'd want a chartreuse paisley guitar , but I've never seen one. 

And i agree that the "flame" guitars probably have a very similar production process. When i heard about those i was quite surprised that Fender would even try to do such a thing like printing wood grain (as i see part of the allure of wood grain is that it's one of a kind).  I'm not a big fan of the idea, but it's interesting none the less, a lot of possibilities there!