my Jazzmaster arrived via Fedex earlier today. As per usual, I plugged it in to test it, then did a full cleanup / setup.
Disappointingly, the guy who sold it to me didn't tell me that the input jack and 3-way toggle switch were shot. The rhythm tone pot is slightly scratchy as well. Replaced the switch and jack tonight. So far so good.
Otherwise, it's in good shape. The fingerboard was quite grimy, and the guitar itself somewhat dirty. It took a long time to clean it.
It has some kind of weird stain on the back of the neck - sort of like koolaid - reddish color. I'm wondering if there's a safe way to try to rub that out... I'm not sure if it's penetrating the poly or not. Any suggestions?
I will be looking to replace the pickups. They're OK, but not great. Also, the white pickguard has to go. Ishibashi Japan will sell me a brown tortoise one for $85, which is pretty steep in my opinion. I may go check out the specialty hardware store and see if there are any really cool sheets of wood veneer that would make a nice pickguard.
here's a bad pic of it:
