MJT Refinish - Was It Worth It?

[@blakespurlock5322]

MJT refinished my number 1 Les Paul when the first started doing set neck refinishes. It is a 1979 Greco that had a poly finish on it. They stripped it and refinished it for a very decent price that they worked with me on. The color and finish came out great. I did not have them relic it but the guitar did start to check within a few months (likely from living in cold and dry Denver, CO). I’m currently having them do a 70s Olympic white strat body. Looks like they did an awesome job on your strat!

[@TheWelhaven]

I bought a MJT body, and I put together one of my favourite guitars. I literally spent the last ten minutes just looking at it.

[@IL2TXGunslinger]

Thanks Jack! Great looking and sounding. I’ve a tangerine MJT body I’m saving for something special

[@aminahmed2220]

What a fantastic video have a good weekend Jack ❤😊

[@homeboyjon4885]

I appreciate some insight into the process. My brother has a ‘71 Strat that has had a couple bad refinishes. Now I have an idea of the cost and time involved. Thanks!!

[@BeantownToBigD]

I wish you had done a before and after demo of this tastefully mishandled Strat. Nice guitar

[@richardhoward7393]

It's a keeper, looks authentic & sounds phenomenal!

[@analogblues9606]

Jack, thanks for the video! I’m admiring the blue Tele behind you! Do you have a video on that and if not what Fender model is that? Thanks

[@JackFossett]

“It’s an older video sir, but it checks out…” Fender American Original 60's Telecaster kzbin.info/www/bejne/govPgZeQetmKf80

[@analogblues9606]

@@JackFossett Thanks for replying so quick Jack. I guess they don’t offer that anymore right? Do you want to sell yours? 😬

[@JackFossett]

Going to the grave with me. But you can find them used

[@analogblues9606]

@@JackFossett lol- yes thank you! I will find one used! Are you from Long Island NY by any chance?

[@JackFossett]

@@analogblues9606 no I’m up in Maine! Actually never been to Long Island

[@JimWalkerMusic]

I spoke with MJT 6 months ago about a refin on my Brent Mason Signature Series Telecaster. I'm on a fixed income so that route is a bit out of my capabilities. I will most likely attempt a refin on my own. I have done some automotive body work and paint in the past. Those jobs turned out okay, maybe I'll get lucky.

[@JackFossett]

The only advice I know about refinishing (which Ive admittedly never done) is to take it slow.

[@mojo6778]

Jack, great looking and sounding guitar. My first relic'd guitar was a VTT relics 50's Telecaster butterscotch blond blackguard, and I absolutely love it, it has mojo, great set up, and great looking. First guitar I purchased from overseas, and even though it is a parts caster, I play it much more than guitars 2-3 times as expensive. Done right, a relic'd guitar can be inspiring and doesn't have to be expensive, I payed less than $1000.00 and that included shipping to US from the UK.

[@Gunslinger320]

I have a MJT purple strat body and i LOVE it. My 57 reissue neck fit it perfectly

[@marknielson2099]

MJT is premier in guitar finishes , I own 4 MJT Strat bodies. Two are heavy reliced and 2 are what they call closet relics. They look like old guitars, not all like Fender custom shop relics which sometimes goes way too far. Your Strat looks and sounds great! Always a pleasure Jack.

[@lcglazer]

Does your finish flake off easily? I read elsewhere that some peoples' MJTs paint continued to fall off (literally). I was expecting it to hold up much better once it was in the players' hands

[@marknielson2099]

I’ve had no issues with any paint flake on any of the 4 bodies I have. I find them to be a quality product and they look very real/aged!

[@claycrowe4032]

Great looking and sounding guitar!

[@steveoneal5257]

looks and sounds great Jack

[@simplyteles_davis]

Looks and sounds great!

[@areyouabus]

I just picked up a 2012 American Vintage '59 and see what you mean about the black being too wide on your one. Very strange. Love the finish though, it is so thin, you can relic it with just your fingernails.

[@mirkojovanovic3216]

great looking and sounding strat.

[@jasondorsey7110]

Yes, dings and dents, not edges sanded off, that's cool relic'ing

[@bonedale]

Love the 50s look and this nails it

[@InspiretoVictory]

I bought a body from Warmoth and had it directly sent to MJT. Overall, I was disappointed with the finished product. First, MJT does not offer a "like new" finish. The closest they have comes with swirl marks for a slightly worn look. So if you're looking for that pristine, factory fresh finish, look elsewhere. Second was the excess paint in the pickup and neck routes. I had to shave back a lot of material to get the neck, also from Warmoth, to seat properly. Then I had to shave back material from the pickup routes to fit the humbuckers. I will say that the color is perfect. I chose Lake Placid Blue and it is exactly what I wanted. They were also good about communication, giving me updates from when they received the guitar body to when they shipped it. MJT is a good company, just not the type that I'll be using for the next project.

[@TeleCaster66]

They suck. Ruined a neck I sent, they bought me a new one and effed that one up too. It's a crap shoot with them and I don't roll dice.

[@nekkon1989]

Are the pickups a bit hotter than normal (for a strat)?

[@JackFossett]

I don't think so - but it's possible. Not sure if they're the original pickups or not.

[@strumminronin]

A good paint job on a "project" guitar is a bit of a "labour of love", so in a way I am glad it got a proper job by the pros. On the other hand a teenager hand spraying one as a summer project is no less deserving of love, or being played. I have an ash body that was going down the "teenage" approach years ago, then life happened and that body is now a kind of "NOS". I am still making my mind up if I want it "properly done", or if I want to grab some spray cans of car paint 😅

[@winston67]

I just traded for one that looks almost like this but it has the heavier relic job and rosewood neck and the neck is bound which looks pretty good. 😊

[@Chrismayo1981]

Looks much better! The original burst was uuuuggggly.

[@JackFossett]

Yeah. I suspect it was a bad refinish job.

[@sonnywolfblues]

They did a superb job.As someone who loves vintage Fenders I can say they nailed the 1956/57 era two tone burst perfectly with the thick black edges and smooth fade into the amber.And the relic is tastefully done and not too much.That is a real beauty.

[@danbaron2561]

And also, remember to never have an old car repainted!! 😅 😂 🤣

[@CentaurusRelax314]

I got my first MJT body last year. Horrible experience. I sent a good number of very specific reference images, and specific instruction about both color and distressing. After the months and months of waiting, they sent me photos of the product before shipping. The guitar looked nothing like what I had ordered. It was as if they understood only the basic color shade, and that was it. So, they offered to redo it, as I was definitely not going to accept that first disaster. They didn’t expedite me in the queue for the redo-which sucks. I mean, if you take a number in the bakery, wait for twenty minutes for a chocolate babka, and it comes with a hair in it, you shouldn’t have to wait another twenty minutes for a replacement. Whatever, I waited again. Same amount of time. They sent new photos. This one was much closer-they got the color right. But the relic was not what I asked for. The rep told me the checking would become more pronounced in time/after they shipped it, which I knew was just another excuse. Still, after 9 months or so, I wasn’t goin to wait another 4 months. They shipped it to me. It’s a beautiful body. Not quite what I asked for, which is inexcusable, given that I showed them exactly what I wanted. And the checking is not changing-it’s not going to get closer to what I wanted. That was BS. I would not use them again. Prior to the MJT, I had ordered a custom job from an independent painter/finisher. Got that body done in a month or two, exactly as I directed. I’ll try him again or anyone else before I go back to MJT. Unfortunately, mine is not a unique story. While i was waiting for my MJT, I read more than a few negative stories about similar experiences and forced redos and… the waiting. Yours is beautiful. Tasteful.

[@JackFossett]

Sorry to hear that was a bad experience - all I have to go on is my own experience, which was luckily a positive one.

[@TeleCaster66]

Same thing happened to me in every respect, they suck. I'll bash them every chance I can get, they took my money and sent something I'd be embarrassed to play. Refinished the neck myself. What did I pay them for???

[@CentaurusRelax314]

@@JackFossett Late reply, sorry. Yes, i completely agree/understand. This may be much like how Gibson QC has such a poor reputation on interwebs/forums, yet my Gibsons have all been faultless and fantastic. But, i have read enough about MJT, factored with a much smaller production output than Gibson, to make me trust that their issues are not insignificant. Other companies tend to do something to make up for their mistakes. MJT absolutely did not. No discount, no acceleration of timeline/move ahead in the queue, feeble apology, etc. Frankly, it was the worst customer service experience i can recall. The thing is, they do good work. But, for me, they didn't do AT ALL what i asked for initially, and the re-do still wasn't what i asked for. And then they told me it would magically transform into what i asked for, over time, ostensibly. Well, it's not changing....

[@CentaurusRelax314]

@@TeleCaster66 You didn't make them do it again? I get it-they make you wait the same amount of time for a re-do, and maybe that's not practical. Did they offer *any* kind of compensation since you ended up keeping it and fixing it yourself?

[@blakespurlock5322]

Same. Exact. Thing. Happened to me. Who is the custom maker that you referred to in your original post.

[@DickeyCeleste]

19683 Kuhic Unions

[@lexist7]

Hi Jack, some feedback: i think you have good takes and you have good topics that are relevant to players. I think you have too much talking in your videos. I appreciate your two cents but I WATCH KZbin for the video. If you had a podcast, i’d be more than happy to listen. For KZbin though, i think less talk, more playing, and maybe a bit of text overlay may communicate the point more effectively

[@JackFossett]

You can skip the talking parts if they aren't your cup of tea! Feel free to jump right to the playing parts.

[@YouTubeHandlesAreMoronic]

Keep doing what you're doing, Jack. KZbin has enough videos of people playing guitars, and your commentary is characteristically insightful and fair.

[@Torquemonster440]

​​@@KZbinHandlesAreMoronic Agreed 100%. I personally like to hear Jack's detailed insights and thoughts on gear. Always honest and unbiased from what I've seen.. keep it up.. 👍

[@AlexDarcy-o7c]

Treutel Points

[@TeleCaster66]

The crap they sent me was, well, crap. The neck was so bad I refinished it myself. Don't waste your money with them, they were good 10 years ago but I was extremely disappointed with the neck they sent. A joke.