Hey you vintage guitar types

I need a source for vintage used guitar and mandolin parts. Google is turning up lots of new stuff. I need a "junkyard" place that sells instrument parts from actual, old instruments.

Why?

I've got a Gibson mandolin that I'm trying to get restored. The ebony topsheet on the headstock was once replaced with some fake $h!t that's coming off so that I can get a real piece of ebony back on there, along with the "The Gibson" pearl inlay. Right now, the luthier doing the work is going to build the ebony piece from scratch, then cut it for the inlay (she's got a pearl "The Gibson" copy to put in). The labor is killing me and I'd rather have an authentic piece glued on, if possible.

Why not ask on www.mandolincafe.com? Joining is moderated, they haven't accepted me yet, I'm impatient, and I know there are some guitar freaks here.

The only thing I could think of would be to find some local guitar/music shops that have been around forever, they may have some parts lying around.

That sounds like a good business idea. Maybe I should start a guitar junkyard.

I'm parting out a used Stradivarius, in case you want to try cross referencing some part numbers

Oh sweet Jesus I am jealous. That is awesome, what kind of Gibson?

As for parts, my suggestions are Elderly Instruments in Lansing Michigan--if they don't have it, they will direct you to the right spot, and ebay.

I used to have an active account on mandocafe, let me try to find it. But that was two email addresses ago. Mandocafe will be your best bet though.

Oh, pictures?

Elderly isn't a bad place to start. Try Gruhn's in Nashville. The Mountain Music Shoppe here in KC woulda been perfect, but they got shut down, so fat lotta good that does you.

Also: be prepared for a lot of pointed questions. People may think you're trying to fake a real Gibson, and may want some proof this is a repair on a real one before they'll help you.

You could try http://www.williesguitars.com/ in St. Paul.

Two comments...

Like restoring cars, if you want it done correctly and with an eye towards maintaining its value, restoring a musical instrument is not cheap.

If I had a potentially valuable Gibson, my first line of questions would be to the mothership itself. Gibson has a restoration service.

Thanks, all, for the suggestions: I'll start with Gibson, then Elderly, then work down from there.

As for authenticating it, it's definitely real and I'm happy to provide documentation to Gibson if they're reluctant to sell me the part (assuming they have it). My dad gave this mandolin to me nearly 30 years ago. From some basic web research, it looks like it was made in 1913 -- it's a pumpkin A model. Unfortunately, the neck was broken in several places when I was younger, then badly repaired (hence the fake ebony). I took it in for some set-up work today and discovered that the repair was failing. I decided to pull the trigger and get the headstock back to original condition when the neck is re-repaired.

I won't get it back for at least a month; pics to follow. :-)

i'll ask my sister, she's a hell of a mandolin (and guitar) player and has several antique ones including an old gibson.

Plug for another dude:

This guy, Jim Grainger, is a fantastic luthier and a super-cool guy to boot. His shop is tough to find (unless he's moved, it's hanging off the side of a mountain outside Sparta, which is about 100 miles out in the bushes from Nashville), but if you need an old banjo, guitar, or mandolin fixed, he's worth touching base with. He's done a couple things for me over the years; his shop is like disneyland if you like old guitar/mandolin/banjo stuff.

Custom Fretted Instruments of Sparta, TN: http://www.customfret.com/index.php

Note that the first post on the "services" page is a Gibson headstock repair, and then scroll on down to see his custom inlay work.

On topic: Sounds like you have a luthier already- to be honest I'd be shocked if the custom work to re-veneer and do the inlay on the headstock (expensive though that might be) would be any more than finding and installing an antique part...

Jake wrote: Note that the first post on the "services" page is a Gibson headstock repair, and then scroll on down to see his custom inlay work. On topic: Sounds like you have a luthier already- to be honest I'd be shocked if the custom work to re-veneer and do the inlay on the headstock (expensive though that might be) would be any more than finding and installing an antique part...

The luthier I'm using has a "The Gibson" pearl inlay already, finding a real, used veneer is proving more trouble than it's worth, so, yeah, looks like she'll be going the hand-made route.

The pic on the service page is similar to the break my mandolin sustained (the neck is also similarly laminated). More advice I got recently was that the headstock veneer was originally dyed pearwood, not ebony, but using ebony would be a stronger fix and, because the instrument has already sustained damage, the non-original wood type won't deleteriously affect the instrument's already degraded value.

procainestart wrote: / The luthier I'm using has a "The Gibson" pearl inlay already, finding a real, used veneer is proving more trouble than it's worth, so, yeah, looks like she'll be going the hand-made route. The pic on the service page is similar to the break my mandolin sustained (the neck is also similarly laminated). More advice I got recently was that the headstock veneer was originally dyed pearwood, not ebony, but using ebony would be a stronger fix and, because the instrument has already sustained damage, the non-original wood type won't deleteriously affect the instrument's already degraded value.

An important question to ask is are you going to resell it, or are you going to play it? For me when it comes to instruments, I want it to sound and play perfect, not be perfect. If I'm going to keep it for myself, I'm going to fix it for playability and sonic quality. But thats just me.

procainestart wrote: / The luthier I'm using has a "The Gibson" pearl inlay already, finding a real, used veneer is proving more trouble than it's worth, so, yeah, looks like she'll be going the hand-made route. The pic on the service page is similar to the break my mandolin sustained (the neck is also similarly laminated). More advice I got recently was that the headstock veneer was originally dyed pearwood, not ebony, but using ebony would be a stronger fix and, because the instrument has already sustained damage, the non-original wood type won't deleteriously affect the instrument's already degraded value.

An important question to ask is are you going to resell it, or are you going to play it? For me when it comes to instruments, I want it to sound and play perfect, not be perfect. If I'm going to keep it for myself, I'm going to fix it for playability and sonic quality. But thats just me.

Zombie thread, canoe deleted

Ha, I was wondering what bumped this back. Thanks. 

So, what happened to the mandolin? 

Second thread in two days referring to a luthier, which is a word I had never heard of until two days ago.  Odd, I say, becuase i know all the words, what with being a stable genius and all.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Well, I got it fixed. The day I got it, back in, like '82, my dad picked up the case with the latches open, launched the instrument into the air and then, of course, down to the floor, at which point the neck broke in several pieces. The repair was done badly, and as noted here back in 2010(!), failed. I never was able to find the right parts and so the luthier built a replacement sheet and added the "The Gibson" inlay. I hate it: it's a perfect piece of wood, perfectly finished and too polished, and looks out of place on a 100+ year-old instrument. She also replaced the original nut with a E36 M3ty plastic one. A few years later, I stupidly asked my neighbor, a different luthier, to refret it. He did a terrible job, took forever to finish it, and scratched the instrument.

So the mandolin has tons of sentimental value but looks odd to me and has these disappointments, either in my memory or in my hands. But, all that said, it is still a lovely instrument, I think you'll agree:

Good to hear it's back together. Oddly enough, in the years since you started this thread a guy Tim Baxter and I know has opened a shop in NJ near me where I've had some of my guitars fixed.  Vintage guitar repair is his specialty.