The Parts Drawer» guitar parts

A Look Back At Vintage Guitars And Parts For 2009

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:07:28 +0000

2010 has arrived and I am sure you like the rest of us is glad that 2009 is over. What a ride and a terrible one at that. Just when you thought it could not get worse it did and finally we can say goodbye to the mess that was 2009. There are some glimpses of hope I see for 2010 so lets keep our fingers crossed.

In the vintage guitar and vintage guitar parts world much was the same as the rest of the world gloom and doom with brief glimpses of hope. The vintage guitar market took the real hit and the good news was vintage guitar parts although down significantly still sold on a regular basis and pulled us through. It showed me that even in bad times one needs relief and if you cant buy a vintage guitar restore the one you had seems to be the message i got.Basically with limited funds people put their guitar back to stock rather than buying other more original ones. This solved their vintage guitar jones at a fraction of the price. The result is that parts sold people were happy and now their guitars are worth more a win win situation.

From a business stand point I would be lying to say we rocked and had a great year. The truth is we got by and thank God parts are selling but business was off. around November we got signs of a stronger recovery and it appears to be continuing and as of today sales are still good and we are also still able to buy great parts. I hope this year will be better for everyone.

The other good news for both is prices have come down on parts . This is great news for the consumer and us as a buyer. We can sell for less because we are buying parts for less. Unlike the frenzy two years ago now seems to be a good time for everyone to buy vintage parts because the prices have settledand there is a good supply around. The fact that great parts are flowing out onto the market again is because people need money and they realized all those parts sitting in drawers are found money. I know from experience that people have been sending us literally photos of piles of parts they have and this has not happened in ages . People were holding on to them like stocks in the frenzy seeing crazy prices but realize now that now is as goodas anytime to sell. So I expect a great year for parts because of this fact.

Thanks again for all you support and help any questions please send me an e mail at THE PARTS DRAWER and i will answer all e mails within 48 hours

JIm Pasch

Vintage Guitar Parts Deals For The Holidays

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:01:06 +0000

Happy Holidays From The Parts Drawer. We would like to thanks all our customers for another great year and for all there business and support. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday and that next years will be a good one for everyone.

We are now offering for a limited time until December 31 2009 a 10% discount on all parts orders over $1000.00 and a 15% discount on all parts orders over $1600 . Simply mention this post or cut an paste it in your email to us and we will deduct it from your purchace.

Vintage Guitar Parts vs. Retrospec Reproduction parts Who Can Tell ?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:40:39 +0000

I have seen it all over the past 20 years in this business . Even 20 years ago the reproduction parts and guitars were going strong and every year it seemed that another person was making some good reproduction parts. Then about 5 years ago the stuff really started getting spot on and the reproduction parts market had taken it up a notch. Well I am here to tell you it’s over I have now seen the best reproduction parts i have ever seen and at the recent guitar show I witnesses vintage guitar dealers with years of experience looking at these parts and saying ” I cannot tell the difference”

Well today there is a company called RETROSPEC GUITAR and they have finally nailed it down as far as I can tell. They have the hands down best parts I have seen and I spoke to the Own of the company and what they have in store is out right scary, They plan within the next two years to totally replicate all Gibson and fender parts . When I saw the reaction to these parts by reputable dealers I know I was not wrong.

Thank God I know the owner and he has told me a trick or two and what to look for but 99% of the people i know would buy these as real . They even sell the aged parts even more insane to ever detail. I have to say I am impressed and I usually never am. This will make my life a bitch now being I have to what what I buy over the next because it is impossible and i mean Impossible to tell with a photo of these parts are real or fake.

On one hand I am happy but on the other I just see a nightmare for people like me who deal in vintage guitar parts. Thank god nothing can replace 20 years of experience and I am confident I can tell. I just have a sixth sense with this stuff . My rule of thumb is if i have to think about it for more than 10 seconds it is a fake or not real . Now that is for me not the public. Sometimes I can just Lock at something and Say to myself something is wrong even if I do not know what it is and at that point I run.

So I am here to announce to the world I have seen the best and the future is going to get more complicated for sure with these parts out on the market. so beware and look close at what you buy and buy from a reputable guy who will always refund you if you are not happy. Hats off the to boys at RETROSPEC-GUITAR they have truly done amazing things lets just hope the unscrupulous people stay away . If you need more info or have any comments please e mail me at THE PARTS DRAWER

Vintage Guitar Parts Icon And Visionary Skip Henderson

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:29:19 +0000

Skip Henderson is probably the first person I know who really saw the vintage parts vintage as a real business. He had the vision to see that the vintage guitar market was going in the direction of the collector rather than the player and the all collectors look for all original instruments. I guess that would be around 1984 or so Skip opened City Lights music.

This store was more like a shrine to the musical mojo of everything vintage and cool. You could find vintage guitar parts , vintage cigarette lighters , vintage magazines, memorabilia, blues records and items that had nothing to do with vintage guitar parts yet fit right in . City Lights Music was the mojo. The store had a mystique about it being there were no real hours .City Lights could open 1 in the after noon or 11 at night and could stay open 30 minutes or 8 hours. What a thrill it was to call and here skip say come on down I am open.

For those of you who were never lucky enough to vist the store there is really no way to really describe it. The store sucked you in to a cool space that the outside world could not penetrate . The conversations and business deals are legendary. It was not uncommon to be there when the likes of Billy Gibbons , Randy Bachman , Lenny Kravites , Marshall Crenshaw , Semi Mosley , les leva , G.E. Smith Cesar Diaz, Brian Setzer, and the lsit goes on would just call skip and chat about the latest whatever.

I will never forget one of my first days when I was standing there and Billy Gibbons called and the conversation ranged from black guard tele parts, to restoring vintage cars and a mojo bag he was send up to skip on loan and skip was sending him some blues item that was uncovered down in Memphis were Gibbons was living ata the time. I though I was in the twight zone! and died and went to heaven.

The parts king had set the bar high for any to follow. Many have tried including myself to replicate city light in the past but to no availe. The fact that not only you could come in and get the best vintage guitar parts and the coolest stuff you have ever seen but you got to talk to a guy who actually loved music, loved guitars and loved people who loved the above.

The fact that many were blessed to have seen and been a part City Light Music is a true wonder in this world . Skip gave us that space and the chance to look , learn and expose ourselves to real comradery in the vintage guitar business which today has lone gone and been replaced with high price tags , egos and and ebay experts. sometimes it truly feels like the end of the world and that I am embarrassed to be apart of what this business has become. Maybe Skip knew something we did not and that is why he quietly left this business to start many charitable and foundations . Maybe He saw the ugliness that was to become thsi business and his time was better spent elsewhere.

The problem is I still need that city lights news letter in my mailbox every month to pull me through the bad times. and get excited over. I need that place to go were the true lovers and believers of this business can go . I need to keep the Vision City Lights Music alive forever in my mind and with others so I will never forget and the world will never forget that guitar are just guitars , music is a spiritual thing people are people and the business I know today is the bastard child of the greed and not what it started out to be.

Thank you Skip for the education the guidance and insight to remain sure footed in the mess we now call the vintageguitar market. In the mean time I Will pray and still keep looking for that City Lights Music Flyer in my mailbox for it will be the sign of the times and the sign of better things to come . God Bless Skip Henderson for the joy he has given all of us

Jim Pasch

THE PARTS DRAWER

Vintage Guitar Parts Found Money Read This

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:30:12 +0000

In these hard economic times anything helps . I just thought I would share a story that happened yesterday to us. guy walks in our store and wants to sell us a guitar . It was a vintage danelectro and a Gibson sg from the 1960′s. While we were cutting him a check for the guitar he heard me talking to a guy on the telephone about vintage guitar parts and how we buy guitar in any state of condition and how we also buy and sell parts .

This got home thinking we bought guitars for $3000 and before he left he dais by the way i have a bunch of loose parts in the basement would you be interested and of course we said sure. 2 hours laster he comes back and I thought it was Christmas early. It seems like this guy tinkered with everything like most did in the 1960′s and early 1970′s when he opened up the box there were pre t top pickups , t top pickups abr-1 bridges kluson tuners and a slue of other parts.

Well i went crazy as usual and bought everything we bought $5800 of parts from him. That’s amazing when you think about it that the parts were worth more than the guitar he brought in and he had actually last year thought about throwing them out ! needless to say he left here happier than me and that was a super day for us.

The moral of this story and to all out there what you think is junk is probably worth cash. you may not have a box full of stuff but simple things like pickups , bridges , tuners and bridge covers bring big money today. I know that there is still tons of parts out there in case pockets. drawers or boxes and that is all found money in this bad economy. Another interesting point is it is much better to sell the parts and keep the guitars. at least you can play the guitars.

These times are the baddest we have seen and every little bit helps be it $100 or $5000 . So look in those old cases and drawers and I will be willing to bet you have money sitting there you did not even know you had. If you have any questions on what a part might be worth just e mail me at THE PARTS DRAWER and send a few picks and i Will gladly tell you the market value for free.

Jim Pasch