Other Vintage Parts

 

This is the most difficult page to write because whatever I write will only touch on one or two guitar parts per manufacturer so no hate mail please this is a  broad category page.

Martin guitars usually had Grover or Kluson tuners. All Matin guitars  pre 1950 had open back tuners. By the end of the 1950’s they were moving to closed back models. The open back grovers in gold were reserved for the higher end model guitars. 

 Kay, Silvertone and Harmony guitars used Kluson tuners on their models. Most versions had three on a strip style tuners with plastic tips. There are  few top end models like Kay Barney Kessels that used Grover closed back tuners, Most bridges were cheap wooden bridges many non adjustable. Again on the higher end model like  the Barney Kessel had a complicated and expensive Melita bridge. Almost all knobs were plastic in various styles. Tailpieces were very basic. Usually a trapezes tailpiece very basic with no name and no engraving. Again

Rickenbacker Guitars were always more elegant and decorative for their era. They always has a look that was revolutionary and totally unique. The pickups were toaster top or slit cover pickups and the early ones had a bar pickup borrowed fro the early  steels. By around 1969 the newer non toaster style pickup was introduced they were black top single coil style pickups. They usually used Kluson tuners and never really cheap-ed out on their parts. They used their own designed tremolos and bridges. These will not retro fit on any guitars except Rickenbacker.

Danelectros one of my favorite vintage guitars are also the cheapest quality. There is something about the low quality materials and construction that adds to a unique sound and distinctive look. A real luthier as many normal people would think junk immediately but they are far from that. Hundreds of hit records has used these guitars so how can one argue with success.

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