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Greco SG300/360, Bargain vintage rocker ready for the stage < Back Greco SG300/360 No Number This guitar is feather-weight fun. Always difficult to date precisely, but no later than 1973, and this one has had a few upgrades to compensate it for a previous owner attempting to glue the neck - too many folk look down on the bolt-ons, and I guess he got pushed over the edge!! Anyway, it is unglued now and you are free to adjust the angle with shims if you fancy. Most surviving early G'n'ecos have had a busy and hard life - this one no exception, so the tuners are new Gotoh SD90, and the pick-ups are now early 80s MMK-45 units. These ones are 11k DCR and ceramic so modelled on Super Distortions. They suit this guitar very well. Adjusting the pole pieces carefully and getting the heights spot on, this will keep up with any modern traffic and has an incredible clean(ish) bridge tone - it nearly speaks to you! These are 2 conductor units and the body isn't deep enough for good quality push pulls, so 3 sounds only here but the tones are great in any mode. You have brand new CTS pots and Switchcraft switch and jack - ready for another 50 years of AC/DC, Zappa, or whatever you want it to do for you. There are knocks and bumps, chips and dents - it wears them well and won't mind if you add a few more. I have claimed this as 'Very Good' condition as I have rebuilt it with the new upgraded parts. It is ready for gigging straight away. As an alternative to a new Epiphone, this offers so much. The spec, obviously, but it has that vintage soul and spirit missing on new guitars since the accountants took over. This was built in an era when it was actually was all about the guitars, and has been fettled with the same attitude. If you don't mind a bolt-on; and that it was made in Japan, not China; and that is it 50 years old, not made 2 weeks ago and drop-shipped as the lacquer is still drying, I reckon you should give this a chance. Price £525 Availability Sold Recommendation Worry-free enjoyment Buy as Is Buy to Upgrade Specifications Year 1973 Pick-ups MMK-45 (11k DCR) Selector 3-way Toggle Bridge ToM Board Rosewood Weight TBC Modifications New Tuners, pick-ups and controls ← Previous Next→ Latest Videos Play Video Play Video 07:40 Play Video Play Video 01:46 Play Video Play Video 07:27 Play Video Play Video 08:53 Play Video Play Video 03:26 Play Video Play Video 06:31 Play Video Play Video 05:36 Play Video Play Video 07:42

Fender 68 Telecaster Closet Classic - Blue Flower, The ultimate Blue Flower Telecaster. < Back Fender 68 Telecaster Closet Classic - Blue Flower R78927 Price £6,899 Availability Sold Recommendation Listen to the Kleins before returning it to original pick-ups. Buy as Is Buy to Upgrade Specifications Year 2015 Pick-ups Klein 1961 Epic Series Selector 3-way Bridge 67 Tele Board Maple Weight 3.33kg, 7lbs 5oz Modifications Klein 1961 Epic Series ← Previous Next→ Latest Videos Play Video Play Video 07:40 Play Video Play Video 01:46 Play Video Play Video 07:27 Play Video Play Video 08:53 Play Video Play Video 03:26 Play Video Play Video 06:31 Play Video Play Video 05:36 Play Video Play Video 07:42

That perfect combination of 1973 Harayama neck, and sensational look. < Back Matsumoku DB-500 Tropical Price £1,595 | SOLD Add to Cart Chat with Us Missed out on this model? Talk to us for a rebuild! I write about Harayama elsewhere (most places!) on this site - his influence on MIJ output is rarely appreciated, but without him companies we know today such as ESP and Fender Japan wouldn't be what they are today; and Prince probably wouldn't have had his MadCat Tele. You can have a bit of Harayama magic with a lot of our DreamBuild guitars - this is another fine example. Based around a 1973 Matsumoku built Greco (the original Gneco decal stays) SE-500, this already fine guitar has traded its electronics for a modern and vastly improved specification. The glorious neck now has fresh Jescar Tall Narrow frets - close your eyes and you could be playing a astronomically expensive Masterbuilt Fender '62 Jazzmaster - that's the nearest equivalent we have experienced. We have focussed our modifications to the aesthetics for this guitar - the condition of the hardware determined this guitar should live on with it for another 51 years - we can make further upgrades if required, but we love this guitar as it is, and the price can be kept as friendly as possible. The Burgundy Mist nitro refinish is paired with a fabulous scratchplate. Sonny Crockett could have had this as a bit of practical art on St Vitus' Dance - did an episode of Miami Vice influence this I wonder? I lived in Miami for a while - I guess this episode of life influenced me a little here. The Excel pick-ups are held in high regard for a reason - very little benefits are required from upgrading them. These pick-ups are from a 1979 SE800 that received a very special upgrade. This guitar plays deliciously, sounds fantastic, and looks good enough to eat. Details The Look A continuation of the Floral theme, this guitar is one of 2 guitars we have refinished in the early 60s Custom colour Burgundy Mist, this one is combined with a striking and perfectly matched scratchplate. Headstock A highly regarded 1973 large headstock style with its original Gotoh tuners and new Gotoh barrel trees. Neck The infamous Harayama 5 piece full C neck with new Jescar 55090 Tall Medium frets on a gracefully aged maple fretboard Pick-ups 3 Maxon Excel single coils - probably the most favoured iteration of the Maxon single coil with their characteristic airy brightness and clarity. The neck pick-up will likely worry your blues bandmates as they just know you'll make them go around again. And again. It's that addictive. Bridge The original Gotoh vintage tremolo unit remains and its steel block gives amazing sustain and it sounds so delightful acoustically, you'll play it for ages before even plugging it in. Controls Upgraded to a 5-way switch, and tone control for the bridge pick-up. Glorious soft-touch knobs feel very premium. Gallery ← Previous Next→

Such an honour to play a part in the history of this fine guitar < Back Levin Goliath Free Consultation Book Now Neck repair and general recommissioning This example is made public with the owner's permission. A bettered, cobweb covered, rat-gnawed tobacco-burst acoustic guitar is held out to me - the metal emblem truss rod cover rattling as I receive it. Thankfully I am sitting down as I learn this is the guitar referred to in several books and has been used by Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Peter Green. Knowing a little history of this era, but only a little, I recognized the name of the guitar's actual owner, but after the aforementioned trio, he would forgive me for not putting a face or a song to the name. Geoff Krivit. The guy that bailed Clapton out a few times in the Bluesbreakers era. He has passed the guitar to a life long friend and new guardian who happens to live nearby. "Is it worth making it playable again?" was the question: "well of course" was the immediate answer. The biggest issue with this old Goliath was the neck. A perfect excuse to get a fabulously skilled luthier out of retirement and back to performing magic. Alan is only semi-retired. Guitars such as this are the 'semi' bit. Lifting the Levin beyond the reach of Ryker, the over-excited Alsatian puppy (now the size of a horse) that guards Chez Arnold, the patient experience and talent pours onto the stepped neck, and a few weeks later, I have the pleasure of strumming a few chords mid way up the neck - previously impossible. Smooth as silk, that unforgettable tone ringing out free from choking and buzz. What a guitar this is. The patina retained, the weak spots under the rosette strengthened, the bracing shored up - this guitar now has its mojo back, and strength to continue delighting guitarists for a long while to come. We elected to stop that emblem rattling around, just in case this Levin needs to be mic'ed up in the future. Gallery ← Previous Next→

Hofner Professional 1963, < Back Hofner Professional 1963 451 The perfect bass for guitarists! A lovely old school short scale Hofner with that magic thump, and amazingly lightweight. This bass has been refinished to a decent standard in an accurate colour and retains its original specification and electrics. These were rare when new – only produced for a very short period for Selmer. This one is in very good condition, and ready for gigging. These basses seem to be coming back into fashion judging by the prices in the market at the moment. We’re setting this one at a realistic level to reflect the condition and the fact it has been refinished. This comes with a padded gig bag. We also have a matching Colorama II guitar – always a deal to be done on the pair. Price £££ Availability Sold Recommendation Enjoy as it is, or we can visit Mr Novak for a Goldfoil pickup… Buy as Is Buy to Upgrade Specifications Year 1963 Pick-ups Hofner Staple Selector N/A Bridge Hofner Board Rosewood Weight 3.17kg 7lbs 0oz Modifications Refinish ← Previous Next→ Latest Videos

< Back Ibanez PCBE12-MH Acoustic Bass Free Consultation Book Now Repair and Recommissioning A previous restring had been performed a little clumsily and the ball end of the strings had not been correctly positioned before tension applied. The bores of the bridge were very distorted and damaged. They are now repaired and hold the strings without the risk of the peg springing out. The truss rod had been very over tensioned and is now set straight with a comfortable action and no buzzing or choking. A set of Rotosound RS44LD was fitted and sound amazing acoustically and electrically. We completed the job by tidying up some unsightly dinks and scratches to the bodywork which now has this lovely bass looking as good as it plays and sounds. Gallery ← Previous Next→

< Back Hohner B2A Free Consultation Book Now Pick-up Upgrade A very good friend and Matsumoku client has been spoilt by having Qtuner pick-ups in a spectacular 6 string bass - after Qtuner sounds, most other basses sound flat and soulless. Lugging that 6 stringer around everywhere isn't always appropriate and he presented us with a mid-80s Hohner headless that serves as the workaday instrument. B2A basses have that active boost which is great, but passively, the Select by EMG pick-ups are not great. They make a sound, but not a particularly pleasant and useful one if you don't need the presence and power of the active circuit. Qtuner have long gone unfortunately, so we drew up a shortlist of characterful appropriate sized pick-ups and discussed the implications with the owner. In the running was Lace Alumitone, the obvious EMG, and a left-field choice I had stumbled upon while down a few rabbit holes. Near the harbour in Coney Island, NYC, is a chap called David, and he will happily produce a set of neodymium guitar humbucker sized bass pick-ups when asked. No more discussion required! These are not the first units he has produced - many Steinberger owners have swapped out the EMGs for his products. He doesn't shout about it - maybe he ought to! We joined a small queue and waited with baited breath. At this point I would like extend my immense gratitude to and respect for David who delivered this order despite enduring the worst possible calamity imaginable at the start of the build. Thanks David. The results are outstanding - in passive mode there is power, clarity, dynamics - the lot. Boosting this with the active circuit is almost unnecessary, but adds a new dimension. Can all this sound be coming from this tiny box? No wonder EMGs got swapped out for these. This is phase one for this Hohner - we have even more plans for it: watch this space... Gallery ← Previous Next→

There is no remaining evidence to show that this guitar was ever sat on and crushed by its future owner < Back Hofner Club 40 1959 Free Consultation Book Now Neck repair and restoration to original specification What happens when the future inheritor of a rare piece of Bubenreuth history, identical to Lennon's starter guitar, accidentally sits on it? Valiant attempts to piece it together again. Looking right but doing a decent impression of a sitar. In our capable hands, it has now been re-built and restored to its original condition. The guitar received a full neck reset, a new original spec genuine Höfner pick-up and control panel, cosmetic repairs and a sensitive clean. A fresh set of Thomastik-Infeld JS111 flatwounds now have this old girl sounding like it did back in the day. A really lovely heirloom that hopefully won't be sat on again in 15 years time... Gallery ← Previous Next→

Gretsch 7660 Chet Atkins Nashville, Arkansas built beauty < Back Gretsch 7660 Chet Atkins Nashville 1-3069 This 7660 is a very fine example of a Baldwin era Arkansas Gretsch - this has a nice deep hollow body and a nice balance. At 3.7kg (a touch over 8lbs), it is quite weighty for a Nashville, but perfectly balanced - a bit more maple on a deeper body. The deep orange finish is amazing - just a few polishing marks and little to demonstrate 51 years of life - you will have to hold it up to the light to see the imperfections. At a fraction under 3 inches deep at the f-hole this is one of the sought after versions. This is on its original frets and there are signs of minor wear on the lower few frets, but it does not affect playability in any way. The neck profile is thin enough to achieve some Setzer speed but not skinny. The nut is 43mm, and 48mm at the 12th fret. Unlike a few of these 7660 models, this one is intonated perfectly and the action can be varied to suit you. It currently has a low action for a fast light touch Setzer style, but I had it up 1 mm to suit my fat fingered slow style and it performed equally as well. All the famous sounds are there - the tone filter is actually very useful, and with the 2 independent volume controlled pick-ups, an enormous array of tones are available. The Bigsby behaves itself - no sliding around and keeps tune admirably. To get the best out of these, you need to get familiar with the controls, they are not one-trick ponies. Have a listen to the video to hear it in action. It comes with a non-original Gretsch case - still a Gretsch case, but not specifically for this model. Unless you go right to the top of the range and have Tom Jones or Stephen Stern breathe some magic on it, a new Gretsch wouldn't make you smile like this one does. It's an absolute cracker, and not a bad investment. 1960s 6120 models are getting further and further out of reach, this really is a brilliant alternative. Price £2,125 Availability Sold Recommendation Enjoy as it is. Buy as Is Buy to Upgrade Specifications Year 1973 Pick-ups Filtertron Selector 3 way Toggle Bridge Bigsby Board Ebony Weight 3.67kg; 8lbs 1oz Modifications None ← Previous Next→ Latest Videos Play Video Play Video 07:40 Play Video Play Video 01:46 Play Video Play Video 07:27 Play Video Play Video 08:53 Play Video Play Video 03:26 Play Video Play Video 06:31 Play Video Play Video 05:36 Play Video Play Video 07:42

Nothing on this bass hasn't been refurbished, rebuilt or sensitively replaced. < Back Hofner 5148 Verithin Bass Free Consultation Book Now Full repair & restoration to original specification Carrying the serial number 682, this is the last known 5148 Verithin Bass produced . Despite leading a busy life, and slightly less than optimal storage conditions for such an instrument, it is adored by its owner. The initial brief was fairly simple - reset the neck and try and make it playable at the lower end of the fretboard. That brief soon expanded... Disassembling the guitar for checking and cleaning soon produced a seemingly never-ending list of "do while we're there" , and as a result, nothing on this wonderful bass hasn't been refurbished, rebuilt or sensitively replaced. The pick-ups were intermittent in their behaviour. The windings had all but perished . The new replacements for these pick-ups are significantly hotter than the originals and so these originals were re-wound to exact specification . Now we have the original tones, and they are so characterful. The selector switch had thrown a leaf and so was replaced by a modern equivalent albeit identical on the outside. The potentiometers were in poor shape, but we rescued them (they don't build them like this anymore). Via this exercise, I can reliably assure a skeptical world that there is a noticeable change in tone when running these pick-ups through CTS pots, although renewing capacitors made no difference at all with the original pots. I think we'd need to find a Tupolev TU-104 cockpit on Ebay to find a suitable replacement for these. The obvious issue with this at the outset was of course the neck . Half in half out of its pocket, major surgery was required to release it fully, and get it back where it should be in order to compensate for the bowed neck (way beyond truss-rod correction). A second round of work may take place in the future that removes the fretboard and deals with the ski-slope at the upper frets, but for now, the guitar plays perfectly well between the 1st and 13th fret . Until this work takes place, a Viola style bridge saddle replaces the original item due to having more adjustment potential therefore allowing an appropriate action working together with the revised neck angle, and getting over the ski-jump. This Verithin is now back in service, looking and sounding glorious, playing comfortably and most of all reliably. (Photo credit to Andrew V., owner of the Verithin Bass) Gallery ← Previous Next→

Moog Taurus I, King Crimson, Zappa, Sklar, Wyman: you can be them... < Back Moog Taurus I T 2071 This marvellous bit of the 1970s gave the guitarist / bassist the opportunity to be Rick Wakeman for a while. This is where it all really started - the first set of bass synth pedals that the professionals really took seriously. Is it as loud as the professionals claimed it to be? Absolutely. It makes the Hall shake - we have had complaints about it from people living in different buildings. In the environments it was designed for, you feel it, then hear it. Yet it DI's straight into the Focusrite, or through the Fishman Soundbox mini and that big arena feeling is right there in the headphones without any tinkering. The Octave button allows you to double the pedal count, and a quick well rehearsed manoeuvre will actually unleash 4 octaves for your feet. Even plugged into a simple transistor amp, this will produce the arena shaking bass - it delivers a real feeling of power even at low decibel counts. These don't regularly come up for sale - often they have lost their control panel surround which is exposes the guts to too much of the outside world of a gig. This example is far from mint, but has not lost any pedals, knobs, or vital components. As with most surviving examples, it has a wonky power cable grommet, but this is still holding firm and doesn't affect its functionality. The LED for the Variable switch has given up, and we have decided not to violate the main PCB to replace this. Other than that, the unit functions as it should. If I were to really nit-pick, just the Oscillator B Frequency slider sometimes needs a little gentle persuasion to fire up its pitch, but it ultimately never fails to do so. It's big, it's basic, it's heavy and it's expensive. But worth it for the vanishingly rare opportunity to make and be seen making, these sounds for real. The previous owner hauled it around in an adapted golf bag, but admits it hasn't been used in anger since the late 1980s. It's 13kg by itself - a typical case will probably nearly double that. This one does not come with a flight case, so ideally, we will carry it down the stairs and place it into your car, but if shipping is required, we had better talk about the options which would include a £375 Swan-Flight Taurus case in yellow. Price £4,000 Availability Sold Recommendation Worry any nearby seismographs. Buy as Is Buy to Upgrade Specifications Year 1978 Pick-ups N/A Selector N/A Bridge N/A Board N/A Weight 13.0 kg Modifications N/A ← Previous Next→ Latest Videos Play Video Play Video 07:40 Play Video Play Video 01:46 Play Video Play Video 07:27 Play Video Play Video 08:53 Play Video Play Video 03:26 Play Video Play Video 06:31 Play Video Play Video 05:36 Play Video Play Video 07:42

A very rare Rose Morris Rickenbacker recommissioned with the correct bridge < Back Rickenbacker 1997 Free Consultation Book Now General restoration to original specification Let’s pretend Pete Townshend didn’t smash so many of these into Marshalls for a moment and savour one he never got his hands upon! A 21-fret Rickie with an f-hole means only one thing – it’s a Rose Morris import – this isn’t a re-issue, it’s a best guess 1965. It’s a 1 o’clock model – only eight 2 o’clock models are known to exist. It has obviously had a decent and busy life in its early years – the owner put a fair few miles on the clock back then, but as with many beautiful old guitars like this, they get put in a case, left alone while life takes over, and then re-surfaces 40 years later looking just as good but not playing so well. This sensitive restoration involved replacing a Gibson tail-piece with a period-correct Trapeze style item, careful repair of a bent machine-head (don’t believe what you read on the forums, this can be done) to keep it as original as possible, replacement of chipped and broken knobs, an electrical service, a careful fret dress, a sensitive clean, new saddle cover and general recommissioning which thankfully requires a lot of testing, playing and having fun with. The goal with this one was to keep its fabulous patina, but make it play as smoothly and comfortably as it once did; the expression on the face of the owner as he was re-united with it spelled success. Always beautiful in looks and sounds, always a challenge, and the types of challenge we relish. Gallery ← Previous Next→