Vintage Parts Restoration

With the value of vintage electric guitars going through the roof, an instrument's value can increase dramatically when it's in the most original condition it can possibly be. Many vintage guitar buffs are now reversing the modifications that were made to these great old guitars back in the 1960s and 1970s. Often, original old parts can be found, but sometimes they're in less-than-usable condition.

For example, vintage guitar tuners are often stiff and hard to turn, may have bent tuning shafts, or have crumbled, broken or discolored tuning buttons. Also, the nickel plating may be corroded or oxidized. On electrical parts such as those valuable old controls (pots and caps), years of accumulation of minute dust particles and previous attempts at lubrication can leave controls hard to turn (even frozen in some cases), and produce the familiar scratchy sound and even dead spots.

Several vintage parts dealers and high-end collectors have used Dr. Vintage's services to restore their prized vintage parts, but these services are available to anyone.

Read testimonials for Dr. Vintage parts restoration.

When renewing vintage guitar tuners, I use a multiple-step cleaning process that removes all traces of dirt, grit and old lubrication from the internal workings of the tuners, and then relubricates the gears with a special lubricant for smooth operation. When replacing tuner buttons, I use specially-designed jigs and purpose-modified tools to guarantee that the buttons will be installed perfectly centered, straight, and at the exact depth every time. As part of natural exposure to the environment, some old tuners get pretty crusty. Some owners prefer to leave the "character" on their old parts, while others take advantage of my cosmetic cleaning steps to remove the gunk and reveal the vintage nickel plating hiding underneath.

Crusty tuners, before and after (Note: The new tuner tip on the renewed tuner is courtesy of Uncle Lou):

I have a multi-step process for renewing controls, which includes removing excess solder blobs and odd pieces of left-over wire, and several other steps that result in your controls being restored to the best possible electrical and mechanical function.

Vintage controls often look like this:

The Dr. Vintage treatment returns vintage controls that look like this:

I also renew other parts as needed. Contact me to discuss your needs.