The Electra Forums

I have been kicking around the idea of repro/replacement parts being made available either off this web site or the River City site. The question is, what parts would people most likely want to see and be willing to pay for? I can't have parts manufactured especially for the site and lose my shirt doing so - they would have to sell at retail prices. But the advantage is that they would either be known good replacements or reproductions of existing parts.

What parts would you like to see in addition to the fairly standard everyday switches, knobs, and bridges that are more widely available?

Would you buy them here if they were moderately priced and had instructions on how to make them work on with your Electra or Westone (where needed)? That would take a LOT of the guess work out of buying replacements that will work. And each part could be described as a repro or a replacement and what is involved in making it work and look correctly. If this is wanted, I might look into it. If this is NOT wanted, I definitely won't look into it. My idea is not to get rich, there just won't be the volume for that no matter what. The idea is not to put MANY hours and lots of money into something no body wants either - I just can not afford to do so.

What parts would you like to see most? I might be able to start small, and gradually improve offerings. Switches? Knobs? Pickups? bridges? Pots? Jacks? Pickguards? Tuning keys? Be as specific as possible.

Thanks.

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Thorny

superfluous comment deleted

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Live Better Electra-ly
http://www.therathole.org/leia/visitors_axes/leia/leia.html

G'day Thorny; there's a Westone spares going here...

http://www.westone.info/spares/index.html

...where the seller has had parts made specifically for the brand, and as a purchaser of the Bendmaster bits I can attest to their quality! However, as a caveat, he closed it down earlier this year due to lack of interest from those who said "Hell, yeah!" when canvassed but failed to support him we he went out on a limb and had bits made!
This time he has had some PCB's made, as well as those odd tapered knobs that Matsumoku liked so much, and the first run disappeared as fast as he had 'em made!!
It's the odd little bits peculiar to Electra that would be most popular, I would guess - for myself the availability of the locknuts for Bendmaster equipped guitars was a Godsend; it sure makes the instruments a lot more playable!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

yeah, I saw that he offered those - probably after a post you made on them. I saw that he had bendmaster parts, but then they were gone. I have a bendmaster myself, and I figured he bought some old stock someplace. I would be fine with a different looking part as long as it fit and functioned as well or better than the originals.

I have seen a few people list some of the bendmaster guitars with floyd rose trems on them and wondered do they actually fit? or does it take a particular floyd rose model. Some of them used to have a recessed semicircle knife edge on one side and a flat knife edge on the other, but now I can't find those floyds anywhere (it made them somewhat flexible to minor variations on bridge posts).

Back on subject though, if parts are offered there I don't want to offer the same things. And, if they don't sell, I don't want to make the same mistake they made if I can avoid it.

We keep getting asked for certain parts on the site - and some of them are the same parts over and over again. Why not offer a link to a place that offers parts that we KNOW will work? If they are not unreasonably priced it should be a good resource.

None of us can afford to spend $1000s on parts no one wants! I just hope that if we do something, it is a good thing and supported. If it won't be, then let's not do it.

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Thorny

..Very true! And whilst I do like keeping things original, I had absolutely no compunction about replacing the bridge on my X195 with a Wilkinson 5+1; bought in NZ for less than the North Americans can buy it - go figure! - and it slotted straight in, was black and looks the part! I could have made a new one out of brass for about NZ$300 but the Wilkinson was a fraction of the cost and looks EXACTLY the same!
The Bendmasters, however, are a bit more problematic as they are were a proprietary thing and it's getting harder and harder to find parts for them. The locknuts are the obvious ones but the bridge saddles are a piece of work as well and it is not unknown for them to fail due to fatigue, hard handling etc. and at the moment if the bridge or any of the components fail on a Bendmaster then you either watch eBay for years or put in a new bridge, be it a FR or something else! Personally I would rather have a playable guitar than one "awaiting parts" hence the Wilkinson!
I'm not sure if the FR 's fit the Bendmaster holes without major work; I'm sure someone in here, or at Westone, will know for sure, though - fortunately I've never been faced with the problem!
Some sort of networking as to who's got surplus bits and willing to part with them is also an option, although who is going give up irreplaceable spares?! ( I have! A young fella in Auckland bought an ST Spectrum which was missing a saddle so I sold him my spare - I'd much rather see the guitars being played, eh!!)

Oh, the Bendmaster bits are there now - he had them made! The only 'old/new' stock he has are the saddles!!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I have shied away from buying guitars that have needed non standard parts and luckily for me nothing non standard has broken on mine except the truss rod cover on an already butchered Outlaw bass. I guess it would be easier if we knew what was possible then we could respond yea I could us that.

I could see reliable Electra and/or Phoenix-branded tuning machines being popular, since the originals tend to not measure up to their modern-day counterparts. I always replace mine with Planet Waves Auto-Trim machines, but if I decided to go back to stock, some nice "correct" tuners would be nice.

And maybe too time-and-effort-intensive, but it would be interesting to see the square-pole Super-Magnaflux or the MMK 45 pickups back on the market... They might even cross over to other, non-Uncle Matt guitar projects.

I just received a "closet classic" x189 from ebay. It is really nice, but needs the push/pull tone switch/pot (the bottom one). that sort of thing would be nice. Any suggestions for a replacement?

thanks!

I think that any of the original or reproduction electra tuners would be nice and would be a popular item as they are all getting older and harder to find in good shape for replacements. I agree with the idea of the pickups as well. If replacement pickups were more available then I think that would help with all the E bay restoration projects out there with non-original pups. The usual small standard parts would also be a popular item I think such as the MPC switches, etc. I hope this helps and good luck with this endeavor if you choose to pursue it. Thanks again for all you contribute to this site.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Clear pickguards and pickguard brackets for the LP style Electras. Also the pickup selector plate for Omega/MPC models would be nice.

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Rush rules! (the band not the fat guy)