recommended Ebay sellers for vintage style bodies?

[bossaholic]

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a Ebay seller that makes bodies close to early 50's specs as possible.

Unfortunately I can't afford to buy one at some of the respected manufacturers (maybe next time).

Another reason I am gravitating towards Ebay is I get a chance to pick the best grain.

Thanks

[Maxwell Street]

www.musikraft.com

[PeterUK]

Originally Posted by bossaholic

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a Ebay seller that makes bodies close to early 50's specs as possible.

Unfortunately I can't afford to buy one at some of the respected manufacturers (maybe next time).

Another reason I am gravitating towards Ebay is I get a chance to pick the best grain.

Thanks

OK. I'll have a go at answering your question.

Check put Musikraft's eBay sales arm, Jamerson Guitars. Here's a link to a live, good looking body on eBay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=170389497602

A quick look though their feedback and I'm guessing that the one in the link will sell for $150. Is that your price range?

I'd definitely check out USA Custom Web Specials - I got myself an AMAZING Thinline body there recently for not a lot of cash - and although I don't buy from Warmoth, they have a lot of ready to go bodies.

I'd also check out what Brian Poe has in stock (http://www.hightechtool.com/guitar/) - I've had two excellent bodies from Brian or check the Classifieds here as there are several guys offering pine bodies for great prices.

Hope some of this helps.

Peter

[giale123]

ah this i can help you out on!

here, for really cheap bodies, i mean under 60 bucks shipped. go to Barry Johnson,
http://stores.shop.ebay.com/If-Its-Strings-Music Currently, he has no sales, but he soon will. Just wait a day or 2. I guarantee you this guy is very satisfying. At first on my first build, he made me a 2 piece ash body for 57.00 shipped. The holes that were drilled were not aligned, and most i had to fix using dowels and glue. I emailed him back, he refunded the entire 57.00 dollars, and even sent me a new *1 piece ash body* FREE of charge. The body came in so nice, and everything was perfectly fitted. I'll show you in my next build.

So hes a good guy to look at. He is very generous.

Another i would recommend is *reddirtguitarworks*. This is quality stuff, and their listing shows each and every body they make, and the exact one your getting in many pictures. Anyways this guy has sold tons of guitar bodies and has great feedback so you know hes legit. Price ranges, from auctions eh... 50 if your lucky to about 120 tops.
heres his link: (this is his new ebay store site, so the feedback is low for now).
http://myworld.ebay.com/reddirtguitarworks/ also, if you go to his website, not the ebay one. You can get your guitar body custom rounted, different pickup orientation at an extra cost. not so bad!

Hopes this helps!

[Kickin']

Bassaholic, I purchased a body from reddirtguitarworks and unless you have woodworking
skills you may want to look at other sellers. Mine had an oversized neckpocket which
needed to be filled and a bad neckpocket/bridge alingment problem. Lots of chipping
also. I'am not saying don't buy one but you get what you pay for.
Kickin'

[bossaholic]

Thanks everyone!

Great leads.

I did buy a body from newmetalshopmusic a couple of months ago for my Springsteen clone and though I haven't put it together, I did notice the control plate route seems cantilevered a bit when I line everything up with the pickguard. Not anything too noticeable, but it bugs me a little.

I am also looking for the opportunity to drill my own string holes. I love the look of the old tele's where they obviously didn't use a jig or drill press.

Does anyone know if Brian Poe is still active on his site? It looks like he hasn't updated his page in a couple of years.

[bossaholic]

Those Blackguard Book bodies and necks on the Musikraft site look very, very tempting.

Does anyone own one of their Blackguard body or necks?

[giale123]

all you need to do before buying an ebayer's telecaster body. Is to tell them, after they customize the build at your specs, or to standard specs, tell them to definitely check, for any offset drilling, or oversized pockets.

You need to remind them if everything is not aligned and fitted, w/ proper drilling you will want a immediate refund.

Tell them to measure it and definitely INSPECT it before they ship it off. I always do this.
You cannot expect a mass producer of telecaster bodies, especially if their not certified to not make mistakes once in a while.

Just remember check the feedback, know your budget, and bid safe.

[guitarbuilder]

Do the research. Check ebay, check youtube, check google. You'll find you get exactly what you pay for with bodies here and on ebay. There are reasons that some t style body is 30 dollars and another 130 dollars. Heck, just look at the pix.

[guitarbuilder]

Tell them to measure it and definitely INSPECT it before they ship it off. I always do this.
You cannot expect a mass producer of telecaster bodies, especially if their not certified to not make mistakes once in a while.

What exactly does certified mean? I'd venture to guess that you're probably going to get more mistakes from a low budget manufacturer exporting their wares than an individual luthier type person just due to the number of units moving through. The tele body is pretty easy to see when something is off or not. Now if that person decides to pass it off by non- disclosure... that is something else entirely... and more likely to happen on ebay based of some of the stuff I've been unlucky enough to win.

[cmatthes]

Stick with somebody reputable, like Musikraft.

They are one of the few companies that does "vintage correct" bodies (Warmoth doesn't, most others don't). If you want a Blackguard, go with theirs. If you want to do a '64, they'll hook you up. If you want a '68, same thing. You can cheap out, but you'll either spend way too much time trying to correct things (hey - MY time is valuable, how about yours?!) or will end up with something that won't look right. I'm not going to bash anybody in particular, but I got a body from one of the other "builders" mentioned in this thread, and it was worthless. Horrible work, so I guess you get what you pay for with this stuff.

Spend a little more now or regret it later, that's all!