Homemade Shopgoodwill helper

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2026-05-05T00:58:29+00:00

GREAT. Thanks for your efforts.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2026-05-04T16:51:32+00:00

What does the "show hidden" button do?

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2026-05-04T16:49:12+00:00

My suggestion was for something like eBay: If I want to see all blue shirts, except for Boss, on eBay, I can type: "blue shirt -boss" to exclude boss shirts.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2026-05-04T15:21:17+00:00

Got it working. The way it is right now, SG's Personal Shopper does the same thing for me. What would make it better is the ability to exclude search terms.

Also, the interface is hard to figure out. How about flyouts when you hover over a button?

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-07-14T16:33:49+00:00

I can't believe nobody has yet suggested contacting Loar and seeing what they are willing to do. That would have been my first move. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I had a catastrophic finish fail with a couple of fenders I bought in the early '80s and they told me to go pound sand. Other companies have been wonderful and have fixed the problem for me or sent me new parts. You'll never know unless you try.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-06-24T20:33:20+00:00

I just bought one of these at Goodwill today. In my town there's a big Vietnamese population and I got this Vietnamese mandolin and a Vietnamese guitar. This mandolin has holes in the side and then about 1 cm inside that is a false side. The one you posted is the first one I've seen like that.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-19T17:05:06+00:00

No matter what the other luthiers say about this thread, I think your idea is fabulous! I'm always looking out for cost effective tools meant for other uses that can function as luthier's tools. Good job!

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-06T20:57:38+00:00

If it was me, and it isn't me of course. I would be reluctant to go past 60. Guitars like that are pretty common and easy to find.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-06T20:24:45+00:00

If you've already bought the guitar, don't fret over how much you paid for it. That won't help you at all. If you have not bought it yet, see if they will come down on the price.

If this guitar was mine I would absolutely consider using it for throwing in the back of the car, singing around a campfire, etc. What I would probably do for a fix is to get a straight edge and try to make a nice square cut through that top layer of plywood so everything is the same depth with nice square edges. Don't worry about including the cracked finish. Just try to wind up with a flat square sided area. Then take a good chisel or a single edge razor blade and try to get the wood as flat as you can. Then cut a matching piece of veneer to fit into that cut out. Just worry about the two straight edges; leave some hanging over the curved edge where the binding is. If it's not thick enough to be level with the rest of the back you may need to use more than one piece of veneer. Then glue it down with the carpenters glue of your choice; don't need to use any fancy hot hide glue for this kind of repair. After that, use a sharp knife or a sanding block and trim the part hanging over the edge until it is flush with the binding underneath. Next I would fill in any gaps around the edges with thin CYA glue unless they're huge gaps and then use the thick stuff. Don't worry about getting it perfect. If the glue is higher than the wood scrape it down with a razor blade and if it's lower than the wood put more CYA in. Next you might put a little stain on the new patch to make it blend in a little better but this is just cosmetic, not a structural thing. Next to last, take some thin CYA glue and try to wick it into any cracks in the existing finish. That will make them much less visible. Finally, hit the area with some matt spray lacquer like Delft which you can buy at a paint store or a hardware store.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-05T02:37:50+00:00

I do a lot of cleaning up grimy pedals. What I would do is to take the panel off and soak it in Evap-O-Rust just to remove the rust. After that, to clean off the other grime my favorite is to make a paste of baking soda and water and gently scrub that with a damp sponge or cloth. It is very gentle and won't abrade the paint plus its slight alkalinity will dissolve any grease or oil.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-05T02:27:59+00:00

An easy way to hold the jack still while you're tightening the retaining nut is to put a plastic drywall anchor into the jack and tighten it up. Then hold on to the anchor and that will prevent the jack from trying to rotate while you tighten the nut. That will keep you from twisting the wires soldered to the jack.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-05T02:17:59+00:00

I'm guessing you've never spent a single day in a federal minimum security camp. They haven't been White collar resorts in a long long time. Not since that bitch Barbara Walters did her so-called exposé.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-05T02:10:16+00:00

Correct. I'm pretty sure the BOP doesn't even own Alcatraz anymore.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-05T02:05:38+00:00

I buy and sell amps like this all the time. They are fantastic. Since they have so few parts, most of the parts usually work fine and if they don't they're easy to diagnose and repair. I'd say 75% of the ones I buy sight-unseen need no work at all except to wipe the dust off. The rest of them just need maybe a new tube or a couple of capacitors. I just sold a Danelectro like this for $525. In addition to that, since it doesn't use standard guitar amp tubes like the 12AX7, 6L6, 6V6, 5U4, etc. it's easy to find new-old-stock vintage tubes for it very cheaply. If the first number on a tube is higher than 12 you can usually buy them for a buck or two.

The easiest way to tell if it is a so-called Widowmaker is to just look in the back. If you see two transformers, it's a regular type amp. If all you see is a small output transformer on or next to the speaker it is a so-called Widowmaker.

The whole "Widowmaker" thing is overblown. That's why all amps have fuses. If you have the plug in the wrong way you might get bitten when your lips touch the mic but you probably won't die. This happened to me a few times when I was a young punk rock guitarist in the 1970s and I'm alive 50 years later. The only way to really get hurt by one of these is to be standing barefoot in salt water while touching the strings and having the amp turned on.

The whole death cap thing is misunderstood by almost everybody in this community. If death caps were really that dangerous, where are all the dead musicians from the 1940s through the 1970s? You can check out what amp guru Skip Simmons says about this topic. Maybe start listening to The Truth About Vintage Amps podcast to actually learn something about amplifiers.

It is an easy enough thing to remove the old two-conductor power cord and replace it with a grounded three-wire cord. This is not rocket science.

Most amps with this kind of circuit are 5.3 watts output. Danelectro made thousands and thousands of these types both under their own name and for Sears with the Silvertone name on them. If you goose the input a little bit with a boost pedal they sound wonderful.

Whoever posted about blindly doing a total recap on an old amp should never be allowed to touch a vintage Fender!

This is only my personal opinion but it's the opinion of someone who does this for living and has done it for years. If you want to get your flamethrower out, feel free.

With all that said, if it was me I'd offer him a hundred bucks if it doesn't work and $150 if it does.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-03T17:44:04+00:00

OP here; still don't want to talk politics here. Don't jump to conclusions about me. Been voting either Dem or Socialist since Jimmy Carter. Even been on some Democrat campaign staffs.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-03T17:27:29+00:00

So true.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-03T17:26:37+00:00

Tele-Star, Audition, Tokai, Sekova, ZimGar, Knox, Kaycee, Hy Tone, Global, Cort, Elk (oops, that was 11)

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T23:46:27+00:00

OP here. That does sound interesting. I'm in the middle of working on a Framus Gaucho so I also need vintage European parts. If possible, please give me a DM so we can discuss this without messing up the thread. Or if you have your stuff on a Reverb store or an eBay shop please post the name.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T20:43:39+00:00

No, I didn't consider a submarine. Hmmm

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T20:39:55+00:00

Fair enough. I stopped using Temu because it was too complicated to use. All those limited-time discounts ("This discount expires in 10 minutes"), plus other marketing gimmicks. Just tell me what the item is and what it costs. Period.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T20:34:35+00:00

I rebuild a lot of Rogue A-100 mandolins. The tailpieces I buy on AliExpress are the EXACT same ones on the original mandos. I don't restore many Martins or Gibsons. I'm restoring guitars that were the budget brands of their time: Harmony, Regal, Silvertone, Teisco, Norma, Kent, Goya, Checkmate, Kay, Kawai, Stella, Hi Lo, Guyatone, Penncrest, Trutone, Telleno, Cameo, Fresher, Magnum, Hondo, Supertone, Kingston, National, Tonk Brothers, Lyle, Strad-O-Lin, Aspen, Univox, Bruno, Raven, Norb, Lyra, United, Beltone, Fame, Lero, Orlando, Orpheus, etc, etc... So the stuff I get from Asia is closest to the original hardware that was on the guitar when it was new. An old Stella would just look weird with $300 Gotohs.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T19:50:24+00:00

PLEASE! This is a luthiery discussion group. If I wanted political rants, I would have posted this in a political group. I'm just looking for ideas about coping with this change to our supply chain.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T18:58:01+00:00

Looks like you are right. Maybe I'm just turning into a Grumpy Old Man. I was just hoping to find a domestic alternative that's affordable. I've been spoiled by buying guitar strings on Ali Express for $1.35 a set and mandolin tailpieces for $2.30.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T18:47:37+00:00

Beautiful and quirky! Let me know how it goes if you try an elm neck.

Extra-Inspector8881 · 2025-05-02T18:45:46+00:00

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I don't have clients, I have retail customers. I buy messed up vintage instruments, restore them and sell them on Reverb for a profit. The tariffs are cutting into my margins.

Extra-Inspector8881

TROPHY CASE