Check them out!

http://www.curtmangan.com

First is some Supro-style blade switch plates. These are not exact copies of the original Supro plates, but they are very close. They won’t retrofit to a vintage Supro, but they would be great for new builds, if you want the same look. They are .07″ (2mm) buff polished stainless steel. Two of them are 3×1-3/16″, and the other one is 3×1-1/4″. Price per plate is $45 shipped in the US and $50 shipped internationally. 3 available.

Second is some string-thru-body plates. These were designed to replace the string ferrules on the back of your guitar, as used on most Telecasters and non-tremolo Strats. The string-spacing is 2-1/16″, which works with the Hipshot hardtail bridge, as well as some others. Each one measures 2-3/4×1/2″, the holes are all 1/8″. Price per plate is $45 shipped in the US and $50 shipped internationally. 2 available.

My OEM supply companies include:

Roadhouse Pickups
Lollar Guitars
TV Jones
Curtis Novak
Rowyco Kustoms
USA Custom Guitars
AllParts
WD Music

First up is a set of two plates for sale only as a set for Fender Bass VI. There is a master (volume, tone and output jack) control plate, and a four-switch plate. Price is $85 shipped in the US, and $90 shipped internationally.

Next up is a selection of switch plates made for Fender Jaguar. I have five “Kurdtz” style switch plates which feature a 1/2″ toggle switch hole in place of two of the usual two-position slider switches. One “Wronski” style switch plate which replaces the three sliders with one blade switch cutout, set at an angle to fit in the pre-existing cavity without any modification. Two “Marr” style switch plates which replace the three sliders with a blade switch set straight across the plate (this does require some modification to the existing cavity). Lastly, I have one Bass VI style four switch plate. Each plate is $45 shipped in the US or $50 shipped internationally. Shipping discounts available for multiple plate orders. *All these plates are sold!*

Newly added: Reproduction Fender Electric XII control plates. These were spec’d out as accurately as I was able to do, but I’m not guaranteeing that these will fit vintage instruments. I recommend them for new build projects. Each plate is $45 shipped in the US or $50 shipped internationally. Shipping discounts available for multiple plate orders. *Only one left!*

I am also keeping a list of pre-orders for the next round of plates. If you are looking for a plate (or two!) for your project, please email me for availability and details.

Thanks!

Here is a quick picture of how I do the modification to the existing rout to fit one of the “Marr” style plates. I do this by just slowly milling out the least amount of wood possible on the drill press.

I think the first time I saw a Valco and really took note of it was a red fibre-glas-bodied Airline I saw on Ebay.  Something about the body profile along with the whole rest of the package sparked something inside of me.  Some lost fascination and excitement for vintage guitars made in the golden era of electric guitars.  It was like I always knew there had to be another company besides Gibson and Fender that made amazing electrics, I just didn’t know who they were.

After I saw that first one I was immediately hooked and I had to know more.  I started searching for Airlines and found more fibre-glas bodied models, and then made the connection between Airline, Supro, National and Valco.  Valco was the parent company, and the others were in-house and private labels.  They made guitars for Sears, Montgomery-Wards, and the Supro brand was their own.  You can read a lot more about Valco at valcopages.com

I got in to it.  My obsession with every other kind of guitar fell by the wayside and the Valco Dual-Tone/Belmont/Holiday/Sahara body style took center stage.  I modeled my very own Oceana model after it.  Eventually I became the proud owner of a 1964 Supro White Holiday – my dream Valco.

At some point I took note of Eastwood Guitars.  Here was an up and coming guitar company who somehow got license to use the Airline and Supro brand names.  They created modern guitars with some of the cool looks of the old Valco originals.  Personally I wasn’t impressed with them.  To each his own, but I felt like they didn’t capture something about the guitars they were modeled after, and I quickly lost interest.

Sometime later I caught wind of another new company that was doing something really exciting.  Found atGuitarKitsUSA.com, this company had gained ownership of the word “Res-O-Glas,” which was Valco terminology for their fibre-glas bodied guitars. Not only were they making guitar bodies with unmistakable Valco flavor, but they were making them true to specs. Yeah, in fibre-glas! Finally! The real deal! They started with the more famous “JB Hutto” body style, sold in a kit where you add your own parts to their body, and soon added (much to my delight!) the Belmont body style. These bodies look great, and they even nailed the internal construction. You can get them with a few different styles of neck pocket so you can put just about any neck on it. Talk about a cool project! And your guitar will have some of that awesome semi-hollow Res-O-Glas tone!

Check them out if you’re looking for something cooler than the usual stuff on your next DIY guitar. I’ll even offer up discount prices on my handmade necks if I know it’s going on a Res-O-Glas Guitars body. Here’s a few pics from their site to get your mouth watering.