Early run S-500

Hello all.

I have been offered the opportunity to purchase what I believe to be a very early production run S-500. By this I mean that it has a two piece pick guard, a bullet type truss rod, the older MFD pickups, and a three bolt neck. It is very dark wood (I believe to be mahogany) with a clear coat finish.

The issue is that the guitar is in rather poor condition. The front half of the pick guard is missing, as is the tremolo spring cover, and the tremolo bar. Almost all of the metal parts are corroded or rusted, including the pickups. Lastly, there is a bit of finish damage.

I think that this guitar can be made to be beautiful again, but it will take a lot of work, and a lot of parts.

Any thoughts on a taking on a restoration of this level? More importantly, can anyone offer leads on sourcing parts for this guitar?

I appreciate all input. Thank you in advance.

JB,

Things to remember with a guitar in this condition include does the truss rod work and are the frets serviceable. If the truss rod works then anything is possible. You can always get new frets.
If this guitar is priced right and you can get it to work I would not worry about the cosmetics. Pictures of this guitar would spark more discussion possibly.

y2kc

Doesn't a company reproduce trem arms and metal plates? I'd buy for a decent price and slowly build it up.

Doesn't a company reproduce trem arms and metal plates? I'd buy for a decent price and slowly build it up.

Check our Links page for "G&L authentic reproduction parts from ESI". This is Gabe's company.

An alternative for the trem bar is posted in the G&L On-Line store:

If you have an early- to mid-1980s G&L model such as SC-3 or F-100 which uses a screw-in vibrato arm,
our recommendation is to use a vibrato arm for a USA Fender Stratocaster equipped with the vintage style vibrato.
Screw-in Fender Stratocaster vibrato arms are available from many retailers such as Stewart-MacDonald or Allparts.
Note that the early G&L vibratos using screw-in arms had black plastic tips. Often retailers will sell replacement arms
with white tips but will sell different color arm tips separately.

Hope this helps.

Thank you everyone for your input!

Thank you especiallyfor the link to the ESI site, Craig. They do seem to offer pick guards and spring covers, so I would be set there.

As far as the trem arm, it looks like it uses the drop in style similar to what is currently produced. I think that G&L sells them, but since I can't measure anything right now, I can't tell for sure.

I think everyone also hit on the other key aspect to this, which is what a fair price would be. The seller wants $800, I'm thinking $200-$300 considering condition. I only found two that have sold on Reverb.com, one for about $500, and the other for about $600. Both looked to be in good shape. There are a couple for sale on Ebay for much more, but then again, that's Ebay. The small local stores close to me (Seattle Area) weren't exactly helpful with sales history or prices. Any thoughts on establishing an accurate value for this thing? I know pictures would speak volumes, but I didn't think to snap any while I was looking at the guitar.

Thank you again everyone!

There is a nice early S-500 natural finish on Reverb now. I got a notice yesterday that someone submitted an offer on it. Personally I would avoid a guitar that is in poor condition.

If the trem bar socket is the original one, the trem bar will have an outside diameter of 3/16".

Here's the one on my 1982 S-500:


The currently available trem bars from the G&L On-Line store will not fit as they both have an OD larger than 3/16".

Hope this helps.

I want to thank everyone for your input. The owne of the guitar and I could not come together on a price, so there will be no G&L joining my collection. For now.....

Thank you again, everyone.