Francis Viviers wrote:
The hassles of getting replacement parts isnt just a music mate or just godin issue. Getting decent parts and gear these days is an absolute mission. I waited 5 months for my piezo saddle. You cant find any decent power bricks anywhere. No one has stock of locking tuners for my jap strat ( So i have to get someone to drill in holes for me ) etc etc. All of this is just plain irritating the crap out of me.
If you think about it, the supply of spare parts is a tricky business It's not worth the effort for most suppliers or stores. To stock ten different styles of 5-way switch (let alone 50 types of knobs, or thousands of single coil pickups) to cater for every eventuality is way beyond the call of duty for anyone. This is why so many smaller specialist web stores have popped up to cover it - and even they tend to specialise in a few of the better types of each and maybe one line of pickups).
But given a credit/debit card and Internet connection, there is no reason why you cannot just go out there and get exactly what you want. It's usually quicker, cheaper and more reliable. Your locking tuners for instance - I presume you are talking about the Gotoh locking that are a direct retrofit for the split shaft Fenders? They are available on a dozen sites - and for a lot less money (even with shipping and duties) than the standard non-locking from Fender.