source for impossible-to-find rubber switch washer for archtop guitars

[dubkitty]

some of you might be familiar with the practice used by Gibson, Guild, and other 50s-60s builders of archtop electric guitars of using a large rubber washer (sometimes also referred to as a grommet) that the toggle switch is set in, ostensibly to muffle the sound of the switch so it doesn't get picked up by the electronics. these also appeared on one year of Les Paul Specials. i spent quite some time trying to find one of these which is absolutely necessary for restoring the Greco Byrdland, and found that jazzbos around the world were stumped as far as finding a source. a guy on one forum actually ordered a small batch of them from a fabricator in China, but i didn't feel good about that option. then lo and behold, i found the part i need in the Ibanez catalog of all places; i gather that they used them on the George Benson models as well as some Artcores. only €13.90 from Banzai Music in Germany, assumedly with a Trump tax when the two i ordered arrived...given how difficult they were to find i figured i should get a spare. i'm actually amazed i managed to find them. you can also order them straight from Ibanez, but you'll have to do it by phone or email because Ibanez currently does not have a parts ordering page though they have a huge online catalog.

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