• Company
History and Philosophy
• Policies
• Directions to our
shop
• How To Order an Instrument
Company History and Philosophy
Hello. I'm Banana (aka / Lowell Levinger) the proprietor of Players
Vintage Instruments. Players Vintage Instruments is the logical evolution
of my instrument collection. I started collecting vintage instruments in
the 60's and finally decided it would be more fun to share them with other players
instead of keeping them to myself.
The ultimate collectors piece is not my personal cup
of tea. Instruments are made to be played. An instrument that is old and
rare and in absolutely mint condition will instantly become less valuable if
it is taken to a gig and 'suffers' pick wear or gets a belt buckle scratch
on its back. So that instrument (if it is to keep its 'value') is essentially
no more musically useful than a painting or a sculpture. Now, paintings and sculptures
are certainly useful, wonderful and precious. They are a source of great
delight and inspiration. But instruments are that and much more. They are
a source of music and we all know what charms music hath. (Soothing savages
and such) I will continue to seek out great instruments for players as well
as collectors and
make them available.
You can reach us by email or phone to order an instrument. We check
email several times each day and if we are not able to answer your call,
we'll call you back if you leave your number.
The best method of payment for us is Postal Money Order or Bank
Cashiers Check. International payment is usually made by direct bank
transfer. If you pay by US Postal Money Order or US Bank Cashiers Check
we can ship the following business day after the funds arrive. Same for Direct
Bank Wire Transfer.
Funds can be sent to:
Lowell Levinger
Players Vintage Instruments
P.O. Box 445
Inverness, CA 94937-0445
415-669-1107
Before sending funds we will need to determine the shipping costs which are paid by the customer. We'll need your complete shipping address including phone number to get the UPS shipping costs for you.
Once we have agreed that you want the instrument and that the funds
are on the way, we put the instrument On Hold for you.
We'll email you when your funds arrive and schedule a UPS pickup
for the following business day.
Then, when the package has been picked up, we'll email you with the
tracking number.
We stand behind all of our instruments and make every effort to insure that you know exactly what you are getting before we ship it to you. We can send pictures via email of any details you request. We ship after payment has been received and you have 24 hours after you receive the instrument to make sure you are satisfied with it. If, for any reason, you do not wish to keep the instrument you can notify us and then ship it back to us insured at your expense. When we receive the instrument in the same condition as when it left us, we will refund your purchase price, less the shipping cost.
We are located in the town of Inverness which is in Marin County, California
about an hour's drive from San Francisco. Click to view a map
done by local historian Dewey Livingston. We have no "shop" or "showroom" as
we work out of the family home. So we discourage visits. None of the instruments
you see on display on the Inventory pages of the web site or on the Museum pages are
physically on display in the house. They are all tucked away in kids bedroom closets
and such.
It is hard to evaluate an instrument in this family home situation with everyone
here trying to go about their daily lives. On the other hand, if you have an
instrument shipped to you then you can try it for hours in familiar surroundings and
if you don't like it, simply send it back. Now we naturally have made exceptions
to this policy and will continue to do so for folks who are ready to buy an instrument
and want to pick it up in person or who want to compare a couple of specific instruments.
The most effective means of communication with us is via email but you can also give us a
call to talk about an in person appointment. Thanks
Our phone number is: 415-669-1107.
Best, though to e-mail us at info@vintageinstruments.com