A Guitar for YOU? It’s not only sales that we directly benefit from,
but it’s YOU, and sharing your guitar experience with other players. We want to support each and every player in the hopes that in it’s travels, a Haywire guitar, from our custom shop may catch the eye of a player whom needs a good instrument but maybe cannot afford what most companies charge now for a guitar. Their goal is profit.
Our goal is simply-“No player left behind”. We donate guitars every year but never really know if they get into the hands of a needy player who cannot afford a guitar. At Haywire Custom Guitars Custom Shop we also do a lot of work on players’ guitars. Most of these guitars are near and dear to their hearts.
We give guitar players good solid work and what they need at a great price. They need to trust that the work will be good. We know what players need and how little they get paid for their skills. With us it’s not about the money but getting needed support and quality at a price real musicians can afford. Having been there, we are advocates for players world-wide.
In
some cases, a replacement guitar neck is preferable to replacing the
entire guitar. First of all, cracking finishes, worn frets and warping
fret boards are common ailments of guitar necks. Therefore, replacing a
bolt-on guitar neck is often a considerably less expensive option than
repairing the damage or replacing the whole guitar.
Most
of all, when the time comes, Haywire Custom Shop can replace your neck
for you. Because, one solution, guitar neck replacement may solve your
guitar neck issues. You Can Choose from Super Wide and Fat Guitar
Necks to Thin and Slim! Consequently, it may be the best decision you
make on your guitar. Most of all, finding your perfect neck can be
almost life-changing for a pro guitar player. While, looking for a
positive change in playing this is it.
Your Replacement Guitar Neck -We will do the following:
In
performing a 4-axis alignment of the guitar neck your new guitar neck
will be checked and adjusted to be true and straight to ensure proper
alignment on all 4 axis. This step almost always ensures proper action
and allows for more accurate and easier guitar tuning and playing. A
full set-up will then be performed in the following steps.
We
level and polish the frets to insure that all of the guitar frets are
level, eliminating any possibility of fret buzz due to unevenness.
Next,
we radius the guitar strings. Since, most guitar necks have a curved
contour over the top of the neck called the radius. We adjust the
strings to make sure the height of each string. They perfectly follow
the contour of your guitar neck. Because, once we determine the contour
and then we set the radius of the guitar strings. Next, it’s time to
adjust the overall height of the strings from the top of the frets to
the bottom of the guitar strings accurately.
Help you decide on the best materials, neck profile for your technique,
comfortable frets, finish and nut for your style. We can use your
existing tuners or replace and upgrade them as necessary.
In
addition, we can re-check the overall guitar string height and the
action all while maintaining the radius just created. The truss rod
adjustment is then able to be made here. The strings will be parallel
all the way down the fret board and neck straight.
Finally, we
set the guitar intonation. This step is done twice. The intonation is
set two times with a 24 hour “seat-in” period in between to allow the
guitar to properly re-seat and settle in with the new adjustments.
Rick Mariner Mr.
Rick Mariner Owner and Founder and CEO of Haywire Custom Guitars Inc.
He is a member of The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
(A.S.I.A.) as well as a guitar player. Rick holds a bachelors degree
from University of Md. and a Masters degree from George Washington
University. Rick developed his exclusive 8 – Point “Gig- Ready” guitar
process that allows for Custom Guitars that are “GIG-READY”. With Rick’s
many years of development and guitar set-up experience, Haywire Guitar
shop “Builds satisfied players… one Haywire guitar at a time”.
First you’ll need to understand what poles are and the relationship they
play in a pickup design.
Pickup poles are magnet posts that run perpendicular to the string
windings in the guitar pickup’s coil to serve as a conductor for each
string above it.
Often you’ll notice one pole piece per string on a single coil is used.
Some of today’s designs have one long bar pole piece, or blade, per
string.
Poles look like small metal circles under each string.
Flat poles are
all the same height.
The staggered poles have some poles reaching higher for certain strings
and some are lower. They have a very non-uniform look.
Flat-pole pickups simply give your guitar a better string balance. When
the pole pieces are all level then your tone is more balanced.
No volume on any string will dominate the others.
Fender Teles until
sometime in 1956 had flat-poles. Leo Fender decided that since some of
the strings were so far away from the guitar he needed to compensate and
make some poles higher. In his mind, it would bring the volume out in
the more distant poles for strings sitting higher.
Now, moving guitar pickup poles closer to the strings does increase their
output-only more windings will do that. However it will make the string
louder.
Think about a pole as being a microphone for each string. Think about a
singer. What happens as a singer gets farther away from the mic?
The volume drops but the mic still has the same output. Placement is
important!
High-output pickups are distorted and mostly unpleasant in the tonal
spectrum. They generate distorted tones exactly as designed. The usage
for these distortion producing pickups are limited at best. Low to
mid-output pickups are more versatile and much quieter. They represent
better and more clear, clean guitar output signal choices. They’re
perfect for clean sounds, however you have the option of dirtying up
your sound by changing your amp settings or plugging into distortion
pedals. In the myriad of choices for amps you’ll find one that can
easily distort at will. Most amps have enough gain to make any pickup
generate heavy distortion levels. Picking a pickup just became easier.
Follow The Crowd ?
I know lots of people who only wear “name brand” clothing. So do you?
What if there was something else that fit better, looked and felt
better? Would they wear it? From my experience- No. Well, the same goes
for guitar pickups. If you’re just a name brand Lemmings kind of player
there’s no changing you. However, if you’re intelligent, independent,
not easily lead by the crowd and find your own path preferable, then
you’ll benefit from a great set of pickups that just sound good. Most of
all, they have a good solid signal for you to process.
It's always great to hear a players opinion on our guitars because it keeps
us going in the right direction. Here are some excerpts of an article I wrote about finding your sound. Guitarists sometimes see greener grass when it could be its already green enough. They love to customize their guitars. The first thing they want to change are the pickups. Having never built one or tested a guitar pickup most players will forge ahead anyway and make the BIG CHANGE. I have to ask....Why? Have you tested yours first? Is it at the max height for best sound? Is it broken? If it's picking up sound it's doing the job.
It simply hears the sound signal and transfers it to the amp & speaker. When you're singing what do you notice about voice quality when backing off the mike or singing very close?Is there a "sweet spot" where its perfect? Same goes for pickups. There are a few factors you may want to test before you go to the trouble and expense of adding new pickups.
After all, I use all kinds, all brands and styles in the custom guitars I build guitars for players and still find it difficult to determine if there is much difference between most. They are magnets and copper wire.
All pickups have the basically the same ingredients.
Pickup companies are trying to sell you on their brand, guitar mechanics will give you the facts. Salesman will give you the bull.
So..... try the least expensive methods first before going nuclear.
First: test the strings and try a string change to a different set of strings. Newer strings are generally stiffer and fresher thus a cleaner tone. Also, try a heavier gauge string to give you more body in the sound.
The second test for you will be more subtle, but it will be very effective. It involves distance and signal strength. The pickups have elevator screws that are there to raise and lower them closer or farther from the strings. You'll just need a Philips head screw driver and turn until you see the pickups move either up or down where you want them and repeat the process until the pickups are within the range where they will hear the strings close up and personal.
Then begin your testing. Play,.... then lower the pickups incrementally between testing sessions so as to try several different levels of signal strength. Only in this way can you hear the differences. Remember, clarity and sound quality have more to do with "Your" ear than what other players hear.
A clean sound for some players may find the pickups very low under the strings whereas a clean sound for other players may find the pickups snugged as close to the strings as physics will allow. Distortions can occur on the extremes of this spectrum
The next test is to check the amp you are playing from. For this test you need a clean control. Be sure there are no obstructions or ways in which players like to process or in some cases "over process" themselves to impeded the pure sound of what the pickup hears. This means plug the guitar directly into the amp with no pedals, stomp boxes or effect in between to change the tone.
Your results will be much better. Some players make the mistake of testing each guitar on the same setting in their search for the ideal sound in a guitar when the result will simply be just testing how different guitars sound on the same setting.
This test will produce results--but not the results you're looking for. Remember, every guitar is set up differently. The strings are generally different ages or brands. So for the perfect empirical evidence needed everything must remain the same.
Flatten The EQ
So, to make sure you're getting the sound you want to hear from your pickups try different EQ settings on the amp. Be sure that if there are two volume controls turn the channel volume low and the master way up. Start with flat EQ setting the introduce more or less high and low frequencies to get the sound best for your ear and the music that you are playing.
Keep in mind a change of pickups should be one of the last resorts in finding your sound and not the first.
There are so many brands of pickups how do you know where to start? With some 100 plus pickup manufacturers just in the USA if you decide on a brand then the next problem is which pickup does that brand have that will do the job? At $150 average price for a set of 2 pickups just for a Telecaster how long can you afford to keep making changes in your search for the Holy Grail? If after these free tests you should decide a pickup change is warranted be sure to take an experienced tech with you to the pickup store. The specs you'll need to be aware of are output and magnet strength. Output, measured in Ohms has nothing to do with tone or clarity just resistance. The magnet strength is important because a larger heavier magnet will cause the strings to be pulled out of tune and thwart sustain so be very careful here so as not to equate magnet strength or Ohms with "better quality". The least expensive fixes are often the most effective. If done properly and methodically you'll be surprised a what you'll find and how many different tones are already in your pickups if you peek inside.
It's always great to hear a players opinion on our guitars because it keeps
us going in the right direction. Here are some excerpts of an article I wrote about
finding your sound. Guitarists sometimes see greener grass when it could be
theirs is green enough. They love to customize their guitars. The first thing they want to change are the pickups. Having never built one or tested a guitar pickup most players will forge ahead anyway and make the BIG CHANGE. I have to ask....Why? Have you tested yours first? Is it at the max height for best sound? Is it broken? If it's picking up sound
It simply hears the sound signal and transfers it to the amp. There are a few factors you may want to test before you go to the trouble and expense of adding new pickups.
After all, I use all kinds, all brands and styles in the custom guitars I build to order for players and still find it difficult to determine there is much difference between them. They are just magnets and copper wire. All pickups have the basically the same ingredients.
Before you buy a new car do you ask the mechanic his opinion instead of the salesman?
Pickup companies are trying to sell you on their brand, guitar mechanics will give you the facts. Salesman will give you the bull.
So..... try the least expensive methods first before going nuclear.
First: test the strings try a string change to a different string. Newer strings are generally stiffer and fresher
thus a cleaner tone. Also, try a heavier gauge string to give you more body in the sound.
The second test for you will be more subtle, but it will be very effective. It involves distance and signal strength.
The pickups have elevator screws that are there to raise and lower them closer or farther from the strings. You'll just need a Philips head screw driver and turn until you see the pickups move either up or down where you want them and repeat the process until the pickups are within the range where they will hear the strings close up and personal.
Then begin your testing. Play,.... then lower the pickups incrementally between testing sessions so as to try several different levels of signal strength. Only in this way can you hear the differences. Remember, clarity and sound quality have more to do with "Your" ear than what other players hear.
A clean sound for some players may find the pickups very low under the strings whereas a clean sound for other players may find the
pickups snugged as close to the strings as physics will allow. Distortions can occur on the extremes of this spectrum
The next test is to check the amp you are playing from. For this test you need a clean control. Be sure there are no obstructions or ways in which players like to process or in some cases "over process" themselves to impeded the pure sound of what the pickup hears.
This means plug the guitar directly into the amp with no pedals, stomp boxes or effect in between to change the tone.
Your results will be much better. Some players make the mistake of testing each guitar on the same setting in their search for the
ideal sound in a guitar when the result will simply be just testing how different guitars sound on the same setting.
This test will produce results--but not the results you're looking for. Remember, every guitar is set up differently. The strings
are generally different ages or brands. So for the perfect empirical evidence needed everything must remain the same.
Flatten The EQ
So, to make sure you're getting the sound you want to hear from your pickups try different EQ settings on the amp.
Be sure that if there are two volume controls turn the channel volume low and the master way up.
Start with flat EQ setting the introduce more or less high and low frequencies to get the sound best for your ear and the music
that you are playing.
Keep in mind the change of pickups should be the last resort in finding your sound and not the first.
There are so many brands of pickups how do you know where to start? With some 100 plus pickup manufacturers just in the USA if you decide on a brand then the next problem is which pickup does that brand have that will do the job? At $150 average price for a set of 2 pickups just for a Telecaster how long can you afford to keep making changes in your search for the Holy Grail? If after these free tests you should decide a pickup change is warranted be sure to take an experienced tech with you to the pickup store. The specs you'll need to be aware of are output and magnet strength. Output, measured in Ohms has nothing to do with tone or clarity just resistance. The magnet strength is important because a larger heavier magnet will cause the strings to be pulled out of tune and thwart sustain so be very careful here so as not to equate magnet strength or Ohms with "better quality". The least expensive fixes are often the most effective. If done properly and methodically you'll be surprised a what you'll find and how many different tones are already in your pickups if you peek inside.
