Haywires’ 8 point “gig ready” process ...
Frequently Asked Questions
Hi, I am from Myrtle Beach and was wondering what kind of services you offer and how to contact
you locally regarding guitar modifications or having a custom built guitar. Thanks, Tom.
Hi Tom!! Thanks for writing.I'm in Conway as you know. My phone number is 347-5742 and the website address is:
http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com
I offer lots of services including anything that makes a guitar more comfortable, feel better, sound better, decrease noise, shielding, pick up
potting,better knobs, electronics, adding active and/or passive pickups in any configuration you want, updating a sluggish instrument to make it
smoother and faster and much more functional while being as least invasive with the instrument as is possible. There is not much I can't do to an
instrument although there are things I really like to do more than others-such as sanding.Anyway Tom
-please check out the website soon and you'll get a better idea of my bio as to what I have done in the past and am working on now there are LOTS
of pix of guitars I've built and modified. My e-mail address is Haywire@sccoast.net-
I will be in Charlotte for a few more hours picking up some guitars but I'll be home later-Email or call and I promise I will make you an EXTREMELY
happy guitar player!
Sincerely,
Rick
Hi, nice guitar. Just wondering what that circular depression on the neck near the heel on the side of the lower horn was-is it a screw hole? I noticed
the same thing on the metallic tele you're also selling. Thanks
At first I thought it was the reflection in the finish you were asking about...but what you are referring to is the neck adjustment built into Warmoth "Pro" necks on
the side of the heel. It's called the Gotoh side adjustment mechanism. Between the usual truss rod adjustment nut at the heel and the truss rod, this ingenious
device uses inclines and wedges deep inside the neck to adjust the rod tension in the neck and thus allow for straightening WITHOUT removal of the entire
neck. The initial set-up is still accomplished at the traditional butt end but future small adjustments are then conveniently done on the side of the neck where
you see the round hole in the pix where the Allen wrench is inserted to make the fine adjustments to get the neck -just right! Thanks, Rick
www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com
Hey Rick, I'm still lovin' my black tele. I have a question. Is the bridge pickup really a stock Fender? It seems hotter. My
guitar teacher/mentor swears it's not standard, could you clear this up for us? He also likes this guitar very much. We
are just wondering where it gets it's unique sound. Thanks for taking the time.............Mark Dearing.
Hi Mark,  The pick ups should be stock Fender as far as I can tell by looking at the records. We do sometimes use
some of the pick ups made for us as well as EMG,  Wilkinson,  Duncans etc.- but it doesn't appear that they are. Be
aware that the sound of an instrument-even an electric solid body guitar is dependent on several factors and changing
any one can change the sound of the instrument- ever so slightly. The factors are: dryness of the wood, density of the
wood, the fingerboard wood when matched with a dense neck wood, body wood density, whether parts are attached
solidly or half heartedly to the body and string gauge(yours being Ernie Ball Regular slinky). Sometimes these factors
come together in such a way as to produce an unusual tone  which is unique to that instrument and pleasing to the
ears. Thanks for writing.
I see some beautiful guitars here. Do you make a hard tail?  Also, there is a slight problem. I am on the
road right now-if I tell you where I'll be in two weeks and give you an address, can you get it to me in time
for my  Ft. Worth Show?
Frank B.  
Hi Rick,Love the strat body ,its beautiful.I also love the sound.What kind of pickups did
you give me? Thanks for everything and I will be a customer-again I'm sure. PS please
email me about the pickups. Barry Enman
Hi Barry! Thank you so much for writing! I'm glad you liked the body. It was going to be too long to make you wait for the plain sunburst body, so I sent you
one,"Gig -Ready". I wanted to make sure you were happy which is why getting it to you as soon as possible was my first concern. Making money is not as
much of a concern as making customers. Haywire is small with no intentions of growing. The techs here as myself are all players. We are all financially
independent, so the emphasis has always been on the "Product Quality" instead of trying to make a fortune. We all want to help our fellow musicians as
best we can. When you're happy-We're Happy! You just can't imagine what it's like getting mail from customers that are completely satisfied-day after day.
...... The pick ups are made by a friend of mine in California to the specs Haywire wants for the "stock" offering. If you have seen the  
http://www.HaywireCustomGuitars.com  site then you know we offer more styles and brands. I can get almost anything, however, I really like the ones you
have because of the power and tonal quality. I'm really glad to know that you agree. Please send me a photo of you playing your new instrument so I can
add it to the site!
Sincerely,
Rick Mariner
Owner,  luthier and Tech@Haywire Custom Shop
Hi Alex! Bear in mind only a small part of our sales are on eBay. When I sell on eBay-I lose money but it's
great advertisement for the website.  Even if it fails to sell it's fine because it ends up costing about  $7.00 to
list a guitar  which in turn gets me in touch with people like yourself. I can make anything you like! Thanks,
Rick
Hi! My name is Alex. I was looking at your beautiful guitars on eBay and they seem to be priced
way too low. How can you do that?  If I don't win the guitar I like on eBay-can you make one for me
just like it? Thanks, Alex
Hiya Rick,

I looked at the Blackie guitar you have on E-Bay and wrote you an  email about shipping and customs because I live in London, UK.

If I decided to go for a Clapton Blackie with a Warmoth neck is it  possible to have these other features?

I have seen a picture of a Clapton "Blackie" on your website. It has  got a Warmoth soft V neck and EMG SA's. Are these active pickups?

I am familiar with the Fender Noiseless pickups on a Blackie and they  are pretty good. Are the EMGs a match for them?

I would like the bridge unblocked and to have a whammy bar included.

If I wanted the hardware in gold is that possible or workable?

The last thing I am contemplating is getting the Buzz Feiten Tuning  System retrofitted.

Thanks for your help,

Jack Barron
Hey Jack! Thank you for writing. On purchases from the website we ship  as well as
provide a Hard Shell case for free.
You can have anything you want! I can do all that for you.
Sincerely,
Rick
Yes, I can do that for you.  I can put on the hard tail as well and just about anything else you
like-let me know the address and if you want to add anything else.You'll have it exactly when  
you need it. Sincerely, Rick
You mention C shape thin, do you mean "standard thin"?  Also tell me
a little bit about the guitar for sale.Thanks, JB
Hi JB! Thanks for taking an interest in our guitars!  The "C" shape refers to the contour of the back of the neck. There is the"C" the "D"  and Eric
Clapton's favorite a "V" backed neck etc. The"C" is considered "standard". The standard stock  pick ups Fender uses on most of the guitars they
produce. Just regular great sounding single coil pick ups or what Seymour Duncan builds and calls a "SSL-1". The trem set-up is also the same as
any American Strat off the rack. This guitar is a basic re-finished Strat body with a very special Warmoth pro computer designed "Standard thin" neck
and nut with all new screws, knobs, switches, wiring, tuners, nitro finish, pick guard, bridge, jacks and strap buttons. It is a completely re-built strat
built like it was supposed to be done right out of the factory.We also added our 8 Point "Gig-Ready" process as we do every guitar.I do want to point out
that the Warmoth neck is not only a "Fender-Licensed" product but is far superior to what was on it originally. The Graphtech self-lubricating nut
material works well with tremolos on Fenders. The graphite is warmer and more even-sounding and slippery. The actual nut cutting is done by a
bench top CNC mill run by a PC.  The program was written in house. Just input all the variables for each specific neck and create a nearly perfect nut
for each, compensated for fret height, nut width, fingerboard radius, etc. Two air turbine spindles do all the cutting and shaping of the nut with extreme
precision.A professional nut cut requires doing a full set-up and generally follows a leveling or dressing of the frets. This allows the nut to be finessed
down to final dimensions. A nut must be cut to specific geometric parameters to function properly and these parameters are dictated by the type of
neck to achieve the very low action of our Haywire guitars. Anything else you need to know just go to the HaywireCustomGuitars website or write me.
Thanks, Rick
How does the tone capacitor value affect the sound of the guitar?

         Most guitars and basses with passive pickups use between .01 and .1 MFD (Microfarad) tone capacitors with .02 (or .022) and .05 (or .047)
being the most common choices. The capacitor and tone pot are wired together to provide a variable low pass filter. This means when the filter is
engaged (tone pot is turned) only the low frequencies pass to the output jack and the high frequencies are grounded out (cut) In this application, the
capacitor value determines the "cutoff frequency" of the filter and the position of the tone pot determines how much the highs (everything above the
cutoff frequency) will be reduced.
  The rule is: Larger capacitors will have lower cutoff frequency and sound darker in the bass setting because a wider range of frequencies is being
reduced. Smaller capacitors will have a higher cutoff frequency and sound brighter in the bass setting because only the ultra high frequencies are
cut. For this reason, dark sounding guitars like Les Pauls with humbuckers typically use .02MFD (or .022MFD) capacitors to cut off less of the highs
and guitars like Strats and Teles with single coils typically use .05 MFD capacitors to allow more treble to be rolled off.   The capacitor value
however, only affects the sound when the tone control is being used (pot in the bass setting) The tone capacitor value will have little to no effect on
the sound when the tone pot is in the treble setting.
What is the difference between 250K & 500K pots?

Either 250K or 500K pots can be used with any passive pickups however the pot values will affect tone slightly. The rule is: Using higher value
pots (500K) will give the guitar a brighter sound and lower value pots (250K) will give the guitar a slightly warmer bassier sound. This is because
higher value pots put less of a load on the pickups which prevents treble frequencies from "bleeding" to ground through the pot and being lost. For
this reason, guitars with humbuckers like Les Pauls use 500K pots to retain more highs for a slightly brighter tone and guitars with single coils
like Stratocasters and Telecasters use 250K pots to add some warmth by slightly reducing the highs. You can also fine tune the sound by
changing the pot values regardless of what pot value the guitar originally had.
What is a  No Load tone control and how does it work?
 The  No Load Pot is used on some Fender USA Strats, Teles and Fender basses and is wired like a standard tone control. From settings 1-9 it works
like a standard tone then clicks in at 10 (full clockwise/ bright setting) and removes the pot and capacitor from the circuit. This eliminates the path to
ground that exists with standard pots even in the full treble position. By eliminating the path to ground through the pot, the only load on the pickup is
the volume pot.  So, if 250K pots are used, the load is reduced from 125K to 250K and if 500K pots are used, the load is reduced from 250K to 500K
(high resistance = low load) The reduced load allows more power output from the pickup and reduces the amount of high frequencies that bleed off to
ground. This gives a noticeable increase in brightness and output in the full treble setting. The no load pot can be used in place of any standard tone
control on any guitar or bass.
Does the number of control pots used affect the sound?

Yes: Since the load on the pickups is determined by the total parallel resistance of all pots that are being used, using fewer pots will reduce the
overall load and give a slightly brighter sound.   Connecting more pots is the same as using lower value pots, two 500K pots will lose or "bleed"
the same amount of treble frequencies as one 250K pot. To lessen the effect, switching should be designed (when possible ) to remove pots
from the circuit when the related pickup is not selected. An example of this is the Les Paul: bridge controls are out of the circuit when in the
selector is in the neck position and the neck controls are out of the circuit when the selector is in the bridge position.
Hey Bruce,
3/8" is not enough to safely attach the neck to your body. The standard neck screw length is 1-3/4 ". Please use longer screws.
When you get the screws then also pick up a large "C" clamp, large enough to clamp the neck and body.Now, let's say you're ready to put on the neck. What you want to do
is clamp it on the body so it won't pull away as the screws take hold.However the clamp will damage the fret board so... use a 1/4" piece of scrap wood. The size you want
it 1/4" X 1-1/8" X 3"-you'll need two (2)Next you want to put on the neck plate... and put the screws in the holes.-NOW...put the scrap wood over the neck plate to protect it
from the clamp jaw. Put the other piece of scrap wood on the fret board where the other part of the clamp jaw will land to protect the frets and tighten gently. So, now you
have a sandwich. You've got the neck, body with a scrap piece on each side all inside the clamp jaw. The next step is odd but important.Take the two "E" strings and put
them on. One is the 1st and the other  the 6th string and tighten just so they're straight. Alright, so far? Now look at the string margins. Is there approx equal distance from
the outside of each string to the edge of the fret board? Make sure there is. If not tap right or left to get it even. Now-you're ready to turn the guitar to the back-tighten the "C"
clamp down and sink the screws. Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Rick
Rick,
 Today I attached the neck to my new body.  I was a little surprised to see that only about 3/8" of threads emerged from the body.  Also, the body was threaded - I
had expected the screws to slide thru clean, but I had to screw thru the body.  This resulted in a little gap between the neck and body.  Should I drill out the holes
in the body so the screws slide thru to the neck?  Or look for some longer screws?  What is the standard length of neck plate screws?

> This is my first DIY project, so I do have some experience to gain.  I greatly appreciate any foresight you could provide on getting this neck attached properly.>  
> Bruce
          Hey Rick, I need to ask you about shims ...
Do you make your own or do you purchase ready-made shims ... I know you can use just about anything for a shim but my old luthier I think used to buy them
pre-made from International Luthier Exchange (in California) ... anyway, the ones he had were really handy and easy to use and cut just right. What do you
use for shims on Fender necks?  Or do you use shims at all (I know some people refuse to have anything between their neck block and the pocket ...)   
Thanks for your advice on this ...
-Carl

Hey Carl,
I make my own. I use the aluminum tape that the Heating and Air people use for putting duct work together-(not duct tape). It is a roll of aluminum tape that
comes with a waxy paper backing and has adhesive on it. You can get it at Lowes. It's very thin and I like to be able to step it up slowly and use just an
amount necessary to make it work. I like to attach it to the neck heel.
If you can't find it let me know.
Rick