In 2010, Brad Paisley called me from Guitar Center in Los Angeles saying he had found a great-sounding 1963 Telecaster, but someone had finished it with glue and gold glitter. He was sending it to me for a refinish. Continue reading
Tag Archives: pickups
Should I Buy a Custom Made Electric Guitar?
Electric guitar players can struggle with factory guitar shortcomings: buzzing, uncomfortable necks, inexpensive electronics, poor fret and nut work. They invest their time and money changing the neck, hardware, and pickups with mixed results. Continue reading
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Ordering a Custom Guitar
You can help your custom guitar builder guide you to the guitar that is best suited for you, whether you want to show off a unique look, dial in your signature sound, or combine features not normally found on one guitar. Start dreaming about your fantasy guitar by asking yourself three important questions. Continue reading
Brad Paisley’s Crook Guitars Gear: Rig Stories Part 2
Guest Post by Zac Childs — The making of the Mud on the Tires album was a bit of a grueling process. Brad was under the gun to turn in a record to Arista, and we were in the middle of heavy touring. So we recorded during the week and toured on the weekends. In the midst of this, we performed at the CMA Awards, where Brad used the Crook charcoal paisley to perform his summer hit, “I’m Gonna Miss Her.” While recording the “Mud” album, my only breaks were mainly when Brad recorded vocals or did media interviews. One such break will always stay with me. Continue reading
Brad Paisley’s Crook Guitars Gear: Rig Stories Part 1
Guest Post by Zac Childs — Many of you have seen Brad Paisley on stage or on TV playing a variety of colorful and certainly toneful Crook Custom Guitars. A little over a decade ago, there was only one Crook paisley in Brad’s collection of gear. With its stellar performance, it wasn’t long before the guitar was joined by two more that would become very important tools in Brad’s climb to superstardom. Continue reading
Fat Humbucker Sound and T-Style Neck in Hybrid Guitar
Many Crook hybrid guitars start out the same way. Players aren’t sure what they want, they just know what they have isn’t quite cutting it. A hybrid isn’t just about focusing on one feature. The guitar comes about because a customer is looking for the right feel and a particular sound they haven’t been able to find in one guitar. Continue reading
Single Coil Noise / Noisy Guitars
Have you ever played at one of “those” places where no matter what you do, you can’t get rid of the single coil buzz? Or you are too close to your computer monitor at home and the noise drives you crazy? As much as we love the tone and response of a great single coil pickup, the bottom line is it can be noisy. This leaves you with three options to resolve it.
Goldtop Lescaster with Bigsby Upgrade
I recently finished a goldtop Lesquire guitar for Tristen Smith of Big Machine Records. Normally last-minute changes aren’t good, but his late request for a Bigsby tremelo led me to a new product that raises the bar of the lowly Bigsby to a precision instrument. Continue reading
Adjust Your Pickups in 3 Steps
Many of my customers who love the sound of their new guitars will buy the same pickups for another guitar and wonder why it doesn’t sound the same. I tell them pickup height adjustment is a big part of getting the sound you want. For every guitar that I build, I spend a lot of time adjusting pickups. Here’s the simple method that I use. Continue reading
Custom Short Scale Bass with Long Scale Bass Sound
Having been a mechanic for 25 years, Don was troubled with hand flexibility issues that made it hard to continue playing his 34” 4-string bass. He was looking for a short scale bass that would still sound like a long scale and would be comfortable and lightweight enough to play from his favorite chair. We talked about how to customize a bass that would fit his needs. Continue reading