Demo of a our LP, Stratocaster, Telecaster, SG & Other Harness scroll down.
Why Vintage 50's Tone:
First go back to the 50's / early 60's. Think about the sound or "Tone" that came out of that era. So many great recordings that we strive today just to get somewhere close to. They did not have the sophisticated recording equipment we have today. If you are looking for an easy economical way to get that 50's early 60's Tone. Upgrade with one of our Wiring Kits. You'll Sound Better!
Our Pre Wired Harness Kits Are The Best Available:
Our prewired harness kits will Improve Your Tone and guitar Performance! We only use premium components that sound and work better than the stock electronic parts found in guitars today. Every part is hand tested and matched. Our tone caps are 2nd to none. We offer both Orange Drops or my own favorite aged Vintage Paper In Oil (PIO). They give that true 50's sound that both Gibson and Fender had back in the early days. All wiring is Gavitt push back cloth or braided. Just like Leo used. Every kit is carefully hand wired to your order and tested before shipping. I take great pride in my work and wire every kit myself as if it was for my own guitar. Does not matter what Genre of music you play. Rock, Blues, Country, Jazz, Rockabilly, or Metal. You have to start off with a great clean vintage tone. From that you can dial in your tone desire with your amp / guitar controls and if you like your favorite pedal.
Why 50's Wiring:
It simple improves your overall tone and sound. This is the way Gibson & Fender wired up their electric guitars in the 1950's and some in early 60's. Notes open up after you play them. It’s stronger, tighter and adds clarity. By rolling back your guitar volume some you can clean up an over driven amp. All guitars have treble loss when turning volume down. 50s wiring and the use of good quality components helps eliminate some of this loss. No need for a treble bleed circuit. Both volume and tone controls are very responsive and smoother. It's simply Ole School Technology and the best way to wire your guitar.
Potentiometers:
I personally prefer Bourns Pro Audio with audio taper potentiometers over all other brands including CTS. They are one of the highest rated guitar pots on the market today. I have found them to be smoother, longer lasting and have the best taper and response of any pot on the market. But more important my customers love Bourns! Our pots are Coarse Spline 18 Teeth. We carry knobs that fit.
Long or Short Shaft Pots?
To be sure we recommend you measure your pot bushing length, threaded part of the shaft only. Long shaft is 3/4 inch / Short shaft is 3/8 inch. See detailed model list under Information tab.
If you don't see your guitar listed email me the make, model and year and I will try to help you.
Type of Wire:
It's all about creating the same type characteristics that those vintage guitars from the 50's and 60's had. We use vintage Gavitt wax cloth push back and braided 22awg wire . The same that early Fender and Gibson's used. It's all part of the tone process. NO Plastic Wire In Our Kits!
Capacitors:
This is the key! Great Tone comes from a variety of things but the caps are critical. Type, characteristics and value all make up the Tone! We offer Orange Drops by CD and my favorite Vintage aged Paper-In-Oil (PIO) caps, The Real Ones. Each with their own characteristics that create great Tones. I spend a great deal of time searching all over the world for good quality caps.
Bumblebee Caps: We do not offer these in any of our products. The ones you see in today's market are not true BB caps. Most are attempted reproductions. Nothing more than an inexpensive mylar type cap wrapped in a bumblebee wrapper and way overpriced. There is plenty of documentation proof on line about this. My advice is don’t waste your hard earned money. Invest is a real aged NOS PIO Paper In Oil cap.
Capacitor Values
The higher to cap value the warmer the tone is as you adjust down.
Switches and Jacks:
Only the best. Switchcraft switches for the Gibson and Epiphone, Oak Grigsby 3 or 5 way for the Stratocaster and Telecaster, Switchcraft output jacks.
I hope this helps you have a better understanding of the differences in the Parts, DIY Kits and Pre-wired Harness's we offer. We make it easy for you to Improve Your Tone. Pre-wired Kits ready to drop in your guitar with just a few hook ups or DIY Kits. If you have questions please feel free to reach out to me. Take a listen to the Demo's below.
Left Handed Guitar Wiring:
We do not offer left handed wiring kits. Wiring regular pots backwards will result in a very unusable taper and degrades the tone of your guitar. Although other companies will do this anyway I strongly advise against it. My recommendation is to find a company that truly builds left handed pre-wired kits using Left Handed Tapered Pots.
Cheers!
Gary Standerfer
Tone Man Guitar
Enjoy these demo's on a few of our products by Jack Fossett. Jack is an independent guitarist who in 2013 was selected by Joe Bonamassa as one of America's top 10 undiscovered blues guitarists. Thank You Jack.
First go back to the 50's / early 60's. Think about the sound or "Tone" that came out of that era. So many great recordings that we strive today just to get somewhere close to. They did not have the sophisticated recording equipment we have today. If you are looking for an easy economical way to get that 50's early 60's Tone. Upgrade with one of our Wiring Kits. You'll Sound Better!
Our Pre Wired Harness Kits Are The Best Available:
Our prewired harness kits will Improve Your Tone and guitar Performance! We only use premium components that sound and work better than the stock electronic parts found in guitars today. Every part is hand tested and matched. Our tone caps are 2nd to none. We offer both Orange Drops or my own favorite aged Vintage Paper In Oil (PIO). They give that true 50's sound that both Gibson and Fender had back in the early days. All wiring is Gavitt push back cloth or braided. Just like Leo used. Every kit is carefully hand wired to your order and tested before shipping. I take great pride in my work and wire every kit myself as if it was for my own guitar. Does not matter what Genre of music you play. Rock, Blues, Country, Jazz, Rockabilly, or Metal. You have to start off with a great clean vintage tone. From that you can dial in your tone desire with your amp / guitar controls and if you like your favorite pedal.
Why 50's Wiring:
It simple improves your overall tone and sound. This is the way Gibson & Fender wired up their electric guitars in the 1950's and some in early 60's. Notes open up after you play them. It’s stronger, tighter and adds clarity. By rolling back your guitar volume some you can clean up an over driven amp. All guitars have treble loss when turning volume down. 50s wiring and the use of good quality components helps eliminate some of this loss. No need for a treble bleed circuit. Both volume and tone controls are very responsive and smoother. It's simply Ole School Technology and the best way to wire your guitar.
Potentiometers:
I personally prefer Bourns Pro Audio with audio taper potentiometers over all other brands including CTS. They are one of the highest rated guitar pots on the market today. I have found them to be smoother, longer lasting and have the best taper and response of any pot on the market. But more important my customers love Bourns! Our pots are Coarse Spline 18 Teeth. We carry knobs that fit.
Long or Short Shaft Pots?
- USA made Gibson Les Paul manufactured 1977 to current use Long Shaft Pots (except some Historic RI units).
- Pre 1977 Gibson Les Paul and most historic R2, R7, R8 use short shaft pots. Plus all years of Epiphone LP, SG, LPJ, Les Paul Special, ES 335 / 175 Series, Explorer, Melody Maker, Firebird, Flying V, Historic R2, R7, R8 use Short Shaft Pots. Most off shore or copies also use short shaft.
- All Fender, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Squire or Strat style, use Short Shaft Pots
To be sure we recommend you measure your pot bushing length, threaded part of the shaft only. Long shaft is 3/4 inch / Short shaft is 3/8 inch. See detailed model list under Information tab.
If you don't see your guitar listed email me the make, model and year and I will try to help you.
Type of Wire:
It's all about creating the same type characteristics that those vintage guitars from the 50's and 60's had. We use vintage Gavitt wax cloth push back and braided 22awg wire . The same that early Fender and Gibson's used. It's all part of the tone process. NO Plastic Wire In Our Kits!
Capacitors:
This is the key! Great Tone comes from a variety of things but the caps are critical. Type, characteristics and value all make up the Tone! We offer Orange Drops by CD and my favorite Vintage aged Paper-In-Oil (PIO) caps, The Real Ones. Each with their own characteristics that create great Tones. I spend a great deal of time searching all over the world for good quality caps.
- Capacitor Types
- Orange Drops: A favorite of many players. These caps give great classic tone. Better than the standard caps that come with today's guitars. Good choice for both humbuckers and single coil. .022uf or .047uf is my choice for Orange Drops.
- PIO Paper-In-Oil Vintage Aged K42Y-2 (The Green Ones): Great tone characteristics. Very Warm full tone. Excellent true vintage sound. Works good with humbuckers and single coil. The best cap for P90 pickups. We use these in our Blues Kits.
- PIO Paper-In-Oil Vintage Aged K40Y-9 (The Silver Ones): Excellent characteristics for Vintage Tone. These caps will reach out and grab you. The best for increased sustain. Equal to or better than Vitamin Q's and Bumble Bee's. Excellent for humbuckers, single coil and P90s. True 59 Les Paul Tone. PIO caps are like speakers. They get better with time. This is what we use in our 59 Kits.
- Note our PIO tone caps are the real deal. Truly aged tone caps (NOS). Not reproduced copies or fake like some.
Bumblebee Caps: We do not offer these in any of our products. The ones you see in today's market are not true BB caps. Most are attempted reproductions. Nothing more than an inexpensive mylar type cap wrapped in a bumblebee wrapper and way overpriced. There is plenty of documentation proof on line about this. My advice is don’t waste your hard earned money. Invest is a real aged NOS PIO Paper In Oil cap.
Capacitor Values
The higher to cap value the warmer the tone is as you adjust down.
- Single Coil Strat / Tele Style
- .047uf Orange Drop. Good value for great vintage bluesy tone in your Strat or Tele.
- .022uf Orange Drop. Gives a little brighter more modern tone in your Strat or Tele.
- .047uf PIO cap gives a vintage bluesy vintage tone. PIO caps is our favorite.
- .1uf is a great cap for Strats. Fender used a .1uf PIO cap in Strats back in the late 50's and early 60's. Warm, woody & bold. Great vintage tone. Will rock on the bridge PU & gives a good warm bluesy neck tone.
- Humbucker or P90s
- .033uf bridge / .015uf neck PIO combination has become very popular. .015uf in the neck helps reduce the muddy tone a neck pickup can have. Recommended for humbuckers and P90s.
- .022uf / .022uf Orange Drop combination has been the standard for many years. Recommended for Orange Drop caps
- .022uf /.015uf PIO combination. Brighter more modern tone.
- For humbucker or P90 the PIO .033uf is my favorite value.
Switches and Jacks:
Only the best. Switchcraft switches for the Gibson and Epiphone, Oak Grigsby 3 or 5 way for the Stratocaster and Telecaster, Switchcraft output jacks.
I hope this helps you have a better understanding of the differences in the Parts, DIY Kits and Pre-wired Harness's we offer. We make it easy for you to Improve Your Tone. Pre-wired Kits ready to drop in your guitar with just a few hook ups or DIY Kits. If you have questions please feel free to reach out to me. Take a listen to the Demo's below.
Left Handed Guitar Wiring:
We do not offer left handed wiring kits. Wiring regular pots backwards will result in a very unusable taper and degrades the tone of your guitar. Although other companies will do this anyway I strongly advise against it. My recommendation is to find a company that truly builds left handed pre-wired kits using Left Handed Tapered Pots.
Cheers!
Gary Standerfer
Tone Man Guitar
Enjoy these demo's on a few of our products by Jack Fossett. Jack is an independent guitarist who in 2013 was selected by Joe Bonamassa as one of America's top 10 undiscovered blues guitarists. Thank You Jack.
The Blues 64 Strat with 500K pots for noiseless pickups ↓
The Vintage Strat Kit ↓
The 59 SG Kit ↓
The Eric Johnson Strat Kit ↓
The Blues 60s Telecaster Kit ↓
The 59 Les Paul Kit ↓
