The Missing Link

There are plenty of modders out there who wax lyrical about pickups and paper-in-oil caps, but far fewer people look to the guitar’s metal hardware for improvements in tone. And while a bridge or a replacement set of saddles may not be as charismatic as handwound humbuckers, you’d be foolish to overlook their impact on your guitar’s sound.

Few guitar makers have examined the effect of individual components on an instrument’s performance as extensively as Paul Reed Smith. That’s why I decided to ask him what kind of difference the right hardware can make to your guitar’s overall tone. Why, for example, does PRS bother to design its own bridges and tuners, among other things? Surely it would be easier to buy in parts from established hardware suppliers?

“I would just use [outsourced] parts if they did what we wanted them to do,” Paul reflects. “I mean, we buy Switchcraft jacks. We don’t make