This meeting is what set me on the path to becoming guitar bridge / hardware designer and manufacturer. I was given an old beat up Gibson SG, as a gift, which I tried unsuccessfully several times to restore and re-finish. I was introduced to Paul through a cousin of mine, who was a friend of Paul and familiar with his work. Through this introduction, Paul restored the SG back to it’s original glor
y. When I arrived to pick up my guitar, Paul and I exchanged some conversation. Once Paul learned that I was a Engineering Tech / Machinist at Westinghouse Electric, that was the beginning of our guitar work related relationship. Paul knew what was wrong with various aspects of the (then) current guitar designs. But he was having problems getting local machine shops to build parts to his specs. Part of this problem was a communication barrier between a young guitar builder who didn’t know engineering terms and machine shops who didn’t understand guitar building terms. Being involved in both of these worlds, I bridged that gap. When Paul presented me with a set of problems, I could “translate” the guitar problem into an engineering problem, and then together, we would develop a solution. Once a solution was determined, I was responsible to turning it into a functional part. This relationship blossomed through the pre-factory years of PRS Guitars and has continued on to the present day. MannMade USA designs, manufactures and sells world class guitar and bass bridges, hardware and components for OEM guitar companies (original equipment manufacturers), small builders and luthiers, repair shops and to the general retail public. My mission is to produce state of the art parts that improve upon original designs, yet retain the original concept. The quality must be second to none. All my parts are typically designed to retrofit existing hardware with no modification to the existing instrument. The design must improve tone, functionality, playability, feel and look. We also produce generic items such as pickguards, jack plates, knobs, etc. Additionally, we design and produce custom tooling for some of our clients which they use to build guitars more efficiently.
