Philosophy

Every Maguire Guitar is handmade. Some steps are aided by power tools but all final shaping and contouring is done solely by hand. Because of my commitment to hand building, I produce only a select few guitars per year. Keeping in the tradition of handbuilding guarantees that each instrument will have its own feel and sound.

All of my electric guitars are built with neck thru body construction for massive sustain, sharp attack and extra playability on the upper register of the neck. My necks are multi-laminated and graphite reinforced for timeless stability.

I make both flat top and arched top guitars. The arches on my guitars are steep in comparison to any other that I have seen. The steep arch was originally designed for aesthetics but I have since found that the extra top thickness required produces a more tonal character. I also use only the best components available. Schaller tuners, Lindy Fralin pickups, Tone Pros bridges / tailpieces and CTS potentiometers.

My custom shop capabilities are virtually limitless: body shapes, neck profiles, inlays, custom electronics, wood choices. Whatever the you want, can be built (within the boundaries of good taste).

Most guitars made by other builders or manufacturers are maple top with mahogany necks. This makes for a somewhat generic sound. Alternative woods like Black Acacia, Tiger Myrtle, Figured Myrtle, Bubinga, Ziricote, Cocobolo, Black Limba and other hard-to-come-by and exotic woods add the special tonal character all my guitars possess.

Also on the subject of wood; I put a lot of time into these guitars therefore I use only the finest tonewoods available. For assurance of stability I use primarily straight grained quarter sawn wood that has been air or kiln dried to 6% moisture content or less. In order to aquire these very best tonewoods, I import directly from Australia and South America. Of the roughly 2000 board feet of lumber I import yearly, only 50 or so board feet ends up as Maguire Guitars. All the rest is sold or traded for woods of other origin. All my wood suppliers are certified as sustainable yield sawyers practicing low impact, environmentally friendly harvesting. All this buying, selling and trading of wood does take a bit of time away from the workshop but it is the only way to get the very best.