Hi. Thanks for finding your way to the new Molyneaux Guitars website.
Molyneaux Guitars has been a passion project of mine for the past couple of years. Something that in hindsight I should've start years ago. It feels like it's been a long road to get to this point, putting in the hours to build instruments that I am happy and that stand up at the side of established brands. With a new business, it came with other hurdles that I had to figure out how to get over.
One of which being this website. I wanted the website that gives you an easy to use and interactive way to build your custom guitar that meant there was no guess work when it came to finishes, pickguard options, pickup selections etc. How does a shell pink finish look with black and amber tortoiseshell pickguard and triple filtertron pickups? Wonder no more! Go crazy or keep your build more traditional. The choice is really yours. I hope it's something that you can lose time playing with to inspire your dream guitar and get it in your hands, ready to play.
The first "production" Magpie is something that I am over the moon with. This is unashamedly my dream spec. I was even shocked with how good it sounded. It went above and beyond my expectations. I wanted a kind of do it all guitar and the pickup and switch choice really helps with that. A triple McNelly Pickup guitar! A Stagger Swagger in the neck and bridge position, and a McNelly Duckling in the middle position.
But why this choice? The Stagger Swaggers were an easy choice. I have them in one of my personal guitars and I absolutely love them. I'm a single coil guy through and through. But, I wanted to still be able to get those classic Strat in-between tones. I initially was just going to put a regular strat type pickup in there until I spoke to James at Home of Tone. For anyone that doesn't know James, he's the person that is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to guitars. The type where if he doesn't know it, he'll either find out or it just isn't worth knowing. He recommended a McNelly Duckling. This is essentially a strat pickup in disguise as a tele style neck pickup. So, purely from an aesthetic view as it comes with the open nickel style like the Stagger Swaggers, I went with that. A stroke of genius!
The pickups on this are wired to a Freeway 6-way switch. Meaning that I can get all the tones of a classic 2 pickup guitar, as well as the in between tones and middles on its own that I was searching for.
I hope that when you see this build that it inspires your own build. I'm always here if you have any questions around pickup combinations or anything build related. Just drop me a message on here or any of the social media links and I'll be happy to advise.
For now, enjoy the new website.
Dan