Rick Mariner gave me great support on a used Haywire Telecaster that I purchased elsewhere. I am grateful for all the technical advice I got from Rick. I have bought another guitar from him since. Excellent guitars! Thanks Rick. Dave read more

Rick Mariner helped me build a custom Tele from parts and electronic components that sounds fantastic. I am still learning all the unique tones that are available with this great up. Thanks Rick. read more

First, Yes, I'm from California, now all the way east to South Carolina- taking my 30 or so guitars with me. Aside from any dated- unhappy, perhaps untrue and otherwise unfair reviews; "E Pluribus Unum", my experience with Rick and his partner(s) at haywire- has been honest and enlightening. I'll have to find out the story behind the 'haywire' name though, otherwise Rick's guitars would do great as 'Mariner' guitars.. IMO, like Larrivee guitars, for John Larrivee... So having not done luthier work myself for many years now, it's refreshing to see and learn more on all of the details that this business puts into it's work. I do recommend Rick Mariner for doing guitar setups, that is certainly his forte', beyond building custom guitars, which I may also purchase soon from Rick as well. Friendly atmosphere, meeting some new guitar-friends. The work is done well, prices very good and the work is done in purely reasonable timeframe. Hope to add photos next time, still unpacking guitars from the move! read more

Don't buy from this scam artist. Years ago I wanted a custom made guitar so I traded him a fretless Ernie ball 5 string USA for what he stated was a custom made from him. After I got it I found out it was a stadium guitar worth 150.00 bucks with his logo for haywire and he refused to refund after stating he had already sold the Ernie ball. Scam artist is all he is, he is putting china parts together and selling them as custom guitars that he states he builds. I was sending him to court but he kept dodging the sheriffs department every time they came to his house for serving papers. RIP OFF read more

had a problem with bass neck but rick quickly took care of it..thanks man!!

I purchased a strat body from haywire a couple of years ago. It was their lite weight version, weighing in at 3 pounds. Besides the compliments on the way it looks and plays, people are blown away by how lite it is. It came as promised, I had them gold kit it and the gold still shines like new. The quilted finish looks great and really makes my guitar stand out. The were fast to deliver, responsive in email and on the phone and the price was amazing for what I got. I would give them six stars if the chart went any higher. read more

I purchased a Warmoth custom Strat from eBay custom made by Haywire and I couldn't be happier. Plays great, sounds great, and stays in tune. When I had a problem with the setup (my fault for tinkering too much), I sent it back and they fixed it asap. Nice guy, great product, reasonable prices. The other review is obviously from some lunatic or competitor. I also have my own business and once in a while you get a crazy customer who has unrealistic expectations or just a screw loose. From reading the review it looks like the latter. By the way, Haywire did not ask me to write this. I did it when I saw this nutty review to offer a different perspective. Don't pay any attention to this nutcake - Haywire is a pleasure to do business with. read more

Just received my second Haywire Custom Guitar. I had thought perhaps I was just luck with the first but was thrilled to see another perfectly setup, perfect playing and sweet sounding guitar. I have owned several American standard Fenders and was disappointed in their fit and finish. My Haywire's are the best working man's guitars I've ever owned. Not only did I get a great price, but I shipped them some locking tuners and they installed them no charge. They are, like me, working musicians who understand what is important in a guitar. Communications were prompt by the way. I'm looking forward to continued business and plan to stop by their shop on my next trip north. Phillip - Fort Myers, Fl read more

purchased a guitar from Haywire, which advertises that the guitars are meticulously set up and "gig ready." Rick was very pleasant to speak with, and I hate to give him negative feedback, but nothing could be farther from the truth than the claim "gig ready." When I got the guitar, it was unplayable and required more then $200 worth of work in order to fix it. The jack was wired in reverse so that it produced extremely loud hum when plugged in. The grounding wire had been cut (not shaken loose during transport, but cut with a sharp instrument). The body cavity routing had been chiselled away with perhaps a screwdriver or a chisel, and the neck pickup height could not be adjusted because the adjustment spring on its upper side was not attached. The pickguard was not flush to the body because one of its screws had no purchase in the body. In short, the workmanship was extremely shoddy and I threw away more then $1000. Be very careful when buying from this vendor. read more

For the first time in many years of playing guitar I decided to have one built just for me to my exact specifications. This instrument is truly a work of art! Rick was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire process. He suggested some incredible aesthetic touches, kept me informed along the way, sent photos for my approval, asked my thoughts and opinions on each step of the way. It's a very unique guitar....Uniquely MINE!! All of the parts were selected by me. I was specific. Unlike many guitarists who just play and know nothing about how they are built-I asked for the parts I wanted and cost was not an issue. I am not a tightwad but Rick treated my funds as if they were his own. He did not try and talk me into anything, but instead listened to what I wanted and needed as a player who works full time in the music profession. The set-up is perfect. And the attention to detail is superb! As advertised this is a "Gig-Ready" guitar. I love the excellent craftsmanship with the great insight to a real musicians needs. The neck and action are smoother than anything I've ever played. The combination of the pickups with the custom electronics give this guitar a wide range of tones and personalities! Dollar for dollar this was by far the best value out there. I could not have gone anywhere and bought an instrument with half the features I wanted for the same price. This guitar has everything I asked for built by someone who really cares. If I had a problem I feel as though I can talk with Rick and Haywire Custom Guitars and get it solved quickly. They're just great!! read more

Recently i had a very good experience working with Haywire Custom Guitars to get a guitar made for someone special, it was perfect. The lollar pickups sounded great and the neck was made perfect for his hands. i am very pleased with the results and he is very happy. i will definitely special order again. Thanks Rick read more

Haywire Custom Guitars "Floyd Special" In the summer of 2015, My brother gave me the awesome opportunity to have Rick Mariner, owner of Haywire Custom Guitars build me the guitar of my dreams. I had full input as to what I wanted in this guitar. I got to pick out the type of body style and neck, frets and pickups that I wanted. Rick even did custom routing on the body for me to have the 5 position selector switch and volume and tone knobs at the exact angle that feels perfectly comfortable for my style of playing. He also did a comfort cutout on the back of the guitar along with a few other pickup features for a multitude of tone choices. I have owned Hollow body and solid body guitars with humbuckers and single coil pickups. This remarkable guitar with three pickups can get pretty much any tone and sound that I need. I am loving playing this guitar and getting many positive comments about the appearance and tones. Rick Mariner did a fantastic job building the best guitar I have ever owned. He was also a joy to work with. Keep up the great work Rick! Randy Floyd - Statesville, NC read more

Rick is a master guitar builder, who happens to be a talented musician as well. He knows just what you need and will build your guitar exactly as you have ordered it. It will be your very own custom guitar that sounds as good as it looks! His prices are reasonable and his customer service is very fair . I promise you that you will be very pleased and count on Rick for your every guitar need. I highly recommend Haywire Custom Guitars. read more

Received my Haywire Custom about a month ago. It's absolutely outstanding! I never imagined that guitar playability of this caliber could be created. Rick Mariner has a gift for guitar craft. If you're serious about playing guitar, I highly recommend you do business with Haywire! read more

UPDATE #2: If you arrived here looking for a review on Haywire Custom Guitars, please read this. Beware of Haywire, or risk being ripped off - and a victim of identity theft. Here's the long story: - Haywire knowingly sold me a guitar with an incompetent and damaged trem bridge (details later; Haywire thought I would be too naive to notice). The trem was unusable and there was no honoring their supposed "warranty". Had to contract a local luthier to repair the damage to salvage my initial investment of $1250. Do not even think of providing *any* personal information, along with your hard earned money, for the purposes of buying from this one-man glorified partscaster toymaker. Do not be fooled by any of his websites or repetitive postings all over the web. Pay close attention to any Haywire review and ask yourself who might have posted it; was it written by an actual impartial third party? I got hung out to dry and the guitar cost $1650 when all was done and said. This is enough to buy two guitars of superior quality to what I ended up with. After I was stuck with this ten pound paperweight last year - - I wrote a bad review right here on Yelp. As a result I have been the subject of online harassment and insults ever since (going on ten months now). Haywire (actually just one guy) posted dozens of repetitive self-reviews in an attempt to bury my review in the noise. Thankfully Yelp saw what was happening and has allowed my review to persist while removing all the Haywire "reviews". The approach Yelp took becomes more relevant as time goes on - I don't care what some people may claim - Yelp is a fair platform. Yelp could have dispensed with my lone review and this predator would have little record of his sociopathic behavior. Fast forward to March 2013, - Haywire used my identity to open an account here on Yelp. There used to be one of his bogus reviews under this user name, which also listed my full name and full home address, but Yelp deleted it and the account has been retained as one of many records of his illegitimate activity. So far we have had to work with six major web sites (including Yelp, FB, Hrmny-Cntrl, Mrchnt Crcl, Dtfrts, DxKnws) to have my full name and address removed along with bogus reviews that rave about Haywire Custom Guitars - which were all posted by Haywire. The Haywire IP fingerprint was recorded by each site security manager. You can still find some of these bogus reviews by g**gle searching "Haywire guitar", which will result in some hits that list my name and address along with a bogus review. At least one of these hits are on the actual Haywire site where naturally, the webmaster is not a reasonable human being. I did not post any of this and continue to put up with it. I have a lawyer now and have had to file several affidavits in preparation for a civil suit in South Carolina, in addition to the ongoing resources it takes to work with all the webmasters. For other sources of info - go to the Haywire Custom Guitars website and check out his homebrew Privacy Policy. Right there it says he reserves the right to webpost anything you send to him in any way he pleases. In my case, it applied to customer warranty related info - this is a predatory and unethical policy. If you look more deeply into review sites that include Haywire, you will eventually find others who have been bilked. They're hard to find - Haywire heaps more recent reviews on top of the bad ones. Also, check Georgetown County SC criminal case H750140. Lastly, right below this review you'll see a claim by Haywire that I was never a customer and that this whole review is a hoax. Below is original UPDATE #1, which preserves the complete review history. ========== Update: I have been personally harassed and attacked as a result of placing this guitar review, which tells me it has been effective and may serve as a warning for others. Thank you Yelp for offering this unbiased review platform. The guitar was set up to "cover up" the problem with the trem. So I sent detailed digital photos and the merchant completely refused to acknowledge the problem, implying the problem was my fault or occurred during shipping. I gave Haywire every opportunity to take this guitar back and make it right, but he would not acknowledge the botched bridge install as depicted in several hi-res digital photos. Here's what happened: Haywire brute forced a 2 7/32 wide bridge onto a body drilled for 2 1/16 spacing. This is not an innocent mistake. Obvious bad things happen when you do this. The bridge was never gonna work this way, it's actually dangerous, Haywire should just admit that and be an adult about it. Rick Mariner you still do not have my permission to post private email correspondence on the web. Posting my full name and address is expressly against my wishes. Thank you Yelp for recognizing these content policy violations. read more

I recently had Rick at Haywire Custom Guitars put together a Telecaster for me and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! I was looking for a really good player (not an heirloom), but had some modifications in mind that local stores either couldn't provide, or wanted excessive payment. Rick's stock of parts, available options, and willingness to work with me on my needs rendered a Telecaster just as I wanted it: natural finish, maple Warmoth neck, forearm relief on the body, upgraded pickups, and traditional switching. Looks great, feels great, sounds great, at a great price! I have no hesitation in recommending his shop! read more

Just received my jazzmaster guitar purchased from Haywire Custom Guitars through eBay. Well packaged, perfectly set up, ready to play. New finish with quality parts, just as advertised. I will make future purchases from this vendor read more

I've had 3 Haywire guitars over the last few years, and they are some of my favorite instruments. Haywire only uses the highest quality parts, and the craftsmanship is top of the line as well. Each guitar was set up perfectly to my specifications. All the guitars have a unique feel and serve a specific purpose. I have been nothing but impressed with Haywire's products and services, and will continue to frequent the brand in the future. Haywire has definitely made a satisfied player out of me! read more

Been playing guitar for 10 years now and never imagined playability of this caliber existed. I'm 110% satisfied and highly recommend doing business with Haywire Custom Guitars if you're a serious musician. Rick Mariner was awesome in understanding exactly what I wanted and made excellent recommendations in making my guitar even better than I pictured. He doesn't charge enough for his outstanding craftsmanship and artistry. read more