Blog – Healy Guitars

Joe’s Healer Bass

October 27, 2023 in Uncategorized

I’ve been working with Joe for quite a while, mostly modifying his 5 string basses with pickup and pre-amp upgrades. I was super psyched when he asked me to make a more vintage style, passive 4 string Healer bass with this cool Lilac color, seashell inspired!

For pickups we decided on the TV Jones Thunder’Mag wide range humbuckers. I feel like they are a cool combination of J and P pickup tones. The offset pole pieces are opposite of the usual P position, and the coil’s are narrower, and the larger poles offer a strong attack with fingers or a pick. I also just love using a P-90 shape on our Larger Healer Bass body, the scale seems to make sense to me.

This is the first bass neck we’ve completed since starting to work with Tom Dalia. He helped develop some jigs to hold the wood on a CNC and really get the shape and process dialed in. Can’t thank you enough for helping with these Tom! Now that the jigs are here in MA we’ll be able to work with a local friend to CNC them right here in town.

The neck is Roasted Maple with an Indian Rosewood fretboard with Cream Pearloid inlays cut by our pal Marc Seedorf in Greenfield. It was a tricky endeavor to glue them in because the actual pearloid material is less than 1/16” thick, meaning they had to be perfectly flush with the surface of the fretboard before leveling so we wouldn’t loose that top surface. We’ll definitely be trying to source a better material for this in the future, but it looks so darn good and is the same material as the pick guard. Worth the extra effort!

The body is Alder, chambered on the treble side only. I’ve come to the conclusion that the best bass tone comes from a solid bass side while the treble side can have a nice attack when chambered. It’s also easier to carve the body contours with the solid side. The instrument also balances better with a little more weight on that bass side.

The bridge is the Hipshot A style which we’ve adjusted to a narrower 17mm spacing, and the tuners are the Hipshot HB 1’s. We tumble all the hardware in a rock tumbler, giving everything a satin sheen. Thanks for your commission Joe!

New Workshop Expansion and Renovations

July 23, 2023 in Uncategorized

After 12 years building and repairing guitars in Easthampton we have outgrown our current space. We’re happy to announce that we secured a great new space in @eastworks_ma and will be moving from suite 059 to 058! Yup, it’s directly next door and will nearly double our square footage.

By renovating the new space we will have a proper check in area for you to drop off repairs and an isolated machine room to keep the noise of our tools at bay during your visits. With your help we can get the space built out in a way that really reflects the quality of the work we strive for and that you’ve come to expect from us!

All donations will go directly to the renovations, materials, and spray equipment and will be matched 2:1 by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation, @empoweringsmallbusiness . That’s right, MGCC will DOUBLE your donation!

The M-Biz Power program is an incredible opportunity for us to grow and thrive and we’d be thrilled if you can help us reach this goal. Our shop has already grown so much through your reviews and word-of-mouth experiences. Continue to spread the word about this project on social media or by sending a friend the link below. Thanks!

http://patronicity.com/healy-guitars-renovation

Carroll Growler

June 15, 2023 in Uncategorized

Here’s the most recent Growler, a left handed one at that! Made on commission by our client Chris C. from Boston. I like this one for a number of reasons. It’s referential but not intentionally and incorporates both of our ideas with only minor compromises. When we finished it up I looked at it and thought “did we just make a Malcom Young Gretsch Growler?” We’ve never done a tinted finish over maple and it think it plays well with the rosewood, binding, and parchment knobs and guard.

The back and neck are Korina, probably my favorite tone wood of late. It’s reliably light but hard enough to not worry that it’s going to be dinged up before we’re even done.

The TV Jones Filtertrons are super clear and have that vintage look I think we all love. We went with the Mastery Bridge for a smooth string path for the Bigsby B5.

TV Jones, Mastery Bridge and Bigsby Vibrato

The block fretboard inlays and Headstock logo are milled by Will at Seeders Instruments in Vermont to our specs, where the inlays follow the path of the B and A strings.

The wiring scheme is all Chris. The lower tone knob is a Blender pot, which can subtly blend the two pickups together. I was skeptical but it’s a perfect way to balance them. When you’re in the bridge position and you want a little more low, bring in a hair of the neck and vice versa. This is totally different than two volumes in that you’d always have to bring the volume back up to max if you want the opposite and the middle position on the switch is always both pickups on full. Killer. I’ll do this again anytime.