USA-made pickups and electronics make the new S2 Custom 24-08 and S2 Vela elegant, outstanding, all-American instruments.
It's all in the hands—the pickup-making icon has helped shape music history over the last 40 years, providing pickups for EVH, Jimmy Page, George Harrison, Clapton, Frampton, Slash, Yngwie, Billy Gibbons, and countless others. She sits down with John Bohlinger to discuss her unusual start with Seymour Duncan, reveals who's her toughest customer, and predicts good tone in your future.
“The heart and soul of your guitar has to connect with your own heart and soul,” says Seymour Duncan Custom Shop manager Maricela “MJ” Juarez.
Juarez has worked alongside Seymour Duncan for more than 30 years, establishing herself as the legendary pickup builder’s most trusted collaborator. She’s also become a custom pickup builder to the stars, helping the guitar’s most demanding tone junkies connect better with their instruments. Some say she’s wound more pickups heard on gold and platinum records than anyone. Her clientele includes Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Eddie Van Halen, Vince Gill, Slash, James Taylor, Peter Frampton, Warren DeMartini, and Steve Miller—not to mention countless discerning players around the globe.
Juarez began her Duncan tenure as a production-floor pickup winder, but Seymour eventually asked her to manage the growing Custom Shop. It’s expanded so fast that they recently brought in Seymour’s son Derek to help manage. Nowadays they’re only partially joking when they refer to Juarez as the Queen of the Custom Shop. But like so many things in life and music, her path to pickup-winding royalty was anything but what she’d planned.
The new LiveWirezsingle coils produce that much-desired vintage fat woody tone with enough sustain that remains crisp and articulate.
Adding to the company’s line of premium-quality guitar pickup line, Missing Link Audio has introduced their new LiveWirez single coil pickups.
As the follow-up to MLA’s successful Peacock humbucking single coils, the new LiveWirezsingle coils produce that much-desired vintage fat woody tone with enough sustain that remains crisp and articulate. They produce some of the most iconic guitar sounds in music history. Because of the clarity created by the unique coil wind and magnet structure, the LiveWirezpickup design works especially well with pedals, allowing the low end to remain articulate and the highs to sing clearly with every note played.
The Bridge pickup has the power to make your amp sing & sustain while keeping control with your guitar's volume knob. You can dial in those sweet 50's and 60's vintage single coil tones with a little more output if needed, as you roll up the volume on your guitar for those who want to rock the house.
The Middle pickup gives you the ability to dial in additional tones on top of the bridge or neck position or to use by itself for a fat rhythm position to a singing solo. The Neck pickup has all the clarity that the bridge and neck positions have with a cello-like sustain and natural bell tone you would expect from a vintage single coil pickup. If you need more it is as simple as turning your volume knob up on the guitar and listen to the response.
Each LiveWirez pickup is constructed using:
- Correct formulated slightly degaussed Alnico 5 magnets
- Staggered pole pieces for balanced output
- Vintage Push Back Wire
- Vintage-style enamel wire
- Reverse-wound middle pickup to eliminate hum
- Bridge Pickup DCR 7.0 - Middle Pickup DCR 6.5 – Neck Pickup DCR 5.99
- Southern Crafted &American Made
- Limited Lifetime Warranty
Missing Link Audio includes with each set of pickups a NOS Paper in Oil Capacitor for free.
Missing Link Audio’s LiveWirez Set is available for a suggested retail price of $239.99
For more information, please visit mlapedals.com.