Mod Garage
Tonewood Teardown: Pickups and Wiring for an Esquire-Style Electric
Our columnistās upgraded pickup and electronics choices for his Harley Benton guitar
By Dirk WackerApr 13, 2026
Dirk Wacker
Dirk Wacker lives in Germany and has been a guitar addict since age 5. He runs several websites and a workshop on the subject. When not working at his guitar workbench, writing surveys, or penning columns for Premier Guitar, he plays country, rockabilly, surf, and flamenco. He also enjoys good coffee and working on vintage cars. Contact him at info@singlecoil.com.
Hello, and welcome back to Mod Garage. This monthās installment in our āTonewood Teardownā series will be the most important one, dealing with the electrified tone of our guitar. Weāll start work on the wiring, which is the key component of every electric guitar. I really like the analogy that the pickup is the heart, the wiring the brain, and the wires themselves the neural system of an electric guitar. This means we should take care to do everything as carefully as possible here.












![Rig Rundown: All Them Witches [2026]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=65403822&width=1245&height=700&quality=70&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)











