“I’ve been working on vintage instruments as well as building my own guitars for over two decades. I had to learn the hard way that replacing worn-out original parts with today’s vintage-looking hardware does not do the trick. Even the smallest changes affect the tone in ways that I found were not what I was looking for.

Over the years, I’ve got my hands and ears on many sought-after vintage guitars, and I’ve noticed that even among them there are tonal differences. After years of comparing, I chose what I believed were the best-sounding parts and sent them to a lab for detailed material analysis.

The data and insights gathered enabled me to custom order unique alloys to create my very own St. Helens product range, designed to provide truly original and authentic-looking and sounding hardware.”  

– Gerhard Schwarz