The serial number on the back of a TCM headstock will give you an approximate date of manufacture. The serial number consists of the month and year that the entered the spray booth for finishing along with a sequence number representing the order it entered the booth.

Abnormalities and inconsistencies do exist in the numbering scheme. The month digits usually do not contain a leading zero, and the sequence digit may either be one or two digits - sometimes with a leading zero, sometimes without. So a guitar made in January of 2000 (100nn) can be confused with a guitar made in October of 2000 or 2001 (1000nn). For example, multiple guitars exist with the serial number 10003, on being guitar # 03 made in January of '00, and the other being guitar 3 made in October of '00. Guitar 12 in January of '00 could also be confused with guitar 2 of October '01 (both might have serial numbers 10012). This is really only an issue for certain month and year combinations. So, while not an exact science, the serial number will give an idea of when your guitar was built.

Currently, there are four different body types available on TCM guitars:

Doublecut

• Solidbody : either one piece solid mahogany or one piece solid mahogany back with maple cap (Polaris, Polaris Pro, Monarch and Empress)
• Semi-hollow : one piece mahogany back with semi-hollow cavities on either side of the body (standard on the Glory, Glory Custom and Zodiac)
• Tuned Ported : a proprietary designed cavity with an open port on the lower bout of the one piece mahogany body, with either a mahogany or maple cap (standard on the Royal)

Singlecut

• Fan Chambered : one piece mahogany back with a series of "fanned" chambers with either maple or mahogany cap (slightly different pattern on the Taurus Custom).  Standard on the Taurus, Taurus Custom and Sportster.

TCM guitars are warranted for life to the original owner. This warranty does not cover abnormal use or abuse of the guitar, and is not transferable.

While a wide variety of customizations are available on the base TCM models, the Designer's Reserve Program allows you to have Terry build your "dream guitar" to your specs. Pricing structures and exact details and delivery would be negotiated directly with McInturff guitars. This would be much akin to the "Private Stock" guitars built by PRS.

All custom orders must be placed through an authorized TCM dealer, including guitars built as a part of the Designer's Reserve Program.  A list of available "customizations" for each model is available as a part of the Guitar Builder on the TCM site. Other customizations are possible but would need to be negotiated directly with TCM Guitars.

The McInturff website quotes an average wait time of 5 months on a custom order, but your best bet is to ask your dealer to find out how long the current wait time is.

A complete list of TCM dealers is available on the McInturff Guitars website at TCM Dealers.

No left-handed TCM is available as a standard model, although it is possible that one might be ordered through the DRP program.

No CNC machinery is used in the construction of a McInturff guitar. Terry is quick to point out that while he does not carve out each guitar with a set of hand tools, the machines he does employ are pretty much the same ones that have were used on the classic Gibsons and Fenders of the 50's. So, they're just as hand made as one of those vintage beauties.

The available selection of inlays include "Dots" (Polaris and Polaris Pro), "Ropes" (Monarch, Empress and Royal), "Slashes" (Glory, Glory Custom and Taurus Custom), "Crest" (Taurus Standard and Sportster) and "Zodiac" (Zodiac). A custom "Birthday" inlay depicting the stars on the date you were born (or date of choice) is available on the 12th fret at an additional charge.

A wide variety of finishes are available.  See the website for details and examples.

(information coming soon)

Four different necks are available on stock TCM guitars.  Availability of and any upcharge for each neck is dependent upon the model.  All necks feature a 1-11/16" nut.

• Standard : "C" shaped, tapered from .805" (1st fret) to .8xx" (10th fret)
• '57 : "C" shaped, untapered at .905" the entire length of the neck.
• Mild-V : soft "V" shaped, tapered from .900" (1st fret) to 1.0" (10th fret)
• Taurus Custom : soft "V" shaped, tapered from .870" (1st fret) to .950" (10th fret)

Custom neck carves are also available.

Stock TCM pickups are of a proprietary design custom built for McInturff Guitars by Dimarzio.

The available selection of TCM pickups includes:

• "Zodiac" humbucker
• "Tree of Life" humbucker
• "Narrowfield" mini-humbucker
• "P900" noiseless P-90
• "T-90" proprietary P-90
• "Noiseless Singlecoil" stacked humbucking "strat-style"

Duncan Seth Lover humbuckers were originally available on the TCM Polaris.  Until 2002, a non-humbucking proprietary strat-style single coil was used on Monarch, Empress, Glory Custom and Zodiac models.

DRP guitars are available with a wide variety of pickup brand to taste. Past examples of pickups used include those made by Peter Florance, Jason Lollar, Lindy Fralin, Seymour Duncan, and Wolfetone.

Currently, TCMs typically come equipped with either a Tone Pros tune-o-matic style bridge or a Gotoh vibrato. The Polaris, Polaris Pro, and Royal are only available with a fixed bridge. Other models can be equipped with either type.

Prior to 2001, the fixed bridge used by TCM Guitars was made by Schaller, and the Vibe Bridge was made by Mann.

(information coming soon)

TCM guitars were originally finished in nitrocellulose lacquer; Terry now uses a proprietary finish he calls "Nitrothane".

All TCM guitars are shipping with SIT brand strings gauged 10-46.

A complete guide to set up your TCM guitar can be found at the McInturff Guitars website by following this link.

The solo switch effectively bypasses all volume and tone controls and routes the pickup output directly to the output jack. The switch can be wired either after the pickup selector switch (sending the output of the pickups on the selector switch) or to a fixed pickup selection bypassing the selector switch.

Terry says:

Obtain materials as follows:

(a) #0000 grade steel wool (hrdwr store)
(b) 2" wide masking tape (hrdwr store)
(c) one roll Viva paper towels ( the official TCM polishing cloth!)
(d) one pint Watco Danish Oil, natural color (hrdwr store)
(e) small chunk red jeweler's rouge (jewelry shop)
(f) one 2"x2" flat wood block and one 4"x4" square of really soft tee shirt material or similiar.

1) Use the tape to completely cover the pups. Also, lay down a piece on either side of the fretbaord over the top in order to protect the finish.
2) Using a golf ball sized ball of steel wool, scrub the fretboard lengthwise, polishing all of the frets. Use long strokes with medium pressure, and do not rub away at it for more than 30 seconds.
3) Completely blow away/remove all bits of steel wool from the entire guitar and workbench area.
4) Wrap the cloth two layers thick around the wood block. You are making a hard-backed pad with which to buff the frets. Apply a few stripes of the rouge to the underside of this pad.
5) Using moderate pressure, rub the pad length-wise along the long dimension of the neck. Do this for 30 seconds until the frets shine like crazy.
6) Use a pad of Viva to remove all traces of blackened rouge from the fretboard.
7) Apply four drops of Watco to a new pad of Viva. Rub this into the neck by hand (no block) working along the length of each fret in order to oil the fbd and especially to remove the blackend rouge. Keep turning the pad for a fresh white surface . . . in other words do not just rub "dirty pad onto dirty fretboard". DO NOT SOAK THE WOOD WITH WATCO!!!! Go easy on the oil.
8) Finish off with a final rubbing of the fbd with a clean Viva pad.
9) Soak the oily pads with water, take them outside to the trash can. They can spontaneously combust.
10) Restring, reset, and enjoy!

Note: RESIST the temptation to clean and oil. Only do so once every 12-18 months.

Naptha can play a role in fretboard cleaning, no doubt about it.

1) If there is an abundance of dirt buildup, certainly a few drops of naptha on a Viva pad prior to the steel wool will help to remove dirt that the brief (!) scrubbing with the 0000 steel wool will miss. But a CAUTION is called for . . . as with the Watco oil . . . DO NOT soak the fretboard with naptha. Only a slight moistening at most. The naptha on the Viva pad should serve only to help loosen the dirt . . . NOT to wash it away.
2) A few drops on a clean Viva pad will help to remove the blackened rouge. A good idea to do this prior to oiling. You can use the naptha to clean away the blackened rouge and loose dirt prior to oiling with Watco, rather than calling upon the Watco to "do it all".
3) I cannot overstate this . . . DO NOT soak the fretboard with either naptha OR Watco Danish Oil.

Terry, from the McInturff website:

I've been building and servicing guitars for over 20 years now, not to mention that I've been playing for 28! When I was 20 years old, I attended Roberto Venn school of luthiery in Arizona. There, I was able to get some basic design and woodworking skills under my belt. The very first electric guitar that I made was an offset double cutaway, unbound carved top guitar with a bird's eye maple top, mahogany back, mahogany neck, and a bound heavily inlaid rosewood fretboard of 25 1/8" scale and 22 frets. I'd put a lot of thought into this guitar for several months before I attended Roberto-Venn in the fall of 1977. My original intent was to create a guitar that would appeal equally to the Strat and to the Les Paul player.

This line of thought has since become a rather common one, but back in those days I think I just stumbled upon some good ideas through sheer ignorance! That first guitar in many, many ways is shockingly close to what I'm doing now. It had two humbuckers on it, spaced in such a way so that when the coil cut mini switches were activated the various coil combinations that resulted could have either "Stratish" or "Paulish" tones. I owe a debt of thanks to a fellow student who helped me figure out exactly what the pickup spacing should be to accomplish this as well as how to figure out the fret placement for the very uncommon 25-1/8 scale length. I only wish I could remember his name. Thanks, pal!

From Roberto-Venn, I went on to 17 years of hard and heavy guitar repair and custom building work in addition to maintaining an active schedule as a live and studio player here in the Chapel Hill area of North Carolina. I spent most of the 80's chasing the proverbial record deal - if it hadn't been for that, you all would have seen the Terry C. McInturff guitar line being marketed a whole lot sooner. I never got the record deal, but all that time on stage, in the studio and working on literally tens of thousands of instruments gave me a really broad background in guitars that has enabled me to perfect the McInturff guitar that I saw in my head that summer of 1977. Thanks to all the fantastic customers I've had over the years...I've learned more from you than you'd ever believe.

Now that I'm into full time production of a guitar line that currently encompasses ten different models, it is my intent to become the "biggest, small guitar manufacturer" in the world. In other words, I want to make my work available to the widest customer base possible without building so many guitars that the fine attention to detail we're getting known for suffers in the least. The way I look at it, if the guitars start getting sloppy there will no longer be the magic in each guitar and therefore, no reason to buy one of my instruments as opposed to one made by the major manufacturers.

This August we celebrated our fourth year of production, and during this past year we have continued to grow our dealer base. I'm very, very proud of each of our dealers. In every case, these dealers have come to us highly recommended by local musicians that have contacted us. Their staff is knowledgeable about my products, friendly, and have a "small store" attitude which we are seeing less and less of these days. We encourage you to contact any of them for any assistance you may need. If I, personally, can help you with any questions that you may have about my guitars, I am available to talk with you directly. Here's one thing I think I can offer that the very large manufacturers can't - you can call my business and speak directly to me. I am and shall remain an active part of the production team here. I don't live in an office; I'm in the shop building guitars everyday with the help of some extremely talented luthiers of whom I am very proud. But as busy as I am, I will find time to speak with every one of you that has serious questions about my work.

While Terry does work on each and every guitar that is produced in the shop, he employs other workers who are involved in various aspects of the guitar's construction. All guitars are hand inspected by Terry before leaving the factory.

Some of the owners and users of TCM Guitars include:

• Brad Whitford (Aerosmith)
• Audley Freed (Black Crowes)
• Jimmy Page
• Eric Clapton
• David Hidalgo (Los Lobos)
• Chuck Garvey (moe.)
• Brad Rice (Ryan Adams, Whiskeytown)
• Brad Delson (Linkin Park)
• Gabriel Gordon (Natalie Merchant)
• Danny Flowers (singer/songwriter - "Tulsa Time")
• Marshall Crenshaw
• Seth Yacovone (Seth Yacovone Band)

Fish 'n Jam is a factory tour, party and jam thrown by the folks at McInturff Guitars.  The first one was held in September of 2000 and a 2nd event was held in 2001 (look here for more info).  Plans are in the works for another event this year, though its scheduling is subject to change.

Contact information is available on the McInturff Guitars website. The recommended method of contact is to email them at info@McInturffGuitars.com. Terry will almost always get back to you within two business days.

According to our best information, TCM did no more than 30 sparkle guitars (and perhaps fewer) from late 1997 to December 1999. The only models finished in sparkle were the Polaris and the Monarch, and the colors used were orange, red, blue, purple and possibly green. The sparkle itself was from Kar Kolor and was sprayed mixed with nitro lacquer, using a Devilbiss agitator cup, in a spray booth separate from the regular one.