About the Crutchfield ReadyHarness™ Service
Meet Charlie Pastorfield

My mission in life: cool guitars, Asian food, and helping you build a great car audio system.
I played rock'n'roll professionally from the 1970s up to 1995, and had a great career travelling up and down the East Coast playing clubs and opening shows for bands like The Kinks, The Beach Boys, James Brown, George Thorogood, Little Feat, Bob Weir, and lots of others. The time came for me to get off the road in 1995, and I'd heard that Crutchfield loved to hire musicians. I came straight here to apply for my very first job at the age of 44, and I've been happy working here ever since.
I first worked as an Advisor here at Crutchfield. Spending time on the phones, I soon learned that our customers trust us to give them accurate info and to recommend the right products. My experiences assembling PA systems for my bands put me in good stead when it came to helping people put together systems for their cars.
After a couple of years, I started writing for the Crutchfield catalog, where I learned the value of getting to the point quickly. Our web site really started taking off, and I was offered the job of writing about our products online.
I still play music frequently so I get to hear the latest pro audio gear on a regular basis, including a lot of the products we sell. I haven't been able to live with the stock sound system in any of my vehicles since I started at Crutchfield, and I've learned a lot by putting new systems in all my cars. And I have also put together a really nice home audio setup that has rekindled my love affair with records.
My life has always been about music, and Crutchfield allows me to continue that passion. We literally think, talk, and write about audio and video products all day long — and that's a good thing!
More about Charlie
- Started at Crutchfield in 1995
- Completed our thorough in-house Advisor training, and continued learning about the ins and outs of our various products
- Writer and editor for Crutchfield.com since 2000. Currently editor for our presentations of car audio and pro audio gear
- Attends dozens of vendor training events each year
- Working musician with extensive experience in recording studios
- Owner of a great car audio system, a really nice PA system, and a killer home audio setup
More from Charlie Pastorfield
Save time and effort
Save time and effort
Maybe you're incredibly busy. Maybe you just aren't handy with tools. Maybe you don't know that when you buy a car stereo from Crutchfield, we include a vehicle-specific wiring harness that you will have to connect to the wiring harness that comes with your car stereo. Crutchfield now offers a connection service for these harnesses, even for sophisticated wiring interfaces often required to retain important safety and entertainment features.
When you purchase our ReadyHarness service, we will open up your new car stereo, remove its wiring harness, then connect it — wire by wire — to the vehicle-specific harness (included with your package) that plugs into your vehicle's wiring. We will wire up every available connection that we can between the wiring interface and radio, and we will make connections for any steering wheel audio control adapter (sold separately) that might be needed — but keep in mind that you may have to make some further connections directly into your vehicle's wiring. The Crutchfield ReadyHarness is then packed back with your car stereo, so you'll be able to plug one end into the car stereo and the other into your vehicle.

Potential crisis...
What's involved?
We use a custom-tooled industrial crimping machine to ensure that your ReadyHarness will stand the test of time... and summertime temperatures inside your car! Our wiring pro consults the wiring diagrams for your car stereo and for your vehicle to make sure that every connection is correct. For simpler harnesses, we'll send you a set of custom-made connectors that are plugged together. Of course, we can't make connections from your car stereo to wires in your car that are sometimes needed (like certain connections for a steering wheel control adapter or a parking brake wire for a DVD receiver), so you may have to connect a few wires for more complex applications.

Crisis averted!
Why should I do this?
A Crutchfield ReadyHarness saves you significant time, effort, and potential heartache. In the past, you'd have to sit down with a crimping tool or soldering iron, match up the two harnesses wire by wire, according to function, and then make secure connections. Now, the ReadyHarness is ready to rock the minute you open up your new car stereo. And you'll avoid the pain of turning on your new radio only to find out that you've wired it incorrectly.
Please note!
Please remember that it'll take some time for us to build your ReadyHarness, so plan on your new car stereo arriving at least a day later than usual.
Listen to our customers
"I am absolutely thrilled at finally getting the wiring harness and vehicle adapter connected properly. It certainly significantly reduces the installation time/effort. Not sure why you didn't start this years ago." — Bob M.
"Unless you do this often, why take the time and the chance that a connection is not correct? Then the time to figure out what wire is not working, etc.? You all fixed me up with one wiring harness. I plug into the radio and two plugs on the other end directly into the car. Swap a radio in 15 minutes. How cool is that?" — #crimpinainteasy
"Just wanted to drop you an email and say your adapter/stereo harness worked perfectly! I cut the installation time by at least 1.5 hours enlisting your service! Thanks again for a great job." — Tom L.
"AMAZING!! I was a Crutchfield guy back in the day, installing various car stereos in my cars. There always was chopping, wiring and a fair amount of brain surgery. I just installed a JVC CD player in my wife's Honda Accord in 15 minutes, thanks to your prewired loom and excellent instructions!
Thanks again for a painless process!!!" — Ethan S.
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Highly recommended. Saved me hours of time at my own working pace and ensured neat and orderly connections. Speedy work from Crutchfield and helpful customer service during install
Chris from Little Rock, AR
Customer Q&A
Q
will the ready harness work if I have 2 amps in my system already one for main speakers and one for subs?
A
We'll need a bit more information about your vehicle. Give us a call at 1-800-324-9695 and we'll be happy to to check compatibility!
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