Recorded using a Schroeder Chopper TL into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV miked with a Royer R-121 feeding an Apogee Duet going into Studio One with no EQ-ing, compression, or effects.
Clip 1: Bridge pickup, green comp mode, volume at 1 o’clock, blend at 10 o’clock, and comp at 1 o’clock.
Clip 2: “Joey” mode EQ, bass at 10 o'clock, mids at 3 o'clock, treble at 1 o'clock, volume at 1 o'clock, blend at 10 o'clock, comp at 1 o'clock, bloom at noon.
Clip 3: Bloom at max, volume at 1 o'clock, EQ on, bass at noon, mids at 10 o'clock, treble at 1 o'clock.
RatingsPros:An unbelievable amount of options in a well-designed interface. Very rugged build quality. Cons: Not enough gain for some. Street: $329 Jackson Audio Bloom jackson.audio
| Tones:  Ease of Use:  Build/Design: Value: |
Managing dynamics is a real art. The Jackson Bloom is entirely focused on giving you as many ways as possible—through three different effects—to control, shape, and expand your natural playing dynamics. Through two footswitches, you can control five different types of compression, a 3-band active EQ, and a 20 dB clean boost. Most impressive is how each of the three effects work well together through Jackson’s elegant design.
The compressor is the real star of the show. There are five different modes that range from simple limiting with an ultra-fast attack to full-on Little Feat/Lowell George mode. The green (country squish) and aqua (dual compressors) were my favorites and the most musical to my ears. Hitting both footswitches turns on the EQ, which quickly became my “always on” effect while I had the Bloom in my rig. Each knob was very sensitive and had a finely tailored sweep. The one-knob bloom control was a quick-and-easy way to give fills and solos plenty of air and depth. Few multi-effects pedals offer quite this much power without resorting to endless menus. Well done, Jackson Audio.
Test gear: Schroeder Chopper TL, Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
The 2018 CCL Deco Custom, in all its Pelham blue glory.
Anyway, we became friends and I started working on him pretty early—my 40th birthday was approaching, and that meant it was time for us to start designing his first solidbody build. If you stopped on this page, it’s because the photo of the finished product caught your eye. Beautiful, right? The 2018 CCL Deco Custom: Never shall there be another.
Old National Glenwood guitars were my design inspiration, but I wanted a slim waist like a PRS and the like. We used a solid block of korina to start, routed like MacGyver to get the knobs and switches where I wanted them. Dale builds all his own lathes and machines (usually out of lumber, y’all), as the task requires. This beast took some creativity—it’s tight wiring under that custom-steel pickguard. Many were the preliminary sketches. Four coats of Pelham blue, 11 coats of nitro. Honduran mahogany neck, Madagascar ebony fretboard with Dale’s signature not-quite-Super-400 inlays. He designed the logo; I just said, “Make it art deco.”
We sourced all the bits and bobs from StewMac and Allparts and Reverb and the like, mostly to get that chrome look I so adore. Graph Tech Ratio tuners, Duesenberg Radiator trem (had to order that one from Germany), TonePros TP6R-C roller bridge. The pickups were a genius suggestion from the builder, Guitarfetish plug ’n’ play 1/8" solderless swappable, which means I have about 10 pickups in the case to choose from: rockabilly to metal. And both slots are tapped, with the tone knobs serving as single- to double-coil switches. I put the selector on the lower horn to accommodate my tendency to accidentally flip the thing on Les Pauls—definite lifesaver.
Reader and guitar enthusiast, Cody Lindsey.
Dale offered to chamber this monster, but I said what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. It weighs in at 11 pounds, if it’s an ounce. We carved the neck to match a ’60s SG, so it’s like the mini bat you get at the ballpark on little kids’ day. Easy peasy. 1 11/16" nut, 25" scale, jumbo frets, just 2 1/8" at the 12th fret.
Delivery in its lovely, hygrometer-equipped Cedar Creek case actually happened a month or two shy of my 41st, but hey, you can’t rush these things. We ended up with a studio Swiss Army knife; it does a bit of everything and does it effortlessly. A looker, too. Dale didn’t spend his career doing this kind of thing—he was in IT or some such—and I imagine he’s winding this “hobby” of his down these days, enjoying retirement with a bottle of Killian’s and a lawn chair at Duluth Blues Fest. But this guitar will live on as a marker of his skill and otherworldly patience. It sits at the head of the class in my practice room, welcoming any visitors and bringing a smile to my face every day. And Dale, my friend, I’ll be 50 before you know it....
Cody requested that Dale design an art deco logo for the guitar’s headstock.