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.
Reader: Daniel Creeron
Hometown: Charlton, Massachusetts
Guitar: Big Mamie
I love it when guitars and history come together.
My newest guitar, “Big Mamie,” was built with original teak from the deck of the USS Massachusetts (BB-59). This wood saw action in World War II, during multiple campaigns in the 1940s.
I was checking Facebook one day and I saw a post from Battleship Cove (located in Fall River, Massachusetts) where they were auctioning off this Telecaster-style body crafted by Rhode Island luthier Vincent Goulart. The proceeds of the auction would go to helping restore the battleship.
I knew I had to have it. Not only was this a piece of United States and Massachusetts history, but it held a special place in my memories. When I was a kid, my grandparents would take us to Battleship Cove where we’d explore the ships, the submarine, and the historical displays. Later, when I had my own kids, we’d visit and do overnight sleepovers with Scouts. We slept on “Big Mamie” and walked the decks from where this wood was taken.
Daniel had Big Mamie’s neckplate custom laser-engraved with a silhouette of the USS Massachusetts (BB-59), and the dates that can be seen on the battleship’s plaque.
After winning the auction, I was connected to Vincent and he told me the story of how he came to build this body for the restoration fundraiser. He’s a talented luthier, but each of his guitars has to have a unique history/story. This was right up his alley!
We spoke a few times, discussing what I liked to play, and how I’d like the finished guitar to look and sound. In the end, I decided on some standard Fender chrome components for tuners, neck plate, ferrules, etc. For the pickups, I went with Lindy Fralin Blues Specials. The controls are also from Fralin; I decided on the flipped-control orientation with the push-pull mods for the volume engage/disengage and tone caps (.02 MFD and 0.047 MFD, film and oil, respectively).
The vintage/modern roasted-flame-maple neck, with an ebony fretboard, was custom ordered from Warmoth. The neck had an adventure all of its own after initially being lost in shipment. It finally showed up about a week or two after being written off as lost (and after a new order was placed).
“Now I have a piece of history here in my room that I can pass down to my family.”
For the neck plate, I had it custom laser-engraved with a silhouette of the battleship and dates from an onboard plaque. The strap, from Well-Hung Guitar Straps in Canada, fits the patriotic theme. I’m also using oversized strap buttons from Well-Hung.
Over a couple visits to Vincent’s place, he helped me put together all the components and bring “Big Mamie” to life. Now I have a piece of history here in my room that I can pass down to my family. It also gives me a reason to work on my admittedly novice guitar skills.
Name: Ben Holbrook
Location: North Wilkesboro, North CarolinaGuitar: O’Dell Bene Mesa Archtop Deluxe
I’m a retired U.S. Air Force meteorologist. I’ve bought lots of wood over the decades with the thought of building a few guitars after retirement. However, by the time I retired my back was too messed up to spend time hunched over the various machines to build one myself. To compound things, my dad and mentor, an accomplished builder of guitars, mandolins, violins, banjos, etc., slowly faded away and passed away last year. Luckily, I met a local builder (Keith O’Dell of O’Dell Guitars) who took on the task to build the first of my dream guitars. I specified every detail, and the result is better than I could’ve hoped for.
Starting with the set neck, it’s asymmetrically carved with a 1.65" nut width, 25" scale, and 12" radius with a leopardwood fretboard and matching headstock logo inlay. As a weather guy, the cloud inlays were an obvious choice. The neck is rock solid and has a carbon fiber rod on either side of the double-acting truss rod to guarantee stability. I like big frets, so these are one step below bass fret size, ha-ha! The fret-over-binding allows me a nice full vibrato. Locking Gotoh tuners and a bone nut round out the package.
The double-bound arched top and back are solid, no laminations, and are CNC carved, as is the entire guitar. The body is quite resonant and really sang under the buffer during polishing. The neck, back, and sides are made from the same 5A curly maple board. The hollowbody has a shedua center block. The top is from 5A blister-quilted sequoia and was even prettier than the lumber was before the bookmatching.
The pickups are handwound McNelly SparkleTrons. The passive tone circuit uses a smaller cap than normal (0.01 µF), so the range of adjustment is more usable, in my opinion. The Bigsby adds just the right amount of warble.
From a whisper to a scream, she sings an alluring song: balanced across the spectrum of tones, with massive sustain, low action, and precise intonation. From Merle Travis through Clapton to EVH (R.I.P.), she’s up to the task. I have a lot of great guitars after 56 years of playing, but this one is special. Through a Carr Rambler, Matchless DC-30, or Bogner Ecstasy, it’s just what’s needed. Though I’ve modded nearly every guitar I’ve ever owned, I can’t think of any upgrades for this one. She’s already there.
My only problem? What can I do with all the other wood I’ve acquired? I can’t possibly think of anything … can you? A Floyd Rose-equipped super-strat maybe?
Send your guitar story to submissions@premierguitar.com.