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: Steve Bloom
Hometown: New York, NY
Guitar: The Pinecaster P-90
Reader and NYC musician Steve Bloom wanted a pine-bodied Tele with P-90s and 4-way switching, so he built the Pinecaster.
I'm a professional musician and have a guitar repair business called Harlem Fret Works here in Harlem, New York City. A client brought me two guitars to work on with pine bodies, and I was really impressed with the sound, so, of course, I wanted a guitar with that sound, too! I had never owned a guitar with P-90s. So, this guitar satisfies both of those things at the same time. It’s a Telecaster-style with a pine body and two Seymour Duncan Vintage Antiquity P-90 pickups.
Behold the Pinecaster: Note the upside-down left-handed guitar neck.
Wiring: 4-way switch, with series/parallel, push-pull tone control for out-of-phase tones. Reverse control plate with a Jazzmaster roller knob on the volume control, for a low-profile knob that you won’t hit when playing. I use a different wiring scheme for the 4-way switch, instead of the standard one. I feel this wiring is more intuitive when you’re playing live. Thanks to Breja Toneworks for figuring this out!
Position 1: bridge
Position 2: neck/bridge parallel
Position 3: neck/bridge series
Position 4: neck only
The volume dial on the Pinecaster’s reverse switch plate is a Jazzmaster roller knob.
I did a soldering trick to the neck P-90. I unsoldered the braided wire from the lug, shielded it, and added an extra ground wire to the lug. This was the only way to get the wiring capabilities listed above.
The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard, and it's actually a Mighty Mite lefty that was given to me by one of my oldest friends. I had to put new side dots on the edge of the fretboard facing me. However, I do like the reverse headstock idea. I think it makes the high E string easier to bend. I needed to buy lefty Kluson-style tuners since I didn’t want to keep the Grovers that were on there. Just a bit too heavy. Luckily, the neck screw holes matched up perfectly. I sanded the neck heel just slightly to fit it to the neck pocket.
“That out-of-phase with the two P-90s is really cool—best funk tone out of a Tele I ever got!”
I bought the pine body on Etsy, and I did the finish: water-based stain from Wood Essence, with many coats of Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil over it. This is a great nontoxic finish that can be done at home. There are no toxic fumes like with nitrocellulose lacquer or polyurethane.
Steve added shielding to the cavities for the guitar’s two P-90s.
The sound? It was even better than I had hoped. Just amazing. That out-of-phase with the two P-90s is really cool—best funk tone out of a Tele I ever got! Also, the in-phase tones with these P-90s are wonderful. I have .011s with a wound G because I play many styles on gigs, and I like the chords to be in tune, and for some reason, .010s felt too slinky on this guitar. I really got lucky with this build; it came out great!