dave's musical fabrication workshop
I make things that make sound. Sometimes I make them for other people, but commissioned instrument construction Is currently on hold. If you are interested in more info please check out the pricing breakdown at the bottom of the page and feel free to Email me if you have any questions or inquiries. davewatkinsddsp@gmail.com
Thank you for the interest in my instruments, I have been building and performing with various Electric Dulcitar Prototypes of my own design over the last 8 years or so, and have funneled that experience into attempting to design an Electric Dulcitar that meets all my needs for stage and studio use but will also appeal to a larger audience. Due to the Covid19 Pandemic and other setbacks in life the last couple years, builds are currently on hold, but I hope to pick things back up in the future if possible. I've gathered some info together for my projected pricing and feature sets that will be available when I do get back into the shop. I'm a one man operation and have a demanding full time job outside of Luthiery so build times are easily 6 months to a year. When I do begin building again it will be likely that I won't take commissions right away, and instead will only list completed instruments for sale. This way no one is left having pre-order money tied up in something that may take forever to see completion.
Feel free to email me with any questions: davewatkinsddsp@gmail.com
The Dulcitars I build and play are based on some of the design features of a traditional Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer, so they are fretted diatonically and feature wider string spacing like a Dulcimer, but are built more like a standard bolt neck electric guitar. Different options are possible but the standard specs I’ve settled on for these instruments are as follows:
-Roasted Swamp Ash Bodies, 4 piece on economy models, 2 piece and 1 piece on higher end builds
-Rosted Maple Neck, one piece, plain maple on economy, figuring available on Standard and Premium
-2 octave, 27” scale diatonic fretboard made from Richlite, Maple or Walnut. 5 strings tuned to DADAD.
-Individual string bridges (no name import on budget models, Hipshot on Standard and Premium)
-Import tuners on Economy Models. Hipshot griplock or Sperzel trim lock tuners on Standard & Premium.
-Import mini Humbuckers or Economy models. Fralin Big Single Mini’s on Standard & Premium
-different pickguard options available on all models, celluloid tortoiseshell available on Premium
-1 Volume, 1 Tone with 3 way toggle standard, other options available.
-Economy models will feature solid color milk paint from General Finishes
-Standard and premium models will feature Livos natural oil sealer
Here are the basic pricing tiers:
ECONOMY:
I’m aiming to make a sub $1000 dulcitar. The final pricing is still in flux as I have to build a couple, run some tests and make sure that all the parts and electronics can stand up to stage use etc. Cost will be cut by using import hardware, And most likely the bodies will be 4 piece roasted swamp ash and the necks will be 1 piece roasted plain maple with no radius Richlite fingerboards. These will have less body sculpting done to cut construction time down, but other than that they will still be built to the same high standard as the Standard and Premium Models.
There is a possibility that I will make some mega budget models, these will be made out of pine and just feature a single goldfoil pickup and basic electronics.
STANDARD:
Will begin at around $1200. The upgrades from the Economy model will include higher grade 2 or 3 piece Roasted Swamp ash bodies, and figuring will be available on the roasted maple necks. More hand sculpting will be done on the bodies, including forearm bevels, neck heel contours and tummy cutouts to make the bodies more comfortable.
PREMIUM:
Will begin at $2000, These models can have more custom customer spec’d options, high end proper celluloid tortoise shell pickguards, those materials are usually imported from Italy, but aside from that, I try to use as many USA made materials as possible. I intend these models to feature the Lindy Fralin Big Single Pickups standard. But other choices can be made. Higher grade woods available, and bodies can be capped with figured maple.
Normal Guitars:
In addition, I intend to make standard 6 string (and maybe 7 string) bolt neck electrics with the body and headstock styles available on my dulcitars. The focus is on Dulcitars at the moment, but I’m not going to turn away anyone that looks at my dulcitars and thinks “that would be great if it was a normal guitar” these will be available on more of a commission basis and probably start around $1500+ depending on the features and wood choices. They will be a 25.5 scale length, and can have a wide array of pickup options. Hardware will most likely be Hipshot.
Material Selection and the Environment:
It’s hard to be 100% environmentally conscious when making instruments out of trees, But I try to be thoughtful by keeping waste to a minimum and only using North American woods supplied by reputable merchants. I currently use Richlite and love the fantastic fingerboard it can produce, and am looking into other sustainable materials for use elsewhere in instrument construction. I plan to periodically make a small handful of one-off instruments from reclaimed lumber and/or locally felled trees, and welcome commissions with customer supplied materials. I only finish my instruments in non-toxic natural finishes.
Feel free to email me with any questions: davewatkinsddsp@gmail.com
The Dulcitars I build and play are based on some of the design features of a traditional Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer, so they are fretted diatonically and feature wider string spacing like a Dulcimer, but are built more like a standard bolt neck electric guitar. Different options are possible but the standard specs I’ve settled on for these instruments are as follows:
-Roasted Swamp Ash Bodies, 4 piece on economy models, 2 piece and 1 piece on higher end builds
-Rosted Maple Neck, one piece, plain maple on economy, figuring available on Standard and Premium
-2 octave, 27” scale diatonic fretboard made from Richlite, Maple or Walnut. 5 strings tuned to DADAD.
-Individual string bridges (no name import on budget models, Hipshot on Standard and Premium)
-Import tuners on Economy Models. Hipshot griplock or Sperzel trim lock tuners on Standard & Premium.
-Import mini Humbuckers or Economy models. Fralin Big Single Mini’s on Standard & Premium
-different pickguard options available on all models, celluloid tortoiseshell available on Premium
-1 Volume, 1 Tone with 3 way toggle standard, other options available.
-Economy models will feature solid color milk paint from General Finishes
-Standard and premium models will feature Livos natural oil sealer
Here are the basic pricing tiers:
ECONOMY:
I’m aiming to make a sub $1000 dulcitar. The final pricing is still in flux as I have to build a couple, run some tests and make sure that all the parts and electronics can stand up to stage use etc. Cost will be cut by using import hardware, And most likely the bodies will be 4 piece roasted swamp ash and the necks will be 1 piece roasted plain maple with no radius Richlite fingerboards. These will have less body sculpting done to cut construction time down, but other than that they will still be built to the same high standard as the Standard and Premium Models.
There is a possibility that I will make some mega budget models, these will be made out of pine and just feature a single goldfoil pickup and basic electronics.
STANDARD:
Will begin at around $1200. The upgrades from the Economy model will include higher grade 2 or 3 piece Roasted Swamp ash bodies, and figuring will be available on the roasted maple necks. More hand sculpting will be done on the bodies, including forearm bevels, neck heel contours and tummy cutouts to make the bodies more comfortable.
PREMIUM:
Will begin at $2000, These models can have more custom customer spec’d options, high end proper celluloid tortoise shell pickguards, those materials are usually imported from Italy, but aside from that, I try to use as many USA made materials as possible. I intend these models to feature the Lindy Fralin Big Single Pickups standard. But other choices can be made. Higher grade woods available, and bodies can be capped with figured maple.
Normal Guitars:
In addition, I intend to make standard 6 string (and maybe 7 string) bolt neck electrics with the body and headstock styles available on my dulcitars. The focus is on Dulcitars at the moment, but I’m not going to turn away anyone that looks at my dulcitars and thinks “that would be great if it was a normal guitar” these will be available on more of a commission basis and probably start around $1500+ depending on the features and wood choices. They will be a 25.5 scale length, and can have a wide array of pickup options. Hardware will most likely be Hipshot.
Material Selection and the Environment:
It’s hard to be 100% environmentally conscious when making instruments out of trees, But I try to be thoughtful by keeping waste to a minimum and only using North American woods supplied by reputable merchants. I currently use Richlite and love the fantastic fingerboard it can produce, and am looking into other sustainable materials for use elsewhere in instrument construction. I plan to periodically make a small handful of one-off instruments from reclaimed lumber and/or locally felled trees, and welcome commissions with customer supplied materials. I only finish my instruments in non-toxic natural finishes.