Over the last few years I’ve made two dozen guitars for myself to better understand the construction and ability of the instrument as well as create the sound that I wanted for specific projects. I call them Wilson Wavecasters. Many were based on the 1951 through 1953 Fender Telecaster style guitar with period correct wiring, hardware, pickups and nitrocellulose finish.
There was something special about those guitars for me having played many. Unforgiving, yet capable of expressing a multitude of sounds and styles, from Blues to Jazz to Country Swing to Rock n’ Roll , they had something special. Just as a Martin acoustic sounds different than a Gibson and an ES175 Jazz Guitar sounds different than a Les Paul, the most minute changes can affect the sound and feel of what looks to be the same Telecaster style guitar.
It was a fun journey. Here’s some pix along with a custom travel guitar I built with only hand tools. Please don’t ask for one since I built them for my own use and given to some friends and not for sale.
Here’s what my friend, the great singer/songwriter Peter Rowan said about one of the guitars: “I feel like this is the guitar I’ve always played and I finally found her again”