Welcome to SG 101, damn glad to meet you. Why don't you tell us a little about yourself.

Happy Sunsets!

i read that DD's neck has a very thin profile. also i don't think the custom shop signature is entirely accurate.

I'm Jake G and I approve this message

Somewhere on this forum is someone's account of actually examining and playing The Beast.

From Ivan in 2004

This is the original Strat, given to
Dick by Leo Fender, back in '60 or '61. It was originally white with
a tortoiseshell pickguard, but around '64 he repainted it gold
sparkle, and put a white pickguard on it. As everybody knows by now,
the strings on it are huge. I've gotten really used to pretty heavy
strings (12-52), but these were definitely thicker than that (he
claims 15-60). He's got a pretty low action on the guitar, though,
so it felt comfortable to play the guitar. It's beat to hell,
though, it's in a really bad shape. The lower frets are TOTALLY
gauged out! There's no way he can play a note on the first few frets
and sustain it in tune. It just wouldn't happen. Also, the nut is
partially cracked. And four lower (I think) strings are strung the
wrong way around the tuning heads - instead of clockwise, they're
strung counterclockwise, so there isn't a straight pull from the nut
to the heads! Very weird! I pointed this out to Sam, who was
shocked to see it. He asked DD's guitar tech, and the guy told him
that Dick personally asked him to string it that way. I don't get
it... Sam also told me that two of the pickups in the guitar aren't
original - they were stolen when the guitar was in a shop in the
seventies, and the replacements are stock seventies Strat pickups -
the secret of DD's tone is finally revealed! Smile Dick doesn't use the
backplate, and he's got five springs tightened to hell, and then a
wooden block wedged in between the bridge and the body, to ensure
that the bridge doesn't move one iota (I think Clapton's Strats are
set up the same way). The paint is in really bad shape, too,
especially where the arm rests on the body, where there is hardly any
paint left. The neck is quite worn, and the lacquer, where there is
any left, has turned brown. There are only bits and pieces left of
the Fender logo on the headstock, too. But, with all that, the
guitar has a very resonant and 'woody' sound when strummed
unplugged. It actually really sounded like his tone, even unplugged,
which was a bit surprising but cool. Like I said, because the action
was pretty low, it felt comfortable to play. And it's a very light
guitar, which is also quite nice. He's also got a prototype
pickguard on the guitar with a tuner built-in. One of the switches
on the guitar engages the tuner, and there are little LEDs on the
side facing his head so he can quickly tune.

Your text to link here...

Los Fantasticos

Joelman wrote:

Another thread had this video linked. Watch this video if you want a good look at the beast. It is pretty beat up. You can see the tuning lights at the top of the pick guard. What gets me is that with the guitar being a left handed guitar, he has the strings on upside down. I wonder why?

Probably because, like many left-handed guitarists, he first learned to play by picking up a right-handed guitar and turning it upside down. I've known some left-handed players who can play with the strings either way round.

It also makes it easier for right-handers, like me, to pick up Dick's guitar and play it!

Los Fantasticos

Last edited: Feb 21, 2018 04:47:25

djangodeadman wrote:

Here is a photograph of me playing the Beest backstage at The Garage in London some years ago.

Close to 20 years ago? Around the time I first encountered you.

Hi guys, I am going to be in the market for a Dick Dale Strat soon. I assume it will be more cost effective to buy a DD Custom Shop (new $4,100 / used approx $3,300 -3,500) than to have a guitar built from scratch for me. Just looking to hear your thoughts and opinions, thanks!

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale. New EP Louder Than Life available on bandcamp and website. Taking guitar lessons from Jimmy Dale.

I think it would still be cheaper to source the parts and then have a good tech or luthier do the assembly. It all depends on how close you want it to be to the original!

Tidal Baby

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Not sure if it's blasphemous to ask this, but does your build have to be all genuine Fender parts? I built my own Strat a while back (mine looks more David Gilmour than Dick Dale), and ended up using a neck from Warmoth . Crazy amount of custom options in terms of wood, frets, profile, radius, finish. Same is true for their Strat bodies. Checked out their site to make sure this could be helpful to you, and for their Strat bodies they do have a Gold Flake option (satin or gloss).