Pre-Owned 1975-77 Dolancaster T-Deluxe - Natural With HSC

Now, for something truly unique and quite special....

We just took in an incredible guitar that is sure to get double, and triple takes at first glance.  The question of "what is this" will come up immediately - and we have a full story.  This super interesting guitar was crafted by the legendary Michael Dolan in the mid 1970's.  It's actually the first guitar he built.  Dolan is well known in the boutique guitar world, as he built for Alembic prior to starting Michael Dolan Custom Guitars.  His instruments have always been in high demand, and here's a chance to own a piece of history - not only in terms of Dolan, but also Fender. 

The body has its own historical value, as it's an old Broadcaster body, circa 1950 or so, obviously heavily modified and routed.  It's been completely altered, but that is its origin.  The neck is from an old Fender Malibu (yes, acoustic), with a drastically modified headstock.  It doesn't end there - there's a lot more going on.

It has an Alembic bridge, saddle and nut.  The bridge has a tone block underneath to increase sustain.  The Alembic parts give this otherwise Fender-esque guitar quite a different look.  The guitar is topped off with Schaller tuners.  In terms of sound, it's an interesting configuration.  The neck pickup was handwound by Dolan - it's a P90 style pickup, and sounds fantastic.  Fat, warm and punchy, it works amazing well for clean rhythm playing but also has enough grit to sound great for overdriven tones.  It's a nice match for the bridge pickup, which is an old Seymour Duncan vintage Tele style single coil.  So you can still get the twang you want, for classic Tele sounds.  Additionally, beyond the normal 3 way switch and volume & tone controls, you also get a phase switch.  This provides the opportunity to get even more tones. 

The most recent owner bought it in 1978 from Barney Saltzberg (the famous author-illustrator), and has had it ever since.  Hence, the name stenciled on the case.  Speaking of the case, we determined that it's a vintage Fender case for a Mustang or Duo-Sonic, which works well for this guitar.  The previous owner recently reached out to Dolan, who told him that this was the first guitar he built on his own.

The vibe of this guitar is incredibly cool, like nothing you've ever seen.  Words can't really describe it - the photos will lead you to your own conclusion on the looks.  But what we can tell you is that it feels great, especially after being setup by the techs in our shop, and that the tone is amazing.  It's the only one to ever exist and cannot be replicated.  This is a rare find for sure.