Michael Winston Dales Guitars: Blog

I've learned a lot from other guitar builders over the years, and so this blog is a way for me to share my own build experiences and hopefully let others learn from my success and mistakes!

A blue all-in-one amp sits on a workbench. The main front face is taken up with silver grill fabric covering the speaker, and there is a silvery control panel with all the controls at the top.

A week in the shop, in spreadsheets, and in Birmingham

25 Feb 2018 - amp, BoMs, CNC-routing, testing

The practice amp project finally gets to playable stage, I do some work on BoMs, and head over to Birmingham to catch a guitar show.

Bits of paper on a workbench, one of which is a hand drawn schematic for an amplifier, and the second is a printed schematic for the amp's turret board.

A week in the shop

18 Feb 2018 - 12-string, amp, cad

Week notes time again: some more work on the amp, a new programmable pedal arrives, and exciting news on new builds!

A empty amp cabinet sits on the workbench being painted with a blue substance. You can see a small roller and tub of paint beside it.

A week in the shop

11 Feb 2018 - amp, blues deluxe, red rocker, videos

The amp gets a lick of protective paint, I edit some guitar release videos, and I put together a plan for offering a discount for prototype builds.

A banner in the style of a blue print that announces 'Electric Flapjack Prototype Series One'

Buy a custom prototype!

9 Feb 2018 - offers, prototype

Announcing the prototype series: your chance to get a custom guitar made at a discount as I refine my build process.

An electric guitar sits on a concrete background. It has an orange body with a white pickguard and black P90 pickups and controls. The neck is pale like maple, with a black figuring in the lower half.

The Blues Deluxe: a fully custom t-style deluxe voiced for vintage blues

6 Feb 2018 -

I made a video to show off the latest guitar I've build, called The Blues Deluxe.

A screenshot of a detailed CAD model of a green t-style guitar.

Another week out the shop

4 Feb 2018 - amp, cheese, monkigras, video

Some time spent working on CAD models to enable me to better build my guitars, and a trip to Monkigras conference.

An electric guitar sits on a concrete background. It has a crimson red body, a pearloid white pickguard, and a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard.

The Red Rocker: a fully custom classic rock voiced t-style guitar

4 Feb 2018 - red rocker

I made a short video to show off the first guitar that I fully made myself, The Red Rocker.

An A3 sheet of paper on a workbench next to a Mac laptop. On the paper is a crude circuit diagram of the amp circuit.

A pick and mix sort of week in the shop

27 Jan 2018 - amp, blues deluxe, form 1, formlabs, fusion 360, red rocker

One of those weeks where you do lots of little things which keep you busy but don't feel like they add up to much progress to show.

Getting started on a build: Somebody has set up us the BoM

25 Jan 2018 -

A screenshot of Fusion 360 showing a textured 3D model of a guitar neck.

A week out of the shop

20 Jan 2018 - form 1, formlabs, oshug

A week outside the workshop, seeing some talks on open source electronics mixed with music, and I design my new guitar headstock.