Michael Winston Dales Guitars: Verkstaden

A Month Out the Shop

21 Jul 2024 - älgen, delfinen, emf, liverpool, makefest, sweden, verkstaden

A summer summary: I've presented at two major events where I showed off the guitars, I went on holiday and bumped into some interesting guitars, and I went to a non-guitar event where I made some design observations I can apply to guitars!

A photo of me stood in a library behind a table with several guitars, including one where the body is 3D printed.

A month in and out the shop: Verkstaden

8 Jun 2024 - 3D-printing, electronics, verkstaden

Another guitar finally makes it over the line! This week it's Verkstaden's go, and we take a look at what it took to get it over the finishing line, including some last minute custom 3D-printed parts.

A photo of me stood in the workshop playing a solid-bodied electric guitar that has a bright yellow wood stained body, a rosewood fretboard and a maple neck. I appear to be playing an A barre chord.

A Week in the Shop

10 May 2024 - cleaning, hästen, nut carving, verkstaden

An exciting week in the shop as a new guitar gets strings for the first time, I tidy up a neck on another build, and I find out how dirty old rosewood fretboards can really get.

A photo of a yellow and black finished guitar body on a workbench, on top of which is a palm-router and everything is covered in wood-dust from some cutting.

A Week in the Shop

2 May 2024 - hästen, measure, measure, cut, routing, verkstaden

A week of highs and lows in the workshop, as I try to push forward again with two stalled builds.

A photo of a blue-painted mustang-style guitar body is sat on the workbench showing a string-ferrule block in place on the rear.

Workshop weeknotes: Delfinen becomes an instrument at last.

1 Mar 2024 - binding, delfinen, finishing, laser-cutting

Is this a guitar I see before me? Another weeknotes catching up with all that's happened to Delfinen since we last saw it, including it getting strung up for the first time.

A mostly assembled guitar sits on the workbench! It is missing all the electronics, but otherwise looks like a guitar. Importantly it has strings on it! It has a vivid orange-stained wood body with white binding and white pickup mounts, and a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard.

Workshop Catch-up: Verkstaden

15 Feb 2024 - painting, spraying, verkstaden

Continuing the catch-up series: Verkstaden goes through the process of getting a gloss finish, and I end up making some costly mistakes along the way.

A photo of a work-in-progress guitar on the workbench, surrounded by tools and sanding pads. The guitar has a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard and 21 frets, and the body is a bright yellow stain on birds-eye maple on the front, with black and natural wood sides. There are holes in the body for components, but all are missing.

A Couple of Weeks in the Shop

14 Nov 2023 - action, älgen, delfinen, hästen, painting, staining, truss-rod, verkstaden

Another couple of frustrating weeks in the shop as my current trio of builds seek to put me in my place.

A photo of the light-blue offset body mounted up in the spray-booth ready to get another coat of paint.

A Week in the Shop

31 Oct 2023 - delfinen, finishing, fretwork, hästen, verkstaden

Putting in the time: nothing new this week, just a week of getting on with the jobs I started previously in the workshop, with more staining, more oiling, and more fret-dressing and polishing.

A photo of two guitar necks hung up on rack in room otherwise filled with wood on shelves. Both necks are made from maple: one is hung so you can see the back, showing the birds-eye figuring, and the other is hung so you can see the fretbaord is covered in masking tape.

A Week in the Shop

22 Oct 2023 - delfinen, finishing, fretwork, hästen, oiling, painting, staining, verkstaden

Lots going on in the workshop this week as I push three guitars, body and neck, through the finishing process.

A photo of a guitar body being held over a workbench, caught in the sunlight coming through an unseen window. The face of the body is yellow stained birds-eye maple, and the top 5mm of the side is natural unfinished birds-eye maple, and then the back of the guitar is painted gloss black.

A Week in the Shop

15 Oct 2023 - correcting, delfinen, glue, hästen, staining, verkstaden

Last week we had a failed attempt to stain a guitar body, and this week we get to work saving the instrument from the rework pile.

An orange-stained guitar body sits mounted on a jig in a spray booth.

Guitars > Verkstaden