How Many Dekley's Out There?

Scott Howard · Post by **Scott Howard** » 25 Oct 2009 1:17 pm

Jim
mine is a 122 and a 12 string loafer that I bought early this year from ebay for less than 800.00. A ton of guitar for the money.

What year did Dekley start building guitars ? I have owned 3 in the past. A 10 string that was lost in a house fire after I sold it and the two 12 strings on page 1 of this thread. I guess I have a very early guitar with it being 0008 and it still plays great. I am planning on making it a universal later on after I get a few more projects together.

I have managed to get a couple of pedals but at this point I am thinking of going with a more common pedal. I still need at least 2 more for a 7 pedal universal.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 25 Oct 2009 2:21 pm

I believe the company started in the summer of 1976, and started shipping guitars towards the end of that year.

For the first year or so, Dekleys were distributed by Ampeg. After that, they were sold them directly to dealers at 50% of list price. Had they sold direct to the players, as most steel manufacturers do today, the company might have survived. It's hard to stay in business when the bill of materials on a guitar is over $800 for a guitar that we were only getting paid $1,000 for, but the stores were selling for almost double that.

bill mitchell · Post by **bill mitchell** » 25 Oct 2009 6:45 pm

Jim...I've got 210-0111 and there's something scratched next to it that looks like 11/1 174X501.

Got any idea what that's all about? Thanks bill

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 25 Oct 2009 7:00 pm

bill mitchell wrote:Jim...I've got 210-0111 and there's something scratched next to it that looks like 11/1 174X501.

Got any idea what that's all about? Thanks bill

Bill, the only numbers the factory put in were put there with number stamps. My guess is that a previous owner scratched the other numbers in there as some type of identification.

Lowell Whitney · Post by **Lowell Whitney** » 26 Oct 2009 6:07 am

Here is my Dekley D-10; serial # 210-0083.

Lowell

Bob Knight · Post by **Bob Knight** » 26 Oct 2009 8:36 am

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 26 Oct 2009 1:59 pm

Us Dekley owners now have a dedicated site where we can go and chat with each other about a common steel interest.It sure would be nice to see more of these guitars on that site also.I think what John has started here is great and to have the input from one of the guitars makers is a real plus.This is a professional guitar which deserves recognition and the site needs our participation to make it work.So all you Dekley owners need to register on the site and show us your stuff.

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 26 Oct 2009 2:19 pm

Thanks Lonnie
Its Not That Much of an Effort, When I became a Dekley Owner, I noticed the quality and forethought put into building the Dekley Guitars and it struck me as odd That I would have to go to another Manufacturers Website to get Information. We don't have to do that anymore and most of the recognition needs to go to Jim Smith who agreed to give technical direction on the website.

We don't have a Company to go to anymore, but there is no reason for us to look upon ourselves as stepchildren.

In Numbers, There is strength and as Lonnie said above, right now we need numbers.

The Website and Forum is free and what I will get out of it is the same as any other Dekley owner will receive, Information.

All We ask is you Register under your real name and your Dekley Model and serial number has to be listed when you register.

Posting is for Dekley Owners only. However Guests may read anything on the Site.

The Dekley.com Information Resource Website and Forum can be Found At http://dekley.com/
All Dekley Owners are Welcome and urged to Join.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 26 Oct 2009 8:15 pm

I'm glad to help what I can, although my memory isn't the best. (Ask Jerry Fessenden about that!) $:\$

FYI, I'm flying to New England for a week tomorrow and won't have computer access a lot of the time.

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 27 Oct 2009 2:17 am

Jim,just the fact that you are able to assist with the questions that come up is a great asset.We all suffer the forgetfulness at times but your presence is greatly appreciated.Hope you have a pleasant trip out of country

and will barrage you with inquiries when you return.Best regards,Lonnie

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 27 Oct 2009 3:24 am

Jim
Have a nice trip, Appreciate everything you do.
Going up to help build Fessenden Guitars?

John

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 28 Oct 2009 5:52 am

John, congrats on getting a very nice guitar! Dekleys have always been a cut above with their fine engineering and their use of "Pakawood" I believe it was called. Around 1978 or '79, I was at Blackie Taylor's Music in Garden Grove, California when he had a Dekley demonstration and small show. Jim Gurley and Bob Dekam were there to show off their guitars and their "name" player at the time was Tommy Roots of Corpus Cristi, Texas. They were in LA for the NAMM show to be held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. Fellow Forumite Jim Bob Sedgwick and I attended the NAMM show as guests of Dekley that year. We were playing at the Foothill Club in those years and they all came there to see us. Tommy Roots sat in for two sets on his D-10 Dekley and tore the place apart. I really wanted one of those guitars but unfortunately like a lot of musicians with a family, in those days I just couldn't afford it (and still can't).......JH in Va.

Keith Ballmer · Post by **Keith Ballmer** » 31 Oct 2009 1:03 pm

My Dekley ..This is my main steel for playing out!

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 2 Nov 2009 3:22 am

Nice looking Dekley,Keith.That should keep you in shape by moving it around.

Gary Preston · Post by **Gary Preston** » 2 Nov 2009 5:00 pm

I'm surprised that there are so many Dekley guitars out there and so '' FEW '' Emmons LeGrande ll/lll SD 10 guitars ! $:\$

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 2 Nov 2009 5:53 pm

Hmmm?

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 3 Nov 2009 3:42 am

I'm surprised that there are so many Dekley guitars out there and so '' FEW '' Emmons LeGrande ll/lll SD 10 guitars !

From The Serial Numbers, It would Indicate that in excess of 300 were built and they keep turning up. A Lot of them are in new condition and They are built like tanks, They don't wear out and and Cabinet drop is minimal. They stay in tune and I've had mine for about a month now and haven't broken a .011 string yet. Plenty of expansion capabilities built in, All Dekleys are pre-drilled and machined and The D10 and D12 can be expanded from the standard 12 changes up to 21 changes easily added. They had some pretty Outstanding people like Jim Smith, Jerry Fessenden, Sam Gibson and others involved in building these guitars. Just because its not as well known as The Old Bud's and Emmons doesn't mean its not a great Guitar.

All Dekley Owners are invited to Join The Dekley Information Resource Forum at
http://dekley.com/
Select Dekley Forum From The Main Menu
All We ask is that you Use your Real First and last Name When Registering and be able to provide your Correct Dekley Model Number and Serial Number for the Registration. The Correct Model and Serial Number is Found on the inside of the end plate of the Keyhead end. Example 0000-0000
More information can be found here at the bottom of page 9 of the owners manual concerning Model / Serial Numbers.
http://dekley.com/owners_manual.htm

Gary Preston · Post by **Gary Preston** » 3 Nov 2009 4:05 pm

One of my students had a Dekley and it was made like a tank . It sounded real good .

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 3 Nov 2009 5:39 pm

I really enjoy the Dekley that I have.I have had some string issues with it though.It consistantly breaks the 3 and 5.I'm using Jagwires with the 3rd being .011 and the 5th being .017.Never had this type of problem before with these strings but I've had the guitar looked over and been told that there is nothing wrong with the guitar itself.I'm going to try a set of SIT string on it and see what happens.I play it about three or four hours each day and the aforementioned strings are holding up for about 2 weeks.Other than that it has all the tone I could ask for in a steel.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 4 Nov 2009 10:18 am

I'm back from my New England trip, and actually thinking about moving back!

(See my post in the Jobs section.)

At its busiest, we were making about 30 professional guitars and 50 student guitars a month. I'd guess that was for about one year and about half that for the rest of the time. Over the approximately eight years that Dekley was in business, that would come out to roughly 1500 pro guitars and about the same number of student guitars. (We added the student guitars a few years after the company started.)

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 5 Nov 2009 10:25 pm

WOW
Thats a Lot More Than I guess-timated.
Where are they all now, is my next thought.

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 6 Nov 2009 1:21 pm

My guess would be that they are sitting in an attic or closet somewhere.That's where I found my first one.Strings were so old and had been on for so many years that when I hit the pedals two of them snapped.The guy I got it from said it had sat in the closet for about 10 years and his wife finally insisted that it go.I wonder if Dekley kept records on original purchasers.

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 6 Nov 2009 1:28 pm

Jim Smith Posted that For The Most part they were sold directly to music stores. Probably those records are long gone by now and a lot of the music stores too.

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 6 Nov 2009 1:38 pm

I'm making a small effort here in my community to find owners by posting in the local music store and bulletin boards in the area asking if there are any folks out there who may own or know the whereabouts of any Dekley steel guitars.Don't know what kind of response I'll get but what the heck.I'll let the Dekley forum know if I get any bites.

The Steel Guitar Forum

How Many Dekley's Out There?

Dekley D-10

210-120

Dekley.com

Thanks!

memory