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Author
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Topic: Dekley History?
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Stu Schulman
Member From: anchorage,alaska
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posted 19 December 2006 07:07 PM
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Could someone tell me the history of the Dekley Steel Co?I know that Red Rhodes used to sell them at his shop in Hollywood,I don't know anything else about them.thanks,Stu |
Mike Wheeler
Member From: Columbus, Ohio, USA
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posted 19 December 2006 07:13 PM
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Stu, if you use the Forum search function for Dekley, you'll find a ton of info. I recently did just that.I plan on doing it again soon, in detail, and putting it down on paper to get somewhat of a chronology of events and characters. |
Stu Schulman
Member From: anchorage,alaska
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posted 19 December 2006 10:20 PM
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Mike..Thanks Idon't use that search enough,or my phone book at home. |
Jerry Hayes
Member From: Virginia Beach, Va.
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posted 20 December 2006 06:47 AM
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Hey Stu, around 1979 or so I was in Blackie Taylor's Music Store in Garden Grove, Calif. when the people from Deckley came by to see Blackie as he was one of their dealers. There was a guy named Jim Gurley, and an older white haired guy, plus the late great Tommy Roots. They were there for the western NAMM show which was to be held at the Disneyland Hotel. They gave us tickets for it as their guests. I was working at the Foothill Club in Long Beach (Signal Hill) along with fellow forumite Jim Bob Sedgwick. Jim Bob and I went to the show and had a great time. On the Saturday night we had to leave to go to work at the Foothill and the folks from Deckley came to the club to visit us. Tommy Roots set in with the band for a couple of sets and Jim Gurley sang a little. Jim Bob was on lead guitar so he had to stay on stage but I got to hear Tommy play his butt off through my amp with his Deckley steel. The bad part was that I had to play the last set following Tommy which wasn't an easy thing to do. He was a great player, especially on the C6th neck. I remember he was using a large one inch diameter bar which was hollowed out which Deckley was marketing then. He got a super tone out of his guitar and played flawlessly. I wish I'd been on lead guitar to get to pick with him but Jim Bob got all the fun.............JH in Va.------------------
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Stu Schulman
Member From: anchorage,alaska
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posted 20 December 2006 10:21 AM
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Jerry..Sounds like a fun night.I remember Blackie's shop in Garden Grove.Hehad that Fender PS2000?Very cool looking guitar. |
Doug Beaumier
Member From: Northampton, MA
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posted 20 December 2006 11:25 AM
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They were made in Bloomfield CT from about 1978 until about 1984. Just click on 'search' above and type in Dekley. There has been a lot of discussion about Dekley here.------------------
My Site - Instruction |
Stu Schulman
Member From: anchorage,alaska
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posted 20 December 2006 12:36 PM
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Doug..Thanks for some reason I thought that they were built in Texas.Mike Bloomfield Ct.that's where ESPN is? |
Doug Beaumier
Member From: Northampton, MA
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posted 20 December 2006 09:27 PM
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I don't know what town ESPN is in. It's somewhere in CT. I visited the Dekley factory back around 1979 in Bloomfield (Hartford area). I live in Mass, about 1/2 hour from there.------------------
My Site - Instruction |
Stu Schulman
Member From: anchorage,alaska
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posted 20 December 2006 10:11 PM
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Doug:I was watching "SportsCenter"last night and they said that they were in Bloomfield Ct.I think that it's cool they named a town after the late Mike Bloomfield. |
Mike Wheeler
Member From: Columbus, Ohio, USA
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posted 21 December 2006 05:48 PM
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Stu.....go to your room!  |
Paul Redmond
Member From: Illinois, USA
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posted 21 December 2006 06:15 PM
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Supposedly Jim Gurley got in some deep trouble over cocaine trafficking in the mid-80's. I remember that Scotty wouldn't allow Dekley to display any more in St.Louis and word even went out to Al Petty that he would have to remove the logo from his 17-pedal monster Dekley or he could not perform at the convention. Never heard a word more about the company or its apparent demise. They approached me about being a dealer in the Chicago and suburban area at the time. It was 1981 as I recall. Shortly after that the old poo-poo hit the propeller. I was always impressed with their use of Pack-a-Wood for the tops of their cabinets. That stuff was as dense as a rock. Up until then no one had dreamed of using composites on a steel that I'm aware of. I always thought the guitars were a bit heavy, but thought they played pretty well.
PRR |
Jimmie Brown
Member From: Fayetteville, NC, USA
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posted 21 December 2006 06:30 PM
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Stu, Jim Smith can tell you anything you want to know, He was with the co. |
Stu Schulman
Member From: anchorage,alaska
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posted 21 December 2006 07:15 PM
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Mike:I am in my room...Ha! Red Rhodes said Paka Wood was the wood equivalent of what Superman does to a piece of coal when he compresses into a Diamond.I've been searching the Dekley threads.Jim Smith seems to really know what makes them tick.So Scotty was the Judge,and Jury?Hmm?No rehab or second chances?Dekley seemed to be a cutting edge instrument with some well thought out designs I can only imagine what they would have to offer in 2007 .Thanks for all the info.I hope to meet Jim Smith someday,Fascinating stuff. |
Doug Beaumier
Member From: Northampton, MA
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posted 21 December 2006 08:16 PM
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Jim was the shop supervisor at Dekley, but he left the company long before the drug bust.------------------
My Site - Instruction |
Mike Wheeler
Member From: Columbus, Ohio, USA
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posted 22 December 2006 05:10 AM
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I can see how pakkawood would have raised some eyebrows...kinda "out there" for that time period. Reminds me of Reese's carbon composite concept...but it worked too.I continue to be surprised with the variety of sounds I can get out of my Dekley...more than any other brand I've had. I sure wish they were still in business. Like Stu said, one can only imagine what further innovations they might have come up with. I would sure like to have had a triple lower changer, for one thing. But I love the mechanical design aside from that. |
Paul Redmond
Member From: Illinois, USA
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posted 22 December 2006 08:43 PM
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Dekley was working on an electronic model that would use the strings only to fire some kind of signal to the 'brain box' of the guitar. The strings would not actually raise or lower in pitch. I suppose it was kind of like the 'bender' on a keyboard. The pedal rods actually activated some sort of joystick control that allowed you to either slam the note in or ease it in gently. This guitar could be switched from Emmons to Day and vice versa with the flip of a switch. Knee levers could also be switched and entire copedants could be altered easily. At the time I thought it was kind of out there in left field, but in today's electronics age, their ideas certainly don't sound too far-fetched. They supposedly had the electronics end of the guitar worked out. Don't know if any prototypes were ever made.
PRR |
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