A Stunning new Stellacasta! With all the goodies, and an extremely custom finish. Wipe your chins boys, this one is staying in Mike's personal collection.
For more pictures click here.
For more pictures click here.
This guitar is our FIRST EVER GOLD GUITAR. We call the color Dezi Gold after the color of Mike's little grandson’s golden locks. It is also our first of a limited run of minimally chambered ’52 bodies. This body starts out as one piece. We lightly chamber it from the back then apply a separate one piece back over the modified body. We have strived to bring about a very warm and rich sounding ’52 with all the spank and cut you would expect from a standard body. The neck, the bridge, and both pickups, are still all mounted in the original one piece body to maintain the same vibrational phasing as all of our one piece body designs. She weighs in at just 6.6 lbs. for that really inspirational feel when you first pick her up!
Of course it comes equipped with Titanium Saddles and String Ferrules as well as a Titanium Neck Plate and Titanium Truss rod. The custom Open Back Tuners are also very lightweight and respond better than any other tuner we have tried.
The Fossilized String Tree, Nut and Switch tip (with gold Mother of pearl) look beautiful with the Italian Celluloid Tortoise Shell pickguard as well. To top it all off the neck is of highly figured Red Maple, one of Mike’s favorite woods for necks.
We have been playing this guitar for about 2 months and it is getting harder and harder to offer it for sale. It would really look good under the Tree this year! Comes with Custom DTG Alligator Case!
Of course it comes equipped with Titanium Saddles and String Ferrules as well as a Titanium Neck Plate and Titanium Truss rod. The custom Open Back Tuners are also very lightweight and respond better than any other tuner we have tried.
The Fossilized String Tree, Nut and Switch tip (with gold Mother of pearl) look beautiful with the Italian Celluloid Tortoise Shell pickguard as well. To top it all off the neck is of highly figured Red Maple, one of Mike’s favorite woods for necks.
We have been playing this guitar for about 2 months and it is getting harder and harder to offer it for sale. It would really look good under the Tree this year! Comes with Custom DTG Alligator Case!
Click guitars for more information:
We have a new website dedicated to DTG guitars that are in the shop and ready to go! We currently have 3 beautiful 52's available. Seafoam Green with a rosewood fingerboard, Light yellow pine body with a flamed maple neck and a custom mid 50's with a flamed maple neck. Call today to order. 818-782-9933
Please visit us at www.detempleguitarsforsale.com
Please visit us at www.detempleguitarsforsale.com
Legend Lee Sklar sat down with Mike to check out our bass model.
Click here to read all about the DTG P-55 Bass.
Click here to read all about the DTG P-55 Bass.
The Stellacasta is the natural evolution of our Spirit Series ’52 and ’56 Models, combining the best elements from both guitars.
Our Special SweetSpot Alnico II Stella Pickup Set consists of our ‘56 model middle pickup and our ‘52 model neck and bridge pick ups.
The controls are wired to give you 7 different pickup selections with Volume and Tone!
The specially designed lightweight Swamp Ash Body is made with the graceful and comfortable contours of our 56 model.
The bridge design is that of our 52 model, giving you much more touch sensitivity.
A One piece Quarter sawn Flamed Maple Neck with our Reverse Taper Soft V neck shaping and proprietary Pre-tensioned and tuned to pitch Stainless Steel Truss Rod! The Medium Tall Fret wire offers easy bending, playability and longer life.
Titanium Saddles and Titanium String Ferrules for enhanced touch sensitivity, more clarity, better harmonic definition, longer sustain and easier tuning.
Beautiful Handmade Fossilized Mastodon Ivory Nut, String Tree and switch tip!
A custom pink white and blue Hand Polished Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish is featured on this guitar!
Music Composer/Producer Mark Mancina said this about his DTG P55:
"I have to admit that I was skeptical about this bass at first. But when I had it in my hands, I was completely overwhelmed! This was not a retro bass. Nor was it some kind of copy. This was simply the best bass guitar I have ever seen or played. An absolute beauty. I am a proud Daddy indeed!"
-Mark Mancina
www.markmancina.com
A word from Michael about the new
DeTemple Spirit Series P55™ or P55T™ Bass
Many years ago I owned a ‘55 Precision Bass and really loved it. Unfortunately, it was one of those instruments that “got away”. I never forgot about it though. Ever since I started DeTemple Guitars it was my intention to build this mid 50s style of bass.
This is the most recent instrument that I have developed in the Spirit Series™ line of DeTemple Guitars. The same goals; unequalled tone, playability, quality of materials and overall feel of my DTG ’52 and ’56 Spirit Series instruments are equally important to conform to in the build of each P55 or P55T bass.
I first started playing bass when my grammar school music teacher, Mr. Graham, asked me to play the string bass because I was the biggest kid in the class. I was already playing the guitar but was thrilled to be asked to play this amazing instrument. I got to play it for one semester then all of a sudden the bass wasn’t at my school any longer. I stayed with guitar, banjo and mandolin all through the years, but when I was about 26, I played bass with Albert Hammond (It Never Rains in Southern California) on a wonderful music tour in South Africa. I am fortunate to have a beautiful and rare, Robles, string bass in the corner of my music room, next to the piano, for me and all my bass playing pals to enjoy.
I have made some changes to the overall Mid 50s design in a few ways. Here is a basic overview of some of the changes in either design or building procedures that are incorporated in my new P55 and P55T.
The Body
As with all my Spirit Series instruments, the body is a Lightweight One Piece Swamp Ash body. Officially, within the wood industry, lightweight swamp ash must weigh 2.8 lbs per board foot or less. I don’t buy any wood that is heavier than 2.2 lbs. per board foot! This makes the P55 Bass very light indeed. Most are around 8 lbs. The neck and body are joined with a Spirit Series Titanium Neck Plate that has been Laser Engraved with the DeTemple Guitars Logo.
The body has the same basic footprint as an original bass from the mid 1950s, but the arm contour is more distinct, giving a more comfortable playing position for your right arm.
The contour on the back of the body is very deep and pronounced, allowing the bass to snug right up next to your body. Very Sexy!
We offer two slightly different body styles. The P55 has a larger radius around the outside edges of the instrument on the front and back. That radius is the same as the radius of the Sprit Series ‘56 (Strat Style) guitar body.
The P55T has more of a plank look from the front view. The radius is a small radius like the Spirit Series ’52 (Tele Style) guitar. The back radius is the same as the P55.
The Neck
All of the P55 necks are built by Pre-tensioning the neck and truss rod. This is a proprietary technique that really imparts a resonance and life into the instrument unlike any others. I have also incorporated Graphite Technology into the neck build which gives even more stiffness and control over the shape of the fingerboard plane. I have been able to eliminate the dead frets so common on many of the production bass guitars in the market today. You can say goodbye to that dead 4th fret B note on the G String. P55 necks have a very consistent, long and even neck relief down the entire length of the playing surface. P55 bass necks are a very comfortable Large Soft V Shape with my proprietary Reverse Taper for an extremely ergonomic feel. You just won’t know you are playing as large a neck as it really is. All of the necks are beautiful Quarter Sawn Flamed Maple with Bocote Skunk Stripe. A Rosewood Fingerboard can be added as well. The dots are Black Mother of Pearl on the Flamed Maple Necks and Fossilized Walrus Tusk on the Rosewood Fingerboards. A Fretless Rosewood Fingerboard version, with maple inserts where the frets would be, can be made for you if that is your preference. The Rosewood option is a price upgrade. Please call for the availability of various Rosewood species. The P55 bass necks have a 9.5” radius and fretwire that measures .045” tall by .095” wide.
P55 Titanium Bridge Assembly™
I have designed a new P55 Titanium Bridge Assembly™ that I am very proud of. This bridge is the heart and soul of the instrument. It imparts such amazing tonality and feel that it is difficult to describe. All the bridge parts are machined out of Billet Titanium or Titanium Bar stock.
The strings mount through the body and are anchored in a Titanium String Retainer Block. The Block mounts into the back of the body in its own tightly fitted cavity. The Titanium Top Plate of the Bridge Assembly is mounted to the body by machine screws that go through the Top Plate then through the body to thread into the Retainer Block in the back of the body. There is .625” (5/8”) of body wood that is sandwiched in between the Titanium Top Plate and the Titanium Retainer Block. This brings so much resonance into the body that you can feel the body vibrating through your clothes!
Finally, the Titanium Saddles are lathe turned from Titanium Bar Stock and the radiused grooves are cut to match the string diameter.
Pickups and Electronics
The original bass, made in the Mid 1950s, had one passive, single coil, four pole Alnico V pickup. The controls were volume and tone. I have added a second pickup to the instrument as well as a pickup blender pot. The control configuration is one Volume Pot and One Stacked Pot. The stacked pot really has two potentiometers that are controlled by two separate knobs, one concentrically stacked on top of the other. The smaller top knob controls Tone and the larger bottom knob controls the ability to blend the two pickups together. The DeTemple SweetSpot™ Alnico II P55 Pickups are made reverse wind and reverse polarity to each other. When blended together they become a series wired Humbucker. This gives the P55 a tremendous amount of tone control and variation from Single Coil to a harder driving punchy Humbucker.
Many of my professional bass playing friends have come into the shop and played the P55 and there have been two common threads that came out of most of their mouths.
The first is “This is my favorite bass I have ever played”. And second is “It is so much fun to play”
Hearing statements like these makes me feel that I have succeeded in building the bass I have always wanted to build, the DeTemple Spirit Series P55 Bass.
Please feel free to give me a call and ask questions about my exciting new bass!
Michael DeTemple
Master Luthier
DeTemple Guitars
"I have to admit that I was skeptical about this bass at first. But when I had it in my hands, I was completely overwhelmed! This was not a retro bass. Nor was it some kind of copy. This was simply the best bass guitar I have ever seen or played. An absolute beauty. I am a proud Daddy indeed!"
-Mark Mancina
www.markmancina.com
A word from Michael about the new
DeTemple Spirit Series P55™ or P55T™ Bass
Many years ago I owned a ‘55 Precision Bass and really loved it. Unfortunately, it was one of those instruments that “got away”. I never forgot about it though. Ever since I started DeTemple Guitars it was my intention to build this mid 50s style of bass.
This is the most recent instrument that I have developed in the Spirit Series™ line of DeTemple Guitars. The same goals; unequalled tone, playability, quality of materials and overall feel of my DTG ’52 and ’56 Spirit Series instruments are equally important to conform to in the build of each P55 or P55T bass.
I first started playing bass when my grammar school music teacher, Mr. Graham, asked me to play the string bass because I was the biggest kid in the class. I was already playing the guitar but was thrilled to be asked to play this amazing instrument. I got to play it for one semester then all of a sudden the bass wasn’t at my school any longer. I stayed with guitar, banjo and mandolin all through the years, but when I was about 26, I played bass with Albert Hammond (It Never Rains in Southern California) on a wonderful music tour in South Africa. I am fortunate to have a beautiful and rare, Robles, string bass in the corner of my music room, next to the piano, for me and all my bass playing pals to enjoy.
I have made some changes to the overall Mid 50s design in a few ways. Here is a basic overview of some of the changes in either design or building procedures that are incorporated in my new P55 and P55T.
The Body
As with all my Spirit Series instruments, the body is a Lightweight One Piece Swamp Ash body. Officially, within the wood industry, lightweight swamp ash must weigh 2.8 lbs per board foot or less. I don’t buy any wood that is heavier than 2.2 lbs. per board foot! This makes the P55 Bass very light indeed. Most are around 8 lbs. The neck and body are joined with a Spirit Series Titanium Neck Plate that has been Laser Engraved with the DeTemple Guitars Logo.
The body has the same basic footprint as an original bass from the mid 1950s, but the arm contour is more distinct, giving a more comfortable playing position for your right arm.
The contour on the back of the body is very deep and pronounced, allowing the bass to snug right up next to your body. Very Sexy!
We offer two slightly different body styles. The P55 has a larger radius around the outside edges of the instrument on the front and back. That radius is the same as the radius of the Sprit Series ‘56 (Strat Style) guitar body.
The P55T has more of a plank look from the front view. The radius is a small radius like the Spirit Series ’52 (Tele Style) guitar. The back radius is the same as the P55.
The Neck
All of the P55 necks are built by Pre-tensioning the neck and truss rod. This is a proprietary technique that really imparts a resonance and life into the instrument unlike any others. I have also incorporated Graphite Technology into the neck build which gives even more stiffness and control over the shape of the fingerboard plane. I have been able to eliminate the dead frets so common on many of the production bass guitars in the market today. You can say goodbye to that dead 4th fret B note on the G String. P55 necks have a very consistent, long and even neck relief down the entire length of the playing surface. P55 bass necks are a very comfortable Large Soft V Shape with my proprietary Reverse Taper for an extremely ergonomic feel. You just won’t know you are playing as large a neck as it really is. All of the necks are beautiful Quarter Sawn Flamed Maple with Bocote Skunk Stripe. A Rosewood Fingerboard can be added as well. The dots are Black Mother of Pearl on the Flamed Maple Necks and Fossilized Walrus Tusk on the Rosewood Fingerboards. A Fretless Rosewood Fingerboard version, with maple inserts where the frets would be, can be made for you if that is your preference. The Rosewood option is a price upgrade. Please call for the availability of various Rosewood species. The P55 bass necks have a 9.5” radius and fretwire that measures .045” tall by .095” wide.
P55 Titanium Bridge Assembly™
I have designed a new P55 Titanium Bridge Assembly™ that I am very proud of. This bridge is the heart and soul of the instrument. It imparts such amazing tonality and feel that it is difficult to describe. All the bridge parts are machined out of Billet Titanium or Titanium Bar stock.
The strings mount through the body and are anchored in a Titanium String Retainer Block. The Block mounts into the back of the body in its own tightly fitted cavity. The Titanium Top Plate of the Bridge Assembly is mounted to the body by machine screws that go through the Top Plate then through the body to thread into the Retainer Block in the back of the body. There is .625” (5/8”) of body wood that is sandwiched in between the Titanium Top Plate and the Titanium Retainer Block. This brings so much resonance into the body that you can feel the body vibrating through your clothes!
Finally, the Titanium Saddles are lathe turned from Titanium Bar Stock and the radiused grooves are cut to match the string diameter.
Pickups and Electronics
The original bass, made in the Mid 1950s, had one passive, single coil, four pole Alnico V pickup. The controls were volume and tone. I have added a second pickup to the instrument as well as a pickup blender pot. The control configuration is one Volume Pot and One Stacked Pot. The stacked pot really has two potentiometers that are controlled by two separate knobs, one concentrically stacked on top of the other. The smaller top knob controls Tone and the larger bottom knob controls the ability to blend the two pickups together. The DeTemple SweetSpot™ Alnico II P55 Pickups are made reverse wind and reverse polarity to each other. When blended together they become a series wired Humbucker. This gives the P55 a tremendous amount of tone control and variation from Single Coil to a harder driving punchy Humbucker.
Many of my professional bass playing friends have come into the shop and played the P55 and there have been two common threads that came out of most of their mouths.
The first is “This is my favorite bass I have ever played”. And second is “It is so much fun to play”
Hearing statements like these makes me feel that I have succeeded in building the bass I have always wanted to build, the DeTemple Spirit Series P55 Bass.
Please feel free to give me a call and ask questions about my exciting new bass!
Michael DeTemple
Master Luthier
DeTemple Guitars
04/01: Old Man Markley music video
Watch some of our DTG employees in this fun music video from their band Old Man Markley.
OldManMarkley.com
OldManMarkley.com
13/12: CHRISTMAS GUITAR 2010
The Spirit Series '52 - Christmas Guitar 2010
Christmas Guitar 2010- The Spirit Series '52
This guitar can be a gift for a loved one or for yourself. We are assembling this Spirit Series ’52 right now. It is a featherweight body with a Special Red Maple neck. It has Medium Tall fretwire and special Open Back Tuners. Comes with Titanium Saddles, Titanium Ferruls and Titanium Neck Plate. A nice soft V shaped neck and Mike’s SweetSpot pickups will give it a nice spanky but warm tone. Comes with a custom DTG Chocolate Brown Alligator Case. Give Mike a call or email for pricing and information. 818-782-9933
CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER PICTURES.
Christmas Guitar 2010- The Spirit Series '52
This guitar can be a gift for a loved one or for yourself. We are assembling this Spirit Series ’52 right now. It is a featherweight body with a Special Red Maple neck. It has Medium Tall fretwire and special Open Back Tuners. Comes with Titanium Saddles, Titanium Ferruls and Titanium Neck Plate. A nice soft V shaped neck and Mike’s SweetSpot pickups will give it a nice spanky but warm tone. Comes with a custom DTG Chocolate Brown Alligator Case. Give Mike a call or email for pricing and information. 818-782-9933
CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER PICTURES.
Michael DeTemple 12/9/10
Read what Tony Galla had to say about the DTG Titanium Trem Block!
"I just played a gig with the new Titanium Trem Block that you installed in my DeTemple '56. I would have never believed that you could improve on the sound and playability of one of your masterpiece guitars, but you have. The only thing I can say is that it's insane!!! I didn't know what to expect but when I plugged in, turned the amp on, and strummed a chord it felt like I was playing a 9' grand piano. The clarity and focus of each note increased tenfold. Insane!!!!
