BUILDER PROFILES



Fender Stars
Dale Wilson  

Master Builder


 
Dale Wilson arrived at Fender in 2003, joined the Custom Shop in 2005 and became a Master Builder in 2011. Building guitars has been a driving passion for the California native since childhood.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved guitars,” he said. “I didn’t dream of being a rock star; I dreamed of building the ultimate guitar. I was equally enthralled with the guitars just as much as I was with the players.”

Wilson comes from a long line of expert woodworkers, and the requisite Custom Shop zeal for outstanding craftsmanship has long been part of his DNA. He did repair work and mods in a small guitar shop right out of high school in the late 1980s; subsequently moving on to stints at Dobro and Rickenbacker before arriving at Fender, where he worked on Guild, Gretsch and Benedetto guitars before beginning his apprenticeship with various Custom Shop Master Builders.

He enjoys calling upon his extensive and varied experience as a craftsman to create unique guitars such as the Resophonic Thinline Telecaster. Wilson also built five beautiful custom guitars for the January 2011 NAMM Show while still an apprentice, but was asked to signed the back of the headstocks and subsequently promoted to Fender Custom Shop Master Builder.