Hallmark Deke Dickerson Model

[mark1]

Other than Deke,does anyone here own one or has anyone played one?I keep goin back to the Hallmark site to drool! It 's very hard to find reviews on them of any kind.There are a very few snips on You Tube and thats about it.It won't take much for me to go for it but I need that little push. Help me.....Lord knows I need help.

[Veenture]

I know the feeling…but when ya hav ta, ya hav ta!

Once you’ve fallen in love with it, there’s no turning back. That’s why I now have my AVRI Fender ’57 Strat to acompany my Hallmarl 60 Custom and other 2 Fenders when I recently had some money to burn…I knew I'd kick myself if I hadn't done it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGtoVWckqlg

Now I’ve done it…

To end on a serious note, I don't think you can go wrong with Hallmark. This beautiful guitar is worth every penny...

Now I’ve really done it!

[mark1]

That put me a little closer to the edge.I would like to hear about weight,ballance,playablity and sound.I know what it sounds like with Deke playin it but he could make a broomstick sound great!

[Dnepr]

I have one that I bought mainly because AP-6 pickups were impossible to find at the time. I am very pleased with the guitar and feel that it is definitely worth the money. I think that it was made at the Samick factory in Oct. 2007 based on the serial number.
The scale length on these is longer than what the website says. The playability is great, even with the action set way low.
The vibrato doesn't ruin the tuning, unless you get beyond about a full note up or down. The fit and finish is top notch. The electronics are good, though the production model only has 2 knobs not 3 (volume and tone). I'm going to add a volume for the bridge pickup on mine. The pole pieces on the pickups are extremely easy to strip if you try to adjust them! Don't ask how I know... When I first got the guitar it rattled like crazy, and it ended up being the bridge pickup was loosely mounted to the plastic cover. Again, the screws were a little iffy, so I tightened them very carefully and haven't had a problem again.
The screws under the bridge tend to come loose after a while too, so I tighten them at each string change.
The sound of the guitar is great, and very clear. It takes a little while to get used to the sparkle. I play through my '68 twin mostly and have been very pleased with the result. The bridge pickup is a little thin sounding, and the string to string balance was a little off so I put a shim to raise it closer to the low E. The 2 pickups sound great together, and the neck pickup sounds great by itself but not quite as loud as the bridge. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to bring down the bridge pickup to balance the neck, so that's why I'm adding the knob.
There's a video demo of Deke playing his, and you can get a good idea of what it sounds like.
The guitar is pretty heavy, but very well balanced. It's comfortable to play sitting or standing, and the armrest is not as awkward as I would have thought. It's actually thinner than I had expected too.
The pickguards seem to be either silkscreened or thermal printed, and not actually inlaid. But for the price what do you expect?
Overall it is a fantastic guitar for the price, and it's actually pretty versatile sonically.
It fits my needs until I can afford a TNM.

[mark1]

DNEPR ,thanks for the info.About the three knobs, a while ago I emailed Bob Shade about that.One pic on the site shows three knobs and the other pics show two knobs.Bob said that the three knob ,I think he said,was a proto type more or less.He told me that Deke liked the two knob setup better?!?!I think the three knob model is the one Deke plays now.

Oh man , a TNM. Now I have goose bumps!

[Deke Dickerson]

Hello gang....thanks for the comments on the guitars. Here's the real scoop on the three knob setup: My TNM Custom doubleneck has three knobs because it has THREE PICKUPS! when we went to prototype the guitar we told them to make volume and tone only but they went ahead and put three knobs by mistake on the prototype, I assume because they were looking at photos of my TNM Custom's pickguard. The three knob setup is totally redundant for a two-pickup guitar, of course, so all the production models that have followed have two knobs.

The pickups were designed to be replicas of the Carvin AP-6 pickups and the tone is great; however like the originals they are completely unshielded and prone to buzz. It's a sacrifice for tone in my opinion. And these pickups are not like ANYTHING on the market; Carvin hasn't made them since the 70's (and they threw away their molds!) so the only place you can find them is the Hallmark DD model. Essential for that great Joe Maphis/Larry Collins/Brian Lonbeck tone...it does pretty good for that early Nokie sound too...!

The guitars I feel are made VERY well and the consistency is remarkable. There have been minor issues with things like described above--i.e. a loose screw from the factory, or whatever, but for the most part ten minutes with a screwdriver tightening everything up when you get it out of the shipper box and you're in business.

Anybody who wants one better hurry up; Bob and I have decided that because of the current economy, we're not going to do another batch of these anytime soon (we're not going to say NEVER, but...). So there are maybe 15 or so left for purchase. Contact either myself directly at www.dekedickerson.com or Bob Shade at www.hallmarkguitars.com to buy one.

Thanks for the kind words y'all...

Deke

[Dnepr]

I have never had any interference issues with my pickups, FWIW.

[mark1]

Thanks Deke. Hearing from the man himself pretty much makes it a done deal for me! Now I have to tell my wife"yes dear this is a keeper" These pickups can't be much worse than Tele or Strat pickups for interference can they? What with their 60 cycle hum and havin to turn from side to side to keep them quiet.

[Deke Dickerson]

My experience with the Carvin style pickups (like on the DD model) AND the original Mosrite pickups is that they're OKAY until you get in that particular club where there's a power transformer nearby, or a particularly ungrounded electricity source, and then they are REALLY noisy. 99% of the time, they're fine, but that one percent of the time they hum so bad you have to turn your guitar off between the songs!

On the other hand, I think it's all part of the tone process. A Gibson humbucker doesn't hum, but to me they sound like there's a blanket on top of the amp!

Deke

[mark1]

I think I can live with that amount of interference.I'm usually the guy who gets stuck next to the darn neon Bud sign ,talk about interference! If I face in just the right direction it's not to bad.