Dolan Michael Custom Guitars

Michael has built two basses for me, and though not 100% perfect, overall I was very pleased and did repeat business. On the first build, there was a humm coming from the active pickup system which I later sorted out myself. The paintwork had some imperfections on bass #2 but he did me right and had his painter refinish it. He took his time and does a good job, I recommend going with him for your bass needs if you need to go custom — he makes killer necks in particular. Even all these years later, that first bass he put together for me is still something really special and my #1!

I asked Michael to reface a bass with a bookmatched top wood that I had bought. I also asked him to slim the body down to make it weigh less and to refinish the fretboard. He did all these things remarkably well and I have no complaints about the quality of his work.
There are three reasons he only gets two stars. He recommended that he chamber the bass (hollow it out) to make it even lighter. Despite my concerns he assured me that it would have almost no effect on tone. Long story short… it ruined the tone and I am now having the body replaced by another luthier.
The second reason is that despite my instructions to leave the head alone, he refinished the head so it lost its original Fender logo and now has a lame replacement.
The third reason is that the project took several months longer than he originally estimated.