Final assembly on Luke’s Keno.
The elusive @npurscelley bass… The mahogany body and roasted maple neck provide the foundation while the @seymourduncanpickups antiquity pickup delivers an early 60's motown-inspired thump. A classy, gold-anodized aluminum pickguard, gloss bla
Recent “Mr. T” build.
So many precisely measured holes. And a roughly laid out tape line.
Mock it up
This modest Stanley scratch awl has been with me since college. It is by far my favorite tool and one I use almost every time I’m in the shop.
Process photos on this scarf jointed walnut neck.
Bonanza!
Flattening a quarter sawn walnut board the old fashioned way. Somehow, this seems easier than digging out the power tools.
Trying my best to eliminate gaps and cracks.
Back to basics with this build.
Final setup and assembly on this guy. @mrbenellis thanks for the great pickup review. The @curtis_novak_pickups PB-90 is exactly what I was hoping for.
Replaced the heavy vintage style tuners on my personal bass with these @hipshotproducts lightweight ones. No more neck dive. What’s a headstock without an extra set of holes?
Nothing beats natural light in the afternoon.
Walnut top over cedar body bass coming together. Really curious to hear how this thing sounds.
I went with red. Figured it would look good on the website.

Dekum Guitar Co. is a one-man operation located on a quiet street in NE Portland.

My name is Chris Nelson. I’ve been playing and modding guitars since 1992. I designed and built my first guitar soup-to-nuts in the summer of 2017 and haven’t looked back. The goal of this website is to capture my progression as a builder and catalog each project as it comes to fruition.


With each build I’m striving to create something musical and inspiring that is fun and easy to play. It should also look amazing and be truly unique. Nothing about the instrument should be fatiguing — tonally or physically.


You can reach out to me via the contact form on this site. I check my Instagram messages, too. I typically limit my commissioned builds to three or four a year. If you’re interested in discussing a potential build, please feel free to reach out — typical turnaround time is six months from build kickoff.