Meet The Builders

Builder Profiles

Dale Wilson

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.”

Woodworking runs in the Wilson family, and the requisite Custom Shop zeal for outstanding craftsmanship has long been part of Dale’s 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 highly distinctive guitars such as the Resophonic Thinline Telecaster®. Wilson also built five beautiful custom guitars for the January 2011 NAMM Show while still an apprentice and was asked to sign the back of the headstocks, garnering him his Master Builder status.

Paul Waller

Paul Waller is a Southern California native with woodworking and luthiery in his blood. He built his first guitar at age 14 in his high school woodshop, joined a cabinet shop right out of high school and, after a stint at a small Southern California guitar maker, enrolled at the acclaimed Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery in Phoenix, from which he graduated in spring of 2000.

Waller joined Fender in 2003. He spent two years working closely with master arch-top craftsman Bob Benedetto, and became steeped in the many facets of building techniques from all the Custom Shop’s Master Builders. After an extensive seven-year apprenticeship, Waller became a Master Builder in 2010.

His Fender Custom Shop work includes bass guitars for U2’s Adam Clayton, a custom Thinline Telecaster for U2 vocalist Bono, Telecaster guitars for the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards and co-work on a Stratocaster for fellow Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, Stratocaster guitars for Buddy Guy, the Nile Rodgers “Hitmaker” Stratocaster, and a custom double-neck Jazzmaster for Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen.

Jason Smith

A Custom Shop veteran and son of longtime Fender R&D legend Dan Smith, Jason Smith grew up on Fender—“It has always been in my family,” he said, “And I was always extremely interested in everything my father did.”

Born in Rochester, N.Y., and raised in California, Smith remembers meeting guitar greats from about age five on through his father’s work with Fender—Eric Clapton, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jeff Beck and Robben Ford, to name only a few. He went to his first big rock concert at age six—Rush—and Smith remembers going backstage with his dad and meeting Geddy Lee after the show. Before he was even in his teens, Smith was going to see Pink Floyd, ZZ Top and many other major artists.

Rock music and Fender are part of his DNA. Smith joined the Fender Custom Shop in 1995, and in 2006 completed a five-year apprenticeship under acclaimed Senior Master Builder John English. Among many diverse projects with English, Smith worked on a pair of double-neck Stratocaster guitars for Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo. He has since crafted fine instruments for players and acts including John 5, Michael Landau, Flea, Josh Klinghoffer, Geddy Lee, Steve Harris, Reggie Hamilton, Linkin Park, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Neon Trees and many others.

Yuriy Shishkov

From handcrafting many of his own woodworking tools to showcasing his world-class luthier skills and custom inlay work, Yuriy Shishkov is truly one of the last of the renaissance guitar builders. It was in the small confines of a root cellar in his hometown of Gomel in the former Soviet Union that Shishkov got his start building guitars for friends and colleagues.

When he arrived in the United States in 1990, Shishkov settled in the Chicago area and collaborated with a range of top artists, including late shredder Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Nuno Bettencourt, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick and Paul Stanley of Kiss. Shishkov joined the Fender Custom Shop’s Master Builder team in 2000 and has crafted truly magnificent instruments featuring exquisite detail and inlay work.

Todd Krause

Todd Krause has built exquisitely crafted custom instruments for many of the world’s greatest artists, including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, David Gilmour, Robbie Robertson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robin Trower, Roger Waters and many others.

His guitar-building apprenticeship began in early 1981 at Jackson/Charvel guitars. Krause arrived at Fender in 1991 and steadily rose through several roles, including one-off instrument builder, R&D model maker, and woodworking machinist. He became a Custom Shop Master Builder in 1997 and has since created countless distinctive instruments, all of which embody his personal design philosophy: “Form and function are the biggest part of it,” he said. “It’s about the way an instrument sounds and feels. It has to look cool, and it has to compel you to play.”

Dennis Galuszka

Like Fender itself, Dennis Galuszka is a Southern California native. Combining his dual passions for music and woodworking, he began building high-end acoustic guitars during his 13 years as a cabinetmaker. As a working drummer, it was a 1999 audition with one of the Fender Master Builders that led to a job interview and a new kind of steady gig—as an apprentice at the Fender Custom Shop.

After only eight months there, Galuszka was promoted to Master Builder. He has since built finely crafted instruments for influential players including Paul McCartney, Andy Summers, Johnny Marr, Patrick Stump, Mike Dirnt, Sting and many others. He has lent his expertise to a number of truly distinctive instruments, including double-neck guitars and unusual takes on classic Fender designs, and several artist model designs. “It’s all about the feel and sound of an instrument,” Galuszka said. “Those things are number one with me, above everything else.”

Greg Fessler

Greg Fessler came to the Fender Custom Shop in 1990, working his way up through the ranks as an apprentice. He assisted with the Robben Ford signature line of guitars, eventually becoming the sole builder of those instruments and, later, Ford’s personal builder. Fessler has built one-off Stratocaster and Telecaster models for a host of players, including Joe Bonnamasa, Jeff Healey, Hank Marvin, John Mayer, Rhonda Smith, Neil Schon and Pete Wentz, to name only a few.

Fessler’s remarkable abilities as a Master Builder have earned him accolades from many Fender artists and from discerning customers worldwide. His meticulous attention to detail is exemplified in every instrument he creates, each of which is a perfect example of the intense commitment it takes to earn the title of Master Builder.

Kyle McMillin

Kyle McMillin brings 15 years of musical instrument experience to the
Fender Custom Shop. A loyal Fender employee for 15 years, McMillin
just finished a five-year apprenticeship under Principal Master
Builder Yuriy Shishkov — working on nearly 1,000 guitars with
the esteemed builder. McMillin now joins a team of the world’s finest
guitar builders as a Master Builder at the Fender Custom Shop.

Austin MacNutt

Canadian born in a family of performing musicians, some of Austin’s earliest memories contain acoustic and electric guitars, including his father’s 1963 Custom Color Black Fender Jaguar with matching headstock that is still in the family. Following in his parent’s footsteps, he took up guitar playing at the age of 10 and soon found himself tinkering on it to improve playability and tone. Throughout his teens, Austin developed his building and repair skills and became the local go-to repair tech for many of the bands passing through.

After graduating high school in Saskatoon – Austin saved up and enrolled himself at the Guitar Craft Academy in Hollywood to further his skills and passion for guitar building. Recognizing his talents, immediately after completing the course the school offered him a position as one of their teachers. During these 5 years of teaching guitar building, he met Ron Thorn during an inlay seminar, and shortly after was offered a position at Thorn Guitars. For 11 years Austin crafted boutique electric guitars under the Thorn brand. From raw lumber selection, millwork, CNC operation, fretwork, final assembly – Austin did it all and once again is working shoulder to shoulder with his old friend, now crafting Fender’s finest.

When Austin is not building guitars, he enjoys spending his time with his girlfriend playing music and going camping whenever and wherever he can.

Andy Hicks

Andy Hicks grew up in a household filled with music lovers. He received his first guitar on his 11th birthday – a gorgeous 3-tone burst Fender Stratocaster. Andy spent his teenage years playing along with his favorite Nirvana, Black Sabbath and Metallica records. He played in local rock bands and by his early 20s he became increasingly interested in experimenting with guitars by modifying pickups and wiring.

In 2009, Andy decided to take this passion for guitar building seriously by enrolling in the Guitar Craft Academy in Hollywood, a 6-month program focused on electric guitars. Within a week of graduating, he started working at Fender in the Jackson Custom Shop dressing frets. From 2013 to 2018, he worked as an assistant to Gretsch Custom Shop Senior Master Builder, Steve Stern. Andy worked with various artists during this period and is very proud of his involvement with the Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet. In 2018, Andy seized the opportunity to become the lead builder and production manager for a high-end boutique guitar company and was subsequently recruited by James Tyler to oversee production for his shop in the San Fernando Valley.

On his return to Fender, Hicks said, “coming back to Fender, becoming part of the most prestigious custom shop in the industry, and being around so many talented builders is incredibly exciting and humbling. It also feels like I have returned home.”

When it comes to guitars, Andy incorporates his two passions: playing and building guitars. He firmly believes that these two passions are deeply connected, uniting Andy’s core approach to creating guitars. “I love interacting with guitarists,” Hicks said. “Bridging the gap between builder and player, listening to their desires and implementing them into my builds is incredibly rewarding,” and to create such guitars in the Fender Custom Shop, “nothing could be better,” he added.

When not building guitars, Andy plays in an epic doom metal band, Stygian Crown, enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons and goes on incredible Disneyland trips with his wife and 3 boys.

David Brown

David Brown’s music adventure began in the late `70s while he was in middle school. By the time he was in high school, he was playing in bands and working at a local store in Anaheim where he learned guitar repair and construction. By the mid `80s, he was working for Yamaha Music Corp. in Buena Park as a guitar technician. In 2000, David got the opportunity to work at Fender and thus began his career with the company. By 2006, he received a degree in marketing from California State University at Fullerton and was now working in the Fender Custom Shop building new models as well as making instruments for various artists.

“I hope to bring a perspective that takes into account all of my previous experiences in guitar building and construction. I hope to create these instruments that are the industry standard when it comes to accuracy and feel for the musician. Becoming a Master Builder for the Fender Custom Shop means that you’ve arrived. There is no higher pinnacle than this.”

In 2009, David and Fender parted ways only for him to return two years later to manage the new Fender Visitor Center which was located next to the Corona manufacturing facility. While in this position, David was the first point-of-contact with the company’s customer base as the public visited and participated in building their own custom-made instruments, as well as taking a tour of the factory. In 2016, the FVC closed and David departed from Fender once more. By 2017, he was managing the new G&L Custom Shop in Fullerton, California where he was the principal builder until 2020. David returned to school to pursue a teaching credential in math, but the opportunity to work once again in the Fender Custom Shop altered his course.

Apart from electric guitars being his passion, David enjoys designing and building tube amplifiers and playing original music with his classic rock band. He and his wife enjoy traveling abroad as well as rescuing and fostering dogs and cats. He also enjoys black and white landscape photography.

Levi Perry

Levi Perry started at Fender’s U.S. production final assembly department in 2012 fresh out of high school in Riverside, Calif., where he was born and raised. He moved to the Custom Shop three years later in 2015 as a Relic artisan and tune tester and soon moved to service repair. After another three years he was promoted to Masterbuilder Apprentice in 2018.

While an apprentice Perry served as a “floater”, which meant that he worked with and learned from each Masterbuilder individually. He worked on many prestigious builds during this period, including the Game of Thrones series, the Limited Edition Phil Lynott Precision Bass, the Limited Edition George Harrison Rocky Strat, the Limited Edition El Mocambo Heavy Relic Stratocaster and Telecaster models, and many other collections and artist instruments.

“For me what’s important is to always be learning and growing, and to remain a student of the craft,” Perry said. “Fender has such a deep and rich history to glean from, and when you allow that history to teach and guide you while continuing to be creative and push the boundaries, you’ll be amazed at what you can create.”