Musicians playing Dave Keeley's beautiful custom made guitars liken them to fine jewelry. "Dave takes pride in creating fine workmanship," says friend and fellow guitar player Buck Wilhite. "With Dave it is not a guitar, it is an art form. No two guitars are alike, and each one is unsurpassed in quality." Dave, who works as planning director in the Ferry County Planning Department, has been interested in guitars since he was 10 years old, and took apart a guitar to see how it worked. He began teaching himself how to play the guitar when he was in sixth grade.
Now he builds specialty electric guitars. Each guitar Dave builds starts with a perfect piece of hardwood. Fellow musician Courtney Wilhite says she once helped Dave search for a piece of bird's-eye maple. "We went through dozens of stacks looking for the right piece. Dave wanted one that was not only pleasing to the eye, but of consistent quality throughout." Dave says he can usually find the perfect piece of wood at House of Hardwoods in Colville. "They have had some of the finest wood we've gotten," says Dave. "Each guitar is different, the result of a combination of different woods and custom electronics.”We try to find the best wood to start with. I stay away from knots. We went through a stack sixteen feet long of walnut 3X3s, and six boards was all we got. That's typical." "Dave's guitars have a finer, tighter sound," says Buck Wilhite, who is himself a guitar, harp and dulcimer maker.
Dave and Buck began building electric guitars together, Dave learning a lot from Buck. When Dave decided he would like to spend more time building specialty guitars, Buck encouraged him, and they still consult together. "We sat down and had an engineering session on guitars-what people want and how to design them," Buck says. "I branched off into my interest of dulcimers and harps with Courtney." Buck and Courtney now have a busy, successful harp business.Buck and Dave designed a totally hand-crafted guitar with better access to the strings. "It fits like a glove!" says Dave. The guitars are clamped into one solid piece from the neck through the body, giving a better sound with a more sustained tone. "The first six guitars I built I made for myself, but every time I got one finished I'd keep it a couple of weeks and then sell it. I hated to part with each one, but I know it is going to somebody who will really love it. It's like sending music forth into the world." Each instrument takes a different setup.
Dave prefers rosewood for the fret board. It has natural oil and a more comfortable hold. Deciding on a pattern, he cuts the wood, then glues and clamps it together. One recently finished guitar is a combination of African purple heart and maple, with Honduras mahogany and rosewood on the fret board. It is a stunningly beautiful instrument. "Purple heart is very heavy, so it is used mostly for the color on the neck," Dave says. After the guitar is finished, he wires it and puts the strings on. Some guitars have ivory nuts, but Dave says he is "going toward graphite nuts, which keep the strings from binding and keeps the tune better." Some of his guitars come with a tremolo or "whammy" sound. The first guitars were sold for the cost of parts- about $300. Now a Keeley guitar sells for around $1,000. Each has a Keeley brand on the head, and a unique Keeley feature- a curved headstock for hanging the guitar. Dave builds his guitars at home, where he also stocks supplies for musicians, catering especially to guitar players. He also takes students and does repair work. "I love guitars!" Dave says. "It is exciting to get the whole picture of what you are working with. It is more than just playing. From beginning to end, you build your soul into these things." His finely-crafted guitars are played together when Glass Anvil, a new classic rock band, performs every weekend. The band, playing together since the spring of 1995, performs around the area. "We picked up a contract recently to play at the Grand Forks Hotel in B.C. After that we will tour a small circuit of clubs and lounges in Canada," Dave says. Lead singer is Karen Hamel. Sean Foley plays lead and rhythm guitar, Art Hamel plays bass guitar, Dan Haynes drums, and Dave Keeley lead and rhythm guitar. "Glass Anvil is a top-forty hard rock and classic rock band. The music ranges from Great White to Melissa Ethridge to Foghat and Dokken. Using an Outdoor Venues sound system, we sometimes get up to 135 decibels. We approached it last Friday night," Dave laughs. After six hours of hard playing, the nickel strings have to be replaced. Dave goes through so many strings he usually buys them by the case.
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