News and Spotlight

By Jennifer Chick

Flagler News

2008

Del Mullen's pursuit of perfection has led him to become the premier steel guitar maker in the United States. Mullen builds his guitars in an unassuming shed north of Seibert. Driving past, one might think the shed houses tractors and combines, but stepping inside, visitors realize this is no ordinary farm shed. This is the headquarters for Mullen Steel Guitars Company, maker of what they affectionately call "the Cadillac of steel guitars." Over the years the Mullen Steel Guitar Company has made quite a reputation for itself. Its customer list now includes Dixie Chicks, Ricky Skaggs, Martina McBride, Charley Pride, Porter Wagoner, and Andy Griggs, as well as many performers in Branson, Nashville and Las Vegas. The top steel guitar player in Europe, Sarah Jory, also plays a Mullen steel guitar. On her official website, Jory writes about using her Mullen guitar in a recent United States tour, "The Mullen Steel sounded absolutely amazing through all my Peavey gear..."Sometimes, the Mullens don't know a star has one of their guitars until they see it on television or in a picture of a performance. "Some of the new, younger stars ... they may pick up a guitar from a dealer before they take up with us," Del said. Mullen and his wife, Dixie, first started the company about 20 years ago. Dixie has always been an equal partner in the business and through 44 years of marriage. She jokes that she can't even play a radio, but she knows how to put together a steel guitar. She has a fan in her grandson, Shaun Mantey, one of their two employees. He said Dixie taught him 90 percent of what he learned about the business. Their other employee is Shaun's brother, Mike Mantey. Now Shaun and Mike do most of the assembling of the steel guitars, leaving Del to the more arduous task of tuning and setting up the temperamental instruments. The brothers plan to take over the company when Del retires. But they admit that Del, being such a perfectionist, will never be able to fully retire from the business he built from the ground up." He does everything right the first time," Mike said. "It takes him forever but he does it right the first time." Del admits he takes his time making the instruments, a trait passed down from his dad, but Dixie insists that instruments can't be rushed. Although Del and Dixie grew up in the Seibert area, they moved to the Denver area in 1962. They lived there for 28 years, moving back to Seibert seven years ago. Del built his first steel guitar in his kitchen in 1968. His older brother, Willard, had a steel guitar, and Del was fascinated by the instrument. He has been playing guitars since he was six years old in his family band, and said he loved the sound of the steel guitar. He couldn't afford to buy one, so he set about building one instead. He worked at a machine shop at the time and had access to all of the machinery. He built that first guitar from a design in his head, and it took him two years. He didn't have any pattern or instrument to copy from. Shaun said his granddad built his first steel guitar because of the challenge. It was a complicated and intense process, something that Shaun says Del thrives on. "He does everything excellent, but he never goes the easy way," Shaun said. Dixie chuckles as she remembers one of the first times Del publicly played his newly built guitar. He was playing at a dance in Vona, CO when something from his guitar went flying through the air and landed in the middle of the dance floor. Dixie was mortified as she scrambled across the floor to retrieve the part. She just knew the guitar was going to fall to pieces right there in front of everyone. Much to her relief, she found it was just his pick that had flown through the air. That first guitar didn't last long since Del, ever the perfectionist, set about dismantling it to make it better. Under the guise of a potential customer, Del would persuade his wife, with a toddler in tow and pregnant with their second child at the time, to visit guitar stores with him. While she kept watch, he pulled out his tape measure and took measurements. He also played the steel guitars and found that his steel guitar played as well as those for sale in music stores. After that discovery, he began the task of making his guitar easier to play. His first shop was a 1952 Chevy pickup flatbed with dimensions of six feet by eight feet. He used the flatbed as the floor and extended the sides up with plywood, putting a roof over the tiny structure. After he outgrew the pickup, he moved into a lawn shed. He now builds his steel guitars in a quonset with plenty of room for all the parts and equipment it takes to put together his signature guitars. Del worked for the Colorado School of Mines for approximately 15 years. During that time, he built steel guitars as a side business. It wasn't until 1984, when the School of Mines was laying off workers, that Del decided to try his hand at building steel guitars as a full-time job. "Only an idiot would do what I've done," he said. Those first years were tough. "Del had to make a name for himself in a very competitive industry. He had to do a lot of legwork to get his guitars out there," Shaun said. Del and Dixie attended national conventions in Dallas and St. Louis to show musicians what they had to offer. Dixie said she was star-struck at the first conventions, feeling they were in over their heads. But their persistence paid off. "The guitar now sells itself," Mike said. "We just have to get someone to sit down and play it." They still attend conventions, and have even increased the number of conventions they attend. With one steel guitar builder for every 10 players, Mike said they have to continually promote their product." It's the new people that are playing steel guitars that we have to worry about sitting down to our guitars," Mike said. He added the older players have already realized what a great product Mullen steel guitars are. The company now builds approximately 80 guitars per year. Many of those orders are for custom-built steel guitars. Prices range from $2,500 to $5,000.