Since 1884, Hotel Chelsea has stood as one of New York City's most iconic buildings, located in the heart of Chelsea on 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. What makes this building so historic are the many legendary and creative individuals that resided in the hotel throughout its years such as Jimi Hendrix, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Mark Twain, Jeff Beck, Stanley Kubrick, Leonard Cohen, and so many more.
In 2011, the hotel began renovations to bring the building back to its former glory as a luxury accommodation. Dean Gordon, head repair technician and luthier at the hotel's resident guitar shop Chelsea Guitars, has collected Civil War era pine wood from dumpsters used during renovations to create a limited number of unique guitars coined as Chelsea Hotelecasters.
"These guitars have a special connection to me - they are made of wood from the building I have been working in for nearly a decade and the building itself has such a rich history. I hope anyone who picks one of these guitars up understands they own a piece of New York City and that's really damn cool." – Dean Gordon
These teles have thin shellac/nitro finish on the body and nitro/oil/wax finish on the neck. The wood is very resonant civil war era pine from the 135 year old Chelsea Hotel. The weight ranges from light to average. People can own a piece of history with these. Who knows whose room the wood is from - Bowie's, Hendrix's Dylan's, Stanley Kubrick's - the possibilities are near endless.
- Civil war era pine body
- One piece maple neck
- Medium C neck profile
- 16" fingerboard radius
- 21 medium jumbo stainless steel frets
- Bone nut
- 1 11/16th nut width
- Tone Specific 55 blues telecaster pickups
- Aged nickel tele bridge w brass saddles
- Aged nickel Gotoh Kluson tuners
- Ages nickel knobs/hardware
- Worn nitrocellulose finish
- Weight as low as 6.5 lbs (rings like a bell!)