Guitar brings top dollar at auction

Published Thursday, March 6, 2008

By Denny Deady

In an illustration, Ben McCall would be the guy with the light bulb burning just above his head. He's constantly coming up with ideas, ways to enhance his business, PCG Manufacturing in Decatur.

In one area of his PCG Manufacturing plant, employees are making automotive speaker boxes. In another area, wood shutters are being built. And in another, a welder is creating beautiful iron work. There is even a huge wooden double gate under construction.

McCall's dealings with a Fort Worth company for the speaker boxes and his desire to raise funds for the Wise County Sheriff's Posse has led to the creation of another business, Red Dirt Guitars. He got the guitars from a Fort Worth wholesaler. While rounding up auction items to benefit the Sheriff's Posse, he had the thought that an autographed guitar would be ideal.

"Some autographs you can read and some you can't," said McCall. "Some just look like scribbling."

McCall had some sticker material in his plant and Internet access gave him the logos of popular country bands. He made a sticker of the logo, applied it to a guitar and then got the artist to autograph the guitar. That would give the buyer not only an official autograph but also the name and logo of the band or performer. His first attempts were not up to his standard of excellence but he has since perfected the process.

"We're still working on ways to improve," he said. "We've spent a couple of months getting to where we're happy with what we have."

The guitars are ideal for fundraising auctions and because of the quality, McCall said a buyer will be proud of what they have purchased.

McCall said the guitars are also ideal for the music fan interested in a "high-end" collectible, for the fan who attends a concert and wants more than a T-shirt. Each guitar also comes with a photo of the artist with the guitar.

In addition to featuring a performer on the guitar, McCall also plans to do song specific guitars.

"We'll start selling them on e-Bay and then when people learn who we are, we'll have our own site. We'll also do a charity site, where all proceeds go to charity. Many of the performers have specific charities that they support."

The sky is the limit for the guitars, McCall feels, because nobody else is producing them.

"I learned a long time ago you just follow where it leads," said McCall. "It's kind of the way things go. This is a natural fit for us. Anytime you can find something with true value that people can appreciate, it's a good way to go."

McCall said the reaction to the guitars is "Wow!", followed by, "I've never seen anything like that."

"Then they jump into, 'How do you do it?' The reaction is very strong across the board."

McCall is currently targeting country and western acts in Texas and Oklahoma.

He keeps up with performance schedules and arranges to meet the performers enroute to their show or at the venue, to get guitars signed.

He will give performers guitars to do with as they please.

He said many will use the signed guitars to raise money for their favorite charity.