Bilt Guitars DK Ultra Series — Relevator & S.S. Zaftig Models
BilT Guitars makes its channel debut with something genuinely special — the DK Ultra Series, built from 300-year-old wood pulled from the walls of their own building. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode both DK Ultra models take center stage — the Relevator and the S.S. Zaftig — each loaded with Lollar La Prima Mini-Humbuckers, into the Benson Amps Monarch 2x12" via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. Origin Effects, R2R Electric, and Effectrode also feature.
Purchase a DK Ultra: https://biltguitars.com/dk-ultra/
Follow BilT: https://www.instagram.com/biltguitars
BilT Guitars is built by hand in Des Moines, Iowa — no CNC machines, every guitar made one at a time. Tim Thelen and his team have been building custom electric guitars by hand since 2009, with a design philosophy informed by deep experience in guitar repair and restoration. The DK Ultra is a limited series — 12 Relevators and 12 S.S. Zaftigs — and the material is the story: the bodies are carved from reclaimed old growth pine taken from the structural support beams of the BilT Guitars headquarters building itself. This is 300-year-old wood that has been part of a single structure for generations, now chambered and hollowed for acoustic resonance and light weight, finished in BilT's lo-gloss "Worcestershire" nitrocellulose stain.
Old growth pine is a fundamentally different material from modern plantation pine. Trees that grew over 200+ years develop a tight, dense grain structure — more resin content, harder wood, significantly different resonant properties than fast-grown modern lumber. The chambered and hollowed construction takes that acoustically lively material and opens it further, giving the DK Ultra guitars a voice that is lighter and more resonant than their solid counterparts. It is also a piece of BilT history — the building that housed the shop where these guitars were developed.
The Lollar La Prima was originally developed as a miniaturized version of the El Rayo humbucker — and while it shares the El Rayo's touch sensitivity and responsiveness, the tonal character is distinctly its own. Sweet chiming highs, scooped mids, tight low end. Neck 3.3K / Bridge 3.8K. No typical humbucker compression — the La Prima responds to subtle changes in picking technique and guitar volume in the way a well-voiced single coil does, while still canceling hum. In chambered old growth pine bodies, the La Prima's articulate open character has unusual space to develop.
The Relevator is BilT's offset design inspired by the never-produced Fender Marauder. The S.S. Zaftig is a semi-solid offset drawing from Jazzmaster and Jaguar lineage. Both use roasted maple necks with rosewood fingerboards, 25.5" scale, Mastery hardware.
🎸 BilT Guitars: https://biltguitars.com/dk-ultra/
🎸 Lollar La Prima: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-pickups
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 BilT DK Ultra Relevator + S.S. Zaftig | 300-Year-Old Reclaimed Pine | Chambered | Lollar La Prima Mini-HB | Mastery Hardware | Hand-Built in Des Moines IA
🎛️ Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact | R2R Electric Rangemaster OC44 | Effectrode Tube Vibe
🔊 Benson Amps Monarch 2x12" | Boss Waza TAE
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 11
