A History of GDUB Music


Fredric Wall

The story of GDUB music started in the early 1900s when Fredric Wall came to America from Germany to make a better living for him and his family. Fredric hailed from a musical family that gave him a passion in music that is still seen today in the form of GDUB Music. When Fredric arrived at America, he and his family decided to settle in the Dubuque area which had a large concentration of German immigrants.

Poverty hit the family hard. In an act of desperation, Fredric took out a loan to start a music store. Wall Custom Guitar Luthier Co. was born. The instruments made were primarily acoustic guitars ranging from cheap budget guitars for the beginner to fine hand made instruments. Fredric ran the factory along with many hired craftsmen until his death in 1938. That was when his son Bernard took over.

With the invention of the electric guitar by Leo Fender in the late 1950s, Wall Custom Guitar went into the world of electric instruments. To expand on local business, Bernard started a shop down the street to sell some of the guitars as well as shipping them around the world. Business was good until 1985 when a fire burned down the factory and took the business down with it.

In 2008, descendant and young entrepeneur Garrett Wall re-opened the shop under a new name. That is the store GDUB Music we all know and love today that provides only the finest in hand made instruments.