Danelectro Hodad

[seaweed]

Ok, so i just got a Danelectro Hodad last week, and yesterday I went and lubricated all the contact points on it. Now I feel the urge to completely modify it for no reason other than to stay occupied.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to modify it to; stay in tune better, look cooler, sound better, play nicer?

 

sorry if im breaking any rules in the thread, this is my first post here, so i apologize ahead of time for any rule breaking that occurs here today

[WRGKMC]

If its a good functioning guitar why not just play the hell out of it? Put on some CDs and plug in and start riffing. Then in a few months if you have some kind of issue address it.

 

I'm not a big one for modding something that doesnt need it. For tuning issues, A littel trick I've used is to douse the ball end of guitar strings with crazy glue and let it dry, wipe off excess. This will prevent ant slippage of the windings on the ball end. Then you only need to make sure the tuner end are securely wrapped and strings are streached.

 

As far as modding Danelectros, Anything to do with the body I would leave alone. The bodies are made of a pressed paper material. Its that brown stuff they put on floors before laying tile thats shiney on one side rough on the other and is basically pressed cardboard and glue. The sides are wood with some vinyl glued on the edge.

 

Its really amazing they play at all and sound as good as they do. I wouldnt do anything to the body that would weaken the structure like cut large holes etc. The bridge is mounted with a wood block under it but the guitars are susceptable to moisture. You can check the instrument when holding the instrument, pluck a string and push the neck forward or pull it back and see if the tuning varies alot. If it does the body glue may be starting to loosen. It may be why using a whammy on one fails to return in tune. The glue seeps into only a few layers of the material like cardboard. Over time it can begin to separate from the rest of the pressed material.

 

Other than that they do have a unique sound. Tning is better with heavier strings but its a trade off on how long the instrument lasts with heavy strings. With light strings they can sound like crap.

 

I saw Jimmy Page playing one at some kind of Zep reunion show on TV. That Dan Electro sounded awful. Dam thing was terribly out of tune. Guess he made a big payoff promoting it cause noone in their right mind would embarrass themselves like that purposly with a badly tuned guitar unless they were being paid for it.

 

My buddy has a doubble necker with a baratone and regular neck. It gets some great sounds and plays in tune very well so it all depends on how the instrument is properly matched to the strings.

[hank_chaos]

fyi jimmy used those back when they did not suck, and i guess he wanted to bring that back, but yeah your regular woodworking tools wont work on the dano because the mdf will make your tools super dull, and then ur screwed

[Belva]

Is the hodad one of the newer ones, as in newer than 10 years old? I think WRG is still correct on the construction of the newer Dano's but I'm not sure.

[seaweed]

Im pretty sure the hodad is like a 1999-2005. im not sure i cant find any literature about it

[Belva]

I agree with WRG. Modding just for modding's sake isn't something I would do. Wait until you're sure of any changes you'd like to make. Otherwise you might be modding again. BTW welcome to the nut house. Lot's of good, smart people here.

[katillac]

I saw the thread title and thought it would be about their little portable amp that they also named Hodad. I had to look up pictures of the guitar to see what it is like. I love the lipstick humbuckers and the glitter finish on one that I'm looking at here. It's gorgeous! If someone made a guitar out of solid wood and with a glittery finish like that on it, I'd want one really bad, especially with the Bigsby style tremolo on it. I can has one in hot pink, plz?

[Belva]

I think GFS has the dual lipsticks. Haven't checked. That would be a nice project. Kat, you need a new project. Start building.

[katillac]

Yes, Jay has lipstick humbuckers, but I think the ones on the Dano are different. The singles on the Danelectro, I am pretty sure, are thinner and wider. Or just wider. I've never seen actual Danelectro brand humbuckers anywhere. I'd rather see what I'd get by slamming six singles into one guitar, Japanese style (like on some of the old Tiescos with six single coils or 3-4 humbuckers).

 

I need another project like I need another butthole. Sure, there are advantages to both, but, wait... where was I going with this?

[WRGKMC]

MDF, I think thats the stuff Hank mentioned. I dont know if it will make tools dull but will sure clog up a blade and cut raggid.

 

My dad brought home about 5 unfinished bodies back in 1970 from a flea market. Flea markets were the EBay back then if you wanted to find stuff cheap. I had been playing for about 3 years by then. They had the vinyl sides someone had oversprayed and some had cutouts. I remember thinking, someone was an awful cheap scate not making them with wood. They were my first guitar projects. I mounted a folk guitar neck on one, A bass neck on another. It was slim picking for parts building stuff back then. I had to make alot of my own parts. I didnt realise till many years later they were actually Dan Electro bodies. Having those bodies gave me an earley insite to how they were built and then I knew how they were able to sell them so cheap. Still pretty cool though. I wouldnt mind picking one up.

 

The tone controlls in some had stacked pots and was a very cool idea. If you get a chance look up the wiring details on them. They have the caps set up for a band pass/cut that would be good for other projects.

[Belva]

I know. The {censored} looks like pegboard without the holes. I don't know how they managed to get guitars to hold together at all. Nice & light though.