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Old Danelectros: worth it?


deadllama

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I've had a bunch of Harmony- and Kay-made Silvertone guitars over the years, but I've never had a Danelectro. My buddy has one of the reissue DC's in copper, and I really like it.

 

Is it worth it to track down an original U2 or DC (more than one pickup, preferably) or should I just buy a reissue? What about the Convertible, or the Hornet?

 

Tell me about your old Danos, and show 'em to me if you got 'em!

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To me... It is way worth it.

 

First danos I played were the imports. They sounded cool but just never stuck with me. I always wanted a dead on 67 or the U2 reissue. But... Story time!!!

 

 

I always browse around craigslist list for whatever I can find at a good deal. Well someone posted an ad for a "Silvertone guitar". That was it. So I went to check it out. Ended up being a 1958 Danelectro U1! Or a Silvertone 1317. Same thing! It was a bit beat up and heavily changed... but I got it dirt cheap for a dano. The best part was the original pup. Sounds AMAZING! Plays great after I got some work done to it. One of my favorites I own.

 

Go vintage. You won't want to touch another reissue again.

 

Also... Pic!

 

danof.jpg

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For everything below the neck, I greatly prefer the original.

 

But I never could bond with the thick, soft-ish Poplar neck (on the plus side their fretboards are a wonderfully oily-feeling Brazilian Rosewood. Overall, I like the Maple necks of the RI. The original neck has a non-adjustable, rigid truss bar (modern has an adjustable truss rod), but they always seemed to stay true for me.

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For everything below the neck, I greatly prefer the original.


But I never could bond with the thick, soft-ish Poplar neck (on the plus side their fretboards are a wonderfully oily-feeling Brazilian Rosewood. Overall, I like the Maple necks of the RI. The original neck has a non-adjustable, rigid truss bar (modern has an adjustable Triassic), but they always seemed to stay true for me.

 

Who needs a truss rod!? My favorite guitars don't have em! :p

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This reissue does not have the adjustable truss rod, it just has the rigid truss bar that Wyatt mentions above.

 

ded59owht_f.jpg

 

The rest of mine do (I believe) have the adjustable rod, but IIRC, the neck has to be taken off to access them. ('cept for the DO'67)

 

DSC02182.jpg

I also have a blue sparkle Hodad (no picture of it yet but it looks just like this one)

 

[video=youtube;8FiHikn30Ks]

 

I like all of them for their thinner vibey hollow-ish tones. About the only one I probably wouldn't bother getting again is the Dead On '67. It's not bad but I think the RI Dano p'ups shine better with their usual body build rather than the slim solid body design of the Dead On.

 

 

But unfortunately I have no experience with the originals, but thought I'd toss in some reference here on my exp w the RIs.

 

 

 

PS. On that vid above (I'm listening to it again as I posted) I think it's interesting that he commented on the SC bridge tone as being "real thin sounding" because that's basically how I view the Dano's, i.e. good Neck, N+B, but the Bridge tone is too thin for me to find particularly useful. Maybe with lots of gain :idk:

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I have four older Danelectros and Danelectro-made Silvertones. All have one pickup. Two are guitars. One is a four string bass. And one is a six string bass. I have owned two or three reissues and a Hodad. Before I owned old Danelectros I did not know the difference. But the older ones sound better to my ears and feel better in my hands.

 

I recommend this one because it appears to be in good shape and comes from a reputable dealer. It also has a full scale neck.

http://www.gbase.com/gear/silvertone-1449-amp-in-case-1960-redburst#

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How much do they usually go for?

 

 

They're all over the map. They made zillions of them, so they're hiding everywhere, though they might not be in the greatest condition. If you buy through a guitar store for one with a good setup, I'd expect around half a G, excepting the Corall, Jimmy Page, Lindley, Spampinato, Linghorn/Guitarlin and "Stan and Dan" doubleneck models being significantly more than that. Oh, and you'll have to pay extra for the potentially deadly amp-in-case.

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If you like to tune as you are playing go for it!

 

Really hasn't been a problem with either New. left, 1959 right

 

DSC04597.jpg

 

And maybe I got a good 'un, but plugged in, these aren't that far apart.

Check Alvin Youngblood Hart's you tube clips w/his Dano-he replaced the pickups w/GFS's hotter winds, and his tone just KILLS.....

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