Danelectro Review - Back She Goes

[carguy]

I gave a brief review last week on a Danelectro "Dead On" '67 Hornet I bought recently from Musician's Friend.

 

I was gassing for one for a while and first they were marked down to $299 from $349, and then they went to $249. I took the plunge and sent for one.

 

When it first arrived, I thought I kinda liked it. It is the only solid body Danelectro has ever produced and also the only one with a whammy bar. The guitar is shaped kind of goofy, but they are contoured nicely and very light, making them a pleasure to hold or hang on a strap around your neck.

 

The trouble started when I plugged it in. The electronics are not very good. The volume knobs work alright, but the tone knobs do very little, if anything, in adjusting the tone.

 

The original strings were lousy, and the high e string broke while I was tuning it up. I decided to change them for a set of D'addario 10's. I noticed how crudely the strings attach to the bridge. I forgot to take a picture of it, but they just hook at the end of the movable bridge plate. You have to push on the whammy bar to hook the string on the plate, and several times it popped off before I could tighten it up. After I finally got all the strings changed and tuned up, I realized what a crude set up the bridge is; the bridge saddle is a piece of rosewood that doesn't even have any slots in it for the strings. I forgot to mention how miserable the tuners were. They alternated between being too tight to turn and too loose. All in all, a really poor situation. So, I decided to send the sucker back. It cost me $24.80 to ship it back, but I get a full refund of the purchase price.

 

In summary, the guitar was kind of cool, but I just didn't dig the bridge, the saddle, and the tuners. It's a shame really; it was a pretty cool looking guitar. Here's a pic:

 

[Frets99]

I think you have to pick through guitars and find the right Danelectro Dead On at that price point. I have played a couple and some I liked and some I didn't.

[BG76]

The Hodads also came with trems.

 

When Dano started doing the reissues in maybe 98/99 they were really nice. They had the nice finishes on them and the headstocks matched the bodies.

 

I have had a few of the recent ones and I dislike the satin finish and they don't seem to sound as nice.