The Danelecto Bellzouki 12 string guitar from 1965

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Danelectro Bellzouki was the brainchild of Vincent Bell, a session guitarist in the 1960s. Apparently when asked to play bouzouki for a gig he tuned one up 12 string style and faked his way through the show. This lead him to design an electric version of a bouzouki. 

Initially there were 2 sets of g-unison strings to help emulate the sound of the greek instrument but quickly evolved to a standard 12 string tuning. Interesting to note that the heavier gauge of the octave strings are on top as opposed to the bottom as on standard 12 strings. I've always thought this would be a better idea, but have never owned a 12 string long enough to try it out.

Other than the bouzouki shape this guitar is very Danelectro with the lipstick pickup, aluminum nut , and skate key tuners.

R.W. Haller

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Ampeg Dan Armstrong-modified Danelectro bass, circa 1969-70

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Dan Armstrong, the man who created the line of clear lucite-bodied guitars and basses bearing his name for Ampeg, freely admits that he was influenced by Danelectro:

Danelectro^® instruments served as far more than merely inspiration for the clear guitars and basses, as Dan virtually built his business on these guitars practically from day one. When Dan opened up his shop on 48^th Street he almost immediately began taking Danelectro instruments and stabilizing them to make them play better. 

According to the book Electric Rock^© by Richard Robinson - Jesse Colin Young used a Danelectro bass in the Youngbloods^® that Dan had modified. 

In the same book Dan went on to say "I was in the repair business in '65. I had a repair shop and wanted something to sell and due to all the stiff competition on 48^th Street I couldn't sell Fenders^® and Gibsons^®, there was no way to do it. I could improve the ones that people brought to me but there was no way to buy them new." The problem here was the fact that the large musical stores already held the franchise on these instruments. 

Still Dan wanted something to sell, and later said "Danelectros were so doggone cheap. I could buy them new and they were basically pretty doggone good. Most of the good parts on those things were engineered in the design which I always appreciated, and with some finishing up they could have been really done well, even out of the factory. But they just didn't have time, it was an economy instrument. I've always been an improver anyway. I enjoy that kind of thing, to find something that's made almost well and try to fix it up. It was all basically right so I just took them apart and cleaned them up a little bit."

Danarmstrong.org

Here we see a Dan Armstrong modified Danelectro bass currently being offered for sale on eBay. This is the AMPEG tagged version with serial # DDB 90, which means it's the 90th one made. DDB=Dan Armstrong Danelectro Bass. 

Modifications made by Armstrong to the original Danelectro design include Kluson tuners, rewound pickups,upgraded electronics, reshaped headstock, re-shaped  smoother cutaway, branded pickguard, micro tilt neck, and double strap buttons on bottom so the guitar can be stood upright more safely.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of S $1,499.99.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Modified Silvertone / Danelectro U1 with dolphin nose headstock

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Bruno writes:

I just found an interesting guitar on ebay, it looks like a Danelectro 56 U1 with double cutaway, I wanted to show it to you since I have never seen one before, and you'll maybe find it interesting.

Hey Bruno, thanks for the email. It certainly does look like a Silvertone / Danelectro U1 - the seller says it appears that the original colour was copper which sounds about correct for this guitar. However, I'm 99.9% certain that the upper cutaway is a DIY modification. The shape of that upper horn is quite crudely fashioned.

The photo showing the control cavity is interesting also, because it illustrates quite nicely the kind of materials these Danelectro guitars were made from. Note the texture of the underside of the masonite top.

Currently being auctioned on eBay with bidding at $112.49 at the time of writing.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Vintage 1960s MEAZZI Dynelectron Longhorn Fretless Bass

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Back in the late 70s, when I first left home, I lived near a street that was famous for being chocablock with second hand shops. I spent many a Saturday morning rummaging through the treasures there, picking up amazing records from bands I never heard of, dilapidated furniture and bits and bobs to decorate my freezing hovel. Ahhh! Such memories.

Amongst all the bric-a-brac was the occasional guitar. A green Microfrets was in the window of a shop that I never saw open. There were Silvertones galore, with and without amp-cases and ghastly Teiscos with nasty flower motifs on the scratch plate and strings like cheese wires.

It was in one of those shops, I first saw one of these Dynelectro guitars. That got me a bit confused as I then thought they were the originals and Danelectro were copying them. It's hard to imagine now but, in 1965, a company copied another's product, even down to the almost-the-same name, and sold it openly. What is now known as "passing off" or back then "ripping off".

I never did buy a guitar from that street but I did, eventually, buy a reissue, late '90s Dano U2 and it sounds and plays really well but I've never had the opportunity to play a Dynelectron. From what I've read about them Dynolectrons were at least as playable as the originals and this seller agrees.

The pictures also seem to support that pretty well, as does the fact that it was once owned by Walter Becker.

A rare 1960s Meazzi Dynelectron fretless longhorn bass(copy of Danelectro) - previously owner by Walter Becker of Steely Dan and also used on David Lynch's production of Lux Vivens (can be seen on the Lux Vivens youtube video) - comes with signed papers as to its authenticity - bass is set up and very playable, has stress/finish cracks at neck pocket(see pic), and some small dings and wear as shown, bass has an awesome growl and is very light weight - comes with non-original newer tweed hard case - this bass is also featured on FetishGuitars.com under Meazzi

This is obviously a well made instrument and probably, given its provenance, is priced about right. But, it has a fairly specialised appeal, I'd say (although I wouldn't say no) and, as the seller has put it in a long-term listing, I don't think it'll be a quick sell.

That means we can drool over it and imagine if we had the cash/space for even longer.

One last look...

Ooooooh!

David In sunny but autumnal Barcelona

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Custom handmade short scale bass - Alembic meets Danelectro!

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Guitarz reader Paul H. writes:

I'm an old Deadhead, so I love me an Alembic-style bass. This one is weird. Love the rosewood tailpiece/bridge, but I'm not too sure about the Dan-O headstock.

The eBay listing tells us that:

This is a custom/proto-type hollow body bass. It is short (30.5") scale and was made as a test platform by a custom luthier to work on ideas for a line of instruments. The body, as stated, is hollow. It's got massive bracing, so there are no issues with feed back, and the tone (when using the recommended "Pyramid" brand strings) is somewhere between a Hofner and a Guild Starfire. (Listen to the bass on Lucy In The Sky or Baby Your A Rich Man and that will give a good idea what this sounds like.)

The body has a Yellow Heart core, with laminations of walnut, quilted maple and the stunning birdseye maple faces. The neck is a Dan Electro that has been modified with peg-head laminations and re-finished in nitro lacquer. The tuning machines are locking Sperzels. The peghead emblem is a slice of English walnut (the actual nut).

The pickups are Duncan BassLine units. The bridge and tailpiece are hand-carved cocobolo, the saddles are hand-cut brass.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,400.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Jerry Jones Danelectro Longhorn 6-string bass replica circa 1990-93

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Here's a Jerry Jones 6-string bass, circa 1990-93, based on the original Danelectro Bass VI model as orignally issued in 1956. Jerry Jones guitars are much sought after and are known not to be simply replicas or instruments inspired by the Danelectros of old, but to be improvements on the originals. This lyre-shaped Longhorn - a cousin of the Guitarlin - features a copperburst finish, two lipstick pickups and a 24-fret neck.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,595.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Link Wray & his Ray Men play "Rawhide" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in this classic video clip

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Here's a fantastic clip of Link Wray and his Ray Men playing "Rawhide" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. I love the reactions of the young studio audience when the camera turns on them, especially the girl who quickly whips her glasses off. (Please note, I am unable to embed this particular YouTube video here, so please click on the links).

The guitar that Link is seen playing here is the Danelectro Guitarlin, first produced in 1959 (it would have been new and "modern" when this video clip was filmed). The lyre-shaped body with extra deep cutaways allowed a longer than usual neck to be used on the guitar whilst keeping the instrument at a regular guitar scale length, thus the neck sports 31 frets taking it into mandolin territory when playing high up the neck - hence the name, Guitarlin.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Silvertone 1457

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This Silvertone 1457 is a classic amongst the classic vintage guitars, but for some reasons we never had the chance to show one on Guitarz. As you can't fail noticing, this Silvertone model was actually built by Danelectro and shares the typical Dan'o features - masonite body, lipstick pickups and above all a boldly pop design - one of their bests, all in curves and claws! And I love the headstock, even though it's technically absurd!

Another characteristic of the 1457 - shortly released in the mid-1960s - was to be sold together with an amplifier case - something than never took but was a nice gadget for beginning guitarists at the time. Silvertone was the instrument line of mail-order catalogs Sears and Roebuck, and had their guitars made by Harmony, Kay and Danelectro; the 1457 package with the 'Amp-in-a-Case' has been very popular, and was even sold with a a guitar playing method on a 45rpm record!

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

11 on 11/11/11: #6 - Vintage Danelectro doubleneck guitar and bass

OK, it's the 11th November 2011, that is 11/11/11, and as such today has been designated Nigel Tufnel Day. To celebrate this day of Maximum Elevenness, we here at Guitarz - for this day only - will be posting an unprecedented ELEVEN blog posts! So, keep tuned throughout the day for eleven weird and wonderful guitars!

Danelectro guitars should be familiar enough to all Guitarz readers. The most famous models are known not only for their very cheap construction methods (the bodies consisted of a simple pine frame with the front and back being made from Masonite) but also, conversely, for the great sounds they made.

This Danelectro guitar and bass doubleneck circa 1961 is a particularly nice example despite the obvious black refinish. In fact I'd go as far to say that the black refinish adds to the road-worn character and vintage vibe of the guitar. Notice how the bass neck is identical in length to the guitar neck, but how the bass bridge is set as far back as the body will allow so as to adhere to the usual short-scale bass length of 30".

This item is located in West Des Moines, Iowa, and currently listed on ebay with a Buy It Now price of $1,599.88.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Coral sitar in "Troubled Spirits" episode of classic Sci-Fi TV show Space 1999

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As played by Big Jim Sullivan.

Via Grégory Gutierez on the Guitarz Facebook page.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1967 Silvertone-branded Danelectro 1443 bass in red-black burst

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This 1967 Silvertone-branded Danelectro 1443 bass in red-black burst was made by the original Danelectro company in Neptune New Jersey in what would have been their final couple of years. Having moved away from guitars made as cheaply as possible (bodies were a crude pine frame sandwiched beteen two sheets of masonite), this dual liptsick pickup long-scale (34") bass is a proper solidbody instrument, a contender perhaps against the Fender Precision. The Silvertone brand (a name with which Danelectro is almost synonymous) on this bass means that it would have been sold through Sears, Roebuck and Company stores.

The example seen here is in excellent condition for its age and is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $399.99 and a not unreasonable Buy It Now price of $779.99.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Danelectro Convertible baritone/6-string bass

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Here's what the seller is describing as the "1st ever Danelectro Convertable Baritone/6 string bass" although, (a) it's actually spelt "Convertible", and (b) how do they know it's the first when anyone with access to the same parts could create the same Frankenstein job?

This hybrid has been put together using 1990s made in Korea EVETS Corporation Dano parts, most of which are pretty interchangable. (For years I had a 56 'U2 that I had assembled from the neck and body of separate guitars. The colours didn't match but I liked it.)

I can't imagine the intonation on that simple floating bridge is brilliant. Those Convertible bridges are just a piece of rosewood with three inserts for height adjustment and a piece of fretwire set into the top!

Anyway, with a Buy It Now price of $875, I think this is another case of optimistic eBayer!

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Danelectro Wild Things

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The Evets Corporation, current day owners of the Danelectro brand, have hit on an interesting marketing strategy in recent years. They re-issue guitars from the 1950s and 60s in limited edition and make them available for a year. This means there are frequently new models for fans and collectors of the brand. Of course it won't be too long before they exhaust the back catalogue of instruments and have to start repeating themselves. The latest crop of guitars sees the single-cutaway '56 style yet again, in a new interpretation has a lipstick humbucker at the bridge and a single coil lipstick at the neck and is also availble with a choice of headstock styles including the clasic "dolphin-nose" style.

More interesting, I think, are the above pictured guitars that Danelectro have dubbed the "Mid 60s Guitars" but which most suppliers are referring to as the "Wild Thing" series. Apparently these are based on a 1960s Danelectro prototype guitar. It is unmistakeably a Danelectro design, although the twin pointy horns both pointing southwards are reminiscent of the B.C. Rich Mockingbird. (A Danelectro/B.C. Rich hybrid - now there's an off-the-wall concept I'd like to see if it was done properly!)

Available in guitar, bass, and baritone models, these latest offerings from Danelectro are priced at $399 each, although many retailers are selling them for $299. Colours available are black, candy apple red, and candy apple blue (eh? Whoever saw blue apples?).

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Danelectro Longhorn Baritone Reissue

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This Danelectro Longhorn Baritone is a guitar about which I can honestly tell: 'I love it', because I do own one and each time I put my fingers on it I feel that it was a good move to get it!

Of course it has the characteristics of Danelectros - super light toy-like body made of masonite, non-versatile lipstick pickups, minimal gear and electronics, but what it does, it does perfectly, its sound is unique, its unusual shape happens to be quite ergonomic, and its extreme 760 mm scale (metric system, yeah) gives it a deep and twangy voice.

This one is a 2007 reissue, a limited edition in mate black finish that you won't find easily already nowadays. Sometimes I think that I should have bought 5 - it's also quite a cheap guitar - because I'm not sure I will find it ever again and I will want to play it always (for my next show I will play a Jacques Brel song in the style of Angelo Badalamenti, and it sounds wicked on the Longhorn)...

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Happy New Year and a vintage Dano Doubleneck!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Happy New Year to all our readers! And congratulations to ourselves for with this post we enter our 10th year of blogging! For this occasion I am showing you this vintage Danelectro doubleneck guitar and bass in copperburst finish, and the necks of which conveniently form a figurative 11 - very handy for the occasion!

Seeing as Danelectros were produced as strictly budget instruments using the cheapest of materials (with bodies of hardboard on a pine frame), the idea of a doubleneck instument does seem slightly incongruous. Note how both the guitar and bass necks are the same length. However, this is still a short-scale bass rather than ultra-short. Most short scale basses have the bridge mounted further into the body; here it is as far back as it will go. It's the neck that is shorter than usual.

This particular instrument was owned and played by George Worthmore who has regularly used it for the last 30 years with such artists as Rick Derringer and the Jack Cassidy Band.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Danelectro Mod 7

guitarz.blogspot.com

This Danelectro Mod 7 is a guitar to my heart! It has everything, the design - look at that blobish mother-of-toilet-seat pickguard! - the personality - did you ever hear of a 7-string with lipstick humbuckers? - plenty of cool technical details like the six-way rotary switch for pickups combinations plus an extra switch to go to lead mode with the 3 pickups in series, and the concentric tone/volume knob. 

It has the typical Danelectro masonite chambered body with a classical yet original one cutaway design, lipstick pickups with a double one in bridge position, a slightly gold sparkle black finish... A perfect combination of vintage feel and innovation, it's been strangely short lived in the late 90s, I guess that it's again one of these too brilliant guitars that didn't find its market because people just want cheap Les Paul clones... Well let me tell you, yesterday I was gigging with my Dan'o Longhorn Baritone plugged on a Sovtek Big Muff Pi and a Marshall bass combo a and I had the most terrific sound one can expect from a guitar!

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

DANELECTRO Vintage VIOLIN SHAPE Acoustic Guitar - WOW!!!!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We do get to see a lot of instruments being hawked under the banner of RARE!!!! on eBay (usually accompanied by WOW!!!) and often referring to a spectacularly bilious Steve Vai-esque paint job, an INCREDIBLE!!!! "C", "D" "U" or "X" neck profile, Kryptonite TONE-MONSTER PUPS, mother of Death-Metal-Toilet-Seat inlays or some such DAMN-GOOD-REASON-IT'S-RARE attribute, but this, as the seller say's is indeed PRETTY RARE!!!!! WOW!!!!!

And, pretty… pretty, to boot. A vintage Danelectro violin shaped f-hole archtop acoustic. And to answer his question. No, I have never seen another like it (except for the teardrop shaped Danelectro acoustic Gavin found about a year ago and another (signed by Steve Winwood and Kris Kristofferson WOW!!!) which appeared in an auction in 2007). Acoustic Danelectros are rare creatures indeed.

It's a cracking guitar (if you like violin/viola shaped guitars and as I own three, I must do) and in great condition. Apparently the original owner was in a cruise ship band (thought he doesn't say whether he took this on board with him). The seller also says that, based on his research (it doesn't say what that entailed or what his source was) it's from the 50's. I won't argue with that because I just don't have a clue. WOW!!! WOW!!!! WOW!!!!

Please excuse all the exclamation marks. I bought a job lot and have to use them up (there was also a bunch of {yellow} italics thrown in for free - and I'm not one to pass up a bargain).

David in Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Dano U1 in a sorry state

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I think we have a rather optimistic eBayer here. With a starting price of $3,500 and a Buy It Now of $4,500, even if it wasn't covered in all that crap this old Danelectro U1 wouldn't be worth anything near that kind of money. Furthermore, whilst the body is said to be from the 1950s, the neck isn't original and supposedly dates from 1967.

In the hyperbole of the listing the seller claims that "this guitar is for rock stars only" and that "If you really are a rock star and money is no object Buy-It-Now, for a guitar you'll never want to smash."

Yeah, as if that is the primary function of a guitar.

Someone has desperately been trying to create the illusion of a guitar with that certain "mojo" here, but it falls flat as being remarkably contrived. The sea-shell for a tone knob is one particularly banal touch. It's such a pity that someone had to spoil a vintage piece like this. If you want to be "arty" there are plenty of cheapo Chinese guitars to go wild on.

Thanks to Shubert Silva for bringing this guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

The Retrotron by John McGee

guitarz.blogspot.com:
John McGee writes:

I've been reading the Guitarz blog for a little while now. I build guitars that are slightly off kilter, and I thought you night like this one.

It's a scaled down Danelectro Bowtie shape. The neck is from a modern Dano re-issue, as are the tuners. The pickups are Gretsch mini-HBs. The body is ash, covered with countertop Formica and bound in white. I call it the Retrotron.

John

Nice guitar! I like the Formica top and the pickguard shape. We are always happy to receive photos of your self-builds, so please keep them coming, folks!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Danelectro U2 Resophonic

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The seller of this Danelectro U2 resophonic guitar says that:

"Don't know too much about it but when I took it in to my local music shop they were fascinated by it. Said it was unusual to see a resonator on these guitars and that they were not cheap."

Yes, it is unusual indeed to see a resonator version of this guitar. These were not stock. I had a friend several years ago who had one just like this, and it was my understanding that a number of these Korean-made EVETS corporation Danelectro reiussues from the late 1990s were in fact modified into resonators by Holiday Music in Leytonstone, London.

As well as the original neck lipstick pickup, the guitar also has a piezo pickup fitted beneath the resonator cone allowing the electric and acoustic properties to be mixed. Note the re-located position of the controls on the upper part of the body. I don't suppose there was space left for them anywhere else.

By the way, my friend reported that it sounded fantastic.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!