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Danelectro Owners Club
- Thread starter portaflexer
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Hi, there. I just received a Danelectro Longhorn Bass, my second short scale bass. While I love the feel and sound (just installed La Bella flats), I'm not in love with the tone and volume controls. What I'm thinking of doing is converting to a Jerry Jones setup (volume, tone and three-way toggle), but I haven't been able to find anything mentioning an available kit, or even a wiring diagram anywhere. Has anyone attempted this mod, and could they help a guy and point him in the right direction or provide a schematic? Cheers!
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You probably need to change the pickup heights so the output is balanced. The other thing that happens closer to the bridge is the string doesn't move as much as it does near the neck. So the bridge pickup has to be higher to compensate not only for the change in string height, but also the decreased amount of string movement.
This is how balanced "neck" and "bridge" pickups came about. Bridge pickups are just a hotter version of the neck pickup. Danelectro may use the same pickup in both locations and it's up to you to balance it out.
Your controls sound like they work the same as my Dano Double. The tone pots do very little until the end where they act like a switch that goes full bass. So it's either full treble or full bass with not much between. I noticed the tone pot on my bridge pickup doesn't seen to do much, but it depends on how the volumes and other tone pot are set.
It's a weird approach to wiring that is one of Nat Daniels signatures. Instead of using the switches to turn things on and off, he wires everything full-on then grounds-out what he doesn't want. The wonky pot and cap values create an electronic network that belies understanding, but it works in it's own weird way.
I would rewire my double but it is incomprehensible when looking at the wiring and there are no correct wiring diagrams available. I emailed Evets and they said they don't even have them.
I wish someone would make a 250K stacked concentric pot that drops into these Danos that uses of the stock Dano knobs. That would make life so much easier.
How do you do that on Dano pickups? All I have are two screws on the back of my Dolphin body that hold the pickups in place. I'm used to other pickup types that have foam or springs under them and you just tighten or loosen the top screws. Do the Danos have foam or springs under them? Never took them out to look but given how thin the masonite is...
Replaced to tone knobs with Hofner knobs.
they help make the bottom volume knobs feel more solid and look like they were meant to be on the bass!
I’m going to mess around with the controls today at home and see if I can get a better understanding of how they work.
they help make the bottom volume knobs feel more solid and look like they were meant to be on the bass!
I’m going to mess around with the controls today at home and see if I can get a better understanding of how they work.
There is a slab of black foam between the pickup bottom and the body; these are made like a 335 with a center block; the pickups have a set of legs that straddle the center-block while the center of the pickup is on the block with foam sandwiched between.
Turning those screws on the back changes pickup height. The foam needs coaxing so you may have to push the screws toward the body a few times until it expands to hold things in place.
Well after messing around at home tonight with the Longhorn I’ve found that there’s something going on in the wiring.
When jiggling the bridge tone knob it cuts the signal in and out.
So I’ve decided to have this completely re-wired to a Master Volume, Master Tone and a blend knob setup (while keeping the pups wired in series)
When jiggling the bridge tone knob it cuts the signal in and out.
So I’ve decided to have this completely re-wired to a Master Volume, Master Tone and a blend knob setup (while keeping the pups wired in series)
You turn those screws on the back to adjust the pickup height. Try it and see.
Love the longhorn some much I ordered vintage correct lipstick p’ups from Curtis Novak.
Lipsticks are the simplest design going so if you are paying boutique prices you are getting ripped. The reason they sound so good is they are cheaply made from cheap components. That means they should be cheap to buy as well.
Main reason I bought these are they are made as close to the originals (uses the correct magnets) as I want to get as close to the vintage Dano sound as possible.
Has anyone taken a part the new Dano pickups to see what’s inside?
Hmm, don't buy too much hype. The original and current lipsticks issued by Evets are vintage correct. There were some with ceramic magnets for a while but those appear to be gone now. Seymour Duncan makes a very accurate Lipstick and I'm sure the offerings by GFS are spot on as well.
For Lipsticks buying "boutique" is a bunch of spin and a waste of money.
Give Evets a shout and ask. FWIK they are vintage correct.
Here's a vid of someone taking a SD apart. That one has a lot of tape inside which I'm sure the originals didn't have but you'll get the gist. They are super basic.
I have a mix of a 90s reissue (neck) and a SD (bridge) in my double and they sound the same as each other and as the vintage lipsticks I've heard.
The person to ask about "vintage correct" lipsticks is Adrian Chandler. Her and Paul (Chandler Guitars) were the first to make Lipsticks back in the day - Adrian is the pickup maker of the couple. You should be able to contact them at Pickguard Planet.
I'm wondering if anybody can help me out. I recently sold my Longhorn. At least I THOUGHT I had. UPS lost the package/bass after I dropped it off. It never reached the buyer, and they can't find it.
I filed an insurance claim, which is currently being investigated. They're hoping to find the package, but I'm not optimistic. I provided pictures of my UPS receipt; the bass itself; the gigbag; and shots of some of the new ones being sold (so they know what they cost new) as attachments. I also refunded the buyer's money.
I get an email from UPS today requesting more info. Most of what they're asking for was already provided in my initial claim. But they're also asking for things like the dimensions of the bass. Some of that is mentioned in the specs, which I'll send them a photo of.
But can somebody measure and tell me how long the bass itself is? I know the scale length, but not how long from back of body to tip of headstock. I'd appreciate it if somebody could provide that to me. Thanks. (What a nightmare!!!)
I filed an insurance claim, which is currently being investigated. They're hoping to find the package, but I'm not optimistic. I provided pictures of my UPS receipt; the bass itself; the gigbag; and shots of some of the new ones being sold (so they know what they cost new) as attachments. I also refunded the buyer's money.
I get an email from UPS today requesting more info. Most of what they're asking for was already provided in my initial claim. But they're also asking for things like the dimensions of the bass. Some of that is mentioned in the specs, which I'll send them a photo of.
But can somebody measure and tell me how long the bass itself is? I know the scale length, but not how long from back of body to tip of headstock. I'd appreciate it if somebody could provide that to me. Thanks. (What a nightmare!!!)
Sorry you’re having to go through this!
a quick rough measurement.. they are around 39” long.
