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Danelectro Owners Club

#3,963
JIO said:
I do use UPS (and USPS) always insured and always 'sig upon arrival' and haven't had an issue like with FedEx and now Amazon. Only once was there a damaged delivery w/UPS and it was efficiently resolved. Point being - out of the shipping options, UPS & USPS treat their employees better and do the most to be responsible. I have a face-to-face relationship with my postman, and UPS would never do what FedEx or Amazon would do, at least in my experience shipping basses/guitars etc for the past 10+ years with them.

Your case is unusual but understandable as they don't want to be held liable if it was stollen. Unfortunately their policy is based on the reality of our current world of desperate thieves.
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I understand the "signature required" part. My complaint is with their system: It accepts I've made a change to the delivery, but doesn't reflect that change in the notifications.

Anyway that's a cool bass you've got there!
 
#3,964
Posted back in 2016 and haven’t been back since.

Here’s my small family of Silvertones…1444 bass, 1321 guitar, 1431 guitar amp.

The bass I got in 1978 for $65, the guitar and amp I got together in 1980 for $20.

IMG_1773.HEIC.jpeg


As you can see, the guitar saw a lot of use before I got it. The flowers on the guitar are not original, it’s some kind of glued on vinyl covering. The mystery switch selects two different capacitors. As long as the tone knob is not wide open, this provides two tones, one brighter and one darker. The 1321 came out in 1957 with the coke bottle headstock, the dolphin nose was used later starting around 1960. The bridges are located in the same spot on both, making it possible to swap the necks and bridges between bodies :wideyed:

IMG_1775.HEIC.jpeg


Neck bolts and control cavity covers are different.

IMG_1776.HEIC.jpeg


The same knobs were used on the amp! Three tubes, preamp, power amp and rectifier. 5W, 8” Jensen speaker. The amp was in the catalog for three years, 1959 to 1961 so the guitar is probably from the same period.

IMG_1777.HEIC.jpeg
 
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#3,966
JimmyM said:
The Labella sets I've played have this very piercing high end that sounds exactly like this:



A great sound sometimes, but not what I want to hear all the time. I was wondering which was brighter, a dead set of XL's or the LaBellas, and I'm pretty well convinced now that the LaBellas are brighter. So I won't be getting them.
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what a great song and performance!
 
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#3,968
AZBob1960 said:
Newest family member.

View attachment 7071348
'58 Red Hot

Gonna try the La Bella 760-FD first, then the 760FS-S. Need me some flats.
Sign me up @portaflexer!
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I use 760FSS. I've never tried the 760FDs. I'd expect them to be too light and floppy (especially the E and A?) for me.

I suppose on an old '60s Dano with no truss rod, lower tension might be what you'd want. This bass has a truss rod, though, so you can use any (short-scale) strings you want, basically.
 
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#3,969
mcgreivey said:
I use 760FSS. I've never tried the 760FDs. I'd expect them to be too light and floppy (especially the E and A?) for me.

I suppose on an old '60s Dano with no truss rod, lower tension might be what you'd want. This bass has a truss rod, though, so you can use any (short-scale) strings you want, basically.
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I'd already ordered the 760-FDs before I got far enough in this thread to learn better/more/different...:laugh:
I expect them to be a too light for my tastes as well.
 
#3,970
I have the 760FD on my Longhorn. They are light, but do feel good. They did their homework on this set.
If I could make a small tweak, I’d make the G just a touch lighter (maybe around 40) and the E just a touch heavier (maybe around 85-90). This would make them feel a little more balanced. They sound great. Sometimes, the lighter strings help keep the string to string tonality balanced. With the wooden saddle, it's classic 60s thump all day.
To be fair, if I played this bass as I do most of my other basses, I would probably have the 760FSS set on it. The FD strings are perfect for my situation. I use this bass, along with a 34" scale bass (45-105 flats) for a very specific band. The long scale bass is for the songs that require a more aggressive, hard hitting attack, often with a pick, the Dano for the softer side of things, mostly fingers. It's nice, playing the Dano is like getting a break during the set since the strings are lower tension and the scale short.
 
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#3,974
AZBob1960 said:
I'd already ordered the 760-FDs before I got far enough in this thread to learn better/more/different...:laugh:
I expect them to be a too light for my tastes as well.
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I didn't intend to say that there's anything wrong with the FDs. People like them, as you can see from other people's comments (like bigtone23).

Install them and play them and report back with your opinion!
 
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#3,975
ATLbassist said:
I posted a picture a long time ago in another thread, so I guess I should go for an official post here. I used to have an MIC Dead-On '58 Longhorn. It sounded great, but never felt quite right. Then I traded locally for an MIK Longhorn Pro. That was the right move - the look and sound I wanted with improved feel. I had Chromes on it for awhile, but switched last year to half-rounds (my preferred string) for some more zing. Here 'tis:

View attachment 2502869Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

I wanted something a little different in the pickguard, so I added a pearloid one from an eBay seller.

View attachment 2502870Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

View attachment 2502871Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

A previous owner replaced the tuners with Hipshot Ultralites. They stick out a bit further than I'd like and look a little goofy; but when you play a Longhorn, I think goofy is part of the package! (They'are also great for reducing neck dive on a such a light bass.)

View attachment 2502872Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

View attachment 2502873Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

I haven't played this one in awhile, but my urge to clean it up and tinker is rising. So I have a couple of questions for you fellow Dano players. I have the height screws as low as they can go without expanding the holes in the body. The action still seems a bit high, except for low F where it's buzzing slightly. I plan to shim the neck, but there's also the famous Danelectro bridge sag:

View attachment 2502874Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

I want to take off the saddles and straighten out the plate. Are there any recommended methods? I was thinking of pressing it between pieces of wood using c-clamps. If that's the way, how long should it set? (I don't really want to go for the drilling/thumbscrew method as I lack the tools and expertise.)

Also, I like the more recent knobs that have embedded metal beads so you can quickly see the settings. I tried to drill mine and glue in small nails, but the ones on the tone controls keep falling off.

View attachment 2502875Danelectro Longhorn by thaddeusthompson, on Flickr

I want to replace them outright. Is there a DIY on how to remove and replace the knobs?
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What are the values of these post? 250/500 like a Fender?
 
#3,976
AZBob1960 said:
I'd already ordered the 760-FDs before I got far enough in this thread to learn better/more/different...:laugh:
I expect them to be a too light for my tastes as well.
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Don't dismiss them out of hand; La Bella has made those FD's for many, many years. And, truss rod or not, many, many Longhorns have worn them. My lefty '18 Longhorn did, for a while. I replaced them with a set of La Bella 760FXs, but only because I play with a pick about 98% of the time, and for me? The FX's work just a smidge better. I also have long scale FX's on one of my DC59 Pros. The feel under my fretting hand is the same, though; and so is the tone...
But, it is your bass; use whatever strings you want to use. Just give those FD's a fair chance, though. They aren't floppy, and while they are not the "Thump Monsters" that, say, 760FS's are (I use those on a couple of short scale basses that I want to be Thump Monsters), there's no mistaking that they are La Bella Deep Talking Flats... :cool:
 
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