Danelectro Owners Club

[SimonSoys]

I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on one of the short scale jade basses. I've really loved every Danelectro I've tried out and have been itching to get one for awhile.

Has anyone heard anything about when the white and green longhorns shown at NAMM might go on sale?

 

[msb]

They’re not all that good at keeping the site up. Might be better keeping an eye on the retailers.

 

[portaflexer]

Here's the latest membership list. If I missed anyone, let me know. Thanks.

 

[tsarter]

Good evening Dano fans.

I’m selling a beautiful Longhorn:

https://www.talkbass.com/classifieds/1990s-dan-electro-longhorn.1664435/

 

[HelpImaRock]

I learned something yesterday. Hybrid Guitars (Charlie Hunter's guitars) uses regular bass strings in combination with guitar strings. I've been looking for the perfect set of Bass VI strings for my Danelectro Baritone to no avail. So I'm gonna try it and see what happens.

 

[dlmarquez]

Thanks for posting this! - I used a vintage MIJ Coral hollowbody longhorn body to create a ebony fb lined fret-less 24 fret ss with a vintage Teisco pu and an under the table (top) piezo. Apparently there were many of these Kawai Coral bodies floating around after Coral tanked in '68.

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That is the sweetest Dano style body I have ever seen. It appears to have a very Hofneresque neck, quite narrow. How does it play and sound!

 

[JIO]

That is the sweetest Dano style body I have ever seen. It appears to have a very Hofneresque neck, quite narrow. How does it play and sound!

Danelectro was bought by MCA/Coral in '67 and farmed out some work to Kawai, including these hollow-body longhorns. Teisco used them for their Phantom bass. Coral went out of business shortly thereafter, and a stash of these bodies floated around for years - I found mine on eBay. I modified a paddle-head fretted neck (converting it to fretless) to fit the body, which originally had a narrow profile. It has a piezo along with the '60s Teisco single and sounded good mixed. I sold it which was my intent making it.

 

[tsarter]

Danelectro was bought by MCA/Coral in '67 and farmed out some work to Kawai, including these hollow-body longhorns. Teisco used them for their Phantom bass. Coral went out of business shortly thereafter, and a stash of these bodies floated around for years - I found mine on eBay. I modified a paddle-head fretted neck (converting it to fretless) to fit the body, which originally had a narrow profile. It has a piezo along with the '60s Teisco single and sounded good mixed. I sold it which was my intent making it.

I’m so enjoying hearing the history of these. I got mine in the early 80s. Fat dog at Subway guitars in Berkeley put it together for me with parts he had. I’ve heard bits and pieces of this story before, but never the whole history.

Mine is a great player. I’ve used 100s of gigs over the years if not, thousands. Somehow he got it right. Mine has a Hagstrom neck and pick up and some kind of funky bridge Fatdog came up with.

Here’s a few pictures. I just shot.

 

[JIO]

Looks great Is that a Gibson EB-3 pu? Looks like one. The Hagi neck works well with it. That bridge style would need solid wood to support the 2 posts so I wonder if there's wood glued under the top.

 

[tsarter]

Looks great Is that a Gibson EB-3 pu? Looks like one. The Hagi neck works well with it. That bridge style would need solid wood to support the 2 posts so I wonder if there's wood glued under the top.

I never really thought about how the bridge is attached. I always assumed it was just screwed on. I’ll have to look at it more carefully. The pickup is also a Hagstrom.

 

[2saddleslab]

I’m so enjoying hearing the history of these. I got mine in the early 80s. Fat dog at Subway guitars in Berkeley put it together for me with parts he had. I’ve heard bits and pieces of this story before, but never the whole history.

Mine is a great player. I’ve used 100s of gigs over the years if not, thousands. Somehow he got it right. Mine has a Hagstrom neck and pick up and some kind of funky bridge Fatdog came up with.

Here’s a few pictures. I just shot.

I remember Fat Dog ads in Vintage Guitar Magazine and was always intrigued by some of their "creations". That's most likely when I discovered these extra hollow bodies floating around.

Pretty sure I've previously mentioned I had one of these hollow bodies many years ago and rigged my own tail piece bridge. I also used a long scale Dano neck but can't remember where I got it from. Ah, those diabolical basement experiments. I used 2 lipstick pickups and fabricated my own surrounds. While it was a unique mongrel that got lots of attention, it didn't live up to the sum of its parts. Eventually it was parted out. This is the only pic I have of it, and it ain't much.

 

[JIO]

I never really thought about how the bridge is attached. I always assumed it was just screwed on. I’ll have to look at it more carefully. The pickup is also a Hagstrom.

It is screwed in, but the question is; only through the thin top? You've obviously played it a lot so it's proven it's stable either way.

 

[TomB]

It is screwed in, but the question is; only through the thin top? You've obviously played it a lot so it's proven it's stable either way.

Boy, I hope there's a block under there! It could secure the endpin / tailpiece as well.

 

[JIO]

Boy, I hope there's a block under there! It could secure the endpin / tailpiece as well.

I just reviewed my pics related to working on my Coral Long-Horn hollow-body. I added a stick-on piezo pu under the top positioned under the bridge. It incorporated a 9v battery. Here's a pic of where I installed the battery-box. As you can see - there is a wood block at the butt, but it only goes north about 3/4", which is there to stabilize where the tail-piece is screwed to. I now remember that I had to drill through it to install the piezo end-pin jack.

I also cut a pu opening and there was no wood under the top there. (near the neck) Top looks to be a two layer laminate about 1/8" - 3/16" deep

I have a late '60s Conrad ss hollow-body and it has a square 1"x1" block under the bridge which is possibly glued in. (no block under the top) On true hollow-bodies a (usually) round post/dowel is positioned under the bridge to keep that stress-point stable and also to connect the top & back resonance-wise.

But... my '68 Custom Kraft 34" scale hollow-body and my late '60s/early'70s German Musima med-scale hb both have 1/4" deep by 2" wide (approximately) wood blocks glued under the top. Otherwise they can be considered true hollow-bodies. Semi-hollow-body's have a central solid wood-block that goes from heal to butt and from top to back.

 

[Verne Andru]

Both of my hollow long-horns have a solid block for the end-pin like pictured above, a dowel between the top and back like a violin and solid plywood block under the horns and neck pocket.

 

[tsarter]

It is screwed in, but the question is; only through the thin top? You've obviously played it a lot so it's proven it's stable either way.

I just shined a light inside the f hole and took a peek. There’s a solid block of wood below the bridge.

 

[mcgreivey]

OK. On a whim, I recently got a set of Ernie Ball Slinky short-scale flats (45-105, set #P02818). Tonight I played them for the first time with the band, and I like them a lot. They sound really nice!

I've been usind D'Addario Chrome flats (ECB81S) and La Bella Deep Talkin' Flats (760-FSS) for the past 15 years, because I know them, and they sound good, but they can both be a bit muddy on the E string below A (at least on my short-scale Danelectros).

These Ernie Balls were not muddy at all. We'll see if this remains true after I've broken them in thoroughly.

This has been my brief, not-very-thorough, new strings review. You're welcome.

 

[JIO]

OK. On a whim, I recently got a set of Ernie Ball Slinky short-scale flats (45-105, set #P02818). Tonight I played them for the first time with the band, and I like them a lot. They sound really nice!

I've been usind D'Addario Chrome flats (ECB81S) and La Bella Deep Talkin' Flats (760-FSS) for the past 15 years, because I know them, and they sound good, but they can both be a bit muddy on the E string below A (at least on my short-scale Danelectros).

These Ernie Balls were not muddy at all. We'll see if this remains true after I've broken them in thoroughly.

This has been my brief, not-very-thorough, new strings review. You're welcome.

For flats (and not exclusively for Dano's) I also prefer/use La Bella Deep Talkin' Flats and GHS Precision Flats. I've never found them to sound 'muddy', but I've found such is dictated by the bass, the settings of the specific bass & amp, and ones technique. Strings are probably the most subjective part of a bass, so it's great you found your ideal set.

 

[FlyingPigSound]

Love my black '59DC longscale, but seriously thinking about getting this when it comes out soon...

 

[portaflexer]

That is a sexy beast. I love the f hole with the white.