• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Danelectro Owners Club

#541
Hi - does anyone have the long scale and short scale Dano '63... just wondered if the necks were completely interchangeable... with no changes need if I wanted to bolt the short scale neck from the redburst onto a black body?
 
#542
Fuzzbass666 said:
Hi - does anyone have the long scale and short scale Dano '63... just wondered if the necks were completely interchangeable... with no changes need if I wanted to bolt the short scale neck from the redburst onto a black body?
Click to expand...

i am pretty sure the bridge needs to move

edit. maybe not - just looking at mine at looks to be in the same place

dano63.jpg



when i get a chance i will try and figure that out. is the short scale 30"
 
  • Like
Reactions: sneha1965
#543
Yup 30" ... first shortscale after a whole lifetime of Precisions. Loving it... but want to have a couple and the shortie only came in Redburst.

I guess if the neck heel to bridge length is the same on both it should be simple to swap the necks.
 
#545
mcgreivey said:
I'm also interested in whether anyone knows of a balances short scale set (preferably flats).
Click to expand...

Recently strung my Dano 63 shortscale with La Bella 760 FS S (45/65/85/105)

It was previously strung with some D'Addario half rounds.

Wasn't sure at first but after a week or so of playing and a few setup tweeks, I don't think I could imagine the bass ever strung with any other strings than the La Bella's.

They do lighter sets if you're concerned about the tension on the neck... (although I've not seen a problem yet).
 
#547
Hey guys,
Long time reader of these forums, first time poster :)
I have just recently bought one of the newer Dano reissues. A 56 Single Cutaway (Black) - I think reissue of the U2 design? But I might be wrong.
I saw the bass in a guitar shop and loved the look of it and it felt good to play, it was nice and cheap so I grabbed it!
I just have a question about restringing as I'm new to this style of bass (I'm used to playing Fender J and P basses).

When restringing the guitar-style tuners, is the correct way to restring them using a similar method to restringing an acoustic guitar (i.e. through the hole, round the back and tuck under?) to avoid string slippage/intonation issues? Using some short scale Rotosound monel flatwounds with silks on the ends, never restrung in this way. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
 
#549
lovelove said:
Hey guys,
Long time reader of these forums, first time poster :)
I have just recently bought one of the newer Dano reissues. A 56 Single Cutaway (Black) - I think reissue of the U2 design? But I might be wrong...

When restringing the guitar-style tuners, is the correct way to restring them using a similar method to restringing an acoustic guitar (i.e. through the hole, round the back and tuck under?) to avoid string slippage/intonation issues? Using some short scale Rotosound monel flatwounds with silks on the ends, never restrung in this way. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
Click to expand...


I have a black 56 also. It's great.

I restring like a bass: Cut the string to length based on the length of the old string, put it through the hole in the tuner with a little bit poking out the other side, start winding on. When it gets to 180 degrees, I make sure to put a good kink where it's bending over the edge of the tuner hole, so it makes a good hook. Then start winding on so it winds down the post, so there's a decent bend-down over the nut.

After you get all 4 strings on, but before you get too committed, you'll want to check intonation. You might have to partially undo the above if it's out. There's a screw on the back (bottom/body) side of the bridge for adjusting the popsicle stick. I only had to undo and redo it once to adjust the bridge, happliy. The neck seemed fine, so fortunately I didn't have to mess with the truss rod. I assume I'd have to take the neck off to get to it.

The great thing about flats is that they last a long time, and once you get it set up right, it might be a long time before you'll have to mess with it again. I've had mine almost 3 years (if I count right), and I haven't had to do anything. I've been thinking I might want to tweak the intonation some time, because it's not perfect, but it's close enough, and I haven't actually want to spend the time messing around. It's not so far out that it's noticeable to anyone but me and my tuner.

But it's a great-sounding bass. It was definitely worth the very low price I paid for it.

I have long-scale D'Addario chrome flats on it. I reamed out the E-string hole a tad to make it work. It was a set I had lying around. The bass was an impulse purchase. I figured it would sound like cr*p, and that I would regret spending the the money on it. I was totally wrong.
 
#550
mcgreivey said:
I have a black 56 also. It's great.

I restring like a bass: Cut the string to length based on the length of the old string, put it through the hole in the tuner with a little bit poking out the other side, start winding on. When it gets to 180 degrees, I make sure to put a good kink where it's bending over the edge of the tuner hole, so it makes a good hook. Then start winding on so it winds down the post, so there's a decent bend-down over the nut.

After you get all 4 strings on, but before you get too committed, you'll want to check intonation. You might have to partially undo the above if it's out. There's a screw on the back (bottom/body) side of the bridge for adjusting the popsicle stick. I only had to undo and redo it once to adjust the bridge, happliy. The neck seemed fine, so fortunately I didn't have to mess with the truss rod. I assume I'd have to take the neck off to get to it.

The great thing about flats is that they last a long time, and once you get it set up right, it might be a long time before you'll have to mess with it again. I've had mine almost 3 years (if I count right), and I haven't had to do anything. I've been thinking I might want to tweak the intonation some time, because it's not perfect, but it's close enough, and I haven't actually want to spend the time messing around. It's not so far out that it's noticeable to anyone but me and my tuner.

But it's a great-sounding bass. It was definitely worth the very low price I paid for it.

I have long-scale D'Addario chrome flats on it. I reamed out the E-string hole a tad to make it work. It was a set I had lying around. The bass was an impulse purchase. I figured it would sound like cr*p, and that I would regret spending the the money on it. I was totally wrong.
Click to expand...

Cool thanks, I thought it was straight forward just wanted to check before fitting some expensive strings. So you bend the string round the peg by hand with just a small amount of string out the other side? (Sorry, I'm used to the Fender restringing process)

With your chromes did you have problems with the long scale? As in, did the string start to unwrap when you cut it to size? I've heard this is a problem with cutting flat wound strings.
 
#551
I didn't have a problem with unwinding. I mean, it is a bit ragged at the end, but it's never let loose, and it stays in tune, and intonation is right on the E. If it ever breaks loose, I guess that'll be the day I know I need a new set of strings. Short scale this time. But I didn't think about it being a problem at the time, but I've since read that it can be. If I'd known it could have failed, it might have, I suppose.

But I liked the sound of the chromes so much that I put them on my Jerry Jones Longhorn as well (but I got a proper short-scale set).

I don't know what the Fender restringing process is. I guess I restring my Jazz bass pretty much the same as I do the Danos.

20140414_002855.jpg

^^ Yeah, it doesn't look perfect, but it works.

I'm worried more about the bridge plate, which is beginning to bow down, as apparently so they often do.
 
#553
HelpImaRock said:
One of the things I've noticed since getting my Reverend is how little sustain the Dano has. It sounds cool, don't get me wrong. But the E has very short sustain and overall it feels like the bass is soaking up as much vibration as possible instead of passing it to the pickups. Any thoughts on how to make the instrument feel more solid?
Click to expand...
Use another bass. Danos are what they are and that's all they will be, and either you like it or you don't. The long scale Danos seem to have a little more sustain, but none of them will knock you out with sustain like a Modulus, for example.
 
#554
Sorry to disappoint, but the short answer to your question is; No, not really. Understand that Danos are relics from a time when sustain - especially in a bass - wasn't something many people cared about, or even wanted. In fact, lots of basses had mutes and things to get rid of as much as possible; witness the mute in the bridge cover of a P-Bass. Your Reverend (looks nice, by the way), is a completely different animal, and was made when we very much do care about sustain. However.. to answer your question:

1. Is your bridge mounted correctly? When I got it, one of my DC Pros had the thing screwed down onto the body, instead of sitting on top of the 2 front screws. Didn't do much for the sound. Make sure the bridge is correct.
2. Fiddle with the pickup height. You can lose a lot of signal strength (and sustain) if they're not right. And too close to the strings is almost as bad as too far away. Find the sweet spot. Won't be as sustain-y as the Reverend, but it will be all it can be.

You could try messing with different strings, but I doubt that would help much. Like JimmyM said, you'll just have to suck it up and live with it. Sadly, Masonite was never noted for being a great tone wood, and being a semi-hollow body doesn't help a lot, either. And, how much sustain do you want, anyway? I've got one of my DC Pro's plugged in right now, and frankly, it has just about as much sustain as I can stand. Not like one of my Ricks, or the Kramer (which will sustain while you go to the john and come back), but more than enough for me. :)
 
#555
GIBrat51 said:
Sorry to disappoint, but the short answer to your question is; No, not really. Understand that Danos are relics from a time when sustain - especially in a bass - wasn't something many people cared about, or even wanted. In fact, lots of basses had mutes and things to get rid of as much as possible; witness the mute in the bridge cover of a P-Bass. Your Reverend (looks nice, by the way), is a completely different animal, and was made when we very much do care about sustain. However.. to answer your question:

1. Is your bridge mounted correctly? When I got it, one of my DC Pros had the thing screwed down onto the body, instead of sitting on top of the 2 front screws. Didn't do much for the sound. Make sure the bridge is correct.
2. Fiddle with the pickup height. You can lose a lot of signal strength (and sustain) if they're not right. And too close to the strings is almost as bad as too far away. Find the sweet spot. Won't be as sustain-y as the Reverend, but it will be all it can be.

You could try messing with different strings, but I doubt that would help much. Like JimmyM said, you'll just have to suck it up and live with it. Sadly, Masonite was never noted for being a great tone wood, and being a semi-hollow body doesn't help a lot, either. And, how much sustain do you want, anyway? I've got one of my DC Pro's plugged in right now, and frankly, it has just about as much sustain as I can stand. Not like one of my Ricks, or the Kramer (which will sustain while you go to the john and come back), but more than enough for me. :)
Click to expand...

That's what I figured. And why I bought the Rev in the first place. Thanks for the confirmation. :)
 
#556
Hey all, been a while since I've been on the site. But I was just thinking that the Chinese basses (bigger tubes, satin chrome) are supposed to be higher output. But at least measuring the rough way (DC Resistance) they are actually LOWER than my older MIK (by like .1K but still).
Has anyone found this?
Also, I've been thinking about replacing my pickups in the '63 and the #1 prospect are the GFS pickups. I'm considering the slightly higher output (6K) for the pridge to go with a 4.8K for the neck. Has anyone else done this? How Danelectro-y does it sound? A big part of the Dano sound is the low output and while I like a more muscular (low mid focused) sound for my basses I have a Danelectro for a reason - the Dano sound - I just want it tweaked a little to give a bit more bass and mid.
The other option is putting a pair of Kent Armstrong split tube Jazz Bass replacements in a Jaguar bass (which had the pickups further apart than a traditional Jazz (and thus more like a Dano) but they are like 10K! Jerry Scheff who was famous for using a Dano put these in his Lakland signature and likes it - and Bassplayer claims it has the Dano vibe - but pickups with that high output would tend to sound very Fender-y (all other things being equal) or even "modern" so has anyone tried these?
 
#557
danosix said:
Hey all, been a while since I've been on the site. But I was just thinking that the Chinese basses (bigger tubes, satin chrome) are supposed to be higher output. But at least measuring the rough way (DC Resistance) they are actually LOWER than my older MIK (by like .1K but still).
Has anyone found this?
Also, I've been thinking about replacing my pickups in the '63 and the #1 prospect are the GFS pickups. I'm considering the slightly higher output (6K) for the pridge to go with a 4.8K for the neck. Has anyone else done this? How Danelectro-y does it sound? A big part of the Dano sound is the low output and while I like a more muscular (low mid focused) sound for my basses I have a Danelectro for a reason - the Dano sound - I just want it tweaked a little to give a bit more bass and mid.
The other option is putting a pair of Kent Armstrong split tube Jazz Bass replacements in a Jaguar bass (which had the pickups further apart than a traditional Jazz (and thus more like a Dano) but they are like 10K! Jerry Scheff who was famous for using a Dano put these in his Lakland signature and likes it - and Bassplayer claims it has the Dano vibe - but pickups with that high output would tend to sound very Fender-y (all other things being equal) or even "modern" so has anyone tried these?
Click to expand...


I have used both the GFS lipsticks & the Kent Armstrong split tube J pickups in my builds; The Armstrong pickups may have a little bit of Dano flavor {twang?}, but without a doubt they sound like a Jazz pickup. The GFS lipsticks are great sounding and are an excellent upgrade or replacement pickup at any price, but are a steal priced as low as they are. The 6k & 4.8k are a great upgrade that will retain the Dano sound. I use a 4.8k (neck), a 6K {middle) and a 8k (bridge) in my 3 pickup builds and they work great, though the 8k starts to stray away from the classic lipstick tone.

Moonshine :bassist:
 
  • Like
Reactions: danosix

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back