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Danelectro Owners Club

#1,043
A good buddy has about a half dozen original Danos and Dano/Silvertones . He plays them regularly , and has said the necks on all of his have always been great .
I use a Longhorn most of the time , but it's a first Korean Re-issue with a truss rod . I've only had to adjust it once . One of the most stable instruments I know .
 
#1,047
I own or have owned a '63 Dolphin-nose, a Hodad reissue, and a Jerry Jones longhorn. The '63's held up pretty well, but it's also had a bridge mod to keep it going. The neck's a little wonky but still plays and sounds OK. None of the others have quite the same sound. The reissue's neck has been surprisingly stable and they solved some of the design issues with the bridge, but the varitone switch is funky now. I would question the long-term road-worthiness of either of these axes in a regular gigging or touring situation, though they're both a blast to play, and if you're not the worrying type they sound great in a mix! The Jerry Jones had no flaws, was (is) a solid pro axe, and I wouldn't hesitate to go that route if I were working it a lot. ...my .02.
 
#1,049
It's been a few pages since we posted a current membership list... here ya go. Let me know who else needs numbers.

01 - portaflexer
02 - Rob Martinez
03 - rllefebv
04 - The EH Man
05 - Turock
06 - Abaroa
07 - mongo2
08 - deste
09 - JimmyM
10 - Mastermold
11 - williamk
12 - smcfarland1337
13 - jumbodbassman
14 - atomicdog
15 - rfslick
16 - Bullitt5135
17 - bamofo88
18 - sub006
19 - emblymouse
20 - msb
21 - GBassNorth
22 - guylorenz
23 - moonshinegtrs
24 - AphekGreg
25 - brokencode
26 - Farmerboymusic
27 - Wagz
28 - ddinpsl
29 - johninmemphis
30 - gus79seyffert
31 - sneha1965
32 - jasongil1
33 - 1stnamebassist
34 - iamthebassman
35 - rodl2005
36 - April
37 - JoeyDiLamma
38 - rapidfirerob
39 - Southway
40 - benlauziere
41 - FatherG
42 - JGintheHam
43 - mcgreivey
44 - King Kenton
45 - racecarguy
46 - CaptainGrog
47 - SherwoodGreen
48 - foxxiroxx
49 - johnnyangel69
50 - DENelectro
51 - RandyMolson
52 - pinebrookjohn
53 - GIBrat51
54 - suprblip
55 - 4-stringB
56 - tacman6749
57 - Thedeadking
58 - leftieray
59 - jsutton1988
60 - AaronVonRock
61 - scabpicker
62 - rogerbmille
63 - danosix
64 - RicMetsBruce
65 - Back To Bassics
66 - fjadams
67 - Fuzzbass666
68 - old mark
69 - HelpImaRock
70 - R&B
71 - Robin
72 - AlexanderB
73 - biglugpa
74 - sethmadsen
75 - mel0dic.bassist
76 - Eldo
77 - lowendfriend
78 - tomshepp
79 - TDZ
80 - CatSquare
81 - ack
82 - hodad
83 - Celtic59
84 - Michael King
85 - MVS
86 - secretsound5
87 - ScarfFace
88 - blankfield
89 - SamanthaCay
90 - TBPlayerOC
91 - danomite64
92 - Rikki_Sixx
 
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#1,050
TomB said:
I own or have owned a '63 Dolphin-nose, a Hodad reissue, and a Jerry Jones longhorn. The '63's held up pretty well, but it's also had a bridge mod to keep it going. The neck's a little wonky but still plays and sounds OK. None of the others have quite the same sound. The reissue's neck has been surprisingly stable and they solved some of the design issues with the bridge, but the varitone switch is funky now. I would question the long-term road-worthiness of either of these axes in a regular gigging or touring situation, though they're both a blast to play, and if you're not the worrying type they sound great in a mix! The Jerry Jones had no flaws, was (is) a solid pro axe, and I wouldn't hesitate to go that route if I were working it a lot. ...my .02.
Click to expand...
A very good summation, I think (yes, the rotary switch was just a plain bad idea - they ALWAYS go, that's why most of the old Gibsons with it have been modded). Also (technically) it's not a vari-tone - that's a Gibson thing that involves a variety of "tone" settings switching between different capacitors and an inductor coil - though it does use the same switch. Certainly NOT a big issue (especially since I think Danelectro actually used the term in some of its advertising) and I usually hate it when guys on here correct people like this, but we should use the right terms.
As far as roadworthiness - the most sensitive part of any bass is the neck and either the re-issues or the JJ should be fine . As far as the hardware - other than the tuners, they are plenty capable of enduring the rigors (the bridge is going to go wonky overtime regardless of paying situation but a vice will fix that in a minute (I used my foot and a brick to fix mine).
As far as the bodies which people worry about a lot - assuming a proper hard case, which is a requirement of any kind of touring regardless of your instrument - they should hold up just fine. The only point when they are more delicate than a Fender (the obvious middle of the road working bass) is that they are hollow, but that only makes these more delicate in the case of a direct hit by something heavy and hard - which again the case will protect from. Since they are built on a frame and not like a traditional hollow guitar (and have not holes to let moisture move easily in and out) they are not really any more prone to warping, top-bow, etc. than a solidbody.
 
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#1,051
danosix said:
A very good summation, I think (yes, the rotary switch was just a plain bad idea - they ALWAYS go, that's why most of the old Gibsons with it have been modded). Also (technically) it's not a vari-tone - that's a Gibson thing that involves a variety of "tone" settings switching between different capacitors and an inductor coil - though it does use the same switch. Certainly NOT a big issue (especially since I think Danelectro actually used the term in some of its advertising) and I usually hate it when guys on here correct people like this, but we should use the right terms.
As far as roadworthiness - the most sensitive part of any bass is the neck and either the re-issues or the JJ should be fine . As far as the hardware - other than the tuners, they are plenty capable of enduring the rigors (the bridge is going to go wonky overtime regardless of paying situation but a vice will fix that in a minute (I used my foot and a brick to fix mine).
As far as the bodies which people worry about a lot - assuming a proper hard case, which is a requirement of any kind of touring regardless of your instrument - they should hold up just fine. The only point when they are more delicate than a Fender (the obvious middle of the road working bass) is that they are hollow, but that only makes these more delicate in the case of a direct hit by something heavy and hard - which again the case will protect from. Since they are built on a frame and not like a traditional hollow guitar (and have not holes to let moisture move easily in and out) they are not really any more prone to warping, top-bow, etc. than a solidbody.
Click to expand...

Interesting info, thanks! Yes, Dano's own literature calls it a Varitone switch. It's easy enough just to flip the single toggle to "full-on" and avoid it altogether - that's what I do. Your point about a hard case is a good one as well. I do tend to carry my axes in gig bags, including the Hodad, and it's held up just fine, but a hard case would be better. So far its bridge is OK too. It's currently on tour with Dwight & Nicole, to prove your point. I no longer have my JJ, or it would get the call.
 
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#1,052
TomB said:
Interesting info, thanks! Yes, Dano's own literature calls it a Varitone switch. It's easy enough just to flip the single toggle to "full-on" and avoid it altogether - that's what I do. Your point about a hard case is a good one as well. I do tend to carry my axes in gig bags, including the Hodad, and it's held up just fine, but a hard case would be better. So far its bridge is OK too. It's currently on tour with Dwight & Nicole, to prove your point. I no longer have my JJ, or it would get the call.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've never actually TOURED, but I used to play a LOT and one of my axes was my Dano SIX (sound familiar) and it never gave me any problems as far as stability or ruggedness. Though the tuners could have been a little better - but the tuning stability issues were as much a feature of the six string bass and it's limitations as it was the tuners.
 
#1,053
msb said:
It's been said that Nathan Daniel thought the adjustable truss rod was the weakest part of modern guitar design so he made reinforced necks that would not move .
Click to expand...
Well, even old Nat and Leo made mistakes. Leo originally thought that the solid maple on his original Esquires would be stable enough, but he was convinced by others in the industry that he would have trouble marketing the instruments without truss-rods. And one thing you don't see come up at auction is original non-truss esquires - not even in numbers that would be appropriate to how rare they are.
 
#1,059
So...
I don't think we've beaten this horse QUITE to death yet.
Who would buy a DC bass reissue or an actual shorthorn reissue if Danelectro brought them out.
As much as I love me a longhorn, I've always like the shorthorn looks - and sometimes you don't want to jump out visually that much.
As I was saying earlier today in another thread, it seems to me there is demand for a DC reissue at least - they regularly go for more than original MSRP on the EvilBay and other sites, which is definitely NOT something you can say for any of the other reissues - though "original" longhorns (note the quotes, I mean reissues) are starting to catch up.
They keep producing the dolphin bass which is only a minor hit - and really no different an instrument than the longhorn (shortscale, pickups in the same place) - though it feels VERY different to play). They are making the 63 (guitar) again and it was definitely not their best seller and they regularly re-issue the Hodad which at least suggests there's a demand for long-scale Danos.
Am I alone in this or should we be petitioning Evetts to re-issue the DC.
Also - as I said - who'd be up for a real shorthorn?
 

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