NBD: 1960 Silvertone U1

Noyce Dolphin-nose, very noyce indeed!

I've used one of those on and off for decades. I currently have 3 of them and one was made fretless by a previous owner by simply pulling out the frets and leaving the open slots...and the neck is still straight, the two steel bars in the neck certainly help with that. It looks like your's has the Kluson tuners...much better than the skate-key tuners. Does it have the microtilt and did you get the case with it?

The Fretless One (with skate-keys):

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How do you like the tone on that puppy?

 

I don't think I will ever get over how ugly the Longhorns are.

 

Nice score, and nice pair of Danos!

However, lets give the new one its proper name, the Silvertone Model 1444. To call it a U1 is to give it Evets Corporation Dano shame.....

 

A friend at work brought one of these in for me to check it out. Found under an uncle's bed, been there since who knows when. The case was in great shape, the bass was too aside from missing part of the pickguard.

Anyway, the neck was totally straight (steel reinforcement, right?) but the strings were near half an inch off the neck. Is the bridge adjustable at all? There are three screws with rusted heads but without any tools I didn't want to mess with them.

 

Completely adjustable. Top two screws are under the bridge, so you loosen them to raise it. Back screw is over/through the bridge, so you use it for adjusting string angle over the saddle. The saddle can be moved forward and reverse as well as can be angled for intonation.

 

That s what always gets me. Danelectro never made a 4string U1 bass. Only guitar, and the UB1 and UB2 was the first six string bass, modeled after the 2 pickup U2 Dano guitar. The basses to start we're the Shorthorn 3412 and Longhorn 4423.

I'm sort of a Dano freak, living near the original factory and growing up with them, and I really hate it when young kids refer to the basses using Evets designations. While the new Danos are good basses for the buck, IMHO they cannot touch the real thing.

Like I said, you have a GREAT pair of vintage Danos. LOVE IT!

 

When I couldn't get the bridge low enough on one of mine I used a flat shim in the neck pocket to raise the neck and all was well.

 

Same here, I was born and raised between the Red Bank area and Neptune factory locations and I've been using Danos since the mid '60s.

As a young adult a friend of a friend was the son of one of the Dano engineers (his name escapes me now). He said his father would bring home prototypes for the neighborhood kids to try out. You should have seen the stuff in their basement, instruments, amps, cases, amps in cases...I remember when I saw it I thought I had died and gone to Dano Heaven.

 

Great looking Dano bass.
I really wish you could find these basses as easily as the guitars.
I own 2 vintage Danos and they are so sweet sounding and actually play very nice.

 

Where is that fence with all of these basses hanging on it? I have to check out that backyard.

 

When I first started playing bass in 82, and older guitar player in this area had one of those and let me borrow it for awhile. I always loved playing it. Congrats on the find

 

Nice score! I had one of these back in the early- to mid-80s, think I paid about $75 for it. Lots of fun to play. At one point as an experiment I had a luthier friend, Joseph Jesselli replace the bridge/tailpiece with and ivory bridge and ebony tailpiece which really tightened up the sound and punch. I ended up selling it (stock) to a friend of mine and have always regretted getting rid of it.

 

Good Lordy! Love those Dano's what year are they? I want an old Dano but for now just have a new model longhorn.. still love it anyhow.