IIRC was a special order i did thru imperial guitar in newburgh. he put me on the line with a labella guy.
my danos
my danos
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NBD: 58 Danelectro Longhorn reissue
- Thread starter JEBassman
- Start date
It's the wood that makes it good.
But you can get individual saddle versions if you must.
Mine was an impulse buy at Sam Ash after they marked them down from $400 to $190
Shoot, I would have bought one of those at that price.
I have 3 of them; 2 long scale DC Pros (with the adjustable, individual saddle bridge), and a new Longhorn. They're all leftys, and all are the Korean versions.
As far as the tuners go; yes, some Danos - particularly the originals - use guitar tuners that are probably not quite up to handling "real" bass strings; and yes, the holes are not quite big enough for some sizes. Which is why traditional Dano bass strings are so skinny. My DCs came with normal bass tuners (slots and a center hole), and will handle regular bass strings with no problem. IIRC, the Chinese Danos - especially the Longhorns - also use the small hole, guitar-style tuners. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't looked at the ones on my Korean Longhorn, so I can't say for sure (been busy with other "put out the fire" things - so sue me).
The Bridge? Yes, it's pretty simple (but it is adjustable - a little), and the Chinese bridges do have a reputation for being "bendy". They are easily straightened, though; and, some people put a "support" screw under them, in the middle, to help prevent that. I can't recall many people having that problem with the Korean ones. The bridges are easily replaced, though, and after market ones are available. Some folks replace them with the "Pro" adjustable bridge, but Dano purists say that it ruins "that Dano sound". Whatever...in any case, I've had no problems with mine, and the DCs are 20+ years old now.
Anyway, glad you like it. Join us in the Dano club, and enjoy, enjoy...
As far as the tuners go; yes, some Danos - particularly the originals - use guitar tuners that are probably not quite up to handling "real" bass strings; and yes, the holes are not quite big enough for some sizes. Which is why traditional Dano bass strings are so skinny. My DCs came with normal bass tuners (slots and a center hole), and will handle regular bass strings with no problem. IIRC, the Chinese Danos - especially the Longhorns - also use the small hole, guitar-style tuners. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't looked at the ones on my Korean Longhorn, so I can't say for sure (been busy with other "put out the fire" things - so sue me).
The Bridge? Yes, it's pretty simple (but it is adjustable - a little), and the Chinese bridges do have a reputation for being "bendy". They are easily straightened, though; and, some people put a "support" screw under them, in the middle, to help prevent that. I can't recall many people having that problem with the Korean ones. The bridges are easily replaced, though, and after market ones are available. Some folks replace them with the "Pro" adjustable bridge, but Dano purists say that it ruins "that Dano sound". Whatever...in any case, I've had no problems with mine, and the DCs are 20+ years old now.
Anyway, glad you like it. Join us in the Dano club, and enjoy, enjoy...
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Love the black and white.... looks brilliant. How do those things hang on the strap. I would imagine they would be a bit neck heavy.
On the OP's photos I can only see a strap button on the neck heel. Can you put one on the horn without risk of it breaking. They do look kinda narrow.
edit: on second look the heel looks pretty long itself and almost goes as long as the horn.
Oh yeah, that's right...I forgot for a second that the strap button is on the neck heel unless you have one installed on the horn like I did. Yes, they are a little narrow, but it's solid wood in there so you can drill it and it'll hold. Mine's been like that for 5 years now with a Dunlop Straplok, and it's never even loosened a little. Granted, I don't use it every gig, but there was a time I did. Anyway, I find the neck heel button impossible to button onto, but if you have a strap that will do it, it balances fine because it shifts the center of gravity.
That's true. I managed to get my strap on both default buttons, with a little persistence. The bass hangs nicely; no neck dive at all.
Currently I'm using a Comfort Strapp, the extra long bass version. I have it extended almost to its full length. Even though the bass is light I always like the padding those straps provide. It helps when you have shoulder injuries, which I have, as well as back problems.
Ya man, Danos are a little flimsy and cheap, but they hold up surprisingly well. I've even flown mine in checked in as baggage in one of those SKB rolling bass cases and a gig bag 7 or 8 times and nothing ever happened to it. And mine is an 09, which many people say is the cheapest version of them all. Eh...I figure they're all cheap to some degree or another
As long as I get the twang, I'm good.
I was initially wary of the bridge too . When I first got my Longhorn it needed some tweaking so I had to remove the neck to get at the trussrod and had to slightly adjust the bridge . And , I have to say , the intonation is good , I managed to find the sweet spot for it , and I've never had to tweak things since . The neck is one of the most stable necks that I own .
I have no desire to replace the wooden bridge with an adjustable one . I've come to appreciate it for what it is . A very simple , effective design .
The Dano has completely changed my sense of what a good instrument is . It's also been my main bass for the last five or six years and has proven to be tough , and resilient to the rigours of getting banged around . It's never let me down . I have a bunch of vintage and name basses , I use the Longhorn because it's fun to play .
And sounds great .
I have no desire to replace the wooden bridge with an adjustable one . I've come to appreciate it for what it is . A very simple , effective design .
The Dano has completely changed my sense of what a good instrument is . It's also been my main bass for the last five or six years and has proven to be tough , and resilient to the rigours of getting banged around . It's never let me down . I have a bunch of vintage and name basses , I use the Longhorn because it's fun to play .
And sounds great .
I just received my Dano less than a month ago and have only gigged with her three times. I must admit when I first picked her up I was some what skeptical of her worth as far as a durable gigging guitar but judging from all the comments I've been following here they seem to be holding up as well as my jazz bass which has been my work horse for the last 15 years. These old bones of mine needed something light cause by the third set my shoulder and back was achin' but the mind still was playin'. I had looked over a number of hollow bodies but they weighed the same if not more in some cases so I had ordered the Dano and hoped what I had read about her was true. And sure enough she sounds and handles better than what I expected. She's a little bright for the western swing band I'm in but she kicks ass in the blues and rock band. So perhaps some flats on her and she'll become the go to gal for all my needs.
I had trouble with the strap as well, but I bought a vintage strap and even then I had to unscrew the button in order to get it through the hole via the rear end of the button but so far so good it's stayed on tight and the vintage design is small enough at the ends that it doesn't twist up against the guitar. I was wondering JimmyM where on the horn did you put your button?
I had trouble with the strap as well, but I bought a vintage strap and even then I had to unscrew the button in order to get it through the hole via the rear end of the button but so far so good it's stayed on tight and the vintage design is small enough at the ends that it doesn't twist up against the guitar. I was wondering JimmyM where on the horn did you put your button?
Nice collection - I'm jealous.
I have a U2 guitar in the same pinkburst (which they called copper but was definitely salmon on those 90s Danos) and am just about to get a longhorn in the identical greenburst to your second one. I also have a 63 (longscale) but it's in boring old black - definitely not as nice in black as the longhorn or U2 - but still kinda classy and a U2 bass vi in black. Wish I had a DC though - especially in the black sparkle - very cool. drooldrooldrool
Why? Do you need the intonation on the two inside strings to be CLOSER than within a couple of cents? There is absolutely NO reason for the two outside strings to be SPOT ON (and that's where the high notes you might play are anyway). In a band setting bass frequencies that close are not descernable as off to the human ear - hence the popularity of fretless basses (and of course the fretlessness of upright and guitarrone) and the virtual lack of fretless guitars. Also - when you're playing chances are you're not fretting perfectly on every note anyway - so your intonation is varying literally by the note.
P.S. the people who say they CAN'T intonate the two outside strings 100% are WRONG - I am no magician and I've NEVER EVER had a Dano with the rosewood (I;ve now had 4) that wasn't perfect on those two - and the other two are often right too. This is no different than an ABG (or acoutsic guitar) or a jazz style guitar or really most fretted instruments. I think Leo did the music world a great dis-service by making his instruments so intonatible. Not becasue I don't like perfect intonation - I get it there on all my instruments - but because it has caused this huge hang-up in musicians over the difference between being as close as the human ear can hear and being correct on a scope. The other problem is MOST players don't intonate thier own instruments - which means that the touch used by the technician is almost certainly not the player's PLAYING touch and so literally every note is off - which is not to say that thier intonation is a problem, but to say that lots of people are out all the time but think they're on - and that they can't accept more than close enough.
All this isn't to discount you opinion - just to tell you to give it a chance - if absolute perfection was what make good and interesting music we could have computers creating musical masterpeices and live music would be dead.
