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The Dano Is a KEEPER

#21
I got my Longhorn today and only two words come to mind to describe it:

EPIC FAIL! :spit:

In over forty years of buying, selling and repairing instruments, I don't recall seeing such an utter piece of crap, a perfect storm of bad concept, bad engineering and awful execution. It's a terrible bass, and that's not a matter of opinion but of clearly demonstrable fact.

It's so bad it's literally not even playable. It won't get in tune, it won't hold pitch, the nut is cut so badly the E string hits the first fret. The strings are the wrong length and far too heavy (.100" E) for the bridge (which is already collapsing in the middle) and especially the guitar machines. There's a horrific, screaming rattle like a sitar somewhere inside the neck. There was literally no setup of any kind done: The trussrod had never been so much as tightened and the nut was rattling loose, no attempt at intonation was made, and to loosen the saddle so you can slip it into intonation, you have to pull the already iffy bridge. There's barely any perceptible output from the bridge pickup, even adjusting it almost on the strings, but the adjustment screws are grossly cross-threaded anyway.

And this is just the beginning of its problems. :rollno:

I'm freakin' amazed, I really am. Absolute garbage.
 
#22
Wow, that one does sound like a sad case. My Longhorn was a 2000ish pro model (thicker neck, bass tuners and better but crappy bridge). It had none of the problems you mention and I kept it till 2007. May be that the new ones are not the ones to get.

Can you send it back? Throw it on the bay or CL and say bye-bye?

Peace,
S
 
#24
It's going back for an exchange, but it's just such a lame instrument in concept that even an excellent one is going to take many hours of bench time and some more money to even be playable.

Mainly what it needs is appropriate strings and good luck finding them. Even with the lightest-gauge, short scale bass strings, the string tension is a little over twice that of typical guitar strings, which puts Danelectro's use of their same guitar bridge and machines on a bass into perspective -- never mind that the strings provided are pushing closer to three times the load as guitar strings.

I'll try to get one set up well enough to dump with a clear conscience. I've several buyers for this one, but I don't want to move junk to a TBer.

I think it's a disgrace that Danelectro sells such stuff.
 
#25
I think every pro should have at least one Danelectro bass in his or her arsenal, for both the vintage mojo vibe factor coupled with the "jeez, that piece of crap sounds pretty damn good" factor.

The first time I took my purpleburst Longhorn to a rehearsal, my band (a bunch of total bass noobs) just about fell out over the aesthetics, and then they were amazed by the tone.

EDIT: Sorry to hear about your lemon Bongo. My Danos are all from the successful 90's reissue run, all decent instruments. They have idiosyncracies, for sure, from the aluminum nut to the bridges to the tuners, but there are a few relatively painless work-arounds to all the quirks. I have never had any trouble with a standard gauge (.100-.045) string. The tuner holes can be widened with a metal drill bit, and the fact they are guitar tuners has had no negative effect on my Danos. Lots of other quick, effective mods.

Good luck in your quest for el-cheapo bass nirvana.
 
#29
Seems weird to me that the Dano you received was the Dano you expected. I'm not doubting your descriptions, it's just that most people don't have such catastrophic expectations, and then actually have catastrophic results. Usually a person with too-high expectations gets let down, or a person with very low expectations gets pleasantly surprised. And I assure you most Danos are far more playable than what you've described--so it's as though the worst one possible was specially selected for you to receive.
 
#30
I just got one and while it is an inexpensive bass I like it. I don't have any of the problems you listed. I do have a little buzz on the open D string but not too bad.
If you are looking for problems you will probably find them. I had fun playing mine last night and still with the original strings. No it's not going to replace my Birdsong but I'll still pick it up. Looks cool too and I really like the color.
Bongolation you should send that bass back if it has all those problems.
 
#32
i have several of the reissue danos from the late 90's. they are all basically very functional. nice light body , great for 3rd set in crappy bars..... some sound better than others. IMHO the dc sounds the best overall with the hodad actually better but more 60 cycle issues with the 3 pup setup. I have strung a couple with flats and they get a nice bassier tone. They are not made to sound like a modern bass. Longhorns always get attention from bass players who want to try....

DANOCOPPER.jpg

DANODC.jpg
DANOHODAD2.jpg


DANO.jpg

DANOAGUA.jpg



i do recommend upgrading or reglueing the neck strap buttons as i had one pop out on my dc recently. good epoxy should do the trip but i actually put other ones in..
 
#33
jumbodbassman said:
i have several of the reissue danos from the late 90's. they are all basically very functional. nice light body , great for 3rd set in crappy bars..... some sound better than others.
Click to expand...

Nice collection of Dano mojo! Thanks for sharing.

Have you tried the '63 Longscale reissue? I just got one recently, wow...closest thing yet to a "real" bass from Danelectro that I've played. Incredible tone. Still light, but a solid player. It set up like a dream, nice low action with no buzz.

(click to enlarge)
DSCN6565.jpg
 
#34
I've got two longhorns...both very nice, although one is on craigslist, as I just have too many freaking bass guitars at the moment.

Only guitars I have ever purchased that played nicely right out of the box.
 
#36
RFord04 said:
...and how many items that you attempted to order (or "ripped off") got canceled?
Click to expand...

The one item that I ordered got canceled (I was one of the first). I did not care at the time and am happy now that it did. I knew it was wrong at the time but got caught up in the excitement. Some of the things I have seen in that thread makes me sick. I am so glad now that I am not a part of it. Look at my posts, you can see how I felt about it after the cancellation. We all have our own morals, I had a lapse in mine at the time and I am sorry for it.
 
#38
Joe Nerve said:
Don't know if there are any rules against posting a fer sale in related thread, but your thread popped up in 'new posts' right after I posted mine, so... fer any other dano lovers if you're interested, my transmission is hitting the shop tomorrow :) .

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=669544
Click to expand...

What a coincidence.

Going with the Big Al, eh? What configuration and color?

Also, do you still play that Minarik? Damn, that is a beauty. Is that a custom order, how'd you go about acquiring it?

Sorry to OP, I don't mean to hijack the thread.
 
#39
electracoyote said:
Nice collection of Dano mojo! Thanks for sharing.

Have you tried the '63 Longscale reissue? I just got one recently, wow...closest thing yet to a "real" bass from Danelectro that I've played. Incredible tone. Still light, but a solid player. It set up like a dream, nice low action with no buzz.

(click to enlarge)
View attachment 171866
Click to expand...

for some stupid reason (probably a fight with my wife over stuff) i never got around to getting one. when i woke up they were all sold out or returned as many had issues originally. i would love to get one. did you get from a store or feebay???

I noticed a 63 club only but no general dano club. am i wrong??? if not we should start one up...
 
#40
bongomania said:
Seems weird to me that the Dano you received was the Dano you expected.
Click to expand...
No, it was a lot worse. That was a surprise. I wasn't expecting much, but I was shocked by what I got.
I'm not doubting your descriptions, it's just that most people don't have such catastrophic expectations, and then actually have catastrophic results.
Click to expand...
So, I imagined, oh, the E bottoming out on the first fret? My "attitude" made that happen? :confused:

The plain truth is that 99% of the people here really don't understand how instruments are supposed to be constructed and don't see strengths and weaknesses of build for what they are. Most of them just know "awesome" and "sucks," and these aren't highly qualified appraisals, but, as you mention, mere emotional responses possibly exacerbated by blood alcohol and IQ levels on the wrong side of normal. ;)

Listen, I'm not that much of a player. I'm a gear guy. I actually know production instruments and construction, and when I tell you something's a pretty sad exhibition, you can safely assume I'm not pulling your leg or just having a bad day. Gear's just product to me and -- unlike others here -- I have no emotional attachment to it, which usually upsets fanboys.

And I assure you most Danos are far more playable than what you've described--so it's as though the worst one possible was specially selected for you to receive.
Click to expand...

Well, again, that's a comforting theory if it lets you dismiss my input, but they didn't send just me one with the grossly wrong strings that not only can't string up right on the E, but will fatally overload the bridge and guitar machines, which believe me are really straining under the load. Plenty of others mention breakage, so I'm not imagining this. If the machines don't break (shafts and buttons shearing according to other posts), they are going to wear out quickly with a minimum of double stress loading over guitar strings for which they were designed. String tension and fit are the fly in the ointment with Danelectros from the beginning, but I expected the instruments would at least be shipped with appropriately fitting, lower tension strings. They aren't. They just strung them up with cheap generic stainless fretkillers that are far too heavy and don't even fit. Why is that not disgusting and insulting to the buyer?

I knew that finding suitable strings was a problem, but I figured I'd just use the strings that came on it, because those would have to be right, because when manufacturers have unusual string requirements (say, on Floyd Rose's speedloader guitars), they at least provide the proprietary strings.

WRONG!

I can't help feeling that the marketers view these as disposable novelty products not intended to really be played, like those Gretsch acoustic guitars with the comic paintjobs and packaging from a few years ago. "Hey kids! It's FUN!" :rolleyes:

I have news for those who try to lamely rationalize Danelectro's shortcomings because they are "cheap" instruments. They're not. At a controlled street price of $350 for a bottom-tier Chinese build, these are relatively pricey compared to many real, conventional instruments, like, say, the Squier CVs or any number of fairly impressive budget instruments coming out of Cor-Tek's expanded Indonesian operation or even the better Chinese plants.

BUT...it's not all bad:

I love the way the neck feels to me and (incredibly) they didn't eff-up the fretboard and alignment (as they have on others about which buyers have complained). While the bridge pickup is about useless, the neck pickup gets a nice enough sound. It really does. It's light (a huge bonus for me) and the finish, though not great, is acceptable after you pick off a dozen or two little dingleberries. I'm reluctant to exchange it for one with probable defects that are less easily remedied.

IF I could establish that appropriate string sets of the proper lengths and tension for this exist (somewhere!) and shake out some replacement parts from Danelectro for the bad ones on the instrument, I'd spend the bench time to try to turn this into a usable instrument -- chasing down the scary rattles, doing extensive bridge remedy, minimizing friction in the overloaded machines to extend their life while using moderately over-tension strings (if such exist!), chasing crossed threads, etc., etc.
 

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