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Thoughts on the Danelectro 59DC Longscale?

RemyKatz

RemyKatz

Jul 6, 2024
13
15
#1
Anyone have experience with Danelectro basses?

Big garage punk/garage rock/surf punk guy, I want something a little off beat from my Reverend (short scale P, already a little weird as is lol). Thought about getting a DC59 long scale. The sound demos make it seem interesting, but I know nothing about the quality or upgradability (should I want to, doubt it but eh). Anyone play them recently and can give me some info and thoughts?


Any indie bass brands are also welcome if you know of any, I really wanted to get a Dipinto but sold before I could snag it. Offsets are dope.
 
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#2
I wanted one for years but they just don't cut it for me.
The guitar version?
Very nice, but the bass is somewhat lacking.
Not sure how this one would look in your band, but it's one of those special basses.
Picsart_24-07-04_10-08-15-736.jpg
th-138.jpeg

Came out with a new finish last year
Some people love it, some hate it, but it has a punk vibe, I think.
 
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#3
Danos were designed to be cheap , you might lose that charm doing upgrades. I have a shortscale DC , I removed the adjustable metal bridge and substituted a popsicle stick bridge. I think they sound better. I have several other Danos too.
They’re feather light , and yet tough as nails. Don’t confuse the light weight with being flimsy , they’re not. The lipstick pickups have their own charm , they are single coil , they do carry that 60 cycle hum. They are not all that powerful , but have a sweet tone. I’ve found the pots on my recent DC have a more extreme taper than the pots on my older reissue Danos. I prefer the more even taper of the older ones.
So , they are what they are. And they do possess a unique quality that many love. Not everybody does appreciate that. They cost more than they used to , but that’s true of most everything it seems.

Try one.
 
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#4
I think Danos balance funny with long scale necks. I like ‘em better as short scales.

They have a distinct sound and most of the modern variants are much more playable than the originals. As for quality, it’s a masonite instrument…. how much quality are you looking for?
 
#5
I've had (2) Longhorns, a (Jerry Jones!) Shorthorn, and the mentioned DC Long-Scale.

Dano's are a blast to play, and when you find the right way to get your "Dano Sound" it's way cool to hold down the bottom well with a cheap-o (relatively) bass.

OTOH- The build quality (except for the JJ) is, well, inexpensive.
Tuners and bridge are for the birds IMO, but they make great knock-around basses, even for an expensive-bass snob like myself!

I don't care for short/medium scale basses, so the Short/Longhorns never floated my boat, and the 34" '59 did feel somewhat awkward, as Dano's don;t have the "heft" of traditional P and J basses.

Would like to have tried a Hodad when they were available.
 
#7
A Dano can be plenty lively... here's a long scale DC in action. I say go for it. Pretty sure they're made in Korea again which is killer at that price point! Important to note, the pickups on their own are kind of low output, but when the switch is in the middle position, they're in series (unlike the more common parallel wiring for 2 pickups) so you actually get an output boost instead of the usual mid-scoop of a jazz bass for example.

 
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#10
I've got a 34" dano that looks identical to Kodiakblair's, it's a Korean-made one from possibly the early 2000s. They play great! Neck is very thin (in both directions), it's extremely lightweight, and it balances totally fine - no neck dive at all. It feels kind of like a toy, but in the good sense of the word - it's fun!

Down sides of those older ones:
The wooden saddle works fine but is tricky to adjust intonation if you're not used to it. The current 59dc has a more conventionally adjustable bridge.
The plastic strap buttons that came with mine were awful - they don't hold a strap well and pop out of the body easily. I glued hardwood dowel in place of those and drilled into that to give it something proper (Dunlop dual design in my case). The current 59dc seems to have more reasonable buttons.
The tiny tuners aren't great at all - they work but are not fun to string or tune. They do hold pitch though. The current ones look pretty small too.

You asked about upgrades. For pickups - there aren't a lot of lipstick pickup replacements on the market and anything else would take substantial routing.

As others have mentioned, the pickups are very low output, so you have to set your gain higher than you're used to (but so what?).
And they have a very unusual and distinctive midrange - you either like it or you don't. It can be kind of nasal. It can sound amazing through the right rig, but sometimes in situations of playing through random backline or rehearsal amps, I've had a tough time getting a sound that sits well - the lows could get murky and I couldn't always get a mids tone that I liked. An SVT would do nicely, judging by that NoFX clip :D
 
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#11
slinkp said:
I've got a 34" dano that looks identical to Kodiakblair's, it's a Korean-made one from possibly the early 2000s. They play great! Neck is very thin (in both directions), it's extremely lightweight, and it balances totally fine - no neck dive at all. It feels kind of like a toy, but in the good sense of the word - it's fun!

Down sides of those older ones:
The wooden saddle works fine but is tricky to adjust intonation if you're not used to it. The current 59dc has a more conventionally adjustable bridge.
The plastic strap buttons that came with mine were awful - they don't hold a strap well and pop out of the body easily. I glued hardwood dowel in place of those and drilled into that to give it something proper (Dunlop dual design in my case). The current 59dc seems to have more reasonable buttons.
The tiny tuners aren't great at all - they work but are not fun to string or tune. They do hold pitch though. The current ones look pretty small too.

You asked about upgrades. For pickups - there aren't a lot of lipstick pickup replacements on the market and anything else would take substantial routing.

As others have mentioned, the pickups are very low output, so you have to set your gain higher than you're used to (but so what?).
And they have a very unusual and distinctive midrange - you either like it or you don't. It can be kind of nasal. It can sound amazing through the right rig, but sometimes in situations of playing through random backline or rehearsal amps, I've had a tough time getting a sound that sits well - the lows could get murky and I couldn't always get a mids tone that I liked. An SVT would do nicely, judging by that NoFX clip :D
Click to expand...
Fat mike plays one, Man or Astro-man's bassist plays one, and Messer Chups' bassist plays one. That's really what drew me towards it initially. In doing more research, there really isn't many custom lipsticks outside of Curtis Novak. They make a lipstick from 6.08k down to 3k, good range of tone I imagine.

Still weighing my options though, no other new brands are really popping out at me like Dipinto did. I don't own a Fender P or J yet so maybe a Fender FSR PJ Deluxe or maybe just a P Bass. Not as much fun but, foundational?
 
#12
jd56hawk said:
I wanted one for years but they just don't cut it for me.
The guitar version?
Very nice, but the bass is somewhat lacking.
Not sure how this one would look in your band, but it's one of those special basses.
View attachment 6980501View attachment 6980502
Came out with a new finish last year
Some people love it, some hate it, but it has a punk vibe, I think.
Click to expand...
This has me looking at more Reverends, I'm kinda feelin' the Decision P. Maybe this one too, but idk if I need that much pickup beef for my kind of sound lol.
 
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#16
jd56hawk said:
The Reverends are definitely special.
Click to expand...
How do they feel compared to some other basses? I only had a little while to play some at a trade show-- not enough time to get a real feel, though, and it was quite a while back. I've always liked their vibe and would like to play more.

Are they as solid feeling as a P-Bass?
 
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#17
deepestend said:
How do they feel compared to some other basses? I only had a little while to play some at a trade show-- not enough time to get a real feel, though, and it was quite a while back. I've always liked their vibe and would like to play more.

Are they as solid feeling as a P-Bass?
Click to expand...
Solid basses, right up there with my USA-made G&Ls.
I have a Thundergun, some of the best stock pickups and electronics made
Some might not like the 12" neck radius, though.
 

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