new/old Silvertone/Dano

I was in Indianapolis visiting some friends not so long ago, and in the local second hand guitar shop, this thing called my name... (I got it dead cheap, and the current $/€ conversion rate made it even sweeter...)

I think it's a 67, and it's a really nice guitar, that really works great for me. It needs a tiny little bit of work, two high frets, and I had to put the electronics back to stock : the previous owner had wired the pickups out of phase, and I prefer them in phase. (as the middle "both pickups on" switch position in Danelectros is series, it was a fairly useable out of phase sound, but with the two separate volume controls on this guitar, I'm getting a lot more out of the in-phase wiring)


tadaaa :

Very nice, Walter!
My buddy Dave picked up a lefthander reissue and it sounds pretty cool.
I'll bet that one sounds even better!

Walter:

That's looks real nice! As always, we seem to be fishing in the same pond. Here's my lipstick p/u find, a very worthy cheap one:



A Telestar Mona. Jerry Jones level quality, or almost. To the point where I just picked up two of their lipstick p/us to try in it. The stock p/us are real nice, but the JJ pickups in my bari are so pretty sounding, gotta try them here.
MD

Very nice MD! I remember seeing those advertised in GP magazine way back. Is it faithful to the classic hollow/masonite Dano construction? I don't think there's a Dano out there that I couldn't love - though, and this might come off as snobby - I've always preferred the old ones I've played.

Can't argue with the playability of Jerry Jones guitars though!

My new old one is kind of "different" in that it's a true solidbody, and I'm glad to report lipsticks sound great in a solidbody too. The one thing I'm considering is to have it refretted with a little bit of radius to the board - the ultra-flat fingerboard works, but it takes getting used to every time I pick it up.

Walter:

I'm guessing faithful on the basic construction part. Where it differs is in quality, set-up and playability. Much like the JJ in that department, offering a two way adjustable (height, intonation) bridge. The neck is a pleasant surprise. A touch more radius than the JJ Neptunes, really nice fretwork, just right sized frets too. Came to me unplayed, looked like. A little fret sprout and a way cheesy plastic nut, so I had my favorite tech set it up. The new nut makes a huge difference. It's a real player now, more soul and sound than I expected from such a modestly price instrument.
MD

That Dano is pretty similar to my Harmony Bobkat, but with the lipstick pups. Mine's a very comfortable guitar to play and I find it appeals to me whenever I think I don't need it. It also has a treble boost switch I love. I also have a beater Stratotone and a Silvertone 1448 I am very fond of. Nice find, WB. I'm with you on old Danos, though they are harder to come by than Harmony/Silvertone.