Danelectro

[target]

What do the guitarists here think of Danelectro guitars?

I recently got one to give as a gift to a guitarist.

Here's the deal. I think he was feeling sorry last summer as I hadn't played the drums in a year and a half, and a loud acoustic set wasn't a good match for new fatherhood. He had acquired an electronic kit from a guy who used to drum for Bells Of... I guess he had no use for it, or wanted to inspire me to play, so he boxed all 559 pounds of it and shipped it to Maryland from the west coast.

I took the set halfway out of the box and set it on the floor on my porch. I think I got as far as attaching the bass pedal and maybe one of the drum pads.....and there it sat for more than 6 months.

Finally, realizing that I had no desire to figure out how to set it up, much less play it, I took it down rte 1. to atomic music, a big used music place in Maryland. They gave me $200 trade for it. I have no idea (and don't really care) if I could have gotten more for it.....I decided that since my friend went through the trouble of packing and sending it, I should get him a present in recognition of his efforts and generosity.

I figured guitarists always like more guitars, so i started wandering through the guitar racks for a guitar that was around $200 bucks. I had no idea what to get. The guy has fenders and gibson les pauls and SGs and maybe even some sort of hollow body. so he must like different body designs and must be okay with single coil and humbucker pick ups (pretty good guitar talk for a drummer, no?)

I was confused with the fender strat wannabes and wanted to get him a few neat shaped bc rich guitars but they were too expensive.

I finally went with a Danelectro. It is pukey purple and vaguely sparkled.

What do you think of these guitars? I know that these were department store guitars, but haven't they amassed kind of a niche base of fans over the years? Would this be an acceptable surprise gift?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[xxxHunterxxx]

Danelectros are cool — the official baritone guitar of the Evens.

[SamDBL]

They were bargain student/beginner guitars back in the day. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The same was true for the LP Jr, which is one of the gold standards of guitars, now. Afaik, current danelectros is a brand that has been bought and sold a million times. They are currently import cheapies, which is pretty much in line with what they've always been. One thing they have going for them that a lot of other cheap guitars in that price range don't have is their legacy. There are some iconic models that were played by the likes of Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and a slew of others. I'm not saying the ones made today are of the exact quality of the ones made in the 60's. But they are not too far off, being that they've always been known as bargain guitars. But again, some serious pros have found use for them throughout the years. So within the range of a few hundred dollars, I don't think anything really compares with them. And they are not looked down upon in the same way that say, a $200 Fender Squire, Epiphone or Ibanez made in Indonesia are. Whereas I wouldn't use a $200 Schecter for anything more than a wall decoration... I'd be pretty stoked to get a current production Dano as a gift.

[version sound]

Sam pretty much nailed it. They are cheap, but cool guitars that definitely have their own thing going on. There is a lot of love out there for those lipstick pickups. I would be very happy if someone gave me one.

[Mark T.]

Great choice for a unique gift to any guitar player! I have this one in my collection, no complaints.

[target]

Thanks for the feedback! I’ll let you know what he thinks