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What's happening to Danelectro?
Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:59 pm
by Golden_Sonic
Wandering on several sites, I noticed two things:
1) It looks like that some models like as the Dano '63, the Dano Pro and the Dano Dead On '67 are no more available or, if there is any shop that still sells them, they are just leftover stock;
2) The prices of both Danelectro guitars and basses (and effect pedals too, especially the Cool Cat series) have risen! I remember that you could buy a new Dano DC '59 with less than € 300-330 a couple of years ago: the price of a Dano DC '59 is about € 380-420 now! And the price of the Dano '67 Heaven and Dano Wild Things is around € 400-450 (check out this prices on
Thomann and
GAK).
Does anyone know what is the reason of all this? And how does work the Danelectro production? I've always had the impression that it is quite discontinuous...
Re: What's happening to Danelectro?
Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 6:42 pm
by sunshiner
Golden_Sonic wrote:the price of a Dano DC '59 is about € 380-420 now!
...that is a plywood guitar. Yes I thought about increasing of prices too. Actually I'm not against plywood guitar, but modern Danelectros are hollow body guitars and they have a block of plywood under the bridge that doesnt connect to any other elements of body frame. Once I want to buy here reissue of 63 model, but decided that with the drastically changing season temperature here it can easily delaminate and didn't buy it.
They maybe expensive because they started to use better hardware like Gotoh tuners and maybe better(more expensive) pickups.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:59 am
by Sloan
yeah the prices have gotten FUCKED
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:22 am
by dezb1
Greed... That's what happened.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 9:21 am
by ekwatts
Any models issued since they were resurrected as a guitar company a few years back have been limited runs. Basically, the factory runs off X number of guitars of the current models and then stops. That's that. As far as I'm aware they have not switched over to a more "continuous" production line so it makes sense that 2-3 year old models are now becoming scarce. Some have gone and come back, of course, but usually in different finishes and with slightly different fittings.
Additionally, I have no idea if this is the case, but modern Danos appear to be constructed from "better" materials than the originals/original reissues of 1999. At the very least, they're much heavier instruments. Add that to inflation and growing appreciation of them as serious instruments and that explains the price rise over time. With the limited production runs it means prices will pretty much always stay fairly close to retail.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:41 am
by BearBoy
I think the global price for homophobia has been steadily rising over the last five years and this has obviously had an impact on Danelectro's cost base. They have needed to pass some of this on to the consumer, hence the higher RRPs.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 11:40 am
by timhulio
ekwatts wrote:Additionally, I have no idea if this is the case, but modern Danos appear to be constructed from "better" materials than the originals/original reissues of 1999.
Yep, the body construction is much more solid and the pickups significantly hotter than the 90s reissues. As a result they sound/feel less like vintage ones.
My favourites are the 90s DC-3s. Owned two of these:
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 3:05 pm
by moogmusic
timhulio wrote:ekwatts wrote:Additionally, I have no idea if this is the case, but modern Danos appear to be constructed from "better" materials than the originals/original reissues of 1999.
Yep, the body construction is much more solid and the pickups significantly hotter than the 90s reissues. As a result they sound/feel less like vintage ones.
My favourites are the 90s DC-3s. Owned two of these:
I've been using a 90s 56-U2 as my main electric for a few years and as far as I can tell, the build and quality are great. Especially for the money.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 3:11 pm
by HNB
I had a Danelectro for a short while. My only gripes are: That plasticy strip around the sides of the guitar didn't have a very finished and clean edge, nor was it mounted to the body well (it looked like it would start to fall off eventually) and that their pickguard material is super cheap feeling. It seems like laminated mdf with no bevel? Possibly a old fashion feature, but I didn't like it.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 6:24 pm
by cur
Yeah, they tapped the edge in the original ones so they didn't have to finish or bind. That is was they did in the original masonite bodies. same with cheap pickguars. It's just part of the Dano thing.
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:08 pm
by cooter
timhulio wrote:My favourites are the 90s DC-3s. Owned two of these:
The only Dano I regretted selling was a silver sparkle DC-3. Great guitars.
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 2:31 am
by ekwatts
timhulio wrote:ekwatts wrote:Additionally, I have no idea if this is the case, but modern Danos appear to be constructed from "better" materials than the originals/original reissues of 1999.
Yep, the body construction is much more solid and the pickups significantly hotter than the 90s reissues. As a result they sound/feel less like vintage ones.
My favourites are the 90s DC-3s. Owned two of these:
The 90s reissues really were fantastic. I like the new ones, I like the fact that they're out there but they're not really the same. Apart from the Dead on 67s none of them have really excited me at all. I find it funny that the things I love about them are the exact things that seem to turn so many people off them, like the vinyl strip, the toy-like lightness of construction, the flat fretboards... the only thing I can do without, having had one now for over 12 years, is that crappy wood bridge. I've been meaning to replace it for ages.
Also, I doubt the homophobia thing is really having any impact on sales but that's not the point of the boycott anyway; it's simply to take a moral stance against companies that fund radical rightwing bullshit. I won't be spending money on new Dano products in the future.
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:16 am
by Rox
Danelectro used to be a toy starter guitar .. Now it's just overpriced Chinese shit .. All because the purists love them because some of their childhood idols played one 40,50 and 60 years ago ? I'd rather buy a Squier and throw in Lipsticks or a Silvertone Reissue than waste my money on a Dano.
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:28 am
by Nick
Rox doesn't get it.
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:01 am
by benecol
Nick wrote:Rox doesn't get it.
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:42 pm
by Rox
Nick wrote:Rox doesn't get it.
I get it .. They're overpriced tabletop material shit .. What's there not to get ? A shit guitar is a shit guitar . I don't care if celebrities in the 60s and 70s played them . Shit is shit .. With or without a fork...
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:06 am
by timhulio
You don't think the unusual construction, materials or pickups might give these guitars qualities not possessed by a more traditionally built mahogany n' maple plank?
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 10:42 am
by ekwatts
NO TIM.
Guitars need to be made a particular way, all the time. They cannot deviate from that.
But naw, Rox doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. People played them because they were good. That they were cheap was a bonus. Jimmy Page played almost every single slide piece on his Danelectro. Not because somebody famous had played one. Because he liked it. Because it was good.
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 3:43 pm
by markleton
I've just snagged myself a U2 pro reissue off eBay. Never played one before but I've wanted one for years after seeing Jason Molina use them live. Only £100 with a hard case. I'll report back on how shitty and useless they are.
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 4:38 pm
by George
rox have you played a danelectro
after my dc12 i just can't imagine why anyone would think they're shit in such an over the top way given their price and playability