Anyone ever play any Dano guitars?

[glimmertwin]

Anyone here ever owned one of the newer ones?  I know they arent built rugged, but how playable are they?  I kind of like the thin low ouput pickup sound but the playability is always a big thing for me.  I played two newer reissues at a used store recently and it was night and day.  One felt plastic and was crappy to play(a DC) and the U1 was just a dream to play - super light and felt smooth.  Anyone have any Dano experience?

Actually, this link got my attention - new Danelectro guitars!  Well, not really "new", but at $300 I would Love, Love, Love one of those Pro's in green or tangerine...or maybe a blue 59....mmm - cheap guitars...  I wonder how they play. 

http://www.danelectro.com/guitars1.htm

[~*blissedandgone*~]

I've played a few Danos over the years, both vintage and new. I felt they were too light for my enjoyment. They did make a few solid wood bodied guitars, they had mini effect buttons in the pickguard. They were a reverse offset body a la Mosrite, and came in blue sparkle...I loved looking at them. But I don't own any. No complaints about them, they just didn't feel right to me.

[mynameisjonas]

i've played quite a few of the new ones, and pretty much all of them were fantastic. it's beyond me how a cardboard guitar can sound that good. great loud unplugged tone, and sustain for days... well, minutes anyway. nothing to complain about in the playability department either as far as i'm concerned.

i especially like the 12 string and baritone versions.

i've got serious GAS for one of these:

[dc]

i've had several Danos, a '59 DC reissue (the Jimmy Page one) and a Hodad (shaped kind of like a Mosrite, with four lipsticks wired as humbuckers). i thought both were really fun guitars, with a few caveats.

the first round of reissues that came out around '98 or so lacked an adjustable bridge, a drawback from an intonation standpoint. they corrected that a year or two later, not long before the company disappeared from view again (save for the ubiquitous mini-pedals). also, the pickups at that point were notoriously weak. apparently, they've gone to a higher-output lipstick in the most recent reissues since the company reappeared again (as mysteriously as it vanished).

i went through a purge of all my "cheap" guitars a few years ago, and so got rid of both Danos to raise money for better stuff. now that i have all better stuff, i wish i had the Danos again -- in addition, of course! i may yet break down and buy a Dano 12, which has been on my list for years.

[StevenO]

I love them! They sound like nothing else out there. I own one of the dc-2 basses and it sounds awesome. You can get some McCartney-esque tones out of it with ease. I love them, seriously!

[fuzzking]

I got one of them shorthorn basses. You either love 'em or you don't - I shurely do.
A friend of mine has one of the guitars, and he likes it a lot (never played it, though).

[glimmertwin]

..to the point on the Dano bass guitars, I saw recently that Richard Hell started out playing those early on with Television. 

[idiotbear]

Yeah, I have a Dano U2 RI from about '98 or so. It's a pretty idiosyncratic guitar, and the pickups are quite weak, but it sounds like nothing else. You get this kind of flat twang out of it, which I really like. It's also light as hell, unsurprisingly, as it appears to be made mainly out of plastic bags.

When I play it, I tend to do so with the "yellow" channel on my Super Duper constantly engaged - that brings it up to a more penetrating volume in a band situation.

[JazzBlaster]

I had a Hodad (blue sparkle of course) it was neat. I have gotten rid of alot of things I didn't use everyday. I don't see the point in having a pyle of guitars around anymore.

David

[Soiouz]

I just bought a Denelectro Baritone a month ago for 100$ CDN and I can't stop playing it!!! Best 100$ I've spent in a very long time!

I agree with Jonas and StevenO that it sounds great unplugged and it sounds terrific and unlike anything else in an amp!

[jcyphe]

Love Danos, the pickups on the old ones are the best. I like how low output the pickups are. All updated versions I have played of lipstick pickups with higher windings have left something to be desired.

[DB]

I bought one of these for my 13 year old:



He loves it, though he's more interested in playing drums at the moment (good for me the bass player!).  It has great tone, and surprising sustain - I was expecting it to be more of a thumper.  I don't remember the exact price I paid, but it was under $500 USD new, and I bought it when there were just becoming available.

It's not an offset, but it's cool.

DB

[RumorsOFsurF]

I absolutely love Danos!!!!  When I saw Southern Culture on the Skids, Rick Miller played a vintage Dano (with a bitchin' Rat Fink sticker  )  all the way through the show until the encore.  He then switched to his Gretsch Billy-Bo...




And Mary, the bass player used to play a Longhorn bass

I want a Danelectro soooo bad!! 

[benecol]

i've played quite a few of the new ones, and pretty much all of them were fantastic. it's beyond me how a cardboard guitar can sound that good. great loud unplugged tone, and sustain for days... well, minutes anyway. nothing to complain about in the playability department either as far as i'm concerned.

i especially like the 12 string and baritone versions.

i've got serious GAS for one of these:

I've just bought one of those (except in black) and I absolutely love it. I've wanted both a Dano and a baritone for ages, so was able to combine both in one guitar. All of the most recent reissues (ie. metal intonatable bridge) I've played have been great, high quality throughout. The construction really makes it for me - in effect, it's a semi-hollow (minus the f-holes) with really characterful pickups instead of (yawn) humbuckers. Think of them as Casinos with a centre block! The low output of the p'ups is a positive rather than a negative in my book, they (eventually) push amps and take to pedals beautifully, and the semi-hollow design means they sound just fine for unplugged practice.

Everyone buy a Dano now.

[Soiouz]

I forgot to post a pic...



Here's mine: