A Brief History of Danelectro Guitars

By: Jon Blanx

It all started in 1947 for Danelectro Guitars. The company was founded by Nathan Daniel and began making amplifiers for department stores Sears Roebuck Co. and Montgomery Ward. Nineteen fifty-four marked the first year that Danelectro started producing solid body electric guitars and amplifiers under the Danelectro name although many were sold by Sears in their "Silvertone" line.

In 1956 Danelectro introduced their line of hollow-bodied guitars. These guitars were made very simply using inexpensive wood, masonite, formica and vinyl to not only cut costs but to speed up production. The Danelectro
lipstick tube pickup is famous and was creating by inserting the
magnet into actual lipstick tubes! Although the manufacturing
materials were not as good as those offered by Fender or Gibson,
Danelectro guitars of this era produced a very clean tone and
did so at a very reasonable price. The six-string electric bass
was also added to the product line that year and although it did
not prove very popular the design was later copied by Fender. In
1960, one of the most venerable Danelectro lines was introduced,
the Longhorn bass. Danelectro's construction methods
remained the same for the majority of their models until the
company was sold to MCA in 1966.

With the acquisition of Danelectro, MCA decided to alter the
methods previously used by the guitar manufacturer. In 1967,
they introduced the Coral line which they attempted to sell to
other distributors. The line mostly known for its electric
sitars and hollow-bodied guitars broke from Danelectro's
tradition of selling mostly to large department stores. In 1969
was forced to close the Danelectro plant. The shutdown was due
primarily to the fact that MCA was unsuccessful in their shift
to sell the Coral line to small independent guitar shops instead
of the larger retail stores like Sears.

In the 1990s the Evets Corporation began marketing primarily
copies of old Danelectro and Silvertone models and also began
selling a line of Danelectro pedals and amplifiers.

Today, Danelectros are among the most highly sought after
guitars and have a nostalgia factor unlike any other brand
guitar. The guitars have a unique look and possess a crisp and
clean sound (due to the pickup design) unmatched by any other
guitar. If you know someone who collects vintage guitars,
chances are they own a couple of Danelectros.

Partly due to nostalgia and mainly because they just sound and
look so great, Danelectro guitars have experienced a renaissance
of sorts during the past decade. Many professional musicians and
collectors have made the original Danelectros one of the most
sought after brand names in the vintage guitar market. Elvis
Costello even appeared in a Danelectro print advertisement when
the Danelectro brand was relaunched in the 1990s. Great sound
and a rich history have made Danelectro a legend in the guitar
world, one in which they still thankfully inhabit today.

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

Jon Blanx is guitar enthusiast and an afficianado of Danelectro guitars.

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'99 Danelectro 56 U2 Bass VI 29.5" 6 String Bass/Baritone Guitar Turquoise wCASE
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