Danelectro Dano '63 Long Scale Bass

I bought this new in April 209 for $199. 24 frets, four strings, thin hollow body with volume, tone and pup selector. It has a pair of the Dano lipstick tube pups and passive electronics.

I'm not sure of the body material, but I'd guess a thin laminate or composite top and back glued to a hollow-core body. The 34" scale neck is finished in matte black, and the wood feels a bit soft. The fingerboard looks like rosewood, with dot inlays on the board and neck side. The finish is a matte-finish robins-egg blue.

The stock bridge is a three-point adjustable stamped aluminum thing, and the tuners are decent quality.

I play in a classic rock band, and the Dano really fits the bill for a rootsy tone that is amazingly flexible. I usually run it straight into a Traynor YBA 200 tube head and Avatar 2x10 and 1x15 Neo cabs.

The bass is pretty quiet, though there is a bit of hum when the bridge pup is soloed.

The bass came set up with round wounds, which sounded fine. I swapped them out for Fender stainless flats, and and totally in love with the tone---nice and thumpy with a bit of growl. It sounds best with both pups and tone and volume dimed.

Played finger-style, it has a very rich, middy tone. Played with a pick and palm-muted, you get the tick-tack tone from hell. I've gigged it live for a full evening, and it sat very nicely in the band mix with two guitars and a boisterous drummer.

The bass needed basic set-up out of the box-truss rod adjustment, pup height both needed slight adjustment.

The stock bridge is supposedly and improvement over the original. I beg to differ. I restrung the bass with flats after a week, and the increased tension pulled the bridge right off the top! The bridge design sucks, frankly. The rear screw anchors the bridge, but the bridge rests on top of the front two, resting on recesses in the under side of the bridge. If you're not careful making adjustments, you can change the break angle of the strings to the point where the front two screws no longer support the bridge and BOING there it goes.

I had to insert a dowel and cut it flush in the old rear screw hole. I ordered a repro bridge from All Parts (with a rosewood saddle), and reassembled the Dano and restrung it with flats. It plays just fine now.

Overall construction is cheap & cheerful. Original Danos were made cheap for beginners, and the new models are true to that tradition. It ain't no Sadowsky, but it gets the job done. I'd give the bass a higher overall score for this category, except for that gawd-awful bridge.

I've gigged it live for an entire evening and it got the job done. I'd have no worries about using it in the future as my main bass.

I don't think the finish is going to hold up well over time. It's a bit thin, kinda cheap-looking---but again, this IS a Dano...

The front strap button is attached to the heel in a very poor location. Good luck getting a standard strap on it--it can be done, but it's a chore.

The truss rode and neck have been stable since set-up, so I have no worries there.

I haven't had to deal with the company. I bought it mail-order, and would have returned it for the bridge issue, except shipping it in return would be a PITA. It has a one-year warranty, which I don't expect to need.

I've been playing bass since 1977. the Dano is rubbing elbows with a '74 Ric 4001, a '90 T-bird, an Epi Jack Casady, and a mess of Fenders. It fits in well with the herd.

I'd certainly replace it if lost or stolen, provided I could get a good deal. I wouldn't pay list ($349) for it, though.

Love: Toanz for days, cool looks, vintage vibe.It's also quite light, so I can gig it all night.

Hate: That effing POS stock bridge. The front strap button placement.

I really like this bass, and enjoy playing it live.

If you can find one for under $200, BUY IT. This is the best cheap bass I've ever had, and it's a blast to play.

Brought this bass brand new after reading some good reviews and having owned a Longhorn bass and Rumour bass. I knew how they were constructed with fibreboard and I knew that the 63 had been upgraded
inline with the current Longhorns.
First impression out of the box was "its matt black" second impression was "the scratchplate is made of fibre board??"
Standard volume and tone control, three way pickup selecter switch.
Upgraded bridge and tuners all in matt silver as are the pickups, not chrome.

This is what I brought this bass for, the twangy trebley sound of the lipstick pickups.
It doesn't dissapoint in this department, the pickups are in my oppinion better than the old reissue Longhorn ones and the sound twangy but fat in the neck pickup, twangy and trebley in the bridge which could be soloed and a nice blend with both piuckups on. Adding any additional treble on your amp makes this bass sound too tinny and thin and the tone tone control on the bass actually controls the tone unlike Fenders where most people just turn it fully up.Backing off on the tone control just a touch adds a lovely deeper bass sound with both pickups on.
I didn't find them noisy but made sure my earth was good on the bridge which we will come onto later.

I like Danelectro as a company, I like the fact that they are producing guitars for people like me who want a specific sound but can't afford a sixtys guitar price tag to get it. All that said they keep missing the point. This bass competes in the same price bracket as Squires and Epiphones but apart from the sound the build quality is poor. The tuners are the ones from the guitars which are too small for bass strings. The bridge has the intonation adjuster under the string. The colour is matt black,Goths will love it,although I can't believe it's the type of bass they would buy and thats my point, I hate it. The scratch plate is 4/5mm fibreboard and too thick to put your thumb on the front pickup (I play finger style). The Strap button on the front is too close to the neck to get a thick strap on it although the buttons are metal now. The neck is wider than a Jazz neck but narrower than a Precision and doesn't taper much between the bridge and neck. I had to adjust the bow in the neck straight out the box so while I was at it I fitted Wilkinson mini open gear bass tuners and a Fender Mustang (18mm string space) bridge both in chrome, I also added chrome control knobs and Schaller strap locks. Finally I fitted Ernie ball flatwound strings. On removing the tuners the paint comes off really easily although you couldn't see it when I put the new tuners on. With modifications I made this bass now plays and sounds like the type of bass you would expect from an established manufacturer like Danelectro.

I intend to use this bass live at least once and if it behaves then I will carry on using it and let my Burns Bison reissue have a well earned break(its's getting too heavy these days). If the 63 doesn't cut it live it will be resigned to the studio as I really love the sound.

Never had to deal with them, but I think I can design retro bass guitars at least as good as them.

I have been playing bass for over 18 years now and have owned nearly every retro / sixtys designed bass on the market by all the main manufacturers. I have also brought guitars by lesser know manufactures like Ace pro and Alden who produce extremely good quality basses made in China as well. I think most bass players would have been happy with my upgraded bass without feeling they were losing the sixtys look and feel. These basses have only been available for less than a year but stocks are fading...I believe these have not been good sellers and a new model is probably due soon...Go on Danelectro produce a decent quality bass with the lipstick pickups.

This is the 2008 Korean-made reissue bass that looks like an old '63 Silvertone. It's typical dano construction: hollow particle board body, single coil pickups wrapped in fake lipstick containers. Upgrades include an adjustable bridge (opposed to the piece of wood) and three-way switch with tone and volume knobs (opposed to the stacked knobs). Rosewood neck, I believe. One thing I don't like is that they use the same small tuners as their guitars, which are ugly and weird and hard to turn. Bigger ones would have made this look more like a bass.

I was looking to replace my P Bass with something more versatile and this fits nicely. The tone is very clear and full with the pickup switch in the middle with just a hint of throaty mid-range. the neck pickup sound pretty deep but not as boomy as a p bass. Bridge pickup is twangy and kind of weak, but definitely usable. These are single coils and pretty noisy.

I play this direct into a music man HD150 head through an Ampeg 4x10 classic. Wasn't hard to dial in a good tone. This bass took to it well.

The action wasn't great and needed some minor adjusting of the bridge. These are cheaply made so I wasn't surprised.

One screw on the back to adjust the pickups was inserted at an angle.

Overall it's got a nice satin finish and looks great. You will either love or hate the retro look of these--I love it.

I haven't gigged with this yet but plan on doing so without a backup. The stap buttons are metal and solid. I heard Danos had crappy plastic ones, but these don't worry me at all. The finish is great and should last a while. Since I paid $250 new for this I am not worried about abusing it. As long as it stays playable (which I expect it to) I don't care how many scratches or dings it gets. In fact I look forward to them.

No idea.

Mostly play guitar, but been playing bass in a few bands for 8 years or so. This is currently my main bass in a band that plays Springsteen and Petty-type rock n roll. I'd buy another if stolen. If I had $2,000 to burn I'd buy a Rickenbacker but this is pretty close in tone and feel and ten times less $. I liked the p bass but it was too damn heavy and was uncomfortable to play. This one doesn't necessarily sound better, but different. It's nice and light and the neck feels great.

I haven't compared it to the short scale, unfortunately, but the long scale is definitely manageable - particularly if you're used to the Fender-style scale. As a guitarist (mainly), the short scale would have been a nice option - but I really wanted it in black, and the SS is only available in redburst. Oh well.
Anyway, I really dig the brushed metal on the pickups, tuners, etc., and the vintage treatment for the "white" pickguard (mine actually has a creamy-yellowish texture to it).
Basic volume and tone (unlike the classic Dano stacked/concentric pots); but the tone knob offers a very nice sweep (see sound review below).

VERY versatile sound - anything from the jangly Rickenbacker to the smooth Hofner sound (obviously not spot on, but those are good reference points of the kind of sound you can get). I honestly think this bass could be used for anything from punk to metal to acid jazz, pop, rock, etc. etc. etc. Personally, I'll be using it for pop/rock and jazzy/moody instrumental music (stuff along the lines of the Out of Sight soundtrack).

Craftsmanship is not flawless by any means - slight fret buzz here or there (nothing extreme, and entirely past the 12th fret), and the fretboard finish was layed on a little thick on the edges by the fret marking dots - I've had to scratch off a little excess stuff once or twice.
But the matching black headstock and smooth/satin-y black neck are not only great looking, but the neck plays very comfortably. And overall, the craftsmanship is an excellent bang-for-the-buck. I barely did any setup upon arrival - I just adjusted string height for the high G.

Yet to see (I've only had it about a week)... but feels very sturdy.

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Lovely bass. I'd highly recommend it as a backup bass, or a studio bass to get a different sound. Great for beginners, or people who just like the semi-cheap but great sounding Danelectro vibe (like myself - I've played bass for 13 years, in bands ranging from 60s surf to jazz-rock to folk to Welsh traditional music, and I think it could find a place in each of those environments - well, maybe not the Welsh trad :)
I've had Fender P-basses and J-basses, and I much prefer the tonal range and visual "vibe" of the Dano to either of the other kinds. If you can find one, get it!