Danelectro Hodad Bass

My Hodad Bass was made in 1999, 3 pickups, Wood frame Masonite top and back, Single vol, tone controls 6 way rotator switch, and a toggle to turn on all 3 pickups.
Shaped like a Mosrite Bass of the 1960's, Fully adjustable bridge and Very Good Gotoh Tuning heads
Nice maple neck with "Slab" Rosewood fretboard, Metal nut.\
34 inch scale 20 frets
Bass is Korean Made

I Love Danelectro Gear, I found it in a pawnshop so I snagged it, I have 3 other Dano Basses (Longhorn, Rumor, DC)
I knew what it was and how it was made so I bought it on the spot.
I use all 3 pickups on at once, This bass has a tone I cannot get out of anything else.
Even though 3 of my Danos have the same type of construction and pickups they EACH get a different tone, which is Good To Me.

This bass is really quiet and works well, It came with expensive Flats on it and sounds very thunderous

This bass was made in 1999 I got it in Dec 2007.
The truss rod was dead on, I lowered the bridge some and that's it
It has a dent in the back of the neck, my hand slides right over it so I don't feel it. That's the only damage, I paid $100.00 for it.
I did have to tighten the input jack and that's it.
This bass has a new permanent home and will never be abused again

After cleaning it up and removing some stickers this bass has been a real Diamond-In-The-Rough.
I tightened every thing up on it and have been using on gigs since Dec 2007, Never had a problem with it and do not expect one either.

The dent in the neck had to have been a really HARD HIT, no other damage.
I do treat my Danelectros with respect

This bass will last me a Long Long Time

I found this bass, dirty, dented, and stickered, I paid 100 bucks for it, cleaned it up, adjusted the bridge and it's been great.
I have 11 Danelectros, I have called them in the past and they have been superb to me. I highly recommend them

I have been playing guitar for almost 34 years and bass for 26.
If lost or stolen would replace, but I'll never find one for 100 bucks again, did find one for 200 this week, I may buy it to have a matching set, I have the 2008 Danelectro 63 Bass on Order too.

I've been playing Danelectros for almost 10 years and have quite a few guitars to choose from. I like Danelectro, I like the look the sound and the playabilty of them. They have treated me well, And I like guitars that are off the beaten path

Where made? Don't know and don't care. For $200 (on sale at Guitar Center) I surely wouldn't think USA. I like the PU selector, once you memorize the combos, and the toggle for - for what, for phase? Anyway the tonal varieties are excellent. 3 passice "lipstick" PU's that put out FAR MORE tone and bottom than you could ever imagine. Unlike the Longhorn, has a truly adjustable bridge. Relatively thin Jazz-like neck. The body style - no sculping on the sides - means it's a little hard on the ribcage. Extremely light, but so easy to manage that I never noticed neck-heaviness. Mine came in a very dark blue-violet finish, slightly metalflake, but now it's been customized by Mike Schulman (who does Dead shirts).

I went for this after reading the Bass Player review - they said something along the lines of "after playing this we grabbed the benchmark basses and said 'where's the bottom?'" I've compared this to a newer Jazz with the Custom Shop 60's pickups upgrade, a vintage P-bass, a Epi Thunderbass, and this baby outbooms them all. The tone and touch are mindboggling, for this or any price. One caveat: these are single coil PU's, badly shielded, and she can hum. I haven't gotten around to going inside with copper foil to try and alleviate the hum/buzz, but I should. This would only affect the Hodad for recording purposes, and coould be worked around with the ancient tried-and-true solution of "aiming" your body so the PU's get quiet.

I replaced the cheesy knobs with some cool ones I found on eBay. Contruction is standard Dano, with the glued-on fabric sides, etc. Cheap and useful.

What's to go wrong? It's built on a construction-design type that Dano has used for 45 years.

NO issues.

Been playing bass for 12 years, and playing lead and acoustic guitar for 40 years. I've had 8 basses already, but I'll never sell this baby. It's got an easy playability and fantastic tone, and with my new psychedelic paint job it's an eye catcher too.

Hmm... where to start? If your reading this review first read the others for the features, I'm going to comment on my experinces with them, not type them all out.

The Pro's
Good tuners and strap knobs. Much better then other models.
Three pickups, more tones then other models (and other basses for that matter)
Sweet switch for kicking on all three pickups suddenly, increasing output and changing the tone.
Super light body, easy on your body
Dual pot, one less knob to deal with.

The Con's
Super cheap knobs on the dual pot and six way switch.
Super light body (very neck heavy)
Strange bridge (I haven't had to adjust it and I don't even know how yet...)
Ok, now for the big one and the reason for the "7"... the neck. This bass sat in a store for who knows how long and the neck need a little tweak so, signature to Dano's I had to remove it and take a shot as to how much tweak it needed. It was a pain but well worth it in the end.

Before I go on about the tone I have to say I play in a rock band but we play everything from light to very heavy rock (clean to heavy distortion) I always play this bass clean and with a pick.

Here it is, the One, the tone of all tones. I've played $100 basses, $1200 basses and every range between but none can compare with the Hodad. I can't even start to explain the tones you get from it but it blew me away. I own a jazz bass, a p-bass, an acoustic-electric, and a pj-bass but the Hodad tops em all hands down.

I've looked for a signature sound from the moment I started playing and have finally found it with this bass. I can't stress enough the the great tones this bass puts out.

If your concerned with tone above all, this bass is for you.

My bass may as well have armor on, theres not a scratch on it finish wise. everything was tight (except the jack... I really hate that) and I found no flaws in the finish or chrome.

Upon opening the control plate I found a tidy hollow body with everything in place. Still no flaws.

The "9" is for the action... a little high for my taste but not too high (and I like really low action)

Let's face it, it's a hollow bass. One swift kick and theres a hole in it but, that's a hollow body.

For what it is it's solid as a rock and the oversized strap heads make it more secure strapped on ya.

I haven't ajusted the neck again and the hardware has never failed me in the 2 months I've owned it.

I have and will gig it without a backup.

Never had to deal with them

I've been playing for 5 years and this is my 6th bass (I broke my first jazz...) I'll never buy another bass as long as I live. For me, this is the One, the bass of my dreams. If it were stolen I'd run to ebay to find another and if I lost it I'd hang myself (j/k)

My suddgestion to anyone who is looking to buy one is this: first think of what you'll be using it for, pick style is great but it doesent really shine for slap and such (but it's still not bad) Then, look at what you want from a bass: If you want a solid feel, go elsewhere, it'a almost as light as my acoustic. If you can't take the looks go find an Ibanez or Fender. And last, if you want a unique looking and sounding bass thats dependable for low cost BUY IT!

If you've read the other reviews, you know about the 3 lipstick pickups, six position "Select-O-Matic" switch, and the toggle for all 3 pickups - very cool features. What I really like about this bass is the hardware. I also own a Dano DC, it's a great little bass, but let's face it, the tuners, strap pegs and bridge are all pretty lightweight. Not so the Hodad, and this makes it an instrument for serious gigging.

I couldn't love the sound (more accurately "sounds") of this bass more. The Dano semi-hollow bodies (which the company has mysteriously decided to discontinue) are, in a word, incomparable. I love the DC for its pure, organic tone, but do find it a bit limiting (it has that great Dano sound, but not much else.) The Hodad, by adding the third pickup and switching options adds all the variety most traditional (in other words no slapping, snapping, popping, etc.) players could want. In addition to the aforementioned "Danelectro Sound", I can make this thing sing like a jazz, growl like a precision, or chime like a Rickenbacker. The three pickups wired in series mean plenty of output,too.

A little lower rating here. The action, fit, and finish are all great, but if you need to adjust the neck, watchout! You have to remove the neck from the body to adjust the truss rod! That's not a good thing.

Here's the difference between the Hodad and the DC: it's like the difference between slamming the door of a Volvo and slamming the door of a Saturn. Get it? This bass feels like it may outlast me.

N/A

Like I said, Danelectro in its wisdom decided to discontinue this bass, but the good news is that they show up alot on ebay. That's where I got mine. By all means track one of these down and buy it!

I am not sure what year mine was built. I got it used off Ebay. It was unplayed however and still had the plastic wrap and box. It is a fretted 4 string. The design is still hollow masonite bolted together with the classic passive lipstick pickups. This one has 3 with a selector switch to give you any combination of pickups and a "blow" switch which allows you to go to all 3 quickly. The body design is retro looking with offset 'horns' that give it the appearence of a lefty turned upside down from a distance. No accessories were included with this guitar, who needs any?

I play blues,( Stevie Ray,B.B., John Lee Hooker etc.) The warm sound is great. I use this bass as a backup for my Dano longhorn. They have a similar sound, but the Hodad has a deeper bottom from the full scale size body and neck. With the selector switch, I can get several unique sounds which is like having 3 or 4 basses on stage with me. I have recorded a couple of CDs with it and love the sound. The only weakness I see in Dano's basses is that the use of one style of pickup limits their capabilities. But, that's their thing! The only other lipsticks I've seen in a bass are in a Resonator Bass made by Johnson. These basses are definitely made for Rock n Roll. Not much slap action or thumping can take place here.

My bass came set up well. The factory strings are cool and I use Dano replacements. They are cheap and sound great. This bass has the good bridge and strap buttons, unlike some other Dano reissues, which makes it's quality very good and giggable.

This bass is sturdy. Some don't like the hollow cavity inside, but unless you're going to slam it like Hendrix on the stage, it will last as long as any other guitar. I have had mine for a couple of years and The Longhorn for five years both hold up well.

I have never delt with the company for anything. These basses are so inexpensive, you could probably get another one for what it would cost to ship it and pay labor and parts.

I have been playing bass since 1982. I stumbled upon a vintage Dano and played it in a store. The old ones didn't have a truss rod which is not good for traveling and storage. I have had a Rickenbacker, Hofner, Fender and Gibson EB3, but once I heard a Dano I got rid of everything and stuck with them. I play through a Fender Ten tube amp and a Silvertone 1483. I like early Stones and blues. These guitars get that kind of sound without any processors or effects. These are great guitars for players who want a vintage sound but can't afford 1000s of dollars for vintage basses or don't want to wear them out on the road. I have had a hard time finding hardshell cases, especially for the longhorn htat fit Dano basses well. I am not sure they make a good Hardshell case. The ones are their website are not very functional. Other than that, I have no complaints.

This is a fretted four-string bass. It has a standard 34-inch scale. It has three lipstick-style passive pickups and a "selectomatic" switch that changes which pickups are active (e.g. just the first, or just the second and third, etc.). There are a total of seven combinations, plus a toggle switch that automatically turns all three pickups on. There also is volume nob with the tone nob nested inside of it.

The bridge can be easily adjusted with a screwdriver and each lipstick pickup can be raised and lowered using pairs of screws on the back of the guitars body.

For an entry-level bass, the three pick-ups with the selectomatic knob represent an above-average feature set.

I am relatively new to the bass (this is my first one, and I have been playing it for just over one year now). Before buying it, however, I tried out many different basses in many music stores. I also read a great deal on the web and from books. Given its street price (around $300), I could not find a better sounding or better feeling bass. After playing it for a year, my opinion has not changed. I play two quite different types of music. I play every Sunday in my church's choir (usually accompanied by a piano and sometimes acoustic guitars). For this, I play through a relatively modest 6-channel ampeg power amp with a pair of 10-inch speaker cabinets. I also play bass in a grateful dead cover band. For this, we all play through a Carvin PA800 8-channel power mixer with a pair of 15-inch speaker cabs. For this latter gig, I also use a Zoom bass effects pedal. This all sounds great with the Hodad! We have use the equipment for both indoor and outdoor gigs and the Hodad produces a warm, consistent sound. Since my mixer and pedal have a wide variety of effects, I find that I do not use the selectomatic much. Basically, I leave all three pick-ups on all the time. However, if you do not have an effects pedal or mixer with effects, you will likely find this feature useful.

For the price, the sound of this guitar is just great!

The bass came set up fine from the factory. Probably to save costs, the bass body is two pieces of plywood bolted together. The sides are covered with essentially a piece of high-quality tape. Some have said that this is problematic as the tape begins to come off near the neck. I have not had any problem with this. Also, the guitar strap pins are metal and are sturdy (this apparently was a problem on some other Danelectro models). Over the past year, I have had the truss rod adjusted ($10 at my local music store) after a climate change introduced fret buzz. The adjustment solved the problem. Basically, I could not detect any problem with this guitar when it arrived.

This guitar has been extremely reliable for me, although I treat it well. The strap buttons are solid, the tuners are reliable and consistent. The finish still looks great after 1 year. The bolt at the cable insert seems to loosen frequently and I have to tighten it up periodically. I have adjusted the truss rod once (when winter turned to spring). I routinely use it without a back-up and have not had a problem.

Since I have not had any problems with this guitar, I have not had to deal with Danelectro. The only thing I didn't like was that the guitar did not come with any owner's manual. Admittedly, it is quite simple to figure out the features, but it would have been nice to learn more about making adjustments. For example, it took me quite a while before I realized that I could adjust the pickup height with the screws on the back of the guitar.

This is a great entry level bass. I also think that it would make a great second bass because of its great retro look, its warm sound, and its extremely light weight. Although I would be interested in buying another bass someday, I would never give this one away or stop using it completely. It really is a great bass at its street price.

I got this in April 2001,it has a Bass/Treble switch,a volume and tone knob which are somehow stacked on top of each other.and the patented Select-O-Matic 6-way switch.Contains 3 Danelectro Lipstick pickups(passive),non-locking tuning keys.standard 4 strings.Black with gold sparkle finish.Bolt on Non-Adjustable neck,w/ rosewood fret board and 20 Frets.List Price = $499 Sale Price From Muscian's Friend = $99,however it has class enough to have sold for $499.

I really like the sound it seems plenty versitle,i play Cliff Burton-ish stuff to Duff McKagan-ish stuff and Classic Rock,Metal,Hard Rock,ect. on it.The pickups are great,any sound you want,you can find in this bass.i love this bass the only other bass id buy is Cliffs famous Rickenbacker.

everything came perfect from the factory,and the finish seems hard to hurt.It also stays in tune great i could not tune it for weeks and it would still be in tune its just great.

i have total faith in this product,and ive already played it at a gig with out a back up and nothin went wrong.

i have been playing guitar for six years,i tought myself bass from my guitar knowledge,if it were stolen id prolly cry i like it so much.there is nothin i hate about it.its just perfect.Way to go Dan-o!

It has 2 built in pik-ups that are small and i didnt like that that much because it is hard to find good pickups that will fit it. It also have one tone knob and a volume knob. It has a toggle switch but dosent work that much. And six built in tones.

it has a real rich sound and can sound very amazing if on a great Amp.

I recently bought this bass and i like it a lot. The only think that i dont like was the toggle switch. It dosent really work. I mean they have like six different built in tones but the honestly sound mostly the same. The toggle switch produces a little change. Its good if you know how to wire it different like I did. It works really fine now and I would recommend it to a begging bassist.

Durability is the only real bad thing. the price is so cheap because its hollow. I have to treat it with care. But it can handle some beating. It's definetly not for a big time rock star that after every gig smashes their amp and hits it into everything.

1 year warranty thats good so far

Overall its a great bass and im happy with it.

Made in Korea, I would assume 2000 or 2001. Usual Danelectro plywood construction. Relatively lightweight for a bass. No accessories included. I got the black/gold pearl finish. Three lipstick pickups. There is a six position rotary switch which allows you to select any combination of one or two pickups, and a separate blow switch which turns on all three pickups. The Danelectro pickups are wired in series, so turning on two or more pickups increases the volume rather than giving you the Strat-type "quack" tone.

I am a guitarist who dabbles in bass occasionally. I have a DeArmond JetStar Special bass, which has one P-style pickup. I wanted a different sort of sound and more flexibility in sound. The three pickups and multiple switching options give that to me. It can be punchy or bright depending on the settings. The sound is really quite good for a low-end bass. The lipstick pickups are relatively low output, though, so you may have to adjust the settings on any effects you're using. My "style" on bass is anything I'm capable of playing, which isn't much. The rounded lipstick pickups don't provide as solid an anchor for your thumb when playing fingerstyle as a P or J pickup would.

I may be lucky, but I have had three Danelectro instruments and no problems with the finish on any of them. I didn't like the non-adjustable bridge in the U2, but that's a design flaw, not a flaw of that specific instrument. The pickups don't adjust, so that's not an issue here. The tuners and bridge are a definite step up from the early reissue Danelectros, as are the strap buttons.

Danelectros look flimsy, but my experience has found them to be very rugged, as long as you get one with solid strap buttons. I'd use it at a gig without a backup. If it got destroyed, I'd buy another - they're cheap enough.

Pretty good Web site. Slow or no response to emails.

At the price (closeout from Musician's Friend) it's an amazing value. By any standard, it's a good, flexible bass. It looks good and has a wide variety of sounds. My rating here takes into account value for money.