Danelectro 1956 U2 Reissue

I found my aqua Danelectro in a local secondhand shop for $300. It was in perfect condition. I didn't know about the sound or quality of these guitars, but as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Read other reviews fer stats, I'm not the best of guitarists, I just dug the damn thing. Mine had a golden "Made in Korea" sticker on the back.

I'm in a noisey sludge/punk band and I love the sound this thing makes when it's running through a high gain pedal. (I know, waste of guitar, don't care.) It sounds like a chainsaw on heat. I used to play a '94 (?)Fender Japanese Jag with JB Jr's, but this damn aqua monstrosity feels a shit-ton nicer to play. The damn thing weighs piss-all, Saves the old shoulders, lemme tell you. The only problem I have is the feedback. I play a lot of feedback, and low gain pickups don't like feedback. At least that's what I think I've discovered...

I bought the thing (No scratches, flaws, I think it may have been a forgotton gift...), jammed, then played a gig and it was perfect. The bastard's one of the best guitars I've ever played.

I've dropped it once or twice and it still works. That's enough fer me. Oh, the input jack thingy tends to get loose now and then. That's the only problem I've come across so far.

Never had to deal with them.

If I lost this thing, I'd track down another A.S.A.P, it's a great guitar.

this is a 90's u2 reissue with 2 kickass lipstick pickups, a neat U shaped neck, 21 frets. It's a hollow, kind of les paulish body, well finished, in a creme color. made of plywood and masonite. dont laugh so soon.

This guitar is the best sounding single coil guitar i own, including a 50's classic stratocaster, and an american Telecaster. When describing the tone, the word "jangly" comes to mind. Because of the 25" scale length, (as opposed to the 25 1/2" fender scale), this guitar has a looser, less tensed up sound than a fender, which i like alot. Also, the bad-ass lipstick pickups are much quieter than strat pickups, due to the metal "lipstick" pickup housing, which acts like a shield from RF noise and such.the bridge pickup is bright but not shrill, pleasing. I run this through an Orange crush 30R, a danelectro compressor, and a proco RAT2 (buy one of those). the neck pickup is smooth, round and full, but with good definition. Both pickups on produce a full, slightly funky sounding tone, which is also very, very cool. When i kick on the RAT, the guitar overdrives smoothly, the bridge sound great for an early black sabbath type sound, i turn up and play along with that first album all the time. keeps me in practice. the middle pickup sounds powerful and a little smoother. The neck, (still my favorite) offers a warm, very smooth, obviously bassier sound. Has serious amounts of vibe, very fun to play. Resistant to microphonics, the biggest annoyance of guitar to me. i hate squeals. But who doesn't? Also: series wiring means that when both pickups are on it boosts the output. cool.

I bought this guitar used from sam ash for 90 dollars. It wasnt at its finest moment. The previous owner hacked it up. He just put a million holes in it, trying to screw with the bridge, and installing this little trapeze tailpiece thing. Frets were rough from a level gone horribly wrong. tuners i believe were stock. Completely terrible. I couldnt bend the G without going out of tune. But still, as soon as i picked it up, i knew i was going to buy it. the neck profile is this perfect U shape. very comfortable. I really value a guitar with a special neck. finish was in great shape. I got it home, leveled the frets, installed a tune-o-matic bridge instead of that crappy rosewood bridge, which cannot be adjusted for intonation without sliding it around. it actually wasnt so bad at all, but the wood would wear out eventually, i just went ahead and replaced it. Then, i set it up to play really low, put on some new strings, and some tuners i had lying around. the results were inspiring. seriously, this is one great playing guitar now. My friend is this gibson whore, and he picked it up and immediately stated "I like the way this plays" Also, do yourself a favor. replace the plastic strap pegs.

This guitar has taken alot of crap since ive had it, and it's held up admirably. However, it is hollow, and more care should be taken when handling it than a solidbody. If you take care of it, it'll last you a long time. I've always thought danelectros, though made from cheap materials, were not necessarily cheaply made. You see some pretty old ones around. but nobody wants to sell them.

dont know about this one. never had to call the company, probably never will. its used anyway...no warranty im sure. I've heard alot of things about dano support, everyone either says they were great or they were terrible.

I have played guitar everyday for the past two years. this is not a long time, but sometimes i'll just stay up all night, playing away, so i've got alot of actual hours of practice in. if you cut me open, i swear to god i wouldnt be surprised if sound came out. ha. What i love equally is working on guitars. actually, im a better repairman than a player. I really like to experiment and get cool tones out of my guitars. those would include the aforementioned fenders, another excellent 90 dollar guitar, a strat copy from the 60's that is also better than my strat, an agile les paul copy with alnico humbuckers that rules ass (pick one of those up too.), an ibanez jet king, a classical guitar that was my dads way back in the day, and a shitty fender acoustic guitar.

2 lipstick tube pickups; two stacked volume/tone pots; malt-shop creme colour; retro vibe!

The sound of this guitar is very unique. I personally find that there is a lot of treble in all of the sounds, both neck and bridge pickups. However, this doesn't mean I don't like it and the fact that the pickups are wired in series is very useful for me, and it also makes logical sense, in that turning both on at the same time makes it louder! Genius!

There appears to be no way to fault the fit an finish of this guitar. It's second hand and approaching 10 years old now but there are no problems and it seems to have stood up to the test of time, though i don't think it's been gigged much as there are two screws where I can only assume some (idiot!!) has attached a Roland MIDI abomination to it and used it at home. Colour is perfectly applied and while light, the whole thing feels solid with a particularly nice neck.

I would not hesitate to gig this guitar. I have so far had no problems with the strap buttons and it looks the bomb so I'd have to cool factor too! I also don't mind the tuners too much. Ok, they do take a bit of work to actually tune up but once they're there they stay there. Only wish mine had the "D" covers! The only issue I have is the tape, though I think it's more my scaredness - it's still absolutely pristine on mine.

I just love the look of Danos and also have a Convertible on the way, as well as a Nifty Fifty amp to play them all through. However, the U2 is completely different to any guitar I own, except the neck which can be compared to my Epiphone Les Paul Junior in size and feel, though is far superior in quality. I have Rickenbackers, Gibsons, Fenders and while this is my most newly acquired and the new one is always the favourite, I can see this staying top of the heap. I wouldn't swap this for anything and in fact am hoping to get more Danos as soon as I can! Shame about the new re-issues though....

Not sure of the year. I think I bought it in late '97 or early '98.
Plywood frame body, masonite top. Bolt-on neck. Two lipstick pickups, each with its own concentric volume/tone knob, and a 3-way p/u selector (neck, both, bridge). Pretty basic setup, but you have everything you need.

Keep in mind, as you read this review, we're talking about a cheap guitar. The construction, sound, style, etc were all modelled after the vintage cheap guitars that people have come to love. These things were cheap in 1956, and they're cheap now. So, I'm treating this as a "what would you expect from a $200 guitar" sort of review...

These things have a sound all their own, between the pickups and the hollow masonite/ply body. There's a plywood block under the bridge to help stabilize it, but it's also pretty effective in reducing feedback. Also, because of the hollow body, it's fairly loud unplugged, though not as loud as a true hollow body (ie, with f holes, deeper body, thinner sides/top, etc).

Basically, if you're looking for a vintage-sounding guitar, or a great lo-fi/rockabilly/blues/slide sound, this is a great place to start. I don't see it being much of a shredder/metal guitar, but the style would probably keep people from thinking of using it for that as well. This guitar definitely sounds like it looks, and that's not a bad thing.

Okay, you can't intonate the bridge very easily. That's been established through countless reviews. But that's part of the charm, and the rosewood bridge/metal nut combo contribute to its unique sound. But, I have never had a noticeable problem with the intonation either. There might be a little inaccuracy high up the neck, but down low, everything is fine. Since this guitar sounds best below the 12th fret (it makes a great rhythm guitar), I haven't run into it being a problem.

Action was wonderful, no buzzing at all, but low and comfortable.

Finish was good (I got "Beatnick Burgundy") and looks great for a guitar in this price range. There is tape around the body edges, and it started to lift on the upper waist curve, but other than that, I've had no problems.

The body tape on the upper part of the waist has lifted a little, about the size of a dime. Not a big deal, but I will probably replace the tape someday.

The two biggest reliability complaints I've seen about these guitars involve the tuners and the strap pegs. I have never had a problem with this guitar going out of tune, and I play this guitar a lot around the house. If anything, they're a little stiff to move. And the tuning pegs... The first time they came out, I put a little super glue on them and stuck them back in, and they haven't moved in 7 years... Don't expect straplocks on a cheap guitar, folks. By all means, if you want straplocks, go put some on, but this is an easy solution to an easy problem.

Never had to use 'em, but their website is pretty bad if you need to find any info out...

For the money, I don't think you can get a better guitar. Yeah, it's got quirks, but that's part of the fun. I got a good deal on this because a music store had bought a whole bunch, and then was trying to clear room for the next line of Dano's that were coming out. I bought this, and the next week, my roommate went back to that store and bought a barritone U2. A few months later, our other roommate bought a DC3. All three of us have loved our Dano's. Yeah, this thing's not a boutique guitar by any means, but it sure is fun, and sounds pretty cool. I want another one so that I can leave it open for slide, but since they stopped making them, the prices have actually gone up a little...

One note about these: They're a little bigger than Strat/Tele/Les Paul type guitars, but nowhere near the size of a true hollowbody, so finding a hardshell case can be a bit tricky. Make sure you measure or try fitting it. I was lucky and bought a "Strat/Tele" case that was actually a little too big for my Strat, but fit this perfectly...

It's a few years old. Made in Korea I think. 25 inch scale. Two pickups with concentric tone/volume controls and three way switch. Rosewood bridge sitting on two philips screws. Maple neck with five screws holding it on(you have to take the neck off to to adjust the truss rod), masonite/wood body. Single cutaway, cheap plastic tape, strap pegs and cheap 3rd rate tuners.

Super sound. Nice clean jazz tones, blues tones, complex and deep like a hollowbody. Tele sound whatever. I have a Marshall amp with effects and also a Roland with modeling and effects, it's amazing. The thing is it's not hard to get really good sound out of this guitar.

The setup wasn't bad. I put heavier flatwound strings on it and adjusted the neck and bridge. The intonation was good and pickups. The neck is now really nice and low no buzz. I had to file the edges of the frets a bit which is ok for an older guitar.

It's really solid. The tuners and strap buttons should be replaced.

For the price it's a super guitar. With new tuners you'd have a nice instrument. It's a really good invention and has been around for fifty years. I have an old Hofner archtop and it's the same sort of thing fantastic sounds a real pleasure to play.

This was from one of the first batch of the re-issues. Agua colored mosonite over plywood frame. Almost a clone of the originals. metal lipstick tube pickups and concentric pots for both volume and tone for each pickup. three position switch with the middle for both on.

bright,loud and twangy. kind of Fenderish but slightly different. Sounds good with a Fender Deluxe reverb or a Hughes & Kettner combo.

I bought this guitar used in a music store. It was slightly through the mill by the previous owner. I think he/she may have been in a punk band due the Van's sticker that was on it when I bought it. It came with junk tuners and a bowed bridge with wood saddle. Almost impossible to intonate. Let me make a suggestion to those who may have the same model. Immediately remove the junk tuners and intall the gotoh vintage oval tuners and install the newer U-3 bridge upgrade. "Mama mia" what a difference that made this guitar now. It stays in tune and you can adjust the saddles. I was just about ready to donate it to the Salvation Army. Not now, I'm having fun with it now. sounds and plays great for a small additionalinvestment.

With the improvements, it can stand up to my strats and teles. It has it's own sound so it is a definite addition to my other guitar. I call it a great cheap guitar. I will probably install new stap buttons because they don't cost much and that should do it for a while.

Never dealt with them. I think Danelectro is some kind of Ghost Company with no real address. Nobody to really talk to.

I have been playing for over thirty years. I had an original Danelectro and athough it sounded good, I sold it for a lot of money and bought a much better guitar with the funds. When the re-issues came out, I was going to buy a new one. They disappeared before I got a chance to buy one so I was able to pick one up used and hot rod it a bit. I suggest if you shop for one, save about an additional 100 bucks and upgrade the hardware. You will have a great guitar.

90's Dano 56 U2. Same good ol masonite/plywood body same wooden bridge that can't get that perfect innotation, same D tuners, same clear pickguard. Much more like the original than the "pro" series.

has stacked pots, which is a nifty litle feature so i know whats for what pickup and what isn't. Each individual pickup is quiet, both on is about normal. its easier to leave both on and use the volume knobs for both to adjust your amount of twang and treble. I leave the tone knobs cranked most of the time and when its in an open tuning (usually A on this guitar) both pickups are on. \

its a prety simple setup, but im a pretty simple man, so i dont need hundreds of features.

THIS GUITAR CAN'T FEDBACK NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY!

I use a Big Muff as my distortion pedal, and even with the sustain cranked it wont squeal. I like that! If you want a "clean" distortion, this guitar is perfect. It suits my "style" i usually am playing uber heavy blues rock (think soledad brothers) but i dont limit myself by "genre" and do whatever the heck i want. I use the bridge pickup for funky chords in open tunings. both pickups on is very good for slide guitar in my opinoin. nothing sounds like these things, thats good, but, its a very quiet guitar so dont be suprised if your turning it up loud.


Important: Distortion on this guitar DOUBLES the volume of the guitar. very loud! roll off the volume on that distortion. Hey, at least it doesnt feed back right?

The guitar was perfectly set up when i got it. i like the metal nut! it makes it hard for the guitar to come out of tune it seems, that and the WICKED tuners. "D" i like that. my name starts with D to. innotation was as good as it was gonna get on a wooden bridged guitar. there was a small scratch on the neck that turned out to be an area where they forgot to paint. but, it hasnt affected the sound, so im not concerned. its light as love. which is a nice turn of events for me. (tele, i love you, but your so darn heavy)
I have 2 new guitars, this and a mexican tele (my love) and 1 old guitar, a Kay hollowbody version of the gibson es 125DP. This guitar, is probaly been the one that was easiest to deal with right when i got it. It took me monthes to get my tele just perfect, that thing was a ginny pig for a year, then i wised up, got it set up right. this baby was in tune when i got it (danelectro packs well man)

be wary of the strap locks, they WILL fall out.

well, me and my mom both are very clumsy, and i have dropped it a couple times because of those strap locks that pop out everynow and then. Im thinking of gluing them in there, but i also am not...


its perfect for a gig, lightweight, sleek, sexy, everything a showman would want. lots of dolts out there think its a custom made les paul i got with the letter of my first name on the tuners and pickguard. (idiots, so square, all they see is les pauls, strats, and stacks)

havent had ANY problems with the electronics, its been in my possesion for about a month.

I always have a backup, but those 2 backups are in different tunings. if i were less complex, i could use this by itself easily. this thing will be pristine 70 years from now when im dead.

i would give it a 20 if i could.

I dealt with a little company out in louisiana, not danelectro, but they sent it NOS from the 90's in the original box, never left it. the company was very nice, and i had it in about a week (im in Atlanta Georgia)

Its considered "vintage" i guess, because they discontinued the model what? 7 years ago? the dark ages of the Danos. so no warranty for me, but i got hookups, so when it does give out (70 years from now) i shouldnt have a problem getting the DECEPTIVLY SIMPLE guitar, back running.

No complaints, its perfect in my eyes, so versitle, i can do WHATEVER I WANT, and i like that. its cool, sturdy, unique sounding, NOS, and NOS...

i love the idea of New old stock ANYTHING

i give it a 10

I have no idea were it was made, I just know my dad bought one off of Ebay about two years ago. It is a 22 fret (I think, dont feel like counting) guitar. I really like the frets on it, easy playing. Its body has a very unique sound, and I prefer the lipsticks over other single coils any day. the switch on my particular dano is a little messed up, but we re- soldiered everything and it works fine now. This guitar is like a tough old lady, its light, strong, bitches when you want it too, and if your sensitive with it it likes you back. I love particularly the dual knob funtion on dano's. The bridge isnt the best, but looks good on this guitar. its body style is nice and thin, not fat as hell (oh gosh I can't play the fucker its soo fat) fat. The seafaom green is awesome looking and brings back a little taste of the 50's retro styling. the tape on the sides puts it all together, holding and hiding the bindings of the body.

I play though Vox amps, sounds awesome, I love the bridge pickup, and the neck pickup sounds ever- so- sweet with tremolo.

action needed some adjusting, but now its fine, barley any buzzing (none if you have stong fingers)I set mine very low, and it plays pretty fast.

The jack on it can be a bitch, you might have to re- soldier the connections inside the guitar. It can short out, but this is only if you put pressure on the cord end.

????

Kickass rig, love it, would never sell it. if you wanted better pickups buy some good lipsticks from seymore duncan, they fit great, makes a fender look shitty.

I got this 56 U2 reissue second hand a while back. It has 2 lovely lipstick pick ups that give it that unique Danelectro sound. Two concentric tone & volume controls and a 3 way selector. It is of lightweight construction and a joy for live playing (especial for long gigs). The tuners look a bit cheap, but work just fine. They have the 'D' stamped on for Danelectro. The neck is straight, the action is fantastic and the finish is beautiful. Kind of a Les Paul shape, without the weight.

I have lots of guitars, including USA Telecaster, Gretsch and Ibanez. I use all of them live through a Line 6 Duoverb 2x12. I use a line 6 short board controller with the amp, this seems to cover pretty much all of the music styles we play. Mainly rock with a touch of stomp and country. The U2 sits in just fine and I use it live for certain songs, because it has a unique sound. It can produce a deep warm tone and a full on sustained scream when needed. My favourite sounds with the U2 is a clean sound, middle switch setting with any modualtion effect (chorus, flange, trem or phase).

As I said, I got this second hand and the set up is perfect for me. I haven't found any flaws yet. The only thing I wouldn't want to do is drop it, it is so light weight that it might just crumble to dust. I haven't dropped it yet so I don't really know.

The guitar does stand live playing. It stays in perfect tune all of the time (something most of my other guitars don't do). The hardware looks a bit cheap, but I have no complaints so far. The one thing on this guitar that I don't like is the strap studs. They are just pushed in and I always think that one will just pop out at any time. It never has, but I do fear it. I always have a backup live, whatever guitar I'm using.

I have had no cause to deal with them. I don't know much about Danelectro, but they are still around.

I have been playing for around 20 years and have owned many guitars. The U2 is up there with all of them, a great low cost guitar that plays and sounds like an expensive one. If it got stolen I would try to get another. I don't think they make this version now, but I would get another used one. If you are thinking of getting one of these, I'd say snap it up now, you won't be disappointed.

I?ve had an old ?57 Silvertone labeled U-1 for many years, so when I saw these U-2 repros at the music store, I had to pick one up. I was sold right away. Didn?t even moan over the price. This axe is just as much fun to play as my old Danno. There are some differences, small things that don?t bother me. The headstock has more rake back than the 57. The position markers are bigger. The 57 has a reinforced neck, but the R.I. has an adjustable truss. The 57 has 3 neck bolts, the RI has 5. The RI has this thin, shiny vinyl trim around the sides. The 57 has a much better looking vinyl trim with a more deeply embossed texture. This same material is used under the clear pickguard on the 57.
The frets, neck shape and fingerboard are dead ringers for the original. The body frame of the RI is made from laminated ply boards, the original has solid poplar. I?ve looked closely at the back board of the RI through the control access hole in the back. It is definitely not any kind of laminate. It looks to be a very similar material as the original Masonite. The only difference being that the Masonite on the 57 has a textured secondary surface, tiny small squares, while the material on the RI is smooth on both sides. The cover for the control access is white plastic on the RI, the 57?s is Masonite, painted the body color. The overall balance and feel of the RI is very much like the 57.

I?ve been playing for almost 30 years, 20 professionally. My main amps are a Princeton Reverb and a Champ. Personally, I love the sound of this guit. Others may disagree, but I think the RI nails the Danno tone solid. They did a good job with the lipstick pickups.
As far as the tone and feel, all I can say is that I can?t see a Danelectro sitting there without wanting to pick it up and play it.

The fit and finish are actually quiet good. I doubt that my old copper Danno ever gleamed like the RI does. The frets needed no attention at all, the action is good, no fretouts or excessive buzzing. A couple strings of my .011 set were pinching in the aluminum nut.
It was harder to fix than a plastic nut would have been. I ended up using a brass shim and aluminum polish to lap the grooves open. Took a while, but I got it.

I really like the old Dannos and am not at all disappointed with this reissue. What a fun guitar.