Danelectro 59 DC

I bought this new in 2000. It's fantastic. The finish is this beautiful creamy-green-yellow.

This sounds great with a mellow reverb if you're going for the sound it was intended. I, the other hand, play in a streetpunk band. This lightweight creates one of the best sounds i've heard through a RAT distortion pedal. Kinda makes me wonder if the ramones were using danos or not.

This was set up great...lower action than i'd expect. The finish is gorgeous.

It's a rare occasion to break strings on this guitar. One thing i'm a bit wary about is the strap pin on the bottom of the guitar. I'm a big fan of jumping on stage and if i'm not careful the pin pops out leaving me struggling to keep it up and looking like an ass.

never needed them.

I've been playing for about 5 years now... touring in a punk rock band recently and this has held up. I also use an Ibanez IC300 Iceman just to mix things up. I play them both through a Crate 1200H solid state head and a 212 cab with 70 watt celestions. everything sounds great. If some bastard stole this i'd definitely buy another one... and kick some ass.

-double cutaway black
-vintage dano tuners
-two single coil passive lipstick pickups
-two vol and tone knobs
-wood bridge

-play all types country, rock, rockabilly, heavy metal,surf
-play with a rocktron amp
-it is as quiet as any other single coil guitar
-tons of variety
-whats not to like

-bought it used well adjusted

-it seems to last the person before me must have played it alot

been playing for 21 years an excellent guitar wish it had the metal
bridge and better tuners but i LOVE the sound and the painted neck
and headstock plus it is one of the BEST LOOKING guitars out

I bought this guitar from my next door neighbor's kid...he was convinced that this guitar is useless, and it is if you're playing metal.
Since I don't use distortion, I have nothing to complain about.

Pretty bare-bones, which is fine by me.
The trussrod works fine, the wooden bridge saddle DOES intonate (close enough), and that's what counts.

This is the selling point, as far as I'm concerned.
I have a reissue Bassman amp and a Roland Space Echo. With that setup, the Danelectro sounds EXACTLY like My Gretsch DuoJet, a guitar that cost 10 times more!

This is a cheaply built guitar.
Everything works ok on it, but the tuning pegs are pretty flimsy and the "binding" isn't glued on all that well.
I still love this guitar!

I bought this guitar as a backup to my DuoJet. It goes to band practice instead of the Gretsch, and has probably been played more than the Gretsch in over the last six months.
I have yet to experience any problems with it.

I've been playing a little over 20 years.
My other guitars are a '66 Telecaster (my first guitar) and a '93 Gretsch DuoJet.
I bought the Danelectro as a cheap practice/backup guitar, but I find myself using it more and more.
It sounds so close to the DuoJet that it's not even funny! In a blindfold test, you'd never hear the difference! It doesn't feel as nice as the Gretsch (the necks are very different) but it sounds just as good.

i dont know yhe yar pretty new 99 ?

i love this guitar. it sounds good to me i have
gone through a exas lonestar strat a gibson les
paul etc. and i have found these cheap guitars are
actually the sound i like. i never thought i would
settle for single coil because i despise strat
sounds. but hten i realized some of these other
companies make cheap guitars with single coils
that give me that exact sound i desire. this
guitar is what i was looking for. i can't describe
the sound really i guess you could call it a
"cheap' sound. call it what ever you want i'll
never pay over $200 for a guitar again

i think the pro would be better set up. that wood
bridge is okay but i would be happier with a metal
one with saddles. i started to buy a different
bridge and realized i can't make new screw holes
because the guitar is plastic.
but all in all good enough for me

plastic, plywood... i wouldn't build a house out
of it, but the guitar is good if you are one who
has respect for their property and treats things
with proper care. i don't see this guitar getting
broke very easy.

i don't know

i've been playing 5 years and when i first started
i played a friends cheapo electric guitar and have
been after that sound ever since. i have played
higher quality guitars and never have got the
satisfaction i get from a cheap guitar. this thing
is wonderful i guess the daneletro 59 dc pros are
perfection.

Made in 1999 in Korea. You know the features from the reviews below. Mine is black with matching painted neck. (AKA Jimmy Page Model) The newer models have natural maple necks w/RW fretboards.(Bummer.) The tuners have the Dano logo on the backs and they have cream colored plastic knobs. GORGEOUS!

This is the Dano equivalent of the Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty! LOL!!

It's not a Paul or strat, it's a Danelectro! So, it has it's own unique sound. It's a nice change from my 3 strats and it's tone really stands out.

It sounds ho-hum thrugh my Fender Delux Reverb & Pro Junior but it sounds great thru my solid state Fender M80 combo.

The setup is DC59 -> Ibanez TS5 -> Boss DS1 (Made in Japan) -> Fender amp. This thing is FANTASTIC for slide guitar with either/both distortion pedals engaged.

The front and middle pickup switch positions are the ones to use. The bridge pickup alone is thin & weak. The guitar does not have a lot of sustain but, this can be compensated for by clamping a heavy metal capo to the headstock. The added masss improves sustain.

Depending on where you pick, you can get a lot of different tones.

I pulled out one pickup, slid off the cover, and rotated the coil/magnet assembly 180 degrees. This made the guitar humbucking with the PU selector in the middle position. Great for overdriven & high gain lead solo's.

Fingerpicking the axe renders a beautiful tone which compliments the rosewood bridge piece. You can't get this tone with a Fender or Gibson electric.

The factory fret job and neck shape are fantastic! The action needed to be lowered and the intonation adjusted to my taste. The nut needed a little lube to keep the strings from binding.

Use nickle round wound strings. My gage is 10-46.

To adjust the rosewood bridge saddle, use a 1/4 diameter wooden dowel and a tiny hammer and LIGHTLY tap it in the direction it needs to go. I have no intonation problems with this guitar.

I have used this guitar live, without a backup.

After reading reports here at Harmony Central, I pulled the strap buttons with a pair of pliers (no easy task) and applied a drop of contact cement & reinstalled them. They are in forever.

The finish is thin and I have one tiny paint chip on the corner of the upper bout edge.

Never dealt with Dano. I voided the warranty when I changed some wiring.

I have been playing guitar 36 years and own 7 other guitars, strats, acoustics, tele, Artstar AS80. This guitar is fun too play and is my main slide guitar.

If it were stolen, I'd forgive the thief & buy an identical guitar.

I wish it came with springs on the pickups instead of foam rubber pads to set PU height. THis is easy to correct yourself.

I replaced the shielded wire to the output jack with a twisted pair, solid conductor, 22 gage wire. This improves tone and did not introduce any hum.

Follow up reveiw. How has it stood up?.
Others, and myself have posted ad infinitum about the features on this guitar.
To recap, 2*'lipstick' single coils, 3pos switch, 22 frets, easy access to 12-15, then the ruddy great neck/body joint makes it tricky.

V.light. Made from ply/masonite ( posh hardboard )
V.tough finish, almost scratchproof.
Hardboard scratchplate.
Noname tuners, but they work.
Rosewood neck.
Fat neck, medium frets, metal nut.
Odd bridge. A flat bit of metal with six cutouts for the strings, and a piece of rosewood!.

I am heavy handed, and have snapped a few strings. This stringing system looks shyte, but the strings -are- positively located. I just wish Dano would release the later bridge as a retrofit.
My intonation has drifted from perfect when I got the guitar, to acceptable. Adjusting it is a nightmare.
The body style is double cutaway, hence the name DC. Stacked Vol+Tone pots. The tone controls are odd. Mine go from full treble to muddy bass over a very narrow range. I leave mine set to full treble on the neck, and full bass on the bridge. Works for me.

The bridge pickup is weak and reedy sounding, the neck full and muddy. Lovely.
It has all the features it needs -except- a spliff roller.

Bright and trebly most of the time. V.Twangy. Good for chords. Bright, open and ringing.

It cannot ape a Les Paul. It does most of the things I want, but not all. I want a hodad with the pickups running as Humbuckers for more meat.

It can be restrictive with its narrow range of sounds, and effects pedals sound shit if you try and make it sound like what its not.

A better bet is a humbucker equipped guitar with a coil tap. More flexible. I like the Dano sound overall. That was why I bought it

When new, it was perfect.
Now, the frets on E A and D have horizontal cut lines in them from the strings, while G B and E have indents on the lower frets. The intonation is a twat to set up. It can only really be approximated. The finish was, and still is, superb. Scratch proof ( nearly ), and I have had no problems with the binding or the strap mounts.

Its reliable. I am a heavy handed S.O.B with it, and it survives. I have dropped it, played it on a strap with the back catching on a large belt buckle, and still the finish is there. Very impressive.

I chipped the rosewood bridge piece, wrote to JHS in the UK, they sent me another by return of post, and they have not spammed me!.

It is now out of warranty. I don't really care. If it packed up, and what is there to go wrong?, I'd just bodge it back together.

I have had this guitar for 15 months at the time of writing, and have probably played it for an average of an hour a day. It is tough, pleasant to play both acoustically and amplified. I use a smidgen of compression and a dano cool cat chorus.
I wouldn't buy another 59 DC, but would consider a 59 DC Pro, or a Hodad.
I love its bright sound, I love its neck for chord work. I loce its lack of weight. I wish it would have more natural sustain.
Fantastic value, well made, long lived.
Overall, a nice, niche guitar.

The one I got was made in 1998. It had 22 frets. It was made out of plywood and this other wood I'd never heard of (never buy a guitar made of something you've never heard of). It had 2 volume and 2 tones combined into to pots, neat idea and gets rid of clutered pickguard. It also had a three way selector switch. It had 2 lipstick tube pick-ups. They were the standard danelectro pick-ups. The electronics were passive. The neck was made of maple with a rosewood fretboard I think. It was in that beatnik burgundy finish, I wouldn't have chosen it if I had the choice, but it was ok. And it had this stupid tape stuff around the sides that was supposed to look like binding, it sucked. It ripped and looked really bad. I liked the double-cutaway thing though. I hated the bridge, it made it impossible to change strings quickly. It would always fall off. I got the danelectro gig bag with it, that part was fine.

When i bought it it kind of fit the musical style I was into. If you want a vintage sound out of a new guitar, this is the one for you. But I got into different styles of music and this thing was horrible for that. I used it with this little fender thing and a 50-watt marshall, couldn't make it sound good on either amp (for heavier stuff). It had a richj bright sound, which just didn't work for me. There's almost no variety in the style of music it can play, vintage stuff only. That just didn't cut it for me.

The action was a little high, but not out of control. The pick-ups were fine. That stupid "binding" tape stuff made me mad. I wanted to pull it off but it would have left glue behind. Also, the pickguard didn't sit flat. I lost a pick or two into the gap between the pickguard and the hole where the electronics were. I had to shake it like an acoustic to get the pick out. The wood quality was horrible! Plywood in a guitar? Of course I only found out what it was made of after I bought it. I did like the metal nut, I couldn't dig the strings into it like I've done with other guitars I've owned.

This guitar could take alot, I'll give it that. The harware seems good, except that bridge, that's something I would get changed if i were to get another one. The finish looked like it would last. No problems there. I didn't like where one of the strap buttons was placed. I was behind the neck, but on top of that little notch of the body that the neck connects onto. I had to bend my strap funny at the end so it would hook on, bad idea. It was a little too easy for my strap to come off while i was playing. Other than that it seemed very reliable.

Didn't have it long enough to have to deal with it.

I've been playing for a little over two years and know quite a lot about guitars. I own a fender strat and an ibanez ax. Both fairly cheap guitars but work well. I also own a 50-watt marshall. That thing rules. I wich i would have known what it was made of before I bought it. I would definitely buy something else if it was stolen. I didn't really like much about it except that the neck was kind of nice. I hated basically the rest. It was a little neck heavy, and that bugs me. I'd just like to point out that I said everything in the past tense because I sold this piece of junk on ebay after about 4 months of owning it. I would have sold it sooner, but my parents said I should hold onto it for a while before I sold it. I never changed my mind. And I'm glad I sold it.

It's not super fancy but what'd you expect from a classic? 22 frets 2 SERIES wired lipsticks and the cool t.v nobs, it's hollow and very reflective, which gives it a huge sound. It's got duel cutaway and that awesome pick gaurd this thing looks COOL. the one problem though is the brige it's just got a piece of wood for intonation which can be a problem when tunning especially the g but besides that good.

this thing has a very unique sound and if you want to be differn't get it. big sound especially when using both pickups. really good at making a lot of weird sounds, i'm very experimental but i can get about 5 diff guitar sounds but like 20 other types of sounds, hard to explain but if you like to do things besides play guitar on your guitar it' very good. it's not going to sound good for every style and probaly dosn't fit in with most styles but if you play lot's of originals and want YOUR sound not someone elses get this axe.

The action good with a flat neck but i prefer round fender type necks but if you like flat necks you'll love it. it does though have rather poor acsess to the upper frets 15+ .i like a more trebely sound from my guitar so adjusted my pickups to how i like them. but I really think this guitar was made to be adjusted. intonation was good and for a cheap guiatr it's extremely well made.

One thing the strap buttons suck!! and it was hard to replace as they were moulded platic. finish is good and i really beat it while strumming ans it's still good. It's simple and i don't think it would break down, I just use it while gigging no backup.

this thing is a cheap guitar and worth every single buck. it's just so unlike any other guitar ever you'll either love it or hate it and i love it. it has it's problem [bridge, upper neck] and if you play mostley covers you'll probally hate it as it dosn't sound like any other guitar but i love it. if your poor and guiatr obsessed by this guiar.

Double cutaway, 2 lipstick tube pickups, bolton neck, stacked controls-you know the whole deal by now. Mine is Commie Red. Neck is finished slick which I actually like better than the satin Convertible which was a contender along with the HoDad. A tweed gig bag was gifted to me with it and it fits perfectly. The features in sum, are basic and should be a known quantity at this point. No unpleasant surprises.

Sound is ideal for Flume's modern-pop sound. By far the neck and dual pickup settings work best. Many have remarked about the bridge one being a bit on the mosquito side--I raised mine closer to the strings for a little more moxy...it helped. It is remarkably silent and cuts through the wash of modulation I put it through. Switching to both pickups midsong gives me an instant boost and is now part of the repetoire in the live set. Lots of ring and bell-like chiming can be had....plenty of Let's Active style jangle for a guitar more closely linked to Jimmy Page!

Set up was ok---strings will have to come down a bit but I am forcing myself to work with it for strength. Again the pickups being raised gave me more simple output. But consider for the fraction of the cost, its setup blows the doors off most of the new work from Gibson and Fender. Pretty hysterical to see this inconspicuous item run circles around Les Pauls in terms of tone and playability.

I waited until I gigged with this to write the review..Flume did a show in MD and I used it for half the set..yes, it worked nicely. Naturally you have to check tuning on this more frequently than others--it goes out quick for me but a setup should resolve that. My bassist got the Dano longhorn and had the strap buttons pop out but mine are solid and I've not done anything to it--but then we're not doing gymnastics onstage either. I got positive feedback from the audience about the Dano--but I did have to raise the volume on my amps considerably to get it at the right stage level--and then pull them down when I switched to my Hamer 12 string Eclipse. I will gig with it again and its light weight makes it a joy to bring--have been rehearsing with it for a month now and do not miss my Les Paul Custom one tiny bit!

I believe the warranty is one year--the Dano website is clever in making you want more models--and at these prices why resist? Have not had to contact them directly yet. The Guitar Center where it came from was utterly laughable in their uselessness when I came by asking about setups and a shot of graphite for the nut to help with tuning. You'd have thought I had leprosy. They are atrocious but that shouldnt reflect on Dano too much.

Playing for 20 years. When Flume gigs I bring this and aforementioned Hamer and a PRS Custom 22 with secret chambers...sometimes the ES-295 sneaks out. Where was cool gear like this Dano when I was a younger man? I could have had great tone right out of the gate! But its fun now to put such an unassuming piece into live use. I love the weight and instantly musical tones--I knew immediately what songs to use which pickup combinations with and it actually sounded better to me than the DC3 or the Hodad...acoustically it does have lots of resonance which I am obsessed with. And yes, the color is deadly cool.

You know the features. A basic, simple designed instrument.

What a tone! I love these cheap Danos. My only complaint is the weak sound I get from the bridge pickup. Middle position and neck are great. It's surprising how versatile these guitars are. I have a Les Paul, Tele, Strat, Ibanez, but I keep going back to the Dano because it's so cool! I think you could plug it into any amp and it will shine. It sounds heavenly through my Boogie/Rocktron rig. I'm just a little disappointed with the bridge pickup.

Action and finish were almost perfect. Built very well for what you pay.

I'm not quite sure how well these hold up. I take pretty good care of my instruments, so it should be okay. Hopefully I'll never drop it. Unlike what others have said, I've had no problems with the strap buttons or anything else for that matter. No need for a backup, but I do have three of them, because I couldn't settle on one color!

I love these guitars. If one of them were stolen, I'd definitely get bent, but I'd rush out and pick up another one. I think they're pretty consistent in the sound department.