Danelectro Convertible

I reckon it's a Korean reissue from '99 - now sure though. It's about as elemental as they come. A cigar box with a neck. Terrible bridge.

Great for what I use it for: lo-fi pop and experimental. I almost never use it plugged in because it sounds dead and kind of pinched. Unplugged, it has a kind of resonator tone, real snappy.

I like the action fine -could be higher, actually. That unattached bridge is the bozak, though!

I have taken this thing everywhere - what could you possibly do to it? In the 4+ years I've had it, it's been in studios and on stage and fallen over a million times. No worries.

Never dealt with Dano.

Because of the bridge, I give it an 8. Elsewise, I dig it totally.

This is an old Dano Convertible, I'm guessing by the headstock, early 1960's. It has the original single lipstick pickup, and a tone and volume control. The body is classic space race kitchen table design.

These Danos have such a great snap. Acoustic, I love the sound - great for blues. Electric, with an amp that has some darkness, you can get a GREAT sound. I've even recorded with guitar this doing feedback through a Marshall half-stack and it was NUTS! It was screaming like a '59 LP in an arena! The pickups are not too noisy at all, but if you get near a neon sign, watch out! Bzzzzzzz.

This guitar appears to have been sat on by a large, large person and even though its got a big sag in the middle of it, it remains, despite all logic, in pretty good tune and intonation. Even though these guitars were made with somewhat questionable materials, the necks are extremely strong and very good. They feel so natural. I've got a bunch of other guitars ('66 Fender Mustang, Gibson ES-125, '68 Melody Maker SG, LP JR Custom Shop, 71 Tele) that I've paid more than 10 TIMES what I paid for this and the neck on this is still one of my favorites. Go figure...

I could drop this off a mountain and the neck would survive but there'd be no trace of the body. This is NOT a gigging guitar, but for recording and just hacking around, it's a nice treat.

The Dano that made this guitar is long gone...

I've been playing around 20 years. I've got a bunch of different amps, mostly I use a silverface Deluxe Reverb, a Magnatone, an Ampeg Gemini I. I've also had some solid state amps too, like Fender Sidekick 25, a Roland Cube (great amp!) and a Tech 21 too.

The "new" Danos are nice enough, but they aren't the same - and I've got to wonder aloud if there is a shoe-factory like sweatshop environment that keeps these new Danos so cheap.

Since the new Danos came along, the now vintage ones have dropped a lot in price. I'd say, stick with the classic and pay the same for a piece of guitar history.

If this guitar were stolen, the book value would be a couple hundred bucks. But I'd pay double that for this excellent, underrated guitar.

Features? We doan need no stinkin' features!! It's a Danelectro fer chrissake! It's a stick, a Formica box, a pickup, some strings, and a couple o'knobs. Made circa 1964 in the USA.

I can't say as i would want this as my only guitar, but if someone broke into my house I'd want him to take the others first 'cuz i can replace them easier. In all my fiddling about with electrics and amps and stomp boxes i have never found a way to get the Danelectro sound except with a Danelectro. Obviously that's not the sound others are looking for, but it works for me. And yes, the floating bridge is a drag, but since this guitar has been around for nigh on 40 years, i'll just let that be. Played through a Fender Princeton Reverb II, it sounds great; plenty of mid, weak on the treble end (but that may be the aging pickup). I use reverb and some compression, but otherwise no effects. They don't add a thing to the sound.

The action isn't bad for what this thing is, and the plastic knobs are crap (they are also in a baggie stored away while the Danelectro wears nickel-plated knobs from a long-gone Vox. Sharp!). The bookmatching of the Formica isn't perfect, but i can live with it. The feel of the neck is quite good, and i find it a very easy guitar to play. I would loan it to my niece to learn on if i were a nice guy, but i'm not.

Perhaps i am overstating the case here, but this thing is VERY OLD as cheap pieces of crap go, and all that's really wrong with it is a worn spot on the back from the previous owner's belt buckle, and some wear on the aluminum (!?!) nut. Considering that even the originals were built to a price,and were not generally treated well until they reached the hands of wackos like myself, that's pretty impressive.

I dunno.....I bought this thing about 20 years after Danelectro folded and about 10 years before they unfolded. I have bought a Fab Tone, though, so i guess i'll find out.

Despite what many reviews have said, the success of Danelectro II is proof of the charm of these Weird Alice devices. I have had this guitar for 17 of the 30 years i have been playing, and i would but another even if this one wasn't stolen or lost. I will always have other guitars around, but there's nothing like this thing, for good or bad. (I haven't gotten up close to the reissues yet.)

Ok, for all you that are complaining about the buzzing and the sound of the convertible here are some mods that you can do to improve and really start enjoying these low quality but unique guitars. Read below-

Ok, you know that buzzing? I notice most of it came from two main sources: The lipstick pickup rattling in its cutout on the top of the guitar; and the bridge saddle. There is also some rattling that comes from the springs that are used to support the pickups but it not that noticible once you these few mods. First, lets correct the rattling pickup. This is a simple, reversible mod. You simply want to line the pickup cutout area with some that will absorb the vibrations of the pickup so it won't rattle. I used rubberband to create a type of gasket around the sides of the pickup where it makes contact with the top. This will make a significant difference in the tone and will allow you to really hear the guitar acoustically.
Ok, the next part, dealing with the saddle. This is an irreversible mod and is to be performed at your own risk. Also, I am pretty sure it void your warranty. Well, if you are still interested, here it is. Ok, so danelectro wanted to stay true to the original design, but the problem is, is that the original design was flawed to begin with. That piece of fret wire stuck in a block of rosewood (I think its rosewood) serves as a saddle but sure rattles and buzzes like a bad fret job on a guitar neck. So what I did was replace the fret wire with a bone saddle (you can also use artificial bone but I would stay away from plastic.) This created a much more clearer and acoustical tone. I did this by carefully pulling out the fret wire from the saddle block with some pliers, then used a hacksaw to carefully widen deepen the slot. I shaped the saddle, sanding down the height, then made sure it fit into the saddle block. Once it fit and I was pleased with it, I glued it in and installed it back under the strings, adjusted the height for action, and maximum playability, intoned it and voila! Talk about enjoying this guitar now! Although its no Martin or Guild acoustically, it sure is a night and day difference than the original saddle.

Some other non-tone affecting mods I would recommend would be to change the tuners (although I believe the newer models now come with gotoh tuners) and the strap pins, although I have had no problems with the stock ones on my convertible so far.

If you have any questions about any of this procedures or would like clarification, email me. I can also email pictures if you need. Have fun and don't despair! This can get a great and fun sound guitar to play.

Made in 1999. Laminate formica top (reddish), maple neck. 22 frets, I think, Tone and volume control, single lipstick pickup. Promoted as an acoustic/electric. At least you can set your drink on it and it won't leave a stain. As a "Convertible", Acoustically, I don't think it's anything other than a toy. As an electric, its better, but not very impressive IMHO, but what do you expect for $200? It's perfect for whom I bought it - a 12 year old boy who wants to posture and thrash the hell out of it.

One major complaint I have are the tuners - they are plain and simple, useless and cheap. Frustrating to use and have zero linearity. I have a set of machines (no-name) that are far better than the trash on there now - very soon I will be upgrading them for my kid sake (well, mine too).

Another griping point is the floating bridge. It's a PITA if it's not set up right, and it requires a fair amount of fiddling before it's "on". Hard to keep in tune. Maybe these are the type of gutar that are sooooo sloppy to play and use, they gain a cult audience who gives them undying love.

Then again, maybe not.

Acoustic-wise, nothing more than an alternate way to play when the neighbors yell to turn down the noise. Devoid of the things you look for in an acoustic guitar (except the "sound" hole).

Better as an electric than an acoustic, and not all that impressed with that either. Can distort the living hell out of it - I will give it that - great for that 12 year old that wants to trash any 3 chord song.

Actually, action is quite good, a saving grace. Pickup is fairly sensitive. The finish is fine for the price. There is some wide stripping going along the perimiter (side) of the guitar that pulls away at the cutaway area. Take out the heat gun, heat it up, and it goes back into place, for a while. Controls are ordinary, appropriate quality for an inexpensive "axe" (if you dare call this one).

I've read the other reviews on this unit, Unfortunately, Id use this as a back-up to my back up. In otherwords, I wouldn't play it. BUT, for a 12 year old, It's acceptable first string axe for garage band/disturbing the peace use.

No experience. Don't know em, Don't want to know em, and don't really care to talk to them. Ever.

I've been playing for 30+ years, mainly mid-priced acoustics, boutiques, different styles. If my kid had this axe stolen? - I wouldn't cry (he might, but not me). I would try to steer him to a acoustic - plenty of better instruments for the dollar out there that will give him far better enjoyment. Unfortunately on an adult level, I hold Danelectros in distain. But My kid seems to like it enough not to have thrown it out the window...just yet, (but I'm working on that).

Mine was in 1999 in Korea. It is an acoustic/electric with a lipstick(Dipstick) pickup. You can read the above reviews for more details on the standard features, I traded this puppy pretty quickly. I think the guitar is wood, but it feels almost like plastic. It is a very thin guitar, it resembles Callista Flockhart.

You know what Britney Spears and this guitar have in common? They both look good but sound like crap. Unplugged, the guitar has the power of a mime, I can fart twice as loud. If you plug it into an amp, it actually sounds decent. Unplugged, it sounds very weak, no remotely deep sound, no twang, no personality. Plugged in, yeah with a decent amp you can make it sound alright. But this won't impress any chicks around a campfire.

Poor, pathetic pegs are suppose to hold your strap to this guitar, mine were crap. They fell out within the first 10 minutes or playing it. They need fixadent or something to hold them in place. The round tuners came out quicker than Ellen DeGeneres. This guitar, or at least mine, was just not put together well.

I only kept it for a week. But if I had to take a guess, my best estimate would be that this guitar would last about as long as Debbie Gibson and Tiffany's careers. For what I paid, you can't expect the world, but you can expect Uranus.

Didn't deal with them. In all fairness, I think that DanElectro makes some fine guitars, this just isn't one of them.

OK, straight up, this thing eats goats. I think mine particularly, was really bad. I had just start playing when I bought it, and didn't know how to pick out a guitar. I actually traded it in to Bethesda Music for full price, which was cool. I can't recomend this to anyone, I bought it brand new, had it for a week and it began to fall apart. Now I play a Fender Strat, De Armond S-65 and Fender DG10CE. I will soon have a SG Special. My mom always said that you get what you pay for, in this case, she was right.

Reissue, close out before new model with upgraded tuners. Got package with funky gig bag and cool cheezy practice amp.

Main features that sold me: wicked cheap, funky look, writeups on this
web page. Did I say wicked cheap.

I wanted something I could leave at work in my office to noodle on when the urge presented itself. Didn't want to worry about if it got stolen.

Acoustic sound is part Ukelele part Dobro, electric actually isn't half bad. I've played it through a few house PAs in the city and people thought is sounded good. (I did feed it through a Tech21 Bass Compactor though).

It's a real hoot to play acoustically. It's tough to rate in that the sound "sucks" if I wanted to match my F65E, but I don't. I love this alternative sound.

This was a 'mail-order' purchase. Out of the box, the volume/tone pot was loose. Easy fix, just tightend the nut. Tuned it, took the wrapper of the battery for the amp and cranked it up and haven't looked back. Bridge buzz isn't as prominent as I expected from other writeups. Very playable, no imperfections - good old off-shore automated assembly.

Though light, it seems solid. Tuners are the weak link (and have been upgraded on the new model) I've gigged it already a couple of times. I'd probably get a hard case if I were going to do it regularly, as well as upgrade the tuners.

N/A

I've been playing since the 60's. Current stable has a cheepo Yamaha electric bass (another bargain) a late 60's Yamaha acoustic (origninal owner), an Alvarez-Yari 12 string bought used in '76 (sweet), a 1980 Carvin DC150 solid body (my token electric - again original owner) and a brandy new Guild F65CE (my killer recording and play out guitar). The Danelectro fits in a nitch all by itself. I originally bought it as a throwaway, but it's so funky that I CARE about it now.

Mine is the regular convertible model in aqua colur. I bought it used in 2001, but it seems to be new old stock, as I can tell that it hadn't been played before. These only come one way, so there's no use in explaining how it is configured. It is a regular convertible, so it has the cheap plastic tuners. This is a short scale guitar, so it's easy and fast to play, especially if you have small hands like I do.

Well, it's fun to play acoustically, because I live in an apartment and I can't disturb the neighbours when I practice at 1AM. It has a nice sound, because it puts out more sound than you would think that it could. I bought it because I usually play a Japanes fat Strat, but I needed a cheap acoustic for some group lessons that I'm taking, yet I wanted it to be easy to play like my strat. I have a Peavey Triumph 60 tube head and Eminence 12" speaker. I have to turn down the treble and turn up the bass to get an acceptable clean sound with this guitar. The lipstick pickup does not have nearly as much output as my Fender strat, even when I have the strat switched on to its single coil pickups. If you crank up the reverb or use a chorus pedal, the sound is quite surfy. When I use the overdrive or distortion channel, the tone of the guitar is not too bad, it's just that the output is quite low. If you have some old 60's tube amp, or a cheap practice amp, this guitar might be quiet, and you won't get much , if any overdrive of the amp. To be honest, I was expecting better tone from this guitar - I was expecting a fuller sound.

This is a low priced guitar, so of course you get what you pay for. However, it seems like it will probably last, because I haven't noticed much wear of the cosmetics since I've owned it, and I play it about 3 or 4 days a week. People have been complaining about the cheap bridge, and I agree, it really does 'jangle'; it vibrates really badly. It is also wearing out, you can see the grooves starting to wear into it , from bending my notes, it must be made from cheap metal. A good thing about this guitar is that the guitar keeps its tune, even after playing for a few hours. At one point in time I had a Korean Squire Strat that would go out of tune if you strummed too hard, so this guitar is way better than that. I can depend on it, for that reason, and I will even use it on a gig when I get up to doing that again. The main thing for me , is that it keeps in tune and it looks cool because of its retro look; you can adjust the tone on your amp to compensate. I would bring my strat to a gig anyway, just in case I needed a heavier sound with a heavier output.

no comment. I bought this used

As much as I've been complaining about it, it works out OK for me , because like I was saying, I needed something cheap that can play acoustic. It's a good addition to your collection as a novelty item. I think it would be great for playing a gig, because it's so much different for the audience than having a strat or a les paul. I wish it had more output, better metal on the adjustable part of the bridge that the strings rest on, and I wish that the bridge didn't 'jangle.'

see above for features

Purchased as a first guitar for my son. I was at Guitar Center with the local Guitar God from my church. We looked at everything and almost purchased a $299 Telecaster. He noticed this convertible sitting in a corner (he has a Danelectro Bass), picked it up and started playing acoustically. Sounded nice, played well ... so we plugged it in and started playing. COOL ... my style is bluesy country and warm and it sounded really neat. We went and found the cheapest Crate Practice Amp we could find ... and it still sounded good. I'm not a guitar player (yet) but I'm a very accomplished vocalist, trumpet player, and I've been blessed with a great set of ears. This little rig sounds really nice right out of the box.

After playing a while I noticed the buz that others have mentioned. Most is due to my poor skills, but as an engineer I also noticed the funky bridge that seems to be designed specifically for buzzing. Everything else seems good and you can't beat the price.

We've only had it for 1 week. It seems pretty light and if my 15 year old breaks it he'll have to use his own money to replace / repair. The neck is too light for wild gymnastic style lead, but it's great for me because I have small hands

My price was real low ... it might have been mislabeled by the store, but what the hey ... their loss.
I'd buy another because I really like the way it sounds and plays. It's much easier than the crummy old acoustic I had at college.
Normally I figure that combo's combine the worst of both worlds, but in this case I like the way it sounds both acoustic and electric. I haven't tried a big amp and volume so I can't comment on the feedback issue.

Pretty straight forward and simple, a concentric tone/volume control.
Tuners not the greatest, but decent for the price.
Neck is good, frets nicely finished, no hand-rippers to be found.
The floating bridge is a pain to keep adjusting, but can be raised to work on slide work, would like one just set up with higher action for slide, but as is, can slide small sheet of paper/plastic/whatever is avail instead of using allen wrenches to adjust the 3 screws in the bridge itself.

Fits the Tulsa sound great, a little blues/country/roadhouse style rock, turn the tone almost all the way to the bass side and its great for power chord blues/rock, dial the tone back to the treble side and you get to the banjo/dobro, can't quite put your finger on it tone unique to this when plugged in.
If you are not a loud singer, unplugged this guitar has a nice, balanced tone that you can sing over, if you are in a duo with a dreadnaught, you better plug in or have your partner pull back on the volume.
I don't have the amp problems others wrote about, I have a solid state Carvin 100w and a solid state Carvin 100w acoustic/electric combo amp with a xlr for vocals, this guitar has no problem with feedback as long as you do not face the amp, also ok going right into a mixer/board.

No flaws, tuners have a cheesy plastic look, but in keeping with the retro tone of the guitar, the vinylette/naugahide around the body is cool, as long as your cats have no claws. Basic black finish shines up well, fingerprints make you shine it often.
Action as expected on this $$$ range, better than a friends Alvarez, plays more like an electric than an acoustic, easy to barre chord on for beginners.

Play in a contemporary christian band, no problems on stage so far, strap buttons look like same cheesy plastic of tuner knobs, but no problems yet(6 months).
I play rhythm guitar, not a lot of bending or stress on the instrument, but I have had no quality problems, popping of pots or any kind of structural failure , I take it alone.

never had to try, don't know warrenty, trust the shop I bought it from to make it right, they don't sell what they dont back up themselves.

Own a Epiphone acoustic electric, and a Memphis telecaster copy with a Les Paul at the neck and a Seymour Duncan Bluesblaster at the bridge. Have been playing about 6 yrs. I would buy another, is a perfect match for my voice unplugged, and cool tone plugged in that doesn't sound like the others with lots of shaping available at the instrument control.
For price, is a cool guitar to add to the collection as long as you are not replacing a PRS, or expecting a Parker Fly equivilent.
Would be a good starter instrument as neck is on the smallish side and would fit smaller hands well, also the different finishes avail make it stand out.