Danelectro Danoblaster Hearsay

I've been searching around for something different. Stumbled upon "Dano" while looking for Baritone guitars. When I plugged this thing up it sounded not only good but different from the sixty previous guitars I sampled throughout the course of lunchbreaks.
The Look is STRIKING w/ blue black glitter sparkle, really low action (which I typically don't like) but not low enough to "buzz". and for once all of the knobs worked, including the "effects" button

Man I don't know what the problem is with the distortion button, mine has one that sort of echoes,one thats obnoxious, and between the two, echo effects. So that was said all wrong, you go from "fried cheese distortion" push the button and then you go to some echo , so in all the are four distinct "sounds"
Oh yeah and each pick-up with mine really effects the sound of the effect so I was thinking that maybe some people might have shorts in their pick-up knob. (I had to sodder my jack back together to get the real sound)

freaking looks so cool; and like I said after I fixed the jack everything seemed to work. which to me is amazing after fiddling around w/guitars for years

You would be a hero when you clicked in that freaky distortion, I swear I get lost, and its a guitar!!!! I've been looking for amps and tubes and heads and whatever to find that obnoxious sound.
got to mention the sketchy wiring on the jack again,and also you need a 9v battery on backup if playing live

Just stoked honestly, like the other guy said I don't want to blow the whistle too loud b/c I feel cool that I "found" this thing. Has opened my mind to venturing into solo's. get it the venture's anyway walk don't run, and try one of these things out.

My guitar is made in Korea..black sparkle, a mixture of a Mosrite and a Strat ; of course three single coils and a built in distorsion (activ) you have the choice to plug with or without the distorsion as there are two line out; neck is middle of the road ,not too fat and easy too play for small hands ,non locking tuners ,but the guitar stay in tune quite well ,I dont use the vibrato so ?

That's the most important of this guitar; the distorsion is a bit cheesy apart from that the sound of these three single coils are great ,loud ,no hum and much better than any Fender Mex Strat
perfect for classic rock or blues in clear tones or with a light overdrive...superb

from the factory ( i think I bought the last one in Musik Produktiv) everything is good ,the action is low with no buzz
for the price the finish is amazing

Don't know ? a friend of mine told me that may be in few times I will have some surprises..who knows ? if I am still alive in ten years I will judge for the moment and the deal I 'm happy

bought musik produktiv with full garanty ,this store is great

I own an esp Ltd mv200 , a Fender Stratocaster Richie Sambora (mex) and this Dano is my new baby..I love all these guitars ,but this one is the cheapest and for the price it's great. I play Blues since 5 years now , may be the guitars are owned are not typically blues ,but blues is also in your hands and mind LOL
to sum up : well it's a great deal

Mosrite style super cool surf body, 21 frets. Stat type whammy bridge. Sparkle blue finish. 5 way switch, volum, tone knobs and a distortion button that aint worth a damn (unless your going for the "TV's crackling very loud and annoyingly" sound.)

Way bright sound. Being used mostly with my Marshal stack. Great for Surf music, rock, blues even. Just about anything. I play Lot's of Ramones on this baby. I don't like the distortion. It seriously sounds like someone turning on a really noisy garbage desposal. That's the only bad part. I'm putting on some new pickups though. A Demarzio FS-1 and a Seymore Duncan SM-1 mini humbucker.

The action on the neck is extremely quick. I like the pickups, but as I said, prefer the humbuckers. I bought this gem at a repo shop in Oregon for 130. It looked OK (there were some minor scratches and blemishes, but I am poor and saving $20.00 was a big deal.) but I tried it out and got the tone and feel I wanted. Coincidentally, that's where I got my stack too. 'Ol Dany musta had his shite together.

I gig. This baby does the job. However, I am weary enough from past gigs to know that a backup guitar is ALWAYS (make a note of that beginning giggers) necessary. Howver, this dano has yet to fail me (besides an occasional broken string.). The strap buttons are convex, meaning they push out instead of in like on a strat. They are solid enough. The finish is cool, but I wish I coulda gotten it in the plain white like the mosrite Johnny Ramone model ( RAMONES all the way baby in case you havent noticed)but I'll take what I can in this price range of a guitar. Hardware will most likely be great for a while. I depend on this guitar for gigs.

No need to deal with the company. Which actually is a better thing than a score of ten since it means I havent had to complain yet.

Um, if I tell all this information, you gotta promise me that the G men wont come to my house. My Girlfriend and I gig a lot so I need guitars. I'm 17. I live in a town called Prunedale (does that tell you something about my financial status?) I love everything about this guitar EXCEPT the distortion. DAMN IT DANY!!!!! Why couldn't you just tell people to buy a boss distortion pedal? That's what I did and it sounds great. I also own Marshall stack that I got for 500 bucks. If anybody were to steal it, I'd hunt you down, kill you, bring you back to life, and kill you again. Then I'd take your wallet and buy a new one. I partially chose this because I love the Mosrite- like style and I knew if the sonics on this baby werent what I wanted, I'd just do my own job on them. Buy this guitar. Unless you can buy a Mosrtie, you rich sunnuvvabich.

the features are nice. its got a button for built in distortian, its own tone for the distortion which sounds reeaaally cool, althought the distortion is kind of dirty and not that great sounding. its got a tone nob, and a volume nob. 3 single coil pickups. mine is already falling apart, but i got it for about 150 so i cant complain. i play at the drive in/the locust kinda sorta music, so it gets banged around alot.

the sound is very very nice. i keep mine on the neck pickup, cause the bridge isnt that loud, and too clear. i play through a bass amp, and use no distortion pedal so i overdrive the pre gain, and use the post gain for volume.

the guitar started falling apart within months of me buying it. i was a little harsh on it though...

the hardware kinda sucks. i wouldnt use it without a backup. good for a beginner guitar though.

havent dealt with customer support

im getting more serious in my band and learning alot more on guitar, so i just bought a new guitar. but this is good to start out with.
http://www.mp3.com/theburningcity to hear this guitar !

This is a late-model Danelectro Hearsay, the company's "budget retro" axe with "cool built-in 60s style distortion" (upon hearing it, you'd guess that distortion was not perfected in that particular decade) and the Dano quality we've all come to know and love, not unlike our neighbor's daughters every time they travel upstate to visit relatives.
Burst finished, under two dozen frets, suprisingly efficient working-class tuners, three decent single coils.
This isn't the guitar you'd want to brag on about to your local tech, but there's plenty of bang for the buck for those willing to spend about $120 (less if you know how to barter, you know like a pirate does! Aaaaarugh!!!)
This finish is magnificent, if you care for the sissy sparkles. Rather exotic looking, but a sherwood surfer's solid green would have been so much sexier.
The neck is probably my only 'serious' complaint, which like my other dano (a 12 string innuendo), has a rather heavy neck for the lightwieght body construction. I hear this could vary from model to model, depending on the condition of the wood.

The most common complaint about the Innuendo/Hearsay models is the quality of the effects used. Though the effects would seem to be an abvious selling point for this guitar (more so with the Innuendo, which has for effects, compared to the Hearsay's single distortion), I would urge an prospective buyers to not purchase this guitar solely for it's effects array.
If you're checking out this guitar at your local guitar center (or other local mersh chain), you're likely to be more interested the sleek design than the distortion, which will seem rather disappointing to some players on initial impressions. But with a little tooling around, you could actually get the entire guitar to work for you. Try thinking of the guitar as your neighbor's daughter, that's what I try and do. If you're still not satisfied with the "60s-style" distortion, just use your own.
Be forwarned, the effects in these models are not going last the duration, two effects have been completely "disappeared" from my Innuendo and a third has been clocking out and lunch and not coming back for the rest of the day. Fortunately for Hearsay owners, that damned distortion is the only effect that hasn't shat itself whole.

The pickups are your traditional 80's strat selection layout, and you're not going to fully appreciate the sound unless you know how to use a tone knob. These guitars sound incredible before you actually plug them in, so you know there's something to work with, if care to "transmogrify" the guitar with some extra cash and know something about pickups.

I can't count off for the distortion (if you don't like it, don't use it), but I will take a point for the pickups and another for the condition of the setup (this thing had been manhandled in a store for a period of months before I noticed it)...

At purchsing time, the pickup selector knob was MIA, the pickguard has been marred as if Edward Scissorhands had fooled around on it after changing the oil in his car and doing some gardening. Someone has also managed to "remove" one of the strap buttons, apparently by apparent dropping the guitar or knocking it off on the edge of something. I had someone check everything out before jumping in and buying it, but let's say it was a deal we couldn't refuse.

No points off for the damage (because, you know, sometimes you find an apple or child with a few bruises, and you know it isn't really your fault, but the rest of the apple is probably still good to eat and the kid can probably still manage to handle physical labor, so you can just figure out some way to cover those bruises up). Someone has put a Postcard-size "sale" sticker on the body, which wasn't very nice.

A point off for not defending itself properly, but you'll be pleasently surprised by the quality of even the cheapest Danelectro.

danelectros are not the volkswagen of the guitar world. I suspect people buy them for the feel, for I know I did. This is the fourth Dano I've played, and the second I've owned, with less effects it's much lighter than my Innuendo and you can't buy a light model for this cheap. Easy to hold, very smooth-like, much like a certain neighbor's daughter I know.

Danelectro could just be a front, they coul dbe laundering something or pushing drugs, I don't know. I'm not about to go bugging them with my problems, so for now, I'll just say I've had no nned to deal with them.

How long have I been playing? I thought this was about the guitar? What's all this "information" needed for? Is this that credibility bit again?
I've been playing 7 years now, still not any damn good if you ask anyone. I am primarily interested in teles, but I'm not sold or faithful on them. This being the second Dano I own must say something, in the least, and despite flaws these guitars are worth a jam if you've got the time. Getting a "slight damaged" one for only $50 is an oppurtunity I urge you to take should it present itself (think about it, that's less than the cost of several TV dinners!), but the axe itself is not anymore expensive than the cost of an sbortion, should "something" happen to your neighbor's daughter. It's what one might call a value, quite rightly, and these things are available anywhere (I bought mine at a mersh entertainment chain, for crying out loud).

Re: Stolen gear: If this product were to be stolen, I would probably report that to authorities. I would also think about stealing someone else's gear, because think about it: you get some new equipment, they usually buy something to replace it (judging from all the reviews I've read on Harmony Central). It's win-win, and it's a cheap way to acquire musicial gear. However, I would perhaps suggest you steal a guitar worth more money. I mean, if you come across a Fender Swinger and one of these, I'd suggest the Swinger, because you'd technmically be more efficient in the act of stealing, and let's face it: few of us can steal more than one guitar at a time!

Bottom Line: The guitar doesn't suck. If it did, I would call it a Heresy (yuk yuk). Definitely worth the price of several TV Dinngers.

My heasay is a 2000 model...made in Korea. I bought it in Dec 2000. Solid Body slim maple neck with rosewood fretboard. Fender Strat style bridge. Standard Dano Tuners (work quite well too)
25 inch scale. Looks like a Ventures Model Mosrite and Fender Strat put together.
21 Medium Frets. Volume tone and effects control

I went to look at one of these to try out to use as a backup to my Strat. I bought it on the spot. I play Surf and Classic rock. On the Surf songs it out performs my Fender 60s re-issue Strat. It does have a slight single coil hum as does my Fender, this i not a problem for me. The onboard distortion is very loud, but i've been able to get a good sound with the volume and tone controls, but I did have to play with it a bit.
the lead and middle pickup sound better than my Strat. the neck pickup on my Strat is a little more fluid, but it does have a great tone, the Strat on that pickup is just a tad better. With the 5 way switch I get a great variety of usefuls sounds
Overall I love this guitar and it's one of my favorites, I really haven't found a dislike about it.
For my playing style it fits me to a T.....Looks AND Tone

This is why I bought this guitar on the spot, the factory set-up was fantastic, the hardware has held up to 13 months of daily use and gigging. The finish is supurb. The pickups were well adjusted and had even volume. Dano really does a good job of inspecting guitars before shipment

I use this guitar daily, it's held up to everything I put it through. I treat my guitars like my girlfriend, (like a lady) The Dano Hearsay has never let me down.
Strap buttons are oversized and have never come loose, I have gigged without a backup on it too
The finish was better than a lot of guitars I've tried, very blip free and applied quite well

Dano's customer service has been excellent. I bought a matching Rumor Bass, I needed a warranty card, handled quickly and very courtiously too. This guitar has never needed any type of repair

I've been playing for 28 years and this nice little Dano was my highlight of the year 2000. I bought it for a backup and it became my main guitar. I own 4 Danos 6 Fenders and a few others. This guitar stands on it's own and has a better tone and feel compared with Fenders and Yamahas costing 3 to 4 time more
If stolen or lost, I would replace it in a heartbeat, then find and severely beat the person who stole it. This guitar really made me fall in love with the Dano line, It made me purchase 3 more Dano guitars 2 Dano amps plus cases and gigbags

2002 Black Sparkle Hearsay. Built in Distortion.

Sounds Great! I play it though a 1968 Fender Princeton Tube Amp and it sounds like creamy butter! The retro-tuned Single Coils sound as good if not better than any of my friend's Strat I have played though the amp.

For a cheap guitar, this is very well put together. Not a flaw in the finish! I don't know how Danelectro can do this- even being built in China where labor is cheap. It is put together as well as the $2200 Parker I played the other day in a guitar shop.

I don't know if I will play it live- but my son wants to! He loves it better than his NJ Warlock. It seems very solid and has stayed in tune very well since I bought it. I am still running the factory strings and the tuning never goes out.

Don't know yet. I know Danelecto wasn't too helpful when my Nifty-Fifty amp showed up DOA. Musicians Friend took care of the problem for me.

This has to be the steal of the century out there! Go out and buy 10 and stash them away. I don't know if they will ever be collector's items, but they sound great and play well and I think will hold up as good as anything else out there for any money!

2000 Danelectro Hearsay.made in korea,solid hardwood with a beautiful hardwood sparkle basedd finish; five way pickup switch with built in distortion(on/off)p/b, strat style single coil pickups with non-locking tuners.

Wit the combination of a five -way pickup switch & built in distortion you can get at least ten different tonalies out of this guitar;However ,for me being a country blues and boogie guitar player, However I found only 3 usable tones after much experimentation. Turning on the distortion and dialing it all the way back and using the 3 & 4th switch positions. you get a unique Hound Dog Taylor sounding slide sound with is way different from most guitars on the market. very 60's retro sounding(which I think is good1!).The clean tones on this guitar sounds like a 60's strat

I think this guitar's look and finish is very unique and has one of the most attractive paint jobs on a guitar, I have ever seen!!!

The bypass plug-in giggled loose after the first gig and I,ve had problems keeping it tight ever since.Outside of that it's pretty good for a cheap guitar.

I am a Country blues artist with over 20 years playing experience; with 3 albums out and I feel this guitar has a unique sound that is usable for the working musician into blues or blues/rock. The big thing is that,for a cheap guitar,it gives you features and sound similar to guitars as much as 10 times the price.

This is an update for what it's worth. The body of the Hearsay is hardwood, but is in fact plywood. It looks and smells when sanded like ash. This is neither here nor there because the body does resonate very well even if it is plywood. It's still a great value and a fun guitar to customize.

My Hearsay is Blue burst sparkle with a rosewood fret board and maple neck. It's attached with four screws ala Fender. The feature I like best about it is it's just different enough to be interesting. I bought mine used. Apparently someone had major G.A.S. and traded it up to something else. The five way switch does not give you as distinct a tone difference in the four and two positions as a Strat but they are still usable tones. The Dano-tuned P-U's are equivilant to many value packed guitars that are out there. They are similar to the Aslin Danes single coils tone and output, and that's saying alot. The body "IS" hardwood and the pots are mini 500k's. One can't expect to get shielding in a guitar at this price point so the first thing I did was shield the switch, control and pickup cavities and routes. I was going to change out the jacks and switch but they seem stout enough for now. Acoustically, this guitar sings out just fine and better than many of the big two offerings. I don't know if the previous owner had this guitar intonated but it's dead on.

I play surf, rock-a-billy, blues and rock in general. The onboard distortion is horrible sounding but turning the effect knob on and off makes a really cool sound. When played through my Mission Amp, which is the quietest tube amp I've ever heard, this guitar is quiet unless you get right up on the amp with it. Echo, Chorus and tremolo don't seem to negate the quiet operation. The Hearsay is well enough grounded. This Dano-blaster is not a brittle, bright sounding axe. It's more along the lines of the timbres one hears on a Fender Mustang or Jazzmaster. To my ears this is good!.

My guitar was massaged when I got it and I only had to raise the middle pickup and throw on a fresh set of strings and I was off to the races. The neck joint was tight and everything was well fitted. From the looks of the neck joint pocket, this finish was srayed on, not dipped. There were tall tail grain traces that dipping would have filled. I planned on refurbishing the whole guitar to make it as Mosrite as possible but now that I know how it was finished, I'm going to enjoy it the way it is for a while.

This Dano is as rugged as any of the other guitars in it's class. I know, because I've worked on many of them. One could easily use this guitar as their only live instrument without worry.

I eventually will go through the entire guitar within a year or so so warranty is not an issue. The closest I've ever come to the company is visit their web site.

Been playing 25 plus years and the longer I play, the less I'm impressed with the so called "high end" stuff. I still want to acquire a Dano Convertible. They're just neat guitars. I like to customize the guitars I buy to suit my musical tastes and lean toward designs that are different or are unique in tone. The Danelectro captures these qualities in spades!. Price point, even new, make this model a winner. Hence the high score in this catagory.