Danelectro Danoblaster Hearsay

It's a guitar, shaped like a Mosrite with a built in overdrive switch...that I don't even use.

Like a really cheap strat. I love the shape of the guitar AND IT WAS CHEAP. I didn't expect it to sound like a Les Paul.

Average. I don't give an F___ about finishes. It fits me, the body and feels good.

Although I love this guitar and dig it for its shape and cheapness, the thing only lasted 5 months. I play in a destructo-art core, southern tribal rock band (don't ask...it rocks). We smash shit and throw our stuff around, so I suppose it lasted as long as any cheap guitar would've. I blew thru this one FAST, though. I really liked it and was disappointed when it crapped out.

How cares? Those companies don't give a fuck anyway. They just want you're cash and that of your neighbors' kids.

Overall, I dig the shape. The sound was decent. I beat the shit out of the thing and it lasted 4 to 5 months then died. I'd buy another one tomorrow....if I had $200 to blow on a guitar. For now, I'll just borrow people's guitars and then send them to hell. It's all rocknroll.

The Danoblaster line came out in mid-2000 (I believe). The Hearsay model is the bottom of the line -- but the line doesn't travel all that far upward.

It is solid wood (as opposed to chambered wood/masonite like the older Danos) and resembles a Strat in many details -- three single coil pickups with the middle RWRP, a five-way switch with two tone and one volume control. It has a six-point, vintage-strat style trem bridge, plastic nut and sealed tuners (arranged 3-and-3) that are a notch above the older Dano tuners. The 25" scale neck is maple in a slim "C" shape and the fingerboard is rosewood. There are 21 moderately tall frets set on a large radius (perhaps 12"?).

This model also features a built-in distortion effect that cuts in with a push-on-push-off button near the bridge. Dual output jacks let you run clean and distorted out at the same time (for dual amping).

I bought this guitar to have an away-from-home axe at my in-law's house and I don't really intend to plug it in much if ever. When I was in the store, I plugged into a Fender Deville and fiddled around a bit. With three SC pickups, it can't help but sound largely Strat-like. It was fairly quiet (hum-free) on the "clean" setting and overly loud and feedback-y with the distortion in. I don't know how it would do through a cranked amp.

The body shape is similar to the old Mosrites (which are the shape of an upside-down Strat). It has a waist contour for comfortable playing as well as a contoured arm rest on the lower bout. Beyond that, the edges are fairly square. Mine is finished in a beautiful (and durable) blue-to-black sunburst overlaid with large metalflake sparkles.

The pickguard and controls are made from the cheesiest imaginable white plastic but they fit and feel is precise. The joint between the neck and body is so tight that you can't slip a piece of paper in there from any direction.

The neck is CNC-machined from two pieces of utility-grade maple overlaid with a smooth satin finish. Frets are smooth and even so that there is no buzz anywhere despite the low, comfortable action. The edge of the fingerboard is well smoothed with hardly a bit of snag to the fret ends.

The factory setup is usable but will get a little tweaking soon to make it exactly the way I like it.

The Hearsay seems as well put together as the Fender guitars I own (an MIA strat and tele and an MIJ strat). It is, in my teacher's word's an "ordinance" guitar -- a tough, proven design that wears well in a professional setting as long as the basic materials are decent. I would trust this guitar to do its job for a long time to come.

Unknown

I've been playing about three years and have owned about 10 guitars in that time. I play surf in a basement band and this is similar enough to my favorite strats to be a comfortable fit. I'd buy another of these in a heartbeat (especially at this price!)