Danelectro Hodad Baritone

Made in Indonesia? 1999? Features; Already been mentioned by others, 3 lipsticks, cheap vol/tone pot, switches blah, blah,blah. They work fine. Don't beat the stuff with a hammer and it'll work for a long time. Otherwise, its a fine looking guitar, with an aluminum nut, adjustable bridge (nice feature but yes they do bow in the middle (just raise the saddles to compensate and don't use crazy heavy strings).

Remember this is a BARITONE guitar with a 27.5" scale. not a 30" scale six string bass. So don't expect it to be a bass. Its a guitar that you can tune 4 maybe 5 semitones down from std. guitar E-E. And it sounds like a cool low-tuned guitar. Thats what it does and it does it very well.

Use a good amp. By good I mean simple tube stuff. I've got a Tweed Fender 5D3 deluxe clone and this guitar sounds like God through it. It just phenomenal. And with the right strings its a breeze to play.

The lipstick pickups sound very good but try to make sure you are plugged into an AC outlet that does not have any light dimmers on the same circuit becuase the single coils DO pick up a lot of hum. If you have one, use an AC isolation transformer and plug your amp ino that. It helps a ton with keeping the 60 cycle hum and buzz out of your sound.

The biggest thing that contributes to this thing playing nicely is proper string selection for the range you've tuned to.

Ernie Ball Baritone strings (13-72) are great for for tuning B-B, you can bend a semi-tone on the higer strings but not more and not with great ease. But OH GOD the power and sustain... Just wonderful. This set is way too floppy for an A-A tuning.

Elixer Baritone (12-68) are an excellent choice for B-B tuning and they bend easy too. This is probably the closest 'guitar feel' set. Nice twang but a hair less ballsy than the Ernie's. Better for leads.

If you need to play A-A try the Labella Baritone BGE-M Mediums (15-80) but be prepared to tweek your truss rod a hair. And you may have a hard time being able to get the low A saddle adjusted far back enough to intonate perfectly. But if you really need to be tuned this low, give it a shot. Again, super ballsy and powerfull but don't try to bend notes, well, you can try but your calluses will start to develop calluses. But really amazing tone.

All of these setups I've been able to use with no buzzing or floppyness. Set-up IS everything.


By the way, neck feels great. Not too fat, not quite as thin as a tele but close, just right.

I stongly suggest swapping out the stock jack for a switchcraft jack. Thats the only thing that could screw you on stage as the originals are quite cheap and can be intermittent if you bump you guitar cable the wrong way. Otherwise, if you tighten everything up (knob and switch nuts) every 6 months if you play it every day, you'll be good to go

Have not had to call them but have seen parts online and reasonably priced.

Playing 20 years. Own too much stuff. This IS one of my favorites, and YES I WOULD find another if this one took a walk. Its an absolute blast!

A lot of features for a danelectro. Adjustable bridge. Three pickups and selector switch. The rest is pretty normal dano stuff.

Not as deep and robust as my vintage bass VI but what do you expect for under $300. Still I like it. You can get a lot of tones but only one suites me and I'm not sure what pickups are one, but it's the deepest sounding setting. It's strung dadario for jerry jones baritone strings right now. That improved the sound some.

I had to set it up as soon as I got it home.

Like i said these are supposed to be tuned E to E but danelectro cheaped out and changed them to A to A so they could use lighter and cheaper strings. I have an older pre-hodad set of danelectro reissue baritone strings and they are all wound and the gauge is like 20-84.

The problem with tuning these A to A is the string tension is to high for the pot metal bridge so it bows. I bent it back straight and strung it with the heavier E to E strings. The string tension is lower now and the bridge has remained straight for the time being.

Add cheap electronics to the mix and you've got an axe that isn't gig worthy IMHO.

Not the best or worst baritone out there I guess. I like the fender subsonic and Bass VI much more but they costs more and are harder to find.

If you just want a baritone for the occassional novelty get one but if your looking for a real guitar seek out the custom shop sub-sonic (A toA) or an original Bass VI (E to E) both of which make this one sound pretty stupid. I have all three. This was the one i got first. It got me serious about playing baritone so it had it's use, but I don't play it anymore since I've got two real baritone guitars.

Epiphone and Gretsch also have budget baritones that look nicer than these but I haven't played them.

the features have been covered pretty well by other reviewers or you can look 'em up on the danny site...so other than to state it's a 2002 model, not much to add....

okay, look...here's the deal...i tried my good friend's Veillette baritone before buying the hodad, and soundwise, the hodad is at least as good and possibly superior...it's a serious tone monster with a huge range of settings...while there's no comparing the hodad and veillette from a structural standpoint, i would defy anyone to tell me the difference on a blind listening test...this sucker does everything you want a bari to do...

the factory setup on my unit seems just fine...however, my local repair guy informed me that in the event that the neck ever DOES warp, you can pretty much kiss this sucker goodbye because it doesn't really allow for much adjustment...then again, the neck doesn't appear to be in a big hurry to go anywhere special at the moment...

one nice feature...you can get up to the 20 or 21st fret of this guitar easily and it plays cleanly...so if you're inclined to forget that you're playing a bari, and you drift up the neck and start playing your favorite Clapton licks, there's enough room at the top of the fretboard to provide a reasonable facsimile of a lead guitar...

the black metalflake finish is a hands-down chick magnet...say whatcha want, but as plastic toys go, this is definitely one of the cooler looking ones around...hell, if you own a black camaro, it's worth buying a hodad as a hood ornament even if you don't play!!

seems to be made of the same extruded plastic polymers as those souvenir cups from Wendy's or Mickey D's, and as such, should survive the kinda beating that your average 4-year old gives his Tonka toys...aside from the fact that i wouldn't recommend leaving it leaning against a hot water tank for very long, it appears fairly indestructible and non bio-degradable...the hardware ain't nuthin' fancy, but it's servicable...it stays in tune during the gig and that's all any honest man can ask for...and nobody short of james mcmurtry really needs to ever consider a BACKUP for a baritone...

haven't called the good folks at danny, and considering the price of the Hodad, probably be cheaper to replace than reface anyway

i'm a big fan of james mcmutry and steve earle (and if you're on this page, i assume YOU are, too, Sparky!)...got enough other guitars and keys to keep me busy, so i was looking for a bari that i could haul out occasionally to get THAT sound without having to wait for my lotto numbers to come in...and for the price and quality of the danny hodad, let's face it, no home should be without one...can't beat danelectro when it comes to bang for the buck...hook this baby up to a danny tuna melt and yer ready to rock and roll...

3 lipstick pickups - 7 different pickup settings, Average to poor tuners, average to poor tone knob, average to poor bridge, a neck that seems to want to warp and cause fret noise, but a body paint job of dark black and gold flake that seems to make you forget anything about this guitar that sucks...It is extreemly light and fun to play.

The sound of this guitar is terrific (Disclaimer: if it is what you are looking for.) There are 7 different settings for the select-o-matic. I personally think that most of them suck. For most of the settings the bass is way to boomy and not tight. There is very little ballance compared to a good pickup and for some reason the Neck and the Middle pickup dont sound good distorted. If you turn on all three pickups with the switch, it sounds really bad, practically unusable. However, the bridge pickup, and combination of the bridge and the middle pickups sound terrific. Twangy and full respectively. They make an incredible tone when run through a good tube distortion. This guitar has the potential to make a two piece band sound full. If you want to be The White Stripes Ver 2, you should seriously consider this guitar. Power Chords sound so much better on this guitar than any other guitar i have played.

The action isnt really good, as the guitar is hard to play and the strings buzz. While i have never tried, im not sure that you can really adjust the neck to correct its imperfections. Its made like a cheap guitar, but feels solid enough to use. This guitar is very very light, and i love that about it. I feel free to be violent with the instrument, and it allows me to create some great sounds.

I think the guitar is built well, but you could definately break it if you wanted too. I could depend on it...

NA

This guitar was the "different" guitar i was looking for. Tuned to a B, but the same format as standard guitar tuning, it gives an ass kicking power chord sound. Its hard to play as the strings are heavy the action is high, and the neck is as long as a standard bass neck, but it is extremely fun to play with great sounding results. I recommend this guitar highly to anyone looking for that different kind of grungy sound. I highly recommend this guitar if you once were a 5 string bass player looking for a new instrument. I have never seen anyone use these to their potential. If it were stolen, i dont think i would get it again. Its fun, and almost a novelty for me, but by no means a great musical instrument. It requires you to think when transposing what you would normally play on a regular guitar. Most importantly, it is a different instrument than a guitar, and it has a different feel than a guitar (although the sound is not that different) Because the neck is longer, if you get used to the feel on this guitar, going back to a regular guitar isnt intuitive. While this review may sound negative, if you are actually interested in a barritone, the guitar is worth looking at. Its the cheapest way to get to the coveted distortion sound that I love.

The details of the features have been covered best in the other reviews. I purchased mine early 2002, and have come to find out that it is one of the last Korean made (they are no made in China).

I have to say that this guitar sounds amazing! This is the definitive sound - period. I use it with my writing partner who is a female pop/pop country artist (Think, Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, Jewel). I have run it through several amps, amp farm and tube DIs. The selector switch provides a multitude of sounds. As with any single coil pick up I have to fight with positioning to reduce RF hum/buzz. I have to say I like everything about this guitar's sound - I have even used it on a heavy metal track and it rocked.

I am giving this a low rating in this category because my guitar arrived in the worst possible shape. I spend a two weeks readjusting the neck (not to do it all in one day). It was so bad that it could not have been due to the shipping from two states away. I almost sent in back however am glad I didn't. I typically would never buy a Guitar mail order, however here in LA, no one, and I mean no one had it in stock to check out. It blows my mind how instruments that are readily available in music stores in Nashville are so rare in LA.

This is a weird question for a Dano review. They are made cheaply and that is the sound we are looking for. I know my Les Paul could with stand a hell of a lot more abuse that the Dano but I knew this getting into it. It is a little frustrating that a couple of screws keep coming loose but overall it is pretty solid for a Dano.

What customer support. They blow! They contact I could make was with the people in that make the pedals who referred me to some company with an incredulous a-hole manning the phones!

I have been play guitar, as my second instrument, for 20+ years. I own an extensive home protools studio. If the guitar were stolen I would immediately replace it with another one. This is the sound. Everything else, even if it technically sounds better, is not quite that ole Dano sound. I love it. I wish it were more solid/less cheap.

Typical Dano Features on construction, The 7 way switching is great, very smooth tuners, stays in tune very well

I bought this guitar on a whim, because I already had a Dano that I love to death. This Hodad Baritone opened up a whole new tonal world for me. I play classic rock in a working band. This Baritone really impressed me.
The sound is fantastic, I can go from Mud to Twangy in a heartbeat. It has some slight hum that single coils do. My Fenders slightly hum. I know that and have no problem with this at all.
My only minor dislike is it's a tad neck heavy. Not enough to downrate it either

This setup was better than any Fender I got off the rack. Neck has never needed adjusted. No flaws at all. Very impressed everything was tight and functional. This Baritone was gig ready off the rack. I did even out one saddle and that was it. Very impressed with Danelectro

As far as live work, I gig with it, I also use a Dano Hearsay for guitar work and also have a Dano DC 12 String, so I take at least 3 guitars to a gig
The baritone is a specialty axe so it's not a primary guitar so it's not really a backup either, but when I switch guitars and need a Bartione, it's there for me, and never let me down.
I've had it a year and am happier with it now than when I first got it..
Hardware is great...No problems at all

I also have a Dano Runor Bass, I emailed them for a warranty card. They got back to me the same day, and the rep from Dano was really helpful and that really impressed me. I've never needed a repair or anything on my Danos. which includes 4 Dano guitars 2 amps and cases and gigbags

I've been playing for 28 years and I am really happy and impressed with Danelectro. I bought one guitar for a backup and wound up bying 3 more Danos plus their amps too.
The neck on this baritone is one of the best i've played, sting balance is great, if lost would replace it in a heartbeat. I would pay $499 for one. The Hodad Baritone is a solid well thought out design that really offers a great alternative to a conventional 6 string electric guitar

DANELECTRO SENT ME THE WRONG REPLACEMENT NECK AND AREN'T WILLING TO SEND ME THE RIGHT NECK. CUSTOMER SUPPORT SUCKS. JUST HOPE NOTHING GOES WRONG W/ YOUR DANO, CAUSE YOU'LL BE SCREWED. I CANT FIND ANOTHER HODAD BARITONE, SO IM SCREWED.

extremely nice dano. The adjustable bridge, metal strap pegs, and gotoh tuners are an added bonus. thats the main reason why i bought the hodad baritone instead of the standard baritone.

The lipstick pickups are sweet. I mostly play grunge/metal/punk music, and let me tell you, when you engage all three of these pickups at once and pile on the overdrive, the tone you get is just awsome. The only way i can really explain it is its like an engine starting up, very unique, very impressive. I'm glad that I didnt go out and spend the extra 300 or so bucks on the ESP baritone, cause i like this one much better.

the action is nice. this guitar just screams for playing staind-type riffs. i had to lower the pickups when I first got it, because the strings were hitting them, but otherwise great set up. The only problem is that i got a lemon. The neck had warped when it went through shipping (i ordered it through elderly instruments), and there is this unberable buzzing on the strings near the 12th fret. The finish is awsome, i got a rare model with a silver metalflake finish, i fell in love with this guitar from the first minute that i played it.

This guitar seems pretty durable. except like all guitars DON'T SHIP IT WITH THE STRINGS TIGHTENED! alright, that was my vent. I would gig with it without a backup once i get elderly to send me a new neck (thank god for the warranty).

Haven't dealt with dano, only elderly.

I've been playing for about a year and 7 months. I also have a gibson les paul studio lite and a dearmond starfire hollowbody. this guitar adds a lot of low end growl to my collection. if it were stolen, i would probably cry because I had a hell of a hard time finding this one, but then i would get over it and go out searching for another. This guitar is LIGHT. the neck is heavier than the guitar body. This baby screams with sustain and harmonics are effortless to play. suprising considering the bolt-on neck and bridge style. I compaired this guitar to the Innuendo baritone and the standard baritone, and believe me, this one is lightyears ahead ot the other two. This thing would be great for surf of blues music too, of course. but if you're into punk or metal and ya want a baritone on a budget, this guitar is the way to go.

I'll give this a high feature rating in comparison with other Danos. Its sort of their top-of-the-line series. Real metal strap buttons (!) and adjustable bridge, quality Gotoh tuners, the whole shebang. Its like they kept the aspects of the original Danos that made them cool and replaced what made them irritating and difficult to deal with. Also...about the switching system, some reviewers have complained, but I find it extremely useful! I love the "select-o-matic" system they put in their guitars, I have a Hodad 12-string with the switching system as well. Basically it means you have a rotary switch that selects each pickup by itself and all two pickup combinations in series, and you have a switch that overrides the rotary and throws all three pickups in series. I find the fact that its in series very useful. The single pickup sounds give you a thinner lighter sound, and then you can use the 3-pickup switch to thicken and boost the sound. That gives you two easily accessed sounds, with a built in boost. if the difference in output is too much, set the rotary to a two pickup in series position. Then you will only add one pickup with the 3 pickup switch, still for a slight boost, but not much. I find it very useful actually, and since lipstick pickups tend to be rather thin sounding, the series positions are pretty cool sounding to my ears. Anyway, after enjoying the stock Baritone sounds for a week or so, I replaced the strings with Fender Bass VI strings. I tune it to low E, an octave above the bass E and an octave below the guitar E. I use it as a bass guitar. Seeing as the gauge starts at 96, it has a lot of low end punch...dont underestimate the six-string bass...

also, by far the greatest feature of the guitar is its price. 149 bucks from Musicians friend. Thats just insane! find another guitar for that price that can even compare in quality OR coolness and I will be very very surprised.

When tuned as a baritone, it had the coolest twangy sound to it. it was perfect for twangy rockabilly leads...a bit muddy for chords, but workable. It didnt sound good with tube overdrive for some reason, but when I switched on a ToneBender clone fuzz pedal, it was AWESOME. if a bit unusable. But anyway, its now tuned as a six string bass. I've gigged with it before...very cool sound. you have to EQ your amp carefully, but when its set right, you can have all the punch and rumble of a normal bass, but still have miles of upper range to play around with to give your guitarist fits (and it will, believe me!). I imagine it would sound FABULOUS with a biamped rig, say a deep-sounding bass amp for the lows and a tube guitar amp to handle the highs. I havent got around to that yet, but maybe someday. Its really cool for fast warbly runs up and down the fretboard...if your into fast-fretting progrock, this might be a cool side instrument. It'll never replace my Ric, but its a very fun instrument to play. it hums, of course, and the series combinations dont cancel hum or anything, but its not too bad.

The nut is aluminum...go figure! hasnt given me trouble though, and thankfully the larger Bass VI strings fit right in without trouble. In fact, i didnt set it up or anything, so it plays rather well for a guitar having undergone such a major change without being readjusted. The neck feels nice (almost unfinished-feeling)...perhaps a bit neck heavy since its hollow, but not as bad a balance problem as my SG bass (that one lives to dive for the floor). The finish is sooooo cool...they said it was black metalflake, but for some reason it doesnt look like that at all, looks a lot more like silver metalflake. Very very gaudy looking bright silver sparkle. But so cool I think. It probably blinded the audience at the outdoor gig we did.

For a Dano, I would rate this as very high. Quality workmanship for Danelectro at least. I mean, how durable does a 150 buck guitar have to be? its made from masonite and plywood for crying out loud. its a secondary instrument anyway...I wouldnt need a backup for it, because this one would be the backup for my main bass.

?

Love this guitar. Fills a niche for wacky upper bass noodlings. And it looks so cool too, with its Mosrite shape and blinding silver metalflake paint job. I love its price too. A whole lot of coolness packed into a guitar for a price thats less than a lot of my effects pedals. You cant beat that.

Has adjustable bridge
gotoh tuners
and a metal nut

Cool twangy low tones. I swear I had it sounding like a low tuned Telecaster!

Typical Dano. . .

So far so good. Danos have a good reputation for taking a licking and keeping on ticking.

This is a fun and great sounding instrument!

Many of the features have been detailed in other reviews -or can be found at the Danelectro website. I won't elaborate too much on the standard features. The Gotoh tuners are of very good quality, and the nut is metal (as opposed to plastic). It has 3 Danelectro lipstick pickups, wired in series. There is a 6-position 'Select-O-Matic' rotary position switch, and a toggle switch. A concentric vol/tone knob combo. The bridge is metal, and adjustable (with individual string saddles not unlike a hardtail Strat bridge). Hard maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, and standard frets.

I mainly submitted this review to point out to readers that I don't have the troubles indicated in other reviews regarding the sounds. The complaints I read had to do with the different pickup combinations not being distinct - or just muddy. It may have a lot to do with amps. I ran my Dano into a Carvin Vintage 50 head and 4x12 Celestion cabinet. I could hear each pickup selection cleany and clearly. Even having all 3 pickups at once had bite, and not that boomy. So then I ran it into my Rockman X100 headphone amp, and the results were similar. Perhaps I got a model with improved electronics or better quality control. If you overdrive it or distort it, the tone does fatten for the worse. The baritone is best utilized clean and with reverb, for that retro low twang ala 3rd Rock From The Sun theme - or Spaghetti Westerns. The toggle switch is a 2-way, and functions as the "7th position" to the Select-O-Matic. Up is bypass (i.e. selector switch active) and Down is for all 3 pickups at once (overriding the selector).

The guitar was shipped UPS in the standard trapezoidal cardboard box, with styrofoam support blocks. My first mail order instrument. The strings were not slack - but not tight either. The action was set up at the factory, and I had it tuned up in a couple of minutes. The pickups and bridge were set up just fine for my tastes. The neck was extremely smooth, and the frets were ultra clean. Like I said, it was ready to go right out of the box after just a tune! The strap buttons were okay. There were no dings or scratches to the finish. I ordered the White w/Violet Pearl overspray. It has a tendency to look cream in poor apartment lighting. In the sunlight, it looks almost irridescent! They put a deep brown tape on the body edge, so it has the look of a Les Paul Goldtop. I don't know if it is to hide the cheap wood used, or serves as added protection. There are screws on the back, as others noted... but that's because the lipstick pickups adjust from behind. The control plate is polished like a mirror. The input jack was fine.

I believe this guitar would withstand live playing, as much as anything else I have. It is VERY light, and would not be uncomfortable on stage. The finish almost seems acrylic, and should hold up well.

Comments here would be the same as other reviwers have noted. I cruise their website occasionally. I don't anticipate any malfunctions or cheesy parts dying on me anytime soon. As the guitar did not arrive DOA, there is no reason for me to sweat over a $150 purchase! I am the type of tinkerer who will upgrade or replace components if need be anyway.

I have always wanted a baritone, and the I like the Hodad version a lot more than the standard. It has that Mosrite look to it, which adds to the retro allure. The multi-tone pickup combinations was another of the reasons I chose it. I'm basically a bells-and-whistles kinda guy. I am very pleased with the purchase, since it retails for 3 times as much. If it were lost or stolen - I would get another if still on sale. The only thing I'd be happier about, were if the headstock matched the body color... but that's really just nit picking. I will be deciding on a gig bag or case in the near future. It did come with a small allen wrench for bridge adjustments.

Recent Korean-made cheapster, $150 from Musicians Friend, probably a sale price and not a regular price. I've noticed some of their Danelectro prices go up and down. Nothing but the instrument for that price. Mind you, the price effect all ratings in their review! Three lipstick tubes in a goofy wiring set up.. 6 position rotary switch which gives various single-dual pickup combinations plus a large two pole switch which puts all three lipstick tubes in series.
Overall tone and sustain probably would be better if the strings went through the body, they don't; it's a top mount bridge sitting on three skinny bolts. But it's adjustable and the Gotoh heads seem solid. For this price, I figure I'll play it until it falls apart.. then transfer the pickups and hardware onto a homemade warmoth or wd.

As others have notices, it's got a lot of sounds, what with that 6 position rotary switch and two-pole "Blower". But all of the combination settings are in series, which seems the sound muds up if you have your amp/effects set for a good single pickup sound, and the switch to a combination. Or if you've dialed in a cool multi-pickup tone, it whisps out when you switch to a single pickup. This wouldn't be a problem if the thing just had a 5-position strat-style switch, although it would certainly be less "original". The series wiring is a plus if you twang around the low registers on one pickup, then switch to series as you move up the fretboard and to the higher strings. Once I got the sound I liked (through a Tubeworks tube driver with light overdrive, an old Boss RV-2 into a '64 Fender Bassman with a presence knob driving a standard Fender-style 2x12 cab with Eminence speakers), I just let it be. Twang twang. The "sound" rating is further explained in "Action, Fit & Finish".

FRET BUZZ, fret buzz, fret buzz, fret buzz, fret buzz. Mute it at the bridge with with your palm, the rattle and clang goes away. Maybe that's more of a a design problem, instead of a set-up problem. The pickups were way too close to the large strings 'Had to move them back a little to keep the strings from crashing into the pickups. Everything else pretty good. Will probably have to grease the nut with graphite. Once you figure out the quirks, though, playing it is alright.

It'll probably stand-up to time. There are plenty of Danelectros out there from the '50's and '60's, with the same basic construction (masonite tops/backs over plywood frames). And those instruments don't even have truss rods (the new ones do)! The finish seems okay, the strap buttons are a little too big, I had to wrestle the strap on there! Will probably find some old Schaller straplocks to stick on there. I owned for three minutes and bonked it into a door jamb accidently, it's just fine. Would I use it on a gig without a backup? I dunno, at $149.99 maybe I'll get a half-dozen.

n/a

Been playing for 25 years. I mainly play teles, my current pair are super custom warmoths with Joe Barden pickups, very player-specific guitars. You know, you get old and you know what you like. But these Danelectros are fun diversions. The weasely lipstick tube tone is fun. There are not a lot of guitars out there to compare it to.. they're listed in another review, along with the other's list prices. This is a "what the hell" kind of deal.. (not quite a "helluva" deal.. that's the Mod6 which I also bought for the same price at MF). For very little money I've seriously expanded my sound horizons. I sure wouldn't recommend anyone pay LIST for a current Danelectro. But there are lots of deals out there, not just at the dealer I dealt with.

IMO the top feature here is the price, only $150 direct from Musician's Friend. The second best feature is the 30" scale.
Also you can't miss with the Mosrite inspired body shape.

Check out your other baritone options, and then write a thank you letter to the generous citizens of Danelectro land.
Tom Anderson Baritom - 28.5" scale - $2500 and up
Fender Sub-Sonic - 27" scale - $1000 and up
Vintage Bass VI - 30" scale - $2000 and up
Reissue Bass VI - 30" scale - $1250 and up

The long scale length provides for amazingly rich tones. The low end notes are crisp and full of detail, no seven string floppiness here.

Now for the bad news. While the lipstick pickups compliment this instrument very well, enabling more than one pickup at a time sounds like ass. Danelectro made the mistake of wiring the pickups in series and not reverse winding the middle pickup. All multiple pickup sounds are way to dark, and the strat middle position quack sounds are unattainable.

The iridescent finish is perfect. Very subtle yet stunning. Just one really tiny finish bubble.

Amazingly, the truss rod was set perfectly at the factory. Not something that happens to often with Asian guitars.

The fret work is a little sketchy but even.

The guitar feels solid, but seems easily destructible.
My only consolation is that the constuction is superior to vintage Danelectros and those are still playable.

If it were to spotaneously combust, a new one is only $150 away.

For the price, simply unbeatable.
I will never spend $150, any better than this.

This is not the regular Baritone that's already been reviewed on harmonycentral.com. I couldn't find a review of the Hodad baritone guitar so I figured it's time ya'll had something to read about this affordable instrument.

The Hodad baritone from Danelectro includes an adjustable bridge, Ghoto type tuners, 3 single coil "lipstick" pu's and a double cutaway body.

Many features for a baritone under $300 street price. 7 position selector switch and adjustable bridge/truss rod.

Great value, me thinks!

I like the bridge pick-up but if you switch to any of the other combinations it's too muddy. By re-adjust the amp settings you can get useable tones in other positions but you lose the bridge pick-up tone.

One of those damned if ya' do, damned if ya' don't things!

I adjusted the pick-up height and that helped but I would prefer more "balance" between the settings.

Bottom line: Good sound but only one-at-a-time!

They're doing a good job here, for the money. Frets were finished well and the truss rod seems to keep things straight. Mine has the silver sparkle finish. Up close it's kind of strange to me but it looks great on stage or from a distance. Not your usual thick, high gloss finish but very cool.

Neck joint is tight and so far the switches and controls work good. Not a great bridge but still better than a strip of rosewood.

Oh yeah, for me at least. I don't get very crazy but it's plenty solid for my work. I always use StrapLok's so those have been changed. I have no idea how well the finish or plating will hold up over the long run. That depends on the player and how they play.

Played from a standing position it feels balanced and not real neck heavy. No buzzes from my set-up. The factory set-up seemed ok to start but I've since re-adjusted a few things to better suite my needs.

Never thought about calling 'em for anything. I do like the price (About 1/3 the price of name brands.) of their replacement strings for baritone guitar. I'm not too picky about strings 'cause I figure there's only so many ways to wrap wire around wire and nobody's currently giving me an endorsement deal?

Still, I like that this company sells affordable strings for their not-too-common instrument.

I've been playing for a very long time and I work steady on stage and in the studio. The Hodad Baritone supplied me with a baritone guitar for cheep that works and sounds like you'd expect for a "retro" thang.

Tic Tac or old T.V. western genres are my fave on this axe and it's very convincing. For the money, it's hard to beat and I've been thinking of trying a 12-string and/or 6-string Hodad guitar because of the "pro" features included in the Hodad line.

Nice job Dano!