Danelectro Hodad

Y'all knows this stuff.Mine's purple with a tremolo. just bought it on its own, for a price thatwas evidently a bitof a ripoff. also, my space bar is knackered. Basically, it's aload of qualitygear on a cheap body. Good body, just cheap. got it around '02 or '03, can't remember.

As previously said, it sounds fat. I tune mine to C (sniff if you like, I got a low voice for singing and have to match the guitar to it) and play very loud, heavy grungy stoner rockish thrash metal. people say it feeds back. It does. I just like that. love the sound, very varied, real deep menacing palm muting ( essential for metal). love to put the coil tap on and use new strings for a still low but ethereal sort of sound. The onboard effect can totallychange the sound quickly, which is great mid- song cos you can actuallymake a audible difference live. don't change guitars often, have only got two, but don't need to anyway. This bastard suitsmy style (very heavy-handed, non- skilled, in fact lack of style) verywell.

Didn't get it custom-fitted, as I was too ignorant at the time and anyway my other guitar plays like a bitch. raised the pickups a bit to thicken the sound somewhat, butother than that it plays great. really great. tuners are good, but the goddam tremolo ( mostly unused) means it slips out betimes, but not annoyingly. I've played a lotof guitars (abused and put into social care a lot of guitars) and this one's spoiled me. Did, like the good dude says, hit the pickup selector accidentally a lot at first. That's cool,I am a total buffoon, and I gotover it.

Very light, so you can act like a deranged monkey ( you all know youwant to) on stage and not wreck it. strap pegs ares a really good shape, work brilliantly. Mine, prolly cos god hates me, occasionnally decides it'll only give me some weak-ass half signal, which sounds utterly lame. hasn't done it for a yearor so though, so that's cool. still don't go backup-less. once burned and all that horseshit. never needed any other repair, except coil tap knob fell off.

didn't deal with them, never had to. My imaginary friend pete said they're a bunch of arseholes, though.

Been playing a while, I really have no idea how long, but many years. Never had a emotionally favourite guitar other than this. would buy another, sure but I wouldn't let no bugger hustle me a extra hundred for it though. Wish I could find a carrying case to fit it though. I can play this for hours. I can roll infrom the pub, pissed as a drunk bloke who's drunk, play it and sound good. And I do. a lot. Really don't like not playing it that much at all. Fatter Humbuckers'd be good, but it'd be an arse to fit them. Gotto get rid of that goddam tremolo. This guitar is bottom line, the best I have ever heard. Get one. or don't, fine, whatever. wanker.

I bought a pretty much brand new Hodad w/vibrato for 300.00 USD on ebay about 3 weeks ago.

It's blue sparkle (wouldn't be my first choice, but they're hard to find these days).

It's got 2 pairs of Danelectro lipstick pickups: one set it really close to the neck, the other set is further down, close the the vibrato rig.

It's got 4 knobs- tone, volume, and 2 "coil" knobs. As I'm sure you've heard, you can pull these knobs up to switch to single coil. The resulting sound is much more bright and treble-y. You can also dampen that sound by adjusting either knob. It's fun experimenting with them--you can get lots of different sounds.

Ihe body style is very unique, and very appealing to (my) eye. I respect the Les Pauls and Strats out there, I just get tired of seeing them all the time.

The neck is maple, the fretboard is rosewood. My particular guitar has a problem in that area though, the fret wires are too long for the neck, and they stick out. They cut my index finger up when I play. They need to be sanded/filed down.

This guitar is so versatile, I don't know how it couldn't fit any particular style. I bought the guitar to play rockabilly/surfy stuff, but it handles AC/DC, Thin Lizzy power chords so well I play that stuff too.

It's easy to get a deep bass-y sound or a bright sound. Just mess with the coil knobs.

The setup is fine, except for the fret issue. I've never seen fret wires that stuck out like these do. You can't really tell by looking at it, but when I play it, my index finger gets caught up on them. It's annoying as all heck.

Also, I'll probably need to get it professionally set up, as it tends to go out of tune slightly every 10 or 15 minutes. I should also say I tend to hit the strings fairly hard though (ala Angus Young).

I haven't had the guitar long enough to say how reliable it is, but I plan to play live with it soon. I've played it enough that I'm confident that it will hold up just fine.

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I've been playing guitars for about 10 years or so. The sound I can get out of this guitar meets all of my needs for now. For the price, there's no way you can beat this guitar. It is definitely the best guitar for the money, hands down.

If this guitar were stolen or lost, I'd be so bummed. It's such a unique and good sounding guitar, and now they're hard to find. I might buy a Tele or SG to replace it, but as soon as I found another Hodad, I'd buy it on the spot.

I've plugged this guitar into a Marshall JCM 900 w/ 4x12 cab after playing a Les Paul on the same set up, and I like the way mine sounds better.

I'm fairly disappointed with the electronics on the Hodad. The output on the pickups is pretty weak, and although the twin lipstick setup is an attempt to recreate the "humbucker sound", it isn't actually wired properly to cancel out any hum! Plus, they didn't bother to shield any of the electronics in any useful way, so this guitar creates too much superfluous noise... The tones are decent, sure, but the above factors just about make this irrelevant.

I suppose I'll keep it around as a backup guitar for emergencies, but I couldn't see ever using it as my main axe.

You Know the features by now. Mine is the black finish with gold sparkels. I have the tremolo model.

Incredible! I play mostly rockabilly/jazz/Beatles. What a plethora of sounds! I really dig the twang with both pickups on/in phase/coil tapped. It does get a bit noisy with both pickups on and/in phase/non-tapped, but not offensively so. I wish it had a master volume knob on the lower horn.

I don't care much about factory setup. I always bring it to my guitar tech and let him set it up, and man did he ever. It is the only guitar I own that has to have the neck removed to adjust the truss bar. My tech did it once, and now it plays like a dream. It is so light weight compared to my Strat and Archtop. What a great 3rd set ax! I will replace the cheesy volume and tone pots someday. They are a little scratchy just before they are turned all the way down. The plastic knobs are a joke too.

I've been gigging with it for a few months now, and It holds up just fine. I never gig without a backup. In fact, I always bring my Hodad, Strat, and Archtop to every gig. Other than the crappy pots and knobs, no real problems.

I've always had good support from Dano. I hope they get a new guitar line in production soon.

I've been playing guitar and string bass for 30 years, and electric bass for 25 years. I have a 1975 Strat (I've owned since it was brand new), a Micheal Kelly Vibe HT arch top, an Ibanez RG-550, and a Fender Jazz bass (Mex). I have a 2002 Vox Pathfinder, a 1965 Vox AC-30, and a Peavey TNT-115. This guitar has no comparison. I do wish it had a master volume, and I do want to upgrade the knobs soon.

Everybody has covered these features by now. I don't know what the dude who said this was microphonic. What kind of outrageous gain amp was he driving? Mine is the tremolo model in the black with gold sparkle finish. I've had it about 2 weeks, and I played my first gig with it last night.

I play mostly Rockabilly and driving Rock and Roll. This is an awesome ax for this music. I have a Vox Pathfinder Reverb for rehearsal, and I bring out my 1965 Vox AC-30 for gigging. My effects chain presently all Danelectro. I have a Daddy-O overdrive, Fish and Chips EQ, PB& J Echo (set to a fat single slap), Corned Beef reverb, and Pepperoni Phaser, in that order. I rarely use the phaser and reverb, and I always have the EQ and slap on. When I want to crunch it up, the Daddy-O gets a stomp. I bought this guitar as a backup to my 1975 Strat, but after last night, I think it will share equal billing. In the humbucker in phase mode with both pickups on and the Daddy-O on, I get all the grind I want. It is a bit noisy in this position, but I've been spoiled by the Vintage Noiseless pickups in my Strat. I've noticed the noisiness while rehearsing, but during the gig it was lost with all the other humming going on with the various amps and sound system. If you pull out the coil tap switch, it gives a nice psuedo Tele twang, great for the clean Rockabilly stuff. In the coil tap position, it is a great deal quieter. I haven't even begun to experiment with all 12 tonal options live, but these two setting alone make the guitar worthwhile in my opinion. The only thing I must say I dislike is the tone pots. trying to roll the tone back from bright to deep the knob seems to do nothing for over 3/4 of it's rotation, then suddenly and with a scratching sound it rolls all the highs right off. Once the honeymoon is over, I intend on replacing these pots with some high quality models. Also, the Bigsby type tremolo has a bit more spring tension than I like, and I may search for a spring with a lower compression rate if this one doesn't begin breaking in soon.

I bought this guitar used from an eBay reseller. It still had the tags on it, and there was not even 1 belm on the finish. The action was OK, but I brought it to my guitar guru, and he set up the action exactly like my Strat. The only thing I can find wrong with the guitar is the about a quarter inch of the white side binding by the neck pocket has pulled up from the body. My guitar guru has said that he can reattach it with no problem, so I'm not concerned.

This ax did great last night at the first of what I hope are many live gigs. The hardware seems rugged enough, with the exception of those cheapo tone pots. The finish is awesome, and I don't forsee any problems with this in the future. The strap buttons seem solid. I always try to bring a backup so we can keep rolling along if I pop a string. Also this ax feels like it is about half the weight of my ash Strat, so I think in won the position of "third set guitar" from now on.

Dano is great! I used to have a dirty-thirty practice amp, and when the input jack broke, I brought it back to the music store I bought it from. They sent it back to Dano, and Dano sent me a brand new amp.

I've been playing guitar and standup bass for 30 years, and electric bass for about 25 years. I also own an Ibanez RG-550, a Yamaha acoustic, a Martin Backpacker, and a Mex Fender Jazz bass with Vintage Noiseless pickups. I have a Peavey TNT-115 bass amp as well. Only a moron could loose a piece of equipment like a guitar or amp. If it was stolen, I'd get another. While it has a few minor issues like the tremolo spring and the tone pots, as far as a value, this guitar can't be beat.

Korean Hodad with tremolo. Black/gold sparkle finish. Loaded with features; you know what they are.

Great sound. Smooth Jazz like or quacky/strident and everything in between.
Bigsby tremolo is harder to use than the standard modern type which I didn't know. It looks better though!
I have had no noise trouble on recording.

Got this one second hand so don't know how it was from the factory. Action is very good. Frets good.

This is a second hand unit. No idea how the previous owner abused it. It has a couple of small chips out of the paint on the body. I has some scrathes on the headstock. In short, it has had some punishment but it still plays well.

No opinion on cust support but I have to mention the pricing.
This guitar was originally priced at about $1500 AUD in Australia. It soon dropped to $600. (I bought this one second hand for $500 during the intervening period - if I had waiting 6 months I could have bought new for and extra $100). Anyway, just to show how outrageous the markups can be on geetars. Always shop around and use the web to find out the realistic price or you will be shorn.

I love the shape.
I don't like the balance, the body is light so the head dips some.
Compared with Yamaha 604 which is a fine guitar. The Hodad is just more flexible plus looks wild.

Bought in January 2002, so I assume it was made in 2001. Korean made. Other than that, the same features as all of the later model dads. This will be the highest rated category.

Sounds lake crap. Never buy one of the useless pieces of %9(*^&9243 unless you just don't have time for a root canal. The problem is that the pickups are microphonic and I found it out too late to have it fixed. You can't play this guitar live, unless it's an acoustic setting and the audience enjoys the full tilt squeal of the lipsticks. Pass out ear plugs prior to the gig.

Can't tell about the action because I was too busy turning the amp down and putting the ear plugs in deeper. Uh, it's blue.

It should last forever, since I'll never play it. If it was all wood we could use it for kindling.

Here's a great one. Ever call these people for help? I called the "contact us" line and got three more useless numbers in 5 minutes. There's a line for guitars/amps, a line for in-warranty, a line for out-of-warranty. The recorded girls voice is very nice...I give her an 8.

I've been playing long enough to know when I've been had. Next time I REALLY want to totally throw away my money and I don't have a speeding ticket to pay, I don't need a root canal without anasthetic or I don't feel like wrecking my car, I'll buy a piano. I don't play piano, but then again, I can't use this worthless sack of s**t, either. I put it out last night with the crawfish heads, but it was still there when the cats went home.

really pretty decent features... the tuners are really nice, and keep pretty well. but this isn't an expensive guitar. you can see a little bit of imperfection in the lamination and fretting. A ton of options with out of phase and coil tap on the tone knobs.

like i said before there's a bunch of tone options with this guitar. I like all the different sounds that i can get out of it. I would also like to say though, that if you've got a strat cranked and your amp's at say a 4, you're going to have to turn it up to around 6 for this guitar. The pickups aren't really hot. I'd reccommend replacing them with some hotter upgrades... also, being a hollow body, ya get a little noise if ya tap the body.

I really like the thin neck on this guitar, and i can move up and down the neck really quickly with it.

I haven't had any problems at all with this guitar, but i wouldn't want to have to find or fix the pots on this thing... i can't imagine how complicated this damn thing is

go ahead and try one out if you really need a variable guitar, but i'd keep a good backup on hand. they're pretty cheap now on ebay or in your local shop so give it a shot!

This Danelectro Hodad with Bigsby-style tremolo was made in Korea in 2001, I think. The features are listed in the other reviews, but to summarize, it has two pairs of lipstick pickups; Gotoh tuners; coil tap; and phase inverter. This one has the red pearl finish which is very nice, better than it looks in pictures on the Danelectro web site.

Like other Danelectro guitars, it has a retro look and is constructed of plywood/masonite. It's pretty solid feeling and not very heavy, which is great if you're going to play for a while (no Les Paul backaches the next day).

The tremolo bar is a big feature of this guitar; I wouldn't buy one of the Hodads without it. It's a lot of fun, and it goes out of tune far less than you'd expect. It makes changing the strings a bit of a hassle, but it's worth the effort to make those cool surf-guitar sounds. I also like Bigsby-style equipment better than the Stratocaster-type tremolos.

Many of the other reviews describe the Hodad as versatile, and it really is. It's especially good at getting a range of punchy, twangy Telecaster-style bright tones by using coil tap while also allowing a more mellow, full tone. It doesn't really have humbucker sounds, although the twin lipstick pickups are pretty good at cancelling the noise you usually get from single-coil pickups.

The Hodad is fun to play with a modeling amp; the different tones you get from both the guitar and the amp makes it interesting to see what sound combinations you can come up with. As you might expect, the Fender settings seem especially good with the bright sound qualities of this guitar.

This guitar's action is fine and hasn't required any adjustment other than tightening some screws on the body surface that were pretty loose from the factory. The bolt-on neck works great and has a great feel, especially for a guitar this inexpensive. Overall, I was surprised at the overall finish, action, and quality of this guitar; much better than other Danelectro models I've looked at.

The biggest problem I've seen is that the pickup switch is too close to the strings, just under the first string. This makes it easy to hit accidentally with routine playing, especially strumming. You get used to it after a while, but having the switch out of the way (like on a Les Paul) would be preferable.

This has held up well in pretty good use over the last year or so, and I expect it to have a long life. On the other hand, I'd be reluctant to trust it (or any other guitar under $200) in situations where you have to really depend on your instrument. The finish seems good and the strap buttons are solid (and metal, unlike the crummy plastic ones Danelectro puts on some of their guitars).

I think the main value of this guitar is to let people like us have fun with instruments we can afford. You could turn around and sell this pretty easily--it sounds and looks good--but it's more fun to have it around to play, let your friends mess around with, etc.

Luckily, I've never had to deal with the company.

This guitar pretty much sold itself. While other Danelectros are fun to look at and pick up at the music store, they still seem more like toys than serious instruments. The Hodad, though, has good tuners; an adjustable bridge; a good tremolo; interesting pickups; and a good finish and feel. While I definitely think it was worth $180, I can imagine people feeling okay about paying a bit more for it, too.

2000 or 2001 I believe, and made in Asia someplace, probably. It has 21 frets, a plywood frame, and hardwood everything else. Mostly hollow... very light. Has 2 volume, and 2 tone.. one with coil-tap, one with out-of-phase. Has 3 way selector switch. 4 lipstick single coils wired like 2 humbuckers. Rosewood on maple neck. The finish is indestructable. Mosrite style body.. non-trem bridge.. topload. Tuners are nice Gotoh tuners. 25 inch scale.

This thing can go from sounding acoustic to sounding metal-ish. I LOVE IT! Feedbacks a little at high volumes.. but still.. LOVELY! Tons of different sounds. I love selecting the bridge pickup, coil tapping it, and taking it out of phase... BEAUTIFUL sound.. almost acoustic.

The action on this is amazing.. no buzzes.. nothing negative, really. The finish is.. ahh, I dunno.. I've thrown it around.. dropped it, etc.. not a dent, not a scratch, even. Much better finish than any Fender guitar I've owned.

Like I've said.. it's indestrucible. The hardware seems solid, as does the body, neck, etc...

I'd use it at a gig without a backup.

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BUY ONE! I LOVE MINE! It covers EVERYTHING. Even country, if that's your thing. I wish it had a little more output when tapped.. but.. it's okay. I currently own 5 other electrics.. a Fender Tele and 3 Strats and a Univox (vintage) Les Paul... this I like 2nd best to my main Strat.. which is completely modified for ME.