Danelectro Hodad

Made in 2000, or very early 2001. 21 frets, dual humbucker pickups, which is actually two singles wired together, volume and tone controls for each pickup, coil tap, and out of phase capability under the tone knobs, and a pickup selector switch. Has the Bigsby tremolo, which gives a very nice retro look. Red pearl finish. Overall, a very nice looking guitar.

For blues and classic rock, this guitar has what it takes. I like the retro styling, and that it's fairly light, not too heavy. For the time I had the guitar, I was using it with an older Fender Princeton Chorus. On the clean channel, it was fine, but when you kicked on the lead, whhoooooaaaaaaa!! Feedback like you wouldn't believe. It got to the point where even if I muted the strings, it still made noise. Too much to try and disguise. I tried to lower the gain, but once it got to an acceptable level, the sound wasn't what I'd want to play at. Some feedback is good, especially when you have a tremolo, but this was too much.

Bought the guitar brand new from a local music store, and even though it was setup fairly well, I had some basic work done on it to clean up the action, and neck. The finish was beautiful, couldn't find a flaw on it anywhere! The chrome hardware was gorgeous too. Just a shame that I couldn't play the thing through the lead channel on the amp.

I only had the guitar for about five months, before I sold it. However in that time I had used it with my band a few times. Never gigged with it, only for practice. It would take live playing well. I would say the hardware could endure some rough work. Even if the finishes wore off, it would keep kicking.

Dealt with them once, and they seemed helpful. Fast responses too.

I've been at it a few years, with a few guitars to my name. This would rank somewhere in the middle. I have Gibsons, Peaveys, and some others, which I normally use. I fell for this one as soon as I saw it. Beautiful guitar, and it sounded great in the store, but then again, that wasn't my amp. Should've checked it out with my amp first. The look and feel were great, and I hope that maybe I can get another one like it since I have gotten a different amp. Perhaps the old amp had some issues, and it was the problem. We'll see

2002 Korean made non-tremelo Hodad coffee top god.

The features of this guitar are endless! You can use either coil tap or phase tap, or both with this machine! It's just incredibly versitile! It is a double-cut away holobody, with four passive chrome plated Danelectro Lipstick pickups wired as two humbuckers. Ingenious idea. We got some Gotoh tuners on her, and the finish is a beautiful Deep Blue Purple, with cream trim! This gives it a very retro, two tone look that goes incredible with Ska and Surf!

Surf, Ska, Punk, Emo, this guitar can dish it out. Vasitly superior sound to my Epiphone ES-335 knock-off. I was anticipating for it to be a noisy little bitch, but its quite as hell! The quietest guitar I have ever played actually! I actually want to figure out how they wired the lipsticks so I can do something similar with my ES-335.

If your looking for a Bright sounding guitar, this is it, if your looking for guitar with a lot of mid range and low tones for heavier stuff, it can do that too, a surfy sound? no problem! This guitar can do it all!

Oh, and I run this though a Danelectro Cool Cat, Black Coffee, Tuna Melt, Surf & Turf, BLT, Boss Acoustic Sim, Blues Driver, and a Crybaby, all piped though a Vox AC30 amp. Surprised the hell out of me when I first heard a recording of the Hives, my sound was almost identicle!

The finish seems indestructable, however I'm kind of disapointed at how the trim is just taped on... The action is incredible, however the neck does get a little dry, making it harder to do a lot of faster slides after a long period of playing. But thats easily fixed. A lot of other complained about the sharpness of the frets, no problem here, she's bare-butt smooth!

One thing that really caught my attention was how well it keeps tune! I play a lot of out-door venues, and when I was using my Epiphone for most of them I had to tune after every song. With this one I don't got to tune as often. I actually took my pedal tuner out of the effects loop to cut down on noise!

Drop it from a second story balcony, its fine, throw it against a wall, it hardly sheads a tear. Now of course I didn't do this to it, but I have a really strong gut feeling it could with stand the punishment. I know its super light, but look at the materials! Plywood, and Plastic! I was told thier was some cork in their too. I can finally jump around on stage without worrying about the strap falling off! Very dependable! If it were stolen or lost, or destroyed, hell, I would be at the store in seconds asking for a new one, not caring about the price! While I wouldn't need a backup at gigs, our style's are so varied that I switch between my 335, my 56-U2, and the Hodad constantly. However I think the U2 will soon find a place on the wall as a symbol of the Danelectro pride I have!

Havn't contacted them, no need!

I know what your thinking because I was thinking the same thing when I saw this guitar "$150!?!?! It's gotta suck!" Yet now I wish I would have seen this guitar before I picked up my Epiphone (cost me $700) I even got the matching Tweed case for it too! It's brilliant, I don't know why more guitarists don't use them. They got the action of an Ibanez, the versitility of a swiss army knife, the sound that only the guitar of your dreams could make, and the durability of brick! Thier is NOTHING wrong with them!

This thing is more versatile than any guitar I have ever owned and played, Now when I'm out playing a show, I hardly ever take it off.

Sounds great, I have got it down, how to set it to make it sound the way I want it to. However, I can't seem to get it to come up with a very good grunge sound, my jagstang is still the shit for that.

plays great.

So far, so good, however, I am wondering how long the neck will hold up. It seems that it isn't very stable against the body. I don't know but maybe that's because the body is plywood??

Just wanted to say that this is the non-tremelo version.

I stole this at 150 bucks at the MF Blowout. This is the easiest playing, most versatile guitar anybody could ever want. It is a magical combination of cheese and sheer genius. The thing is made out of plywood and masonite, and sounds like a million bucks. Look at the old Silvertones and Danos that show up on Ebay. Seems like plywood and masonite lasts a long time and makes a very stable guitar that stays in tune and does not warp, shrink, or crack...hmmm.

Just about any sound you could want, unless you want a Les Paul. The hollow growl from the Out-of-Phase switch has to be heard to be appreciated. Plug this guitar straight-in to a high quality, hi-fi amp, all you need is a little reverb, and you will discover the guitar itself is an effects panel. This guitar even sounds just great clean, through a solid -state amp.

All I did was lower the action a bit. No real flaws or problems out of the box. Then again don't expect Fender Custom Shop quality from an inexpensive Korean guitar. But, incredibly, you can have the tone and playability.

Solid, dependable as any other guitar I have owned.

This guitar is worth having in your collection even at it's retail price. Since you can still pick one up here or there for a fraction of that, you can't go wrong.

Y'all know 'bout this. Nicely thought out tho.
Black gold-flake with Danotrem. The trem works great with the roller type bridge. Not for dive bombers tho. More useful for shimmers. Stays in tune extremely well.
The phase and single/humbucker push pull pots really do make this a extremely versatile axe.

From Ricky jangle, and Tele snap, to Strat quack. Plus an added bonus of smooth Les (with a little tweaking).
This axe is definitely fun to play.
Sounds best (to me) clean.
Piano like responses on the open lower registers. Way cool.
Palm mutes are way above average!!!
Others have stated that there is little sustain. I have not found this to be the case with mine.
When playing unplugged or plugged, this axe has alot to offer with picking dynamics from the end of the fretboard to the bridge.
Ya baby.

Over all, the guitar came with everything ok for the price range.
Formica? Yea right!...But it sounds wonderful!
Fret ends are in need of a good sanding, as they are a bit sharp.
The action for my tastes is a little high when set to its minimum.
So... a bit of a shim (in my opinion) is needed in the neck pocket to raise the neck to achieve 4/64" at the 12th fret on the low E string, and 3/32 at the high E string.

Who knows? So far so good.

Have not tried.
Let me know how you do tho.

Been playing for a long time. Over 30 yrs.
Still... I do not seem to get any better.
I never would have bought this axe on my own. It is not my style in looks.
But...I am glad that my wife liked it enough to have gotten it for me for my B-Day.
Just goes to show that if you open your ears enough...or have someone else help you to do so (thank you wife), you will appreciate the endevours of other luthiers. No matter what the eye appeal is.
After all..it is ALL about tone.

I bought this 2001 Dano for my wife to learn on. White and Violet Pearl finish. If it were any more (or less?) retro it would be ugly as sin. But with the *countertop* look I'm not sure that I would call it pretty.

I won't go into features too much, since the other submissions are on the money. Ours does have the tremelo. I like the fact that this guitar is so lightweight.

I have to admit that I didn't expect this much guitar for the money I paid. Gotoh tuners look better, compared to the cheap looking tuners on my Epi.

This is where the fun begins. This is the most versatile guitar that I have ever played. I can go from humbuckers (kinda?) to single coil sounds. Phase tap and coil tap are a blast to play around with. While I like more of a blues sound, this guitar is a hoot when just fooling around with pop, surf punk, etc.

Never had a guitar with lipstick PU's before, and coupled with a hollow body I have to admit that I was worried about uncontrollable feedback. But, I found that this guitar is no more noisy then my other guitars.

I play it through a Pignose G40V tube amp. There are sounds that I can't get from it (such as those that come from a pair of good humbuckers) but I knew that when I bought it. At the same time, I can get a wider variety of sounds out of this guitar then (I believe) any other.

Action was good out of the box. Action was a little high for my liking, but playable. Could find no finish flaws.
One problem that I have is that I think I could saw through someone's leg with the fretwire ends. Obviously, I'm exaggerating a bit, but I do want to get it prefessionally set up.
Again, the Gotoh tuners look rock solid. However, I find I have to tune it more often then I do with my Epi or Jackson (and I very rarely use the tremelo).

If I played live, I'd use this guitar without a backup. Strap buttons seem solid. I haven't bothered to put locking strap buttons on yet. I'm not sure about durability since I tend to baby my guitars. It doesn't feel real durable though (maybe due to it's lack of weight).

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

Been playing for about 15 years, on and off. Have 2 other guitars. An Epiphone Standard (recently switched stock PU's to Seymour's) and a Jackson Pro. This guitar fills in the gaps between the two humbucker guitars perfectly (for me anyway).

I've come to like it so much that if it were stolen I'd buy another one, even at double the price.

This is a cheap guitar without the cheap sound. It's sounds are unique. If you're looking for a good quality guitar at a good price to add to your collection, or if you're a beginner just starting out, then this is the guitar for you...

This is the 2000 model Hodad, made in Indonesia. She has 21 frets and the body is constructed of hardboard and plywood. Nicest sounding countertop I have ever played. :) Hollow body. There are two volumes and two tones (I wish that the volumes were slaved together like a Gibson or Guild but..... ah well.) The tone pots are also push pull tap switches. One is a coil tap and the other is a phase tap. Way cool. Awesome electronics on this guitar. Has more options than guitars three or four times its actual LIST price. The pickups are four Dano lipstick pickups wired as two humbuckers. Way cool Idea...... dunno how they did it, but they did. The neck is hard maple with a rosewood fretboard. The finish is a way cool red pearl that seems to be able to take a lot of abuse and still not scratch. One thing for Danelectro is they do a super nice finish. It has a Mosrite surf guitar body. Cool lookin. The bridge is a Danelectro Bigsby with a roller bridge. Really nice. I dig it. The tuners are non locking Gohtos. The neck reminds me of Fender crossed with Gibson.... Fast like a Fender and thick like a Gibson. She also has a set of Jumbo Frets on her.

Essentially this guitar sounds like no other guitar on earth. Very different. The Hollowbody gives it a ton of resonance and some nice vintage sustain. This is THE ultimate rockabilly surf guitar. I play a lot of those genres of music..... but I have also used it in a rock metal band as well. One must be wary of feedback due to the hollow body and pickup proximity........ but it is still very usable if you are smart. The humbuckers tend to be a tad muddy at times, but in brige position they are nice clear and hot. The coil tap is really cool and the phase tap is fantastic. The tones are clear and precise, almost bell like. Kinda vintage strat like. Very Cool. Essentially this guitar is a tone machine.... but it can shred, I have proven it..... currently I run it through a Crate GFX 212 or a Crate Blue Voodoo Head into a Behringer Halfstack. I run Digitech, Danelectro and DOD effects. If you are looking for a guitar that sounds like someone elses.... don't buy this one. If you want to sculpt a new tone that is individual to you, this is the choice. But try before you buy.

The factory set up on the guitar was great. She arrived with no flaws at all. The pickups and action were well adjusted and very playable. Everything was alligned right and the neck was straight and true..... immediately playable out of the box. Not really much else to say.

This guitar will definatley withstand live playing. Everyone is scared of the hollow body but..... the Danelectros of the 50's were treated much worse than I treat my gear... and they are still around. If you aren't stupid, you can make ANYTHING last a long time. I gig with her on tour and she has done nothing but suit me well.... except for one tiny little issue that I will now get to. The 3 way selector switch.... is in the most PISS POOR PLACE THEY COULD THINK OF!!! It is right underneath the freakin wammy bar..... so not even thinking about it (I am a divebom tremelo user when I have one) I repeatedly crushed the three way switch with the wammy bar until .... alas.... the switch died from the assult. I am currently having that switch replaced. Other than this STUPID little thing, everything else is okay.

Varies. Sometimes they are very timely with responses, other times there is no response at all.

I have been playing professionally for quite a while. I own a ton of other gear and guitars. This is however one of my favorites. It is unique and cool. Highly recomended. It'll also probably be a hell of a collectors item in years to come.

i have new clue when it was made the back of the headstock says made in korea.it has 22 frets. it has a masionite top. it has 2 vols & 2 tones w/ push & pull pots. one does a phase in & out. the other does a in & out coil tap. & it has a 3 way pick up selector switch.the pick up config is dualing H's. they are danelectro lipstick pickups (4 total) & every 2 are wired like humbuckers but are switchable to single coils. its like a strat & a SG in one guitar. i guess you can say the electronics are active. the body is masionite & the neck is typical rosewood. the finish is black w/ gold sparkle & pearl white sides.the hodad resembles a fucking kurt cobain hiflyer or more like kurts Gospels.=)it has a danelectro bigsby trem. it does the same thing i wanted a flyod to do but w/ less stringing & tuning hassle.the tuners are GOTOH. i fucking love these tuners. they're great i'm putting them on my future guitars that don't have them & also on my exsisting guitars. the neck is decently thin nice fast action typical rosewood. i got a fender padded gig bag.i give this a 9 cuz nothing is ever perfect or else it would reviece a 10 =)

it works for alot of styles. like i play grunge/punk/goth/thrash & strait heavy shit. & it stands up to it. my set up goes as follows. hodad>Dunlop org. crybaby>Ibanez chours/flange>Danelectro Fab Tone>a Crate half stack. you can get so many tones w/ this due to the coil tap switch & phaser switch.i feel bad a chose this guitar over a japanesse reissue of kurt cobain's Jagstang.=( but i will get a jagstang & beef it up.i just got it today & my best friend devirginized it of its drop D tunning capablities. & it works well w/ drop too. the only prob i have w/ it is you gotta watch how you have the 2nd vol knob set along w/ the first or you'll get insane hum. which isn't much of a prob.this thing is perfect for anyone that loves playn' a shit load of styles & doesn't wanna look labeled by their guitars looks.

i dunno about factory set up.i bought this used. & everything was setup very fucking well. the action was sweet i was able to haul ass on my solos.i see no flaws.everything seems to very well pieced together.well made.if it wasn't for danelectro making this their only humbucking trem guitar i would buy a shitload of dans. but for me i need a good trem & at least one humbucker. cuz i hate stop piece trems on string thru's.

i dunno how well this will stand up to a live show of mine. cuz i am like kurt cobain i like to get insane w/ my guitars.but i have a jackson & a fucked up korean stratocaster i'm redoing. & the jackson is broke down & the strat sounds like shit & this thing plays better than anyone of them in brand new condition. the hardware seems durable.the trem bar better hold up to me cuz i don't like to be nice to trem bars.this guitar i feel pretty comfortable w/ like i can just let lose on it w/ out worrying if i'm gonna snap anything like i did w/ the jackson & its flyod shit rose. the strap buttons are great they hold up.i think i can bash this fucker into a few amp cabs & throw it across a stage before i would get any major defects in the paintjob. by the way the paint job is beautiful.i would gig w/ a backup just for the simple facts change up guitars thru out the show & the other cuz you never what will happen always gig prepared & except the unexcepted. i have learned this well playn' gigs before.

dunno never deal w/ shit like that. i rather figure shit out for myself then to get some dweeb to tell me how to fix something.

i have been playn' for about 7 yrs no lessons. i have been thru many guitars. & i'm highly pleased w/ this. i am gettn' a few more guitars to add to my collection just for varity of play. mainly guitars outta the Fender & Squier lines. if was stolen or lost i would plan the murder of the fucker & make sure it is a slow & painful death.hehehe.i'm not lettn' anyone else touch this thing except for my best friend jim.my fav features on this is the trem & the coil tap & phase switchs.i always thought bigsbys were shit but i love them.

this guotar has endless features
probally the most if your going for a variety in tones......
great light weight......yet durable
seems to be built very well.......i love all the hardware
this guitar was made for me.......i love it!

matches me perfectly
savage sounds.........tinny sounds......rich clean.......full bodied........funky......it can do some amazing stuff
i like all the options in tone and how the pick ups are very raw yet can be set to be lush and gentle
great for dynamics in a song!

i had to tinker with action and the set up(who doesnt?)
after that though......no prblems at all.......it fells good to play this guitar.
its actually.......fun.
something that missing from a lot of guitars.

you would think that its a fragile guitar due to its weight but man this guitar has taken many a beaten
i have gone nuts on the bigsby......i have bashed the pick ups
droped it onstage......fell down on top of it on stage.....hit mike stands with it.........i even fell on the input(well the floor hit it anyways) and that waas the only thing that neede to be replaced.......good thing that the strap locks are meatl.....as well as the tuning heads.......i can always depend on this guitar.
ONE THING THOUGH!!......putting a string on this thing requires an alnighty amount of patience......but the sound is worth it

i own this with many pedals and a busted peavey amp and a marshall(a friends)
it is my number one guitar......danelectro make products that everyone enjoys
they are well built sound great and offer many options for sounds.
they are the only company still having fun with the instruments they sell and block their guitars with many awesome features.
as you can clearly see from the reviews on this giutar ......it is one of the best danelectro had made and in my opinion one of the best guitars made for buck around anywhere.
ive hd it for a while so im not trying to sound llike i have to like it so i dont fell ripped off......
i ve played loys and lots of guitars but this is the kind of guitar you remeber.......and i dont plan on ever taking this one out of my hands.......ill hopefully have it for life!

2000 model - blue pearl, though by that description I expected mother of toilet seat and instead I got this really cool gel coat sparkle navy blue finish that looks like it should be on a boat.

Four lipstick tubes, 2 tone, 2 volume controls, push pull tone controls for in/out phase sounds.

Satin maple neck with rosewood fretboard.

This guitar has more available tones than anything else in the market. I play country, blues and some acoustic fingerpicking music. I need my J-Station to simulate acoustic tone with other guitars. With the Hodad, out of phase on the neck pickup, through my Acoustasonic 30 amp, I get a reasonable acoustic tone and eliminate one guitar to carry. For rock or blues, I use a 1975 Vibro Champ. The jangly tones through that amp makes for a spectacular combo with this guitar.

This is not a Paul Reed Smith finish on #10 matched quilt maple, but for $149, it's the damn finest fit and finish you could ever imagine. Everything fits tight. There are no misaligned seams where the tape goes around the body. I would guess it's the finest bookmatched masonite money can buy... :)

The setup straight out of the box was actually very good. The neck and action on this guitar would make a lot of people overlook anything else that might be wrong.

The pickups have such flexibility that there is a learning curve when you want to switch them around at a gig. Basically, from full on, as you back off and pull the coil tap, you go from rich meaty tones to thinner jangly tones. There is some volume loss, but nothing that can't be made up for with the amp.

Hardware is chromed and reasonably heavy. The neck was straight. The fret dressing is unbelieveable for a guitar of this price. I have $1000 instruments that weren't as good as this.

I use a great variety of my guitars, so nothing gets played for hours a day every day. The Hodad seems rugged enough to use more than I do, but I'm really careful about the handling of my equipment. I would have to have some awful accident before I could tell stories about the ruggedness of a guitar. This guitar gets used primarily in recording situations, not on stage.

Before I got it, I read everyone's complaints about the strap buttons, so I took them out and replaced them with some strap locks. I filled the holes with a slurry of sawdust and epoxy, then redrilled the screw holes. I haven't had any problem.

In general, I'd gig with this guitar and could probably use it's available tones for more than I currently do.

Doesn't apply, I've never had to deal with them. On the other hand, like many others who mentioned it, I wish Danelectro had mods for their guitars other than just replacement pickups. My guess is that attaching something to their method of construction might wind up in people destroying the guitar more than modifying it. (Reverse Manufacture)

I've been playing nearly 40 years. I have 10 other guitars from Telecasters and Strats to a bunch of acoustics and travel guitars. The Hodad is a great value for money and if it broke or was stolen, I'd certainly want to replace it. I have a friend who has one with the Bigsby on it. That's the only thing I wish mine had.