Danelectro Hodad

Near as I can figure, it is early 2000's. 21 frets. Body is masonite and plywood and hollow. White tape binds the edges. Three way switch, two volume and two tone knobs for two humbucker passive lipstick pickups that can be split and tapped by pulling up on the two tone knobs, which are labeled accordingly. Neck looks like satin maple on back with rosewood fretboard on top. Body is gold sparkle embedded in shiny black plastic coating over the masonite. Moderately wild shape roughly in super strat style with two horns. Chrome plated bigsby whammy bar bridge. String wrap around to bridge is a little tough to do in the dark, or when a string needs to be replaced in a hurry and requires a small pair of needle nose pliers. Non locking tuners that hold well. Medium neck with low to medium frets. It came with a non
Danelectro thinly padded gig bag. For its pleasing appearance, light weight, resonance, loaded with all types of features it is a winner=10.

After experimenting for a while, figured out the Hodad has many, many tonal possibilities. However, it is best suited for clean to very mild distortion. On the clean, it is a natural for surf music, some rock and some blues. These types of music go well with a somewhat jangly, bright, clean sound, a Hodad strength. On the distortion, it is a natural for some rock and some blues, which seems to stand out in the mix because of its rich, full, jangly, twangy sound. For surf, and rhythm guitar, I find the best setting is both pickups on, the treble volume and tone knobs rolled back a bit, leave the neck pickup all the way up and roll the tone back a little on that one as well. When playing the blues and classic rock for a solo, turn up the treble pickup all the way and when done turn it back down. The whammy bar is not intended for divebombs. As other reviewers have already said, it is effective if used gently. My hodad does not go out of tune when the whammy bar is used. Dislikes? A better padded gig bag or better yet a hard shell case. Likes? Refreshingly jangly, clean, bright with no mud, but this guitar is not a toy.

Set up well, but I am not original owner. Had new .10 strings when bought. Only flaw I saw is a small bubble in the tape edge near the neck. Stuck a pin in the bubble, which deflated and it is now adhered. Even pickup volume, although it is lower in output than my other guitars. To compensate,I just turn up the amp volume. Overall, this is a very well Korean built guitar that is the best over two other Danelectro's I once owned. I had a U2 when they first came out in 98. No longer own it as the bridge was not adjustable. Next, I had a U3. No longer own it as the silver sparkle color was too strong for my taste. Electronics and mechanical parts are all well made. Good nut. I can't find anything to get uptight about.

It's been to two gigs and getting ready for its third and fourth. I enjoy it because it offsets my other guitar(s) which are more traditional humbucker types and, accordingly, a different type of sound and tone. Two guitars to a gig is a standard rule. Replacing a string in this guitar during a show would be somewhat of a pushup if it was your only instrument. Solid strap buttons. Neat black body finish is subdued until a light hits it and then you can vaguely see the lightly distributed gold sparkles. Wow. However, this is not a solid body guitar and should be treated with that in mind.

Bought used-no warranty, no need to deal with the company.

I have been guitar playing since 1963. I have owned a lot of different guitars, amps and pedals. Most of it has been sold or traded. Now, I have the Hodad, a Robin Artisan, Gibson Les Paul Special reissue and Fender 52 reissue Telecaster with a humbucker in the neck. I have a Carvin 300SX amp, which is another great piece of equipment(further tone shaping, built in effects, loud and lightweight). I would buy it again. I really like the tones. No dislikes. Favorite feature is the jangly, twangy tones, which would suit country/western, surf, ome rock and some blues. Bought in a pawn shop. I kept my eyes open for another Danelectro as the prior two also had a the same type of tones, albeit they had aforemenetioned weaknesses. This guitar is good value for its cost. Modern construction methods with good quality control. The hollow body, coupled with the lipstick pickups make an unmistakable sound that you near on old records.

2 lipstick humbuckers, coil tap and phase switch. Standard danelectro body material. You can get a lot of sounds out of this guitar.

Danelectros seem to be hit or miss for people. they either love them or hate them. I love the sound of this guitar i play ska, punk and surf. This guitar is an amazing surf guitar and with the coil tap and phase switch you can get tons of sounds.

The action is a tad bit high for me and it looks like i cant lower it much more without taking it to a tech. Other than that it is great, i have the black with gold sparkle and white faux leather sides. It does look a little cheesy but i really like it, when the light shines on it it looks gold.

I would gig it with out a backup, it seems a tiny bit fragile but that could just be because it is lite. I don't think it can take as much abuse as a solid guitar but if you are careful i wouldn't worry.

haven't dealt with them

I like it, great sound great guitar for not much money. If you like danelectros pick one up, if you don't like danelectros leave it alone.

The finish I got was the Blue Sparkle. It may seem cheesey, but once you take it out of the gigbag, everyone looks! And it looks great on stage. The body style is kind of a strat, but actually long and warped almost like a fender jaguar, and with a double cutaway. This is a guitar from, I believe the early 90s. There are four lipstick pickups; two at the bridge and two at the neck, which are, I suppose, to mimick humbuckers.

I play sort of indie/rock/alternative and it suits our bands style in that it really sounds unique! It really has that Danelectro twang. It is the twangiest of my three Danelectros (I have a U2 and a DanoPro). It comes with two volue knobs, two tone knobs, and phase in.out and coil tap. When you use the coil tap, it swiches to single coil to get a really bright twang. If you use the phase in and out, you basically get a heavier sound. When you use both out of phase and single coil, something really strange happens: you get everything but mid. It's a strange sound, but fun to play around with.

I thought this was a solid guitar when I bought it, but now I believe it is hollow, just because it really rings when you knock on it.

The guitar I have also has a bigsby which I get a kick out of using. It will go out of tune if you use the bigsby a lot! As for restringing, you have to bend the strings under and pull through the bigsby, so it's beter to bend the string before you try to string it!

I use my Fender Blues Deluxe(tweed) amp wth it. Every once in a while, I'll use a tremolo pedal which sounds great with that surfy-twang.

When I got the guitar in the mail off of ebay, I found that the action was too high, and it buzzed a lot. I find that all my danelectros buzz eventually, even after having the neck adjusted. Anyway, when I got it set up, it felt pretty good. Not the lowest action, but comfortable for me. I've had it for half a year now, and no buzzes yet.

I always use this guitar live! If you want to hear it in action just search my band on youtube. Type: "binky bianca 007". It seems pretty durable, and it's actually pretty heavy duty.

This guitar is a great guitar to have simply because of its unique sound and look! Plus, it's pretty damn cheap. You can't get a better guitar for the price. This has served as my main guitar over the past 6 months, but I am ready to move to a higher scale guitar. Still, I don't think I will ever sell this Dano, although I can't say the same for my Dano Pro! I love it!

The finish was, frankly, the only thing that gave me a moment's hesitation about buying this guitar. Mine's in green, and the glitter seemed a bit too cheesy for my taste. Other than that, the warped-strat body style is loveable, and I can reach up far enough into the fretboard to do whatever I want there. The pickups are fine, too- But if you don't like the Danelectro twang, this is not the guitar for you. Still, the switch is in the wrong place. Unlike my Telecaster, this one can change after an especially vivid downstroke. Oh, and the strings are near impossible to change. It's dricing me crazy because of the stupid tailpeice. But the vibrato works great- this is one in-tune guitar.

My style is a kind of pre-grunge, post punk alternative, and this guitar suits me fine. It steperates me from the rest of the crowd, and I can have my own disticnt sound with it. I'm using it with a marshall tranistor amp because I'm low on funds, and it still sounds fine. Again, if you don't like the Danelectro twang, this is not the guitar for you. However, I love it. But there isn't a whole lot of varaiety, unless oyu have plently of pedals, which I do not. The Wah sounds awesome on it, however.

I got it secondhand, but the finish was fine, only there was a bit of rust on the inside I hadn't noticed! Still, it's fine. But the Action was great when I got it, too. It's just about perfect. There's no buzzing whatsoever. However, the last two frets on the high E string sound the same. I was trying to sort this out, and I'm in the process of changing these god-forsaken strings, so I'm not sure if it'll be better soon.

I've played live with it, and so has one of best friends. He's a punk rocker, and he favors this as well as his Epiphone Dot. The strings haven't broken yet, and they haven't gone out of tune too much. I'm only chaning them because they're old. Everything is solid about this guitar. I'm a very violent person, and this has survived my house for two years now.

Haven't had any dealings - No problems!

Beautiful guitar, stylish, retro, and wesome for whatever you want. Hardcore punks stay away, but softer folk- this is well woth the $400 you would pay for it! I wish it had a humbucker, though, right in the middle of those two single-coils. Ah, well, it's still perfection. Honsetly, if this wasn;t a danelectro and didn't have the twang, it would be my only guitar.

pretty good....

Sounds great, if I could keep the feedback to a minimum.... I can't get within 10 feet of my amp....

could be better but decent for the price of the axe.

I've never had a problem, it's just like it was the day I bought it...

nice retro style mine is a hard tail no bigsby likeit like that lip stick pick ups coil taps tons of tones possable

let me say i have many guitars ofmany different brands gibson lp custom gibson es 135 fender strat 1979 fender 90s thinline telecaster and the hodad this thing rocks many different tones killer leads when pused thru a good tube amp lipsticks are a lil weak but just turn it up and your good love this guitar

neck is so comfortablr its stupid fast action cool retro style and light can play it all nite

paid 199 dollors so i aint afraied to bring it to a gig built very well love the neck love it hear me love it

for the money this guitar cant be beat try one you will agree i would get another in a min.

Typical Hodad with Bigsby trem and black/gold sparkle finish. Not exactly shure what year it was made? Maybe someone knows if the serial number has anything to do with the year? Cool configuration. I wish that the pickup selector switch was located on the top horn like a les paul AND that the switch itself was a little more less hard slaping. The lipsticks amplify the click noise when changing the switch. Otherwise, I love the in/out phase and split coil taps!

I have a 1954 Gibson GA40 amp with a custom fit 1956 Jensen P15P alnico and a simple slapback analog delay pedal. This guitar just simply came alive with this setup. I don't know what everyone is complaining about? The pickup ouput is just fine. I noticed that the bridge is quiet if the coil tap is lifted. Tap it down and the bridge comes alive! Overall sound is full and rich.

Changing strings is not an easy task if yours has a bigsby. A string winder is a must have!
Overall hardware is top quality for an inexpensive guitar. Intonation can be in the ballpark and still sound good. Some guitarists are BiOtches and want everything to be just so so...give me a break! Brian Setzer once said, "Its close enough for rock n' roll".

I haven't played it in a gig yet, but I intend to! I have every confidence that this guitar would turn a few (guitarists) heads!

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I've been playing for 25 years. I own very expensive fine guitars and I really like this guitar. Its fun and full of life. Great guitar for the money!

This guitar is loaded with features they are listed in detail below.

It however would be nice if you didn't have to take the neck off to adjust the truss rod! The volume output of the lipsticks is quite pathetic.

The 4 lipstick pick-ups. This is such a subjective area, this is actually the only reason im posting is to clear this up:

They dont work like humbuckers, there is a substantial amount of hum. Definetly not high-gain pickups, they are quiet so expect to either use a booster pedal/driver or to just crank the amp. Sounds great for surf, old school blues, rockabilly etc. as soon as you need a harsher tone use a guitar with humbuckers. Simple.

So im giving this guitar a rating of 10 for sound, it's a cheap guitar that sounds perfect for the tones any of my other guitars cant do.

These finishes are not very durable. You need to be extra careful as they chip very easily.

I too often find myself on here reading reviews of guitars I own or have rented for gigs and see bad reviews or unhappy buyers. This guitar is great, it has the right look for the sound it omits. It doesn't do anything but those rockabilly, surf, jangly/trebly tones.

For the money if this is the tone you want this is the perfect guitar. It's look fits the bill and the bill isn't that much.

See the other reviews. Phase In/Out is my favorite feature on this guitar. Thin neck. A little too thin for my liking. I like baseball bat necks and this one can give me hand cramps if I play for over an hour.

I bought it new off Ebay in 2001. I was playing in punk band then and I fell for the Mosrite - Johhny Ramone shape. However, I never could get it to sound like Johnny. Put it away for a few years. Now I'm playing in a early surf-late 50's rock sounding band. Pulled the Hodad out recently and fell in love with it for the first time. I play it with the pickup selector in the middle position(all 4 pick-ups on), Out of phase, tone on bridge pick-up almost all the way down, and tone on neck pick-up all the way up. Both volumes on full. With this setting, you get a great spanky, percussive surf sound like a Fender Jaguar, for a third of the price. But it's a slightly more hollow sound and better resonance than a Jag. The Digsby trem is quite good for gentle tremolo. Not great for dive bombing or pulling up. Stays in tune quite nicely if you're kind to it. But changing strings is a pain.

Of course you need a good tube amp with reverb and tremelo. I play it thru a early 60's Gibson GA-17 Scout with a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive in front. Perfect match. Bright, open, and the notes bloom quickly and have a resonant decay. The Hodad doesn't have a lot of sustain which is what you want for this sound. My sound is pretty close to the theme from "Ren and Stimpy".

To sum it up. Great for Surf and Retro Rock with reverb and a little overdrive. Good through a Fender type amp, not good through a Marshall type amp. Not good for heavy distortion.

I took it in to my guitar guy for a set-up as soon as I bought. Don't remember much about the original set-up. No problems otherwise.

Seems quite dependable. Never had any problems with it. Seems very sturdy for being so light. It may be cheaply built, but it's not fragile at all.

Nope.

Been playing 20 years. Own/Owned lots of gear. The Hodad is an awesome value for a Surf, Rockabilly, Link Wray guitar vibe. I'm less worried about it at rehearsals and gigs than I would be with a vintage archtop or Supro, although the price for the Hodads seem to be going up on Ebay. I don't really like the thin, fast neck but I can live with it. My buying motto is "If it costs over $500, let someone else enjoy it." The Hodad fits well with this motto and sounds like it costs 4 times as much.

Bought in 2005 brand new it's a 2002 0r 2003 model. I found it hanging on a wall in guitar shop in Hawaii among a whole crap load of Ukelele's. It was brand new and had been hanging on his wall a long time. I told him nobody in Hawaii would buy it since they only have two sounds on the islands ukelele and slack key which are ok for a while. Then their sound starts to be like the "it's a small world" ride in Disneyland. They should turn that into a shooting gallery cause you want to start shooting before the ride is over. I absolutely love this guitar beautiful black sparkle masonite top and back from a 1970's mobile home wall, and plywood frame trimed with expensive cream colored vinyl, four lipstick pups, Mosrite knock off body, bigsy style trem, single coil or humbuckers with coil tap and out of phase electronics very very cool and versatile. Golly Gee how many features do you want on a guitar? It's a 10+

For Davie Allen, Link Wray, Dick Dale and any other surfs up music this guitar is the best. It is a 10, screwing around with the coil tap and out of phase it can sound like Mark Knofflers strat. This guitar is perfect sound wise for msot anything except Jazz and who gives a @#*! about jazz? I really think it is a 9.5 but I'm going with a 10 to help off set the dork that said it was a 2.

The neck is real sweet. The "Bigsby" style tremelo is great after I went to the hardware store got a 1/2" stainless steel washer and put it between the shaft and spring clip It had about an 1/8" slop play from side to side. The studs on the "Bigsby style trem" that the string go on are great they are little bit longer than a real bisgsy. This is nice for when you put on new strings they stay on while you are winding. Other than that it appears to be put together quite nicely and you can take it apart very easily to fix anything.

I suppose so, what guitar wouldn't unless you a gorilla moron with you gear.

No idea. My guess is their policy is "you bought it it is yours and yours alone."

Playing for 40+ years mainly Rockabilly, surf, classic vintage rock (whatever that is). Other guitars 1976 Guild X500 with bigsby, 2003 Guild Starfire IV with bigsby,1973 D35 Martin, 1959 0017 Martin. Amps Musicman HD130 reverb head with two 12" vintage celestion cabs. Musicman HD130 reverb combo with 4 10" music man speakers. I'm giving this a 10 for what it does, this actually is the most versatile guitar for sound of my electrics.

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.

N/A

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.

N/A

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.

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.