Danelectro MOD 6

This guitar was bought in 2000, I think it was new. Gotoh tuners, regular danelectro lipstick pickups. Body looks like masonite and plywood. It reminds me of a 60's kitchen table. Weird purple vinyl tape around the sides.

The 7-way pickup switch was as cool as it looked and the "blow" switch did in fact sound like all three pickups in series.

It's hard to find a guitar that looks like a strange 60's guitar but that doesn't sound like a surf guitar or a telecaster. This sounded like both. The twangy pickup settings were extremely twangy, and even with the "blow" switch on, it didn't do much for me through any kind of distortion pdeal, even my never-fail big muff. Even with the 7-way pickup switch, there *was* a broad range of sounds, but all of them fell into the "high and twangy" category. I should have expected this, but I was still disappointed with my inability to make this guitar sound as rockin' as it looked.

If you want a guitar that looks cool and sounds like seven different models of telecaster, this is it.

The action and intonation of this guitar were fine out of the store. There was a little buzzing on the low E, but it was easily correctable. The guitar also produced a little humming through every amp I tried it on when on the last couple pickup positions. I didn't try to change string guages or anything so I don't know how much work that would entail.

I don't think I would play this guitar live, but only because I didn't like the way it sounded. As far as anyone else playing it live, it seemed fairly solid; and anyway you can play live with a Series-10 punk guitar if you're careful.

I didn't deal with them.

I really liked the 60's *look* of this guitar, but really hated its faithful representation of 60's guitar sound. Other than that, it was fairly cheap (I hear they're cheaper now), fun to play, and sounded good (just not my *kind* of good) when played very very loud through a Fender Bassman with the treble turned off. I've been playing for 7 years, and I keep getting more and more into loud, chunky guitars.

If this guitar had come with humbuckers I would have bought three more of them.

korean made dano

25" scale, 21 fret, hardwood top & bottom on plywood frame, hard maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, gotoh tuners, quality strap buttons (not the glued-on jobs you'll find on some of the other danos).

6-way pickup selector (neck-lipstick, middle-lipstick, bridge-2 lipsticks wired like a humbucker), "blow switch" (all 3 pickups in series, overrides 6-way selector), coil tap switch, stacked tone/volume knob.

retro pearl finish on front & back (mine's violet - the one color not offered in the 7 string version of this guitar), standard dano vinyl-taped edges (on the violet model the vinyl is white), single cutaway w/ white pearl pickguard, pickguard's got that 60's "futuristic coffee table" shape.

for an inexpensive guitar, this thing is chock-full of features. hell, if it were expensive it'd still be full of features. my particular favorites are the body-style, finish and the absurd number of different tones available with dano's selecto-o-matic, blow switch and coil tap. I am in the market for a couple other dano's from the reissue series, namely the hodad w/ tremolo, the 56-U3 and the standard 2 pickup baritone. this guitar has sold me on dano quality, though I realize it's at the top of their line (it lists for $599, significantly higher than most of the other danos from the same year.)

most guitars suit my style well because I'll adapt the style to the guitar. (if I like a new or borrowed guitar, I'll actually write songs -for- it.) that said, I generally play genre-hopping indie pop, somewhere between pop punk and beatlesque/xtc pop often with a lot of rockabilly/surf influence.

I use a lot of effects (sometimes just because they sound weird or unusual), and the mod handles almost any "retro" effect well. (it loves to run through my dano tuna melt tremolo and sounds terrific with rockabilly slap-back and/or spring reverb.) chorus never sounded better than it does on top of the rich tones you can get out of the mod clean. mild overdrive can sound really sweet, but like most overdrives takes some tweaking to fit the guitar. the only thing I don't like about the mod is that I have trouble getting it to behave with non-overdrive distortion. it's got terrific bass clean (probably because the body's hollow), but that doesn't translate so well to digital distortion pedals. not at all the way a strat does.

I don't own an amp because I switch sounds a lot for recording in my home studio, and there just isn't an amp that handles everything for me. on my budget, I play everything through a line 6 pod. that said, I tend to use the mod through the black panel model on the pod. if I had the money, I'd love to hear this guitar through a black panel or a fender champ.

much quieter than many single-coils I've played. even with the selector set so the humbucker isn't being used.

honestly, I need to play this guy for another year or so before I can really tell you what kind of sounds I -can't- get. with the coil tap, you can go from nice full clean sound to jangly open sounds. it can sound thicker and fuller than a clean telecaster, and it can almost stand toe-to-toe with a standard strat when the blow switch is on. variety variety variety. if you're on a strapped budget and want a guitar that does a lot, I'd recommend a mod.

my only dislike with the sound is that the coil tap switch changes the volume quite a bit. to be expected (if you think electronically), but annoying having to adjust the amp when you make the switch while playing. dano wires their pickups in series though, so the select-o-matic and blow switch have some pretty big volume changes as you rotate around the dial too.

okay, I already said the sound variety was great. for a cheap guitar I expected to have to have the frets dressed and mess with the action, but I was pleasantly surprised. the (bolted on) neck on this guy is really nice, the action was great right out of the box, and to boot it came stocked with light gauge 10's and good intonation from the shop where I bought it. I had also expected it to be set for 9's (which my dreadnaught-acoustic-trained hand breaks without trying). I may still have it intonated for 11's (I play 13's on acoustics and 11's on most electrics), but the 10's sound so nice with it I'm not sure I want to mess with the set up.

the tuners are gotohs, but they are a little sensitive for my tastes. they stay in tune, but they seem to pop through a "sweet spot," particularly on the D and G strings, which makes it tough to get those strings perfectly in tune quickly. this could also be the bridge, which is decent and sturdy but nothing spectacular.

the finish is beautiful on the top and bottom, but I can do without the vinyl edges, as I already see them being a problem in the near future. when I got the guitar, a bit of the vinyl right in the curve from the top edge to where the neck starts was already starting to come unglued. I'll glue it down again at some point, but it does not bode well. I take good care of my equipment, but I don't like the idea of a guitar that I'm afriad to get a little sweat on if I'm rocking out.

the stacked tone/volume knob is a brownish-gold plastic, and I'm hoping to find a good one to replace it at some point. not just because it looks and feels cheap, but because it's softer plastic than, say, a strat knob, and as a result turning one of the knobs invariably turns the other. so if there is a perfect tone setting, you're going to mess it up every time you move the volume knob. this could be annoying. the only reason it's not too bad is because I usually leave the tone up on the high side to compensate for the unusually responsive bass from this guitar. so, volume all the way up, tone all the way up is usually how I play. most folks I know spend more time on the amp's tone settings anyway, and I'm no exception. I would love a stacked knob that really did act as two different knobs without having to hold one of them to turn the other though.

can't say much about the wood. it's plywood and hardwood. I'm amazed it sounds good at all. perhaps I've been led to believe that wood is more important to electric sound than it really is...

I will replace the nut at some point too. it's plastic and probably won't last more than a year before it starts showing some wear. but I've bought expensive guitars with plastic nuts before, and I've seen plastic last too, so I may change my opinion later.

so, this guitar loses points for the fit/quality of the hardware, the vinyl-taped edges, etc. though it'd get a fat 10 if this category only included action.

I was worried that the plywood frame construction wouldn't stand up to much use, but this thing is pretty solid. it doesn't feel like a rock (a la telecaster) or anything, but I'd worry more about the finish than the structural integrity if I bumped into a cabinet with it.

as I mentioned above, the knobs and the nut look to me like they'll need to be replaced at some point, and I will probably have an ongoing battle keeping the vinyl tape on the sides in check from peeling and dirt.

the finish is amazing on this guy. it looks thick as hell, like the plastic finishes on boats or children's rides at amusement parks. it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. looks like they could have used the body of this guitar as a coffee table in the 60's.

strap buttons are solid. I'm actually hoping to find strap locks that don't have to replace the buttons to be installed.

I'd depend on this guitar. I haven't gigged with it yet, but I probably will. mainly because it's got enough sounds to work as the one guitar for a whole show. (except maybe for acousitc, though you can get a reasonably acoustic sound with just one pick-up and the coils out of phase.)

I'm on a budget that doesn't really allow me the luxury of owning multiple guitars of the same model, but either way I'd rely on this guy not to poop out without some kind of warning (like scratchy pots or whatever).

I've never dealt with danelectro though probably a third of my huge stompbox collection is populated by their pedals.

I've had my mod for about 3 weeks now, so I haven't had to get it repaired or even adjusted yet. I've played it a lot in the past couple weeks too. already gone through a couple sets of strings.

there is a warranty (I bought it new), though it bums me out a little that dano doesn't make any replacement parts other than the lipstick pickups. in my experience, pots, switches and knobs usually go before pickups do.

I've been playing guitar for over 8 years now. I'm in the process of purchasing a few electrics to complete my little home studio set up. at the moment I have the mod and a goya dreadnaught acoustic with a fishman humbucker permanently installed in the soundhole. (you'd me amazed what you can get out of that thing besides acoustic sounds.)

I own several stompboxes (most of which I use with the acoustic as well as the mod)... the most used are morley PS2 wah/distortion, dano surf & turf compressor, tuna melt tremolo, fab tone, cool cat and blt slap echo, an OLD dod attacker distortion/compressor pedal and an equally ancient dod stereo flanger. I play through a pod and have a lot of rack effects too (various compressors, roland ge-10 guitar-to-midi converter which will be used to drive my proteus 2000 as soon as I get a roland-ready strat... my next projected purchase.)

if someone stole this guitar I'd be pissed. they are relatively hard to come by now. when I bought mine, elderly had 2 left. at the time of writing this, they still have the other one. I would certainly try to replace it.

I love the finish/design of it. I love the action, neck and playability of it. I love most of the sounds (especially the neck & bridge pickup together and the full-on three pickup blow switch).

I hate the vinyl binding and worry about some of the cheaper hardware.

if you're a beginner to electrics, this is a great start, usually very affordable now if you can find one. if you're a seasoned player, there's a good chance you don't have a guitar in your set up that sounds like this one. unless you've got another dano, but honestly I've played the U3, the hodad, the U2 and the DC3, and the mod really does sound different, though I would consider it in the same family of sounds... it shares some particular kinship with the hodad. probably because of the lipstick humbucker configuration.

dammit. it just looks and sounds great. buy one.

Cool retro looks is what initially drew me to this guitar. It was also on closeout sale which really got my attention. Very light to wear and ultra thin body. You can dance with this guitar! Aquamarine color with pearl pick guard. High gloss finish. Has great "feel" to it -- very playable fretboard (one of my key criteria). Supposedly 11 different tones. I wrote company 3x asking for explanation and got no response although another reviewer said he did. 3 different pickups -- 2 single coil lipsticks and 1 double.

One reviewer here wrote "if your looking for the right sonic space to fill" this is the guitar for you. That's me! I'm into depth and breadth of tones versus loudness and like "clean" sounding amps and tones. The richness of tone is important. I am very impressed with the sound of this guitar -- very deep bass. I think the danelectro strings make a difference too. i plan to only buy there's to use on this. It does have brightness but you can also get depth. A joy to play and listen to. And hey, it looks so cool!

I play pop, folk rock, and rock and electrify classic show tunes. I played acoustic for years before going electric. this is my 2nd electric. 1st was a telecaster and there is no comparison between the 2. the tele sounds "flat" compared to the depth of tone possible with this guitar.

Not an expert on this subject. But i do look for "playability" -- i.e. how easy is it to move up and down fretboard -- barre chords and this one is silky smooth.

I think one of the switches is loose as sometimes does not work. this also happened with tele. took the guitar to a guitar tech who fixed it and did a "setup". it made a huge difference. will probably do the same with this one.

I haven't performed in public just for private pleasure. The guitar as i've said is not "solid" in the standard sense. It is hollow body (hence the lightness). I have fibro myalgia and serious problems with shoulders from too much computer use and one reason i love this is it is so light to hold. it does not stress my body. the nuts need tightening they get loose. it has a "loose" feel. don't know what this means for the long haul.

Emailed them 3 times to try to get the 11 settings and no response.

I grew up playing acoustic guitars into my 20s. Then was away from guitars for about 16 years and took up more focused study 4 years ago and went electric. This guitar allows me to express the music i've heard inside my head. i read somewhere on the web that "if a guitar feels right to you, it's probably the one for you" and that's the case here. Lightness is a real issue for me due to physical conditions. I choose this guitar for 1)looks 2) lightness 3) playability and most importantly 4)bang for the buck!! That is my biggest criteria -- got more for less money. A steal!!

Wish I could have bought it in pink with white pearl guard! 8-)

Recent Korean-made Danelectro Mod 6, 20 frets, masonite-over-plywood body, mapleish neck with rosewood board, 6 position rotary switch with series two pole switch and hum/single swicy for dual coil bridge pickup, stacked master volume tone, lipstick tube pickups. The deep-set neck and single cutaway severely restricts movement above the 15th fret. But then, that just forces you to find interesting things to play without using the guitar-hero high pitched bends as a crutch.

Oh Lordy is this an under-rated guitar. I love lipstick tubes IN CONTEXT. They mix well with other guitars, but forget about getting big thick metal tones. This is best as a twanger. Unlike the Hodad Baritone (which I also reviewed), the series wiring of the pickups doesn't get in the way of switching sounds, the output level goes up and down with various combinations, but not so that you'd have to constantly reset your amp and effect settings. If your goal is NOT to fill as much sonic space as possible, but rather to get find the "right" sonic space and a funky tone, maybe this could be the lone guitar in a trio. I play it through a Tubeworks tube driver set to light overdrive, an old Boss RV-2 into a '64 Fender Bassman with a presence knob driving a standard Fender-style 2x12 cab with Eminence speakers.

- How well was the guitar set-up at the factory? The action is a little higher than, a stock, off-the-rack tele. But it seems pretty even and no significant buzzes.
- How well were the pickups adjusted? Just fine.
- Properly routed bridge? As with other Danelectros, the bridge sits up on three bolts. The sound and feel would no doubt be improved if the bridge sat flat and the strings went through the body.
- Did the guitar contain any flaws? There's kind of a 'bubble' on the upper left side bout. For the money, who cares.

As I wrote in my Hodad Baritone review..
It'll probably stand-up to time. There are plenty of Danelectros out there from the '50's and '60's, with the same basic construction (masonite tops/backs over plywood frames). And those New Jersey-made instruments don't even have truss rods! The new korean-made ones do. The finish seems okay (except for that bubble. Would I use it on a gig without a backup? I dunno, at $149.99 maybe I'll get a half-dozen. Or wait until another store has another sale and get it even cheaper.

If it does turn out to be trash and falls apart, I'll transfer the pickups, gotoh tuners, wiring harness and anything else salvagable onto a warmoth or wd type homemade guitar. Hell, the pickups, gotoh tuners and wiring harness would probably be $149 retail, anyway.

n/a.
Although I did trade some emails with a Danelectro employee prior to buying one. It's not like they blow-off legitimate questions.

I've been playing for 25 years. Generally, I love my custom-made Warmoth/Joe Barden Teles. But I like this thing for the fact that it's the yin to the high-end Tele's yang... it's a cheesy, reedy sounding fun guitar. Not for playing serious introspective senstive-guy jazz, but fun to bash and twang.

There are DEFINITELY some things that could be improved. Two come to mind.
-- A strat-style 5-way switch would simplify things, and make it a lot easier to change pickups.
-- As I mentioned before, the 20-fret neck is set deep into the body, and the single cutaway is pretty shallow. Planning to go into the super high registers? You ain't going nowhere.

The super high ratings I'm giving the Mod 6 is TOTALLY linked to the price paid... $149.99. Last year, I was tempted by some $350 pricetags I saw, but didn't buy until this deal came along. Would I get another? Probably, if it were stolen, lost or destroyed. As far as having more than one at a time? Maybe, for the price. But how many guitars do you need that have limited upper-fret access?

Single cutaway, Gotoh-ish tuners, rock maple neck with rosewood fretboard, hollow body with laminated top (more on this later) S/S/H lipstick pickups, 6-position "Select-O-Matic" pickup selector, mini toggle switch for splitting the humbucker and big toggle switch to activate all pickups at once.

I go into a Boss CS 3, Rat, CompTortion, Danecho, Dano Tuna Melt Tremelo, Fulltone Choralflange to a Brownsville Thug amp. This is a super funky, super fun guitar. It doesn't pretend to be a custom shop Tele or a Les Paul, but it does deliver a bucketful of usable sounds. The ad claimed it has 11 different sounds on board. I bought this guitar off the floor (it doesn't come with a case or any literature) so I was curious what they were. I emailed Danelectro and they sent me back a lising of what the pickup selector did, and sure enough, with the mini-toggle and the big toggle thrown into the mix, it puts out 11 different confihurations/sounds. Tere is an airiness and liveliness to many of the settings; many Fender-esque tones can be pulled up, and there are a couple of good humbucker powered settings as well.

Well, it's a Danelectro, so you either love the retro stylings or hate them. Quite honestly, it was the ultra-cool look of this guitar that pulled me in...it has a gorgeous pearlized turquoise front and back, a Jetsons inspired mother-of-toilet-seat pickguard on its masonite (or whatever) front and back; its plywood sides are covered with some sort of white plastic tape the actually looks great, if not particularly durable. The neck is well finished, frets are good and the neck itself is deep and narrow and very playable. Plugged in all is well, but the guitar's kind of flimsy build is evident when played acoustically; there's a little fret buzz and a kind of cheesiness to the tone due to its hollow construction and low cost materials. However, the sounds it produces when plugged in seem to actually benefit from these things. Action is adjustable via indidual string saddles.

This guitar isn't particularly sturdy looking, but it actually seems pretty well constructed. I've played old Danelectros that have looked beat to shit but still played and sounded great after 30 years of hard living.

When I asked them about the pickup settings, they emailed me a detailed response within a few days.

Once again, this will never replace my strats, but it is a lot of cool guitar for a little bit of money. I take this along now as my second guitar on gigs and like to pull it out for old soul or Motown type stuff. I intened to use it in some home recordings to add some of its different flavors to the mix.