Getting back in with the old... Danelectro

[Moonshine]

I’ve been busy since then getting some projects out the door and remodeling my shop, but I have always taken the time around Christmas and New Year to take some time off, and do a little work on personal projects. One such project was to start seriously playing again.

The past couple of years have been pretty full, both work and life-wise. I had had stepped down from the band I was in almost two years ago, and besides from plunking around for a moment or two, I pretty much stopped playing.

I’ve been itching to get playing on a regular basis, I have been playing a bit more and enjoying it, so I’ve been thinking about what bass I wanted to use. I purchased a Harmony H22 a couple of years ago, and I dearly love the thing, but it’s a really nice original example, and I’m not comfortable leaving it on a stand in my living room (I have four dogs, a couple are 100+lbs).

I dug out this old Danelectro Shorthorn bass. When I got it, it had an aftermarket bridge on it, which I replaced with an authentic, unplated brass Jerry Jones bridge. I also added a shim to the neck pocket. Other than that, I didn’t change anything, even the old round wound strings that are on it. They are a lighter guage, and inspite of their age, they still sound “zingy”. acoustically. Cool

These basses look pretty fragile, but they’re really pretty rugged. This one had been played a lot. The finish is worn down to the hardboard where one’s forearm would rest, and the finish on the back of the neck has been completely worn away. That being said, there are a couple of decent sized cracks in the back of the neck, from the nut to the fourth fret. most likely caused by the duel, non adjustable, steel truss rods that Nate Daniels used. They look horrible but somehow, they have stablized.

The neck has very slight relief, and plays perfectly. The original fets are almost flat, but they do what they are supposed to do with no buzzes (action is what I would describe as “medium-low”). I am going to lower ithe bridge slighty on the treble side.

Since last night, I have been playing this bass constantly. It’s super lightweight, and plays so nice. I think I’m going to start using it to play out.

I love the vibe of these old basses. Nate Daniels was a genius!

[MikeC]

Amen to that!

[Buzzin_Canada-John]

The wear on that bass… the stories it could tell. WOW… I love it… Would love to hear it in action… ( hint to put a vid up )

[Al1885]

Wow that’s some relic.

[Moonshine]

I didn’t mention it earlier, but I have two of these Danelectro Shorthorns. The second is currently in pieces, awaiting repair to the neck pocket, I’ve owned it for several years.

I may not completely correct, but when Danelectro shut down, Dan Armstrong purchased the remaining inventory of parts, etc… This was the Dan Armstrong who later produced the Dan Armstrong “See Thru” lucite guitars and basses. Those instruments utilized a removable magnetic pickup (Dan is also Kent Armstrong’s Father, he also made small effects pedals)).

Early on , Dan built and sold the left over Danelectro basses and guitars as “Dan Armstrong Modified Danelectro” models…

The Shorthorn that I found in the New Jersey area (Neptune, N.J. was the original home of Danelectro), had been obviously modded. It was completely covered in an awful shade of green housepaint, but it also had a really bizarre painting of a bird(?), dinosaur(?)… I’m not sure but it appealed to me in some sick way. I liked it.

What really caught my eye was the pickup that was installed (hacked into), in place of the original lipstick unit. I immediately recognized it as a Dan Armstrong pickup from his See-Thru basses. It is not removable though.

I saw this bass somewhere online, the owner had found it somewhere and was asking about it’s worth. The overall consensus, was that it was trash (the neck pocket had been horribly hacked up), and the best thing to do was to burn it. I contacted the owner and asked him if was interested in selling it. He was, and I picked it up for next to nothing.

Upon receiving it, I disassembled it and was happy to find that except for the neck pocket and the horrible paint job, the bass was solid. Here’s what it looked like when I got it.

Part of me wants to find a way to remove the house paint (it appears that the copper finish is still there underneath), but there is no way that I’d ever remove that bird/whatever on it!

I went down to the shop last night and took another look at it. The neck pocket needs to be routed out, down past the damage and replaced with new wood. This won’t be a difficult repair, so I have put it my shop schedule. Hopefully I can get to it in about a month.

I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like.

As for the copper Shorthorn, I am considering adding a second lipstick pickup to the bridge position. I have a customer that is also a good friend who played Danelectro’s almost exclusively for decades (Longhorns to be precise), he is from Jersey, and when I met him, our mutual love for these basses made us friends quickly. I had a few of the Silvertone 1444 basses (basically a Danelectro single cutaway with a single lipstick). He told me that I needed to add a second lipstick at the bridge so I could get that “zing” out if the bass. I took a couple of days off, but when I returned I discovered that he had stopped by and dropped off a vintage lipstick pickup for me with a note saying “do it”.

The Guy obviously knew what he was talking about, and he was correct.
I’ve since then been involved in building him a custom Longhorn bass, and I am currently building him a custom Longhorn BassVI.

Here’s a pic of him with the bass I helped build for him.

Garry Rocks.

[Moonshine]

It has serious Mojo. Here’s a better pic of the body.

I love how it the copper powder in the finish is oxidizing. The Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is almost black. I’m in process of setting up a small studio/practice area, my wife does voice over on the side and we also are starting a podcast. This will be the first time I will be set up for video.

Thankfully, she is a tech geek. Lol.

I hope to get something recorded soon.

[faydout]

@Moonshine

we also are starting a podcast

Anything to do with the builds you do? If so, please drop us a link.

[eric.kiser]

I’m digging that green dinobirdasaurus.

[Moonshine]

The builds will definitely be a part of it.

We have messed around with the idea of this for a few years. We will be discussing instrument building in general… I’ve been doing this for a long time. It has been a long strange trip. Lol.

Yes, I will post here. I appreciate your interest.

[Moonshine]

That’s what sold it for me…

[MikeC]

@Moonshine

Here’s a pic of him with the bass I helped build for him.

Garry Rocks.

Man, that’s a beauty. Great work.

[Moonshine]

Thank you. It was a collaboration, I built the body, the neck was an original Danelectro that Sean Paden, a renown guitar tech and builder reworked. Southbound Guitars handled the paint, and Sean put it all together.

At Garry’s request, the decal reads “Damnelectric”.