Doing Things Wrong

Danelectro '63 (1457) Guitar

This body style was originally reissued in a range of models - guitar, bass ( long and short scale ) and baritone. I only have the guitar. These were part of Danelectro's Chinese production, and while not bad, are not as nice as the prior or later Korean models. A second reissue in 2015 restored the gloss sparkly finish of the vintage original. None of the reissues use the original headstock shape, though.

This guitar was issued in a wide range of models and colors.
A bass model, showing the stock dull finish, dull chrome, dingy 'vintage' pickguard, and controls.
nice shine

I modified mine to be more like the original, with dual stacked knobs and front-facing output jack. I also installed a rosewood bridge and replaced the binding. The binding on this body style is especially prone to peeling off inside those recurved horns. Finally, I stripped off all the dullcote and polished the body to a shine, and stripped the yellow coating from the pickguard. See the Pro-1 guitar for details on that.

The re-issue dual stacked controls and other parts were once readily available online, but are now all gone. I drilled out the marker holes in the knobs and glued in tiny brass nails, like the vintage knobs. I think this guitar is much nicer than when it left the factory.


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The easiest way to make a pickguard is to go to eBay and buy one, ready-made. However, if that doesn't suit your project, you can also find a wide assortment of blank materials to make your own design from. Work out your design full-sized on paper first.

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