From the Sears Catalog ~ Luthiery Laboratories

January 10, 2023

From the Sears Catalog

January 10, 2023

Danelectro Silvertone 1448 Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1457 Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1472 Amplifier

Danelectro Silvertone 1450 Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone U-1 Guitar

Harmony Silvertone 1478

Here is a selection of items you could get from the Sears catalog, once upon a time.

Sears dropped Silvertone as a brand in 1972, but Samick (Korea) bought the name in 2001 and started a new line of instruments, including some reissues of the old models.

Uncategorized, 01/10/23

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Silvertone U-1 "Dolphin" Guitar

This started as a vintage neck that I got on eBay. I built a reproduction body and hunted-down old-style parts to rebuild this as authentically as possible. The finish is black nitro, which is accumulating nitro damage just from existing. Someday I should strip that garbage off and re-shoot it in polyurethane.

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Silvertone 1448 Guitar & Amp

This is another factory guitar, vintage 1960s, made by Danelectro and sold exclusively through Sears. The 1448 was one of the cheapest electric guitars in the Sears catalog, but it came with something special - it's own amplifier built into the hardshell case. There is almost no wear on this guitar, I don't think it was played much.

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Silvertone 1457 Guitar & Amp

This is the big brother to the Silvertone 1448, vintage 1964-67. Construction is basically the same, but with a full-scale neck, two pickups, and a much better amp. For a lot of details, see the 1448 page. This guitar is in excellent condition for being almost sixty years old, and apart from cleaning and re-stringing, it needed nothing.

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Silvertone 1450 Guitar

The Silvertone 1450 is a relatively rare model from 1965 to 1967. It is identical to the much more common 1452 "Amp-in-Case" model, except that the 1450 has a three-ply tortoiseshell pickguard in place of 1452's white masonite, and the 1450 did not come with an amp. The three-bolt neck attachment indicates that this is a fairly early example. There should be a date stamp inside the neck pocket, but I don't want to take it apart. For a long time I thought this was a 1452, I was quite pleased to discover while writing this that it is actually the more deluxe 1450.

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Silvertone 1472 Amplifier

After successful and interesting experiments rebuilding 1448 and 1457 "Amp-in-Case" amplifiers, I thought I'd try something bigger. So I kept an eye on the eBays, and eventually came up with this - an early production Silvertone 1472, made by Danelectro and sold through the Sears catalog. It was fairly cheap because it wasn't working. However, the cabinet is solid, the aluminum faceplate and labeling are in good shape, all the knobs are there, and everything else can be replaced or rebuilt. The Tolex is in very good shape, and the corners of the cabinet are all pretty much intact. Much like buying an old car - a blown engine is easier to fix than a rusted-out body.

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Silvertone 1478 Guitar

This is a Harmony-made Sears Silvertone 1478. This body style was originally called the "Silhouette", and Harmony sold similar models under their own name. Later it became known as the "Bobkat". I can't find a serial number anywhere, and I'm not taking it apart to look for one, so I don't know the exact age of this guitar.

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Danelectro Projects

Danelectro Companion Guitar

Danelectro Longhorn Guitar

Danelectro Pro-1 Guitar

Danelectro Pro-1 Bass

Danelectro Silvertone 1443 Bass

Danelectro Silvertone U-1 Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1448 Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1457 Rescue Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1457 Guitar

Danelectro '63 Guitar

Danelectro "Super-63" Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1450 Guitar

Danelectro Silvertone 1472 Amplifier

Danelectro '67 Hornet Guitar

Danelectro Longhorn Bass

Danelectro is my favorite type of guitar, simply for the genius of their unorthodox, inexpensive, yet highly effective designs. I love the tone of old-growth masonite. If you are looking for details, the Pro-1 Bass is the most complete build documentation.

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Capacitors

The subject of capacitors in guitars is rife with fraud and nonsense. The fact is, the capacitor is not IN the signal path, it is very much OUT of it, and only has any effect when you select it, which is probably pretty seldom. The capacitor is part of a low-pass ( or rarely high-pass ) filter, basically a frequency-dependent leak to ground. It is not making 'tone', it is taking it away. The type of capacitor that you use for this really doesn't matter at all, as long as you don't use a polarized one the wrong way. Orange Drop, oil-in-paper, film, ceramic -- makes no difference. Anyone who claims it does either has a very vivid imagination or is trying to sell you something.

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