Well, it's that time of year again, time to renew the web hosting. And for those of you that don't know, that has become a lot more expensive than it used to be. Fifty dollars a year is now several hundred. Not to mention the price of domain names has gone up ten-fold.
And I just found out that the nice folks at PayPal disabled all my Support buttons, and I never got a notice (although that may be my fault.) In any case, it is all working again now, so if you would like to make a small donation to help defray these costs, it would be greatly appreciated.
The body was traced directly off the guitar, finished in very dark brown poly with tan Tolex. The neck is a reissue that has lain around for years. The bridge was originally left-handed, a few minutes with a file and it was right-handed. The double lipstick is switchable series/parallel/single-coil, for some variety. This is my first dry-erase pickguard.
Bass with "parent".
The guitar has also been modified to be more authentic - I stripped off the dullcote from the body and shined it up, with new binding.
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.
This is a factory guitar, but I have modified it enough that I guess I can call it a project. This is a reissue produced by Evets around 2007. This was not a high point for Evets quality, they had shifted production from Korea to China, and it showed. The reissues from the '90s are Korean-made, and quite nice, and this guitar is not in the same class. That said, it's not terrible either, but there's quite a bit to go into. Evets eventually shifted production back to Korea, and the quality went back up.
Modern Danelectro construction of a classic design
Masonite is the classic Danelectro body material. Vintage Danelectros are Masonite over a poplar core, modern ones substitute plywood for poplar, which is actually better and cheaper. Masonite is available in 1/8" and 3/16" thicknesses. For luthiery, 1/8" is preferable, but 3/16" can also be used, especially if a slightly thicker and heavier body is desired.
This is what the binding looks like on a vintage Danelectro. I've never been able to find a 'weave' pattern like this. Reissues use a cowhide texture; I also like pebble-grain.
Tolex side binding is something that is particular to Danelectros. I love it. There are many good points to using Tolex side binding:
When two pickups are wired in series, the output of one is connected to the ground of the other. The outputs are directly additive, there is no loading effect as with parallel wiring. You get noticeably more output, and usually a much fuller sound. Two pickups may be wired in series with a standard [ON-OFF-ON] switch, available at any hardware store.
Hello. How many times a day do people ask if you sell your stuff ? ;-)
Kennan Shaw:
August 16, 2021 at 5:29 PM
The Pro-1 Bass is just dead sexy. I'm going to have to find a tracing of that body. Beautiful work!
claude:
March 23, 2020 at 8:46 PM
how cool is this!! i stumbled onto your site as i was looking to see if Danelectro ever did a reissue of their 'Hawk' bass or if they ever made a 'Pro' bass. the Hawk has a nice off-set body and pick guard, and of course the 'Pro' (yeah, that had to have been a joke name) certainly had its own peculiar charm. i love what you are doing here. i'm inspired, tho i think i'll cannibalize a couple of old kawai/guyatone/teisco guitars i've got laying around and transform them into a short scale bass....which is mostly what i play these days (mustang, bronco, ibanezTMB30). you are doing beautiful work !!!
The skunk stripe is the walnut strip down the back of many 'classic' guitar necks. It is an indication of the type of truss rod within: A single steel bar in a curved channel. To create a perpendicular force, a truss rod needs two members: one in tension and one in compression. The skunk stripe rod uses the neck itself as the compression member. This was originated on a guitar neck and then extended to the bass. The problem is, a bass neck is much longer and less stiff than a guitar neck and is under much greater compression. The last thing you want to do is add more compression. Also, using two dissimilar materials for the two members inserts a host of issues, and using steel against wood, that's just hideous. The wonder of the skunk stripe is that most of the time you get away with it, despite how awful the design is. Of course, it is very cheap and easy to manufacture, in a factory setting.
Gordon Patriarca:
January 13, 2024 at 9:09 PM
Hello. How many times a day do people ask if you sell your stuff ? ;-)
Kennan Shaw:
August 16, 2021 at 5:29 PM
The Pro-1 Bass is just dead sexy. I'm going to have to find a tracing of that body. Beautiful work!
claude:
March 23, 2020 at 8:46 PM
how cool is this!! i stumbled onto your site as i was looking to see if Danelectro ever did a reissue of their 'Hawk' bass or if they ever made a 'Pro' bass. the Hawk has a nice off-set body and pick guard, and of course the 'Pro' (yeah, that had to have been a joke name) certainly had its own peculiar charm. i love what you are doing here. i'm inspired, tho i think i'll cannibalize a couple of old kawai/guyatone/teisco guitars i've got laying around and transform them into a short scale bass....which is mostly what i play these days (mustang, bronco, ibanezTMB30). you are doing beautiful work !!!