- Danelectro
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Danelectro Type Private Industry Musical instruments Genre Producer Founded 1947 Founder(s) Nathan Daniel Headquarters original: Redbank New Jersey, United States of America / later: Neptune, New Jersey
modern: Camarillo California, United States of AmericaOwner(s) Evets Corporation Website danelectro.com Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.
Contents
History
Danelectro was founded by Nathan Daniel in 1947; throughout the late 1940s, the company produced amplifiers for Sears, Roebuck and Company and Montgomery Ward. In 1954, Danelectro started producing the Danelectro lines of solidbody electric guitars and amplifiers. The company was also contracted to make guitars and amplifiers that were branded not with the Danelectro name, but with the names of various store brands, such as Silvertone and Airline. Later hollow-bodied guitars (constructed out of Masonite and plywood to save costs and increase production speed), distinguished by Silvertone's maroon vinyl covering, Danelectro's light tweed covering, the concentric stacked tone/volume knobs used on the two-pickup models of both series, and the "lipstick-tube" pickups—invented by placing the entire mechanism into spare lipstick tubes—aimed to produce no-frills guitars of reasonably good tone at low cost. In 1956, Danelectro introduced the six-string electric bass, which would be adopted by other companies such as Fender with the Fender VI. The six string bass never proved especially popular but found an enduring niche in Nashville as the instrument of choice for "Tic-tac" bass lines. In 1966, Danelectro was sold to MCA. A year later, the Coral line, known for its hollow-bodies and electric sitars, was introduced. In 1969, the Danelectro plant was closed, due to MCA's attempt to market Danelectros to small guitar shops rather than large department stores.
In the late 1990s, the Evets Corporation started selling primarily copies of old Silvertone and Danelectro guitars, as well as newly designed effects pedals and small amplifiers. After initially selling well, guitar sales slowed to the point where Danelectro stopped selling guitars after 2001, opting to concentrate on effects pedals. In 2006, the new owners of Evets decided on a new marketing model for the guitars, selling a limited number of guitars each year.[1]
Amplifiers
- Danelectro Amp-in-case, 1962-1969
- Danelectro Commando
- Danelectro Master-Slave
- Danelectro Honeytone (current)
- Danelectro Honeytone e-Studio (current)
Guitars
1954-1969
- Danelectro C
- Danelectro U1
- Danelectro U2
- Danelectro Shorthorn, Which includes the following model range:
- Standard models (Single Pickup: 3011,3012; Dual Pickups: 3021,3022,5025)
- Deluxe models (Dual Pickups: 6026,6027,6028; Treble Pickups: 6036, 6037, 6038)
- Vibrato models (Single Pickup: 4011; Dual Pickups: 4021;)
- Danelectro Amp-in-case
- Dano Pro
- Danelectro Baritone
- Guitarlin
- Stan & Dan
- Innuendo Baritone
- Longhorn Baritone
- Vinnie Bell Bellzouki (12-string electric guitar with body based on the bouzouki)[2]
1998-2001
- 59 DC
- 6 string bass
- Danelectro Baritone
- Convertible
- Danelectro DC-12
- DC-3
- DC Bass
- Danelectro Doubleneck
- Guitarlin
- Hodad
- Hodad Bass
- Longhorn Baritone
- Longhorn Bass
- Mod
- Mod 7 (seven-string)
- Shorthorn Bass
- U1
- U2
- U3
2006-current
- 56 Pro 2006
- Longhorn Guitar 2006
- Longhorn Bass 2006
- Dano Pro 2007
- 59 Dano 2007
- Dano '63 2008
- Dano '63 Baritone 2008
- Dano '63 Bass 2008
- "Dead On '67" Guitar 2009
- "Dead On '67" Baritone 2009
- "Dead On '58" Longhorn Bass 2009
- DC-12 2009
- 59-DC 2009
- '56 Single Cutaway 2010
- '56 Single Cutaway Bass 2010
- Wild Thing Guitar 2011
- Wild Thing Baritone 2011
- Wild Thing Bass 2011
Effects pedals
Today, Danelectro primarily produces effect pedals. There are eight main runs of pedals: original effects, FAB effects, mini effects, vintage effects, Wasabi effects, Paisley effects, Cool Cat effects and other miscellaneous effects. All run on 9V batteries or power adapters. The original effects featured metal enclosures and FET switching. Cool Cat models are the most recent pedals, designed with metal enclosures and true-bypass switching. Danelectro has begun rolling out Cool Cat V2 pedals, featuring extra 'under the hood' features. Mini effects pedals are smaller, compact pedals with effects resembling those of the original effects and the FAB effects. Vintage effects include the large, rectangular Spring King and Reel Echo effect pedals. The discontinued Paisley series featured paisley-patterned drive effects in original style enclosures. The Wasabi series features large, futuristic-looking metal enclosures. FAB effects are the cheapest of the bunch, and feature plastic enclosures somewhat larger than the Mini effects series.
Recently, a carrying case was developed to hold up to five mini effects in it. When the player is ready to play, the top may be removed and the bottom acts as a pedals board. Despite the many advantages of the mini effects, FAB effects are the ones primarily seen today. The Mini effects are often praised for their high quality tones, but the plastic construction makes them fragile.
Original effects
- Daddy O. Overdrive (notably used by Mike Campbell)
- Cool Cat Chorus
- FAB Tone Distortion
- Dan-Echo Simulated Tape Echo
- Dan-O-Matic Tuner
FAB effects
The FAB series of guitar effect pedals is a budget range of pedals made by the Danelectro company that are manufactured in China. The series was launched in 2005 with the release of the FAB 1 Distortion, FAB 2 Overdrive and the FAB 3 Metal pedals. There are currently eight pedals available all of which share the same distinctive injection moulded plastic casing and blue LED light. Each pedal has a mains power DC9 socket or can be powered using a 9v battery, access for which involves removing the rubber covered metal base plate.
- FAB 1 Distortion
Reputedly based on a distortion pedal that was produced by a small Japanese effects manufacturer in the 1970s, the FAB 1 is a housed in a red enclosure and features three controls:
Level: This control sets the level of the output to the amplifier.
Tone: Rotate this control to adjust the EQ.
Distortion: Use this control to set the amount of Distortion.
- FAB 2 Overdrive
The FAB 2 is also reputedly based on the Nadine overdrive pedal that was commissioned in 1975 by the Mom & Dad music store in California and is apparently favoured by Brian Setzer. Contained in a silvery grey coloured enclosure, the FAB 2 is essentially an overdrive pedal that is designed to simulate the breakup that occurs when a tube amp is pushed to its full volume.
The FAB 2 also features three controls:
Level: This control sets the level of the output to the amplifier.
Tone: Rotate this control to adjust the EQ.
Overdrive: Use this control to set the amount of Overdrive.
- FAB 3 Metal
Described by Danelectro as ‘Bold, combative, hostile, belligerent... Explosive’, the FAB 3 is basically a hi-gain distortion unit housed in black enclosure with three controls:
Level: This control sets the level of the output to the amplifier.
Tone: Rotate this control to adjust the EQ.
Gain: Use this control to set the amount of Distortion.
- FAB 4 Echo
The FAB 4 is an echo pedal rather than a delay pedal. The difference is that the sound it delivers is built on short repeats rather than long repeats that are characteristic of modern digital delays. This sound is reminiscent of the slapback echo heard on early rock and roll records.
The FAB echo also differs from the rest of the range in that it only has two control knobs:
Repeat: This control allows you to set the number of echoes from one echo (a single “slap”) at the minimum setting to a great number of echoes at the maximum setting.
Mix: This control allows you to mix in some dry signal with the delayed signal. At minimum setting, there will be almost no echo effect. At the maximum setting, there will be only the echo sound.
- FAB Flanger
- FAB Chorus
- FAB Fuzz
- FAB Delay
Mini effects
- Pastrami Overdrive
- T-Bone Distortion
- BLT Slap Echo
- Corned Beef Reverb
- Tuna Melt Tremolo
- Hash Browns Flanger
- Pepperoni Phaser
- Milkshake Chorus
- Surf and Turf Compressor
- Grilled Cheese Distortion
- Pedal Tuner
- Chili Dog Octave
- Fish and Chips 7-Band EQ
- Chicken Salad Vibrato
- French Toast Octave Distortion
- PB&J Delay
- Rocky Road Spinning Speaker
- Black Coffee Metal Distortion
- French Fries Auto-Wah
- Black Licorice Beyond Metal
Vintage effects
- Reel Echo
- Spring King
Paisley effects (discontinued)
- Blue Paisley PureDrive
- Black Paisley Liquid Metal
Wasabi effects
- Wasabi Overdrive
- Wasabi Distortion
- Wasabi Rock-A-Bye
- Wasabi Forward-Reverse Delay
- Wasabi Chorus-Trem
Miscellaneous effects
- Shift Daddy
- Trip-L Wah
- Dan-O-Wah
- Free Speech Talk Box
- Psycho Flanger
- Sitar Swami
- Back Talk Reverse Delay
Cool Cat effects
- Tremolo
- Vibe
- Metal
- Fuzz
- Fuzz V2
- Drive
- Drive V2
- Transparent Overdrive
- Transparent Overdrive V2
- Distortion
- Metal II
- Chorus
See also
References
- ^ iNet Technologies, www.inetzone.com (2007-04-04). "Danelectro 56 Pro at Vintage Guitar Magazine". Vintageguitar.com. http://www.vintageguitar.com/features/gear/details.asp?AID=2430. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ MusicRadar item on the Bellzouki
External links
Categories:- Guitar amplifier manufacturers
- Guitar manufacturing companies
- Companies established in 1947
- Guitar effects manufacturing companies
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