I'm a huge Danelectro fan. I string my Danelectro with the help of a capo. I pull the string taught, slap the capo on and It keeps the string under tension enough that it won't pop out of the bridge slot. Makes a restring just as easy as any other type of bridge. This trick can also be used to string up a Bigsby equipped guitar.
You've gotta love the jangly sound from lipstick pickups all this from a guitar with a Masonite (fibreboard) top and bottom... there's'one for the tone debate!!
Mr. Crowe: a small correction. The Danelectro guitars of the 50's and 60's actually do have a truss rod, it is just not adjustable. It has a Martin style T bar pre contoured and set in the neck before the fretboard is glued. Modern reissues, thankfully do have adjustable rods, as do the high end clones by Jerry Jones.
Hey Ben. I beg of you please use the phrase: "lekker like a Braai in Kempton Park" in your next video. The SA viewers will enjoy that very much. Love the channel its taught me so much. Videos are great quality and nicely edited. Keep up the awesome work. One day I'll order a Crimson ocean burst 7 string 27"scale super strat with a Seymour Duncan Nazgul in the bridge and a sentient in the neck. And top it off with a reverse inline head stock that would be amazing.
It's aluminum, and screwed into the neck from the front. Allparts sells replacements for the 6 string & the bass. I always wanted a Guitarlin. Link Wray played one quite a often, early in his career .
For fret work I always tape off / seal the pickups as well . . . metal shavings in the coils can cause all kinds of problems, and impossible to completely remove.
Wow! Congrats on the rare ebay find!! I've been jonesing for a Dano Longhorn Bass for years! I think they're super cool & have been a studio secret weapon for years..My band are doing Radar Love by Golden Earring which is one memorable bassline that was played in studio on a Longhorn..Amazing find for sure,& the case is badass as well! Like a vintage coffin case.
There is a truss rod in the neck, very robust, but with no adjustment. I never saw a Danelectro with a bent or warped neck, you can stand on them, that's how tough they are.
Ah, the coocoo design consepts of Danelectro. Gotta love those, even if they don't work so well, at least they are not copied from Gibson :-) But those lipsticks are gold. I just installed the Seymour Duncan remakes to my new 12-string. Boy do they jangle.
I think there was a hollow Guitarlin as well. A Copal, right? But if you're not going to use the upper frets, the whole thing appears to be a solution without a problem.
Ben, could you give an approximate idea of what this type of work would cost? Possibly replace some frets, file, level and polish the rest, adjust nut height and general truss rod/setup? Basically, are we talking in the £10's, the £100's or the £1000's?
Hey, not as much as you would think even if we have to replace the frets it would come in at under £200,under £100 if it is a simple fret level and setup.. What do you have for me? :)
Hi Ben, It's something of a strange mishmush. A 1960's Egmond 12 string acoustic that was converted to a 6 string. A brass nut was fitted which is too low. The top 5 or 6 frets are 'worn'. The sunburst was stripped front and back, the soundhole filled in, f-holes cut like a National and a humbucker fitted and a Kay style pickguard fitted. Problems are the bass strings buzz badly when open and fretted at the top of the neck and the action can't be altered cos I think the truss rod itself is seized. It's the one with the adjustable neck angle and removable neck. Oh and it's converted to left handed. Apart from that it sounds wonderful and actually plays rather nicely, if the action is a bit high. It's my main writing guitar. I'll email some pics tomorrow if you like. It's a one of a kind and when the original conversion was done, I don't know.
fret the string at the first and third fret... stick feeler gauges under the string until it perfectly fits underneath... add a .05 gauge to that and put that against the nut as a depth stop... easier and faster
I’ve looked on your website for the specific nut slotting tool you’ve got in this vid, but couldn’t find it. Is it still available if I wanted one? Long shot I know, but really hoping.
Hi Ben, I wonder about the long horn bass and I believe it made the same. How is the Masonite material to work with? Is it balanced well, so when playing with a strap, the neck won't dive to the floor when you leave it?
You lucky lucky ... Wouldn't the depth of those nut slots cause the strings to bind or is aluminium that non-resistant? I suppose you'd have to be careful to round over all spots where the strings touched as well, lest they catch on a sharp edge.
Hi! Can you do videos about setting the guitar up for the best tone? I own a studio, and am curious if I could set up the guitars myself to meet my standards tone wise.
+Archie Rodenbo Feed it lots of coffee? Actually it's fairly easy if you can solder. You can find diagrams for just about any way you could ever set one up.
love me some half pencils!!! What was the nut made out of? I have a stew mac nut slotting gauge IMO it is a great tool. think it was like 60 dollars Canadian. I may have to watch the vid again. but did you not file off the top of the nut? after dropping the strings that much?? love your vids!
I was going to register on your website but the password requirements are to demanding, wonder how many orders you have missed because of this. If you ever relax the requirements on the password let me know and maybe we can do business (12 characters are a little ridicules).
Pro tip: NEVER tune a guitar when it's laying flat. You have the weight of the string, gravity and the magnetic pull of the pups all drawing downward on the string at once, which WILL cause it to go slightly sharp, especially with your beloved 13s on there. Instead, ALWAYS tune a guitar as you would play it, both in position and with the strength that you would actually play it at. By doing so the aforementioned factors become moot. Get a proper strobe tuner and it will be plain as day. Tune the string properly in the upright position, then turn it 90 degrees to flat and watch the note rise slightly. The same holds true with regards to the force with which you strike the strings. The harder you strike it, the more sharp it becomes. Granted, most folks may not even care or notice, but if you're going to make "instructional vids", it's best to do so as accurately as possible.
I'm a huge Danelectro fan. I string my Danelectro with the help of a capo. I pull the string taught, slap the capo on and It keeps the string under tension enough that it won't pop out of the bridge slot. Makes a restring just as easy as any other type of bridge. This trick can also be used to string up a Bigsby equipped guitar.
genius - you would have been a star in the bronze age!
@@cz6812 keep that Dano rocking!!
You've gotta love the jangly sound from lipstick pickups all this from a guitar with a Masonite (fibreboard) top and bottom... there's'one for the tone debate!!
Mr. Crowe: a small correction. The Danelectro guitars of the 50's and 60's actually do have a truss rod, it is just not adjustable. It has a Martin style T bar pre contoured and set in the neck before the fretboard is glued. Modern reissues, thankfully do have adjustable rods, as do the high end clones by Jerry Jones.
Hey Ben. I beg of you please use the phrase: "lekker like a Braai in Kempton Park" in your next video. The SA viewers will enjoy that very much. Love the channel its taught me so much. Videos are great quality and nicely edited. Keep up the awesome work. One day I'll order a Crimson ocean burst 7 string 27"scale super strat with a Seymour Duncan Nazgul in the bridge and a sentient in the neck. And top it off with a reverse inline head stock that would be amazing.
loved the nut slotting files wow nice work on the old creature
It's aluminum, and screwed into the neck from the front. Allparts sells replacements for the 6 string & the bass. I always wanted a Guitarlin. Link Wray played one quite a often, early in his career .
For fret work I always tape off / seal the pickups as well . . . metal shavings in the coils can cause all kinds of problems, and impossible to completely remove.
Bleikr Sound Frets aren’t magnetic, so the filings won’t be. But I also tape off the pickups because I use steel wool on the frets.
hello. have you ever done a video on the pros and cons of a zero fret? if not will you? great videos.
Crimson Guitar Cases Confirmed?!
Danelectro... guitar bodies made from Masonite, cases made from wood.
Oh. My. God! Lmfao :)
Wow! Congrats on the rare ebay find!! I've been jonesing for a Dano Longhorn Bass for years! I think they're super cool & have been a studio secret weapon for years..My band are doing Radar Love by Golden Earring which is one memorable bassline that was played in studio on a Longhorn..Amazing find for sure,& the case is badass as well! Like a vintage coffin case.
i own one and love it......thanks for the great instructions, now I can work on mine....
There is a truss rod in the neck, very robust, but with no adjustment. I never saw a Danelectro with a bent or warped neck, you can stand on them, that's how tough they are.
Don't do this if you're 300 lbs....! The nut is aluminum, as well as the position markers on the side of the fretboard.
Ah, the coocoo design consepts of Danelectro. Gotta love those, even if they don't work so well, at least they are not copied from Gibson :-) But those lipsticks are gold. I just installed the Seymour Duncan remakes to my new 12-string. Boy do they jangle.
crazy - It sounds like a Banjo!
I think there was a hollow Guitarlin as well. A Copal, right? But if you're not going to use the upper frets, the whole thing appears to be a solution without a problem.
PLEASE make guitar cases like that!
OHHH I just ordered this nut file. I'm SOOOOO excited to get it:-)
Ben, could you give an approximate idea of what this type of work would cost? Possibly replace some frets, file, level and polish the rest, adjust nut height and general truss rod/setup?
Basically, are we talking in the £10's, the £100's or the £1000's?
Hey, not as much as you would think even if we have to replace the frets it would come in at under £200,under £100 if it is a simple fret level and setup.. What do you have for me? :)
Hi Ben,
It's something of a strange mishmush. A 1960's Egmond 12 string acoustic that was converted to a 6 string. A brass nut was fitted which is too low. The top 5 or 6 frets are 'worn'. The sunburst was stripped front and back, the soundhole filled in, f-holes cut like a National and a humbucker fitted and a Kay style pickguard fitted.
Problems are the bass strings buzz badly when open and fretted at the top of the neck and the action can't be altered cos I think the truss rod itself is seized. It's the one with the adjustable neck angle and removable neck.
Oh and it's converted to left handed. Apart from that it sounds wonderful and actually plays rather nicely, if the action is a bit high. It's my main writing guitar.
I'll email some pics tomorrow if you like. It's a one of a kind and when the original conversion was done, I don't know.
what, nobody liked this comment? possibly best comment of all time!
allow me to be the first - here goes...
Me: can barely setup a 21 fret guitar
Ben: hold my tea
You didn’t mention the Brazilian rosewood fretboard! I have an old Convertible from around this vintage.
It's not just a guitar, it's 50's pop art
I saw 2in bad shape sell for about $1,000.00 on ebay
fret the string at the first and third fret... stick feeler gauges under the string until it perfectly fits underneath... add a .05 gauge to that and put that against the nut as a depth stop... easier and faster
I had to swap the bridge on my 59 dc, shame really, I regret doing it.
The last thing I need to get is one of your bench top things. And when you make a String Action Gauge - I WANT ONE:-)
Lol Woodeso's Guitar Mods. Someone just sent you a string action gauge! :-)
shhhh... turns out it is slightly misaligned. No bueno:-(
I just opened up a box of Ben's lovely tools and shot a video. I'm so excited!!
Lol!!! My one from philadelphia luthier is not. It's good :)
Woodeso's Guitar Mods
very cool man. seeing if your new vids are up yet...
I’ve looked on your website for the specific nut slotting tool you’ve got in this vid, but couldn’t find it. Is it still available if I wanted one? Long shot I know, but really hoping.
Hi Ben,
I wonder about the long horn bass and I believe it made the same. How is the Masonite material to work with? Is it balanced well, so when playing with a strap, the neck won't dive to the floor when you leave it?
You lucky lucky ...
Wouldn't the depth of those nut slots cause the strings to bind or is aluminium that non-resistant? I suppose you'd have to be careful to round over all spots where the strings touched as well, lest they catch on a sharp edge.
Hi! Can you do videos about setting the guitar up for the best tone? I own a studio, and am curious if I could set up the guitars myself to meet my standards tone wise.
Before I heard those pickups, I thought the "lo-fi" sound from them old jive records came from the recording itself!
thank you Ben
I always love a good boggin. Who doesn’t? Lol
I thought it would be cool if you did a video on how to wire a guitar.
+Archie Rodenbo
Feed it lots of coffee?
Actually it's fairly easy if you can solder. You can find diagrams for just about any way you could ever set one up.
Who is James Pringle?
why don't you file down the top then? and have the string slots marked off to redo after.
love me some half pencils!!! What was the nut made out of? I have a stew mac nut slotting gauge IMO it is a great tool. think it was like 60 dollars Canadian. I may have to watch the vid again. but did you not file off the top of the nut? after dropping the strings that much?? love your vids!
+tom bruchal Aluminum. Allparts sells Danelectro aluminum nuts.
Is the nut slotting file for sale on the site still as I couldn't find it on your store online
i wish someone would market a reissue of these
Very cool Ben ! is that yours or does it belong to a customer ?
I would have polished up those pickup covers.
Sounds like a Tele. :)
Bought mine fall of1954.
And you still have it? Nice one! B
It's incredibly beautiful and ugly at the same time.
I don't understand humanity, what or why the feck do people dislike these videos for??
When are people going to understand that there will always be some edgelord that dislikes the video just because? It doesn't matter in the slightest
sounds like a piano right at the end
Great work there Ben - Here is a demo of a 1959 Danelectro "Longhorn" that kicks ass.
ua-cam.com/video/6WW0xqgmyKo/v-deo.html
15:46 when eye contact is too emotional
That board has to be refretted
get some brasso in my dude :>
almost sounds like a banjo.
I was going to register on your website but the password requirements are to demanding, wonder how many orders you have missed because of this. If you ever relax the requirements on the password let me know and maybe we can do business (12 characters are a little ridicules).
Pro tip: NEVER tune a guitar when it's laying flat. You have the weight of the string, gravity and the magnetic pull of the pups all drawing downward on the string at once, which WILL cause it to go slightly sharp, especially with your beloved 13s on there. Instead, ALWAYS tune a guitar as you would play it, both in position and with the strength that you would actually play it at. By doing so the aforementioned factors become moot. Get a proper strobe tuner and it will be plain as day. Tune the string properly in the upright position, then turn it 90 degrees to flat and watch the note rise slightly. The same holds true with regards to the force with which you strike the strings. The harder you strike it, the more sharp it becomes. Granted, most folks may not even care or notice, but if you're going to make "instructional vids", it's best to do so as accurately as possible.
"beloved 13s"