I guess it’s been about a year since I first saw the reissued Danelectro massonite electric guitars in a danish music store. Somehow the strange and unique look of the guitars appeal to me, and since they are very cheap guitars I thought it would be really cool if they sounded good as well (’cause that would make it more likely for me to get one). Ever since, I have wanted to try one out.
So during my Christmas holidays, I went to Aage Jensen to feast my eyes on some guitar gear. Of course they had a few of them in stock. I ended up playing all the six-strings they had (I was too lazy to tune the twelve-strings), and even though I only played them acoustically and not through an amp, I got a pretty good idea of what they are like.
They are definately not high-end guitars, but then again they aren’t supposed to be. They almost feel as if they were made of plastic and they don’t weigh much more than a guitar from Guitar Hero. The tuners were probably the worst part feeling both unprecise and plastic-y. All of this aside, I quite enjoyed playing the guitar. It is probably as close to the opposite of a Les Paul as you can get, but that is exactly the charm of it. I felt inspired with the thing on my lap, which is rarely as much the case when I play a Les Paul. I couldn’t stop the thought of plugging it into an (almost) clean amp and playing it like it was an acoustic guitar. I can just imagine the dirty guitar sound together with a muddy reverb and delay pedal in front (drool).
I guess I will have to try one out through an amp, and I am seriously considering buying one if I get the chance.
Hi Howard. Thank you for reading! I will definately check out the story on your website. Interesting!
I think you’d enjoy learning a bit more about the original Danelectros, from the 1950s and 60s. Extremely innovative. You might want to check out the tribute I wrote to Danelectro founder Nathan I. Daniel (my father) at http://www.pen4rent.com/pen4rent/tribute.aspx.