Industry Musical instruments Owner Evets Corporation Founder Nathan Daniel Type of business Private | Genre Producer Website danelectro.com Founded 1947 | |
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Products Guitars, Bass guitars, Guitar amplifiers, Effects units Headquarters Camarillo, California, United States Profiles | ||
Danelectro 56 u2
Danelectro is a US designer and importer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers, and effects units.
Contents
Danelectro 59m nos in depth review
History
The original Danelectro company was founded by Nathan "Nat" 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 (Sears) and Airline (Montgomery Ward). Later Danelectro manufactured hollow-bodied guitars, which were constructed out of Masonite and plywood to save costs and increase production speed, and which were distinguished by Silvertone's maroon vinyl covering, and Danelectro's light tweed covering. The concentric stacked tone/volume knobs were used on the two-pickup models of both series, as well as the "lipstick-tube" pickups, which placed the entire pick-up mechanism into war surplus lipstick tubes. All the while Danelectro's goal was to produce no-frills guitars of reasonably good tone at low cost. In 1956, Danelectro introduced the six-string baritone guitar. The baritone guitar 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 purchased the name and began selling imported copies of old Silvertone and Danelectro guitars, and newly-designed effects pedals and small amplifiers. After initially selling well, guitar sales slowed to the point where Danelectro stopped selling guitars after 2001 to concentrate on effects pedals. In 2006, new owners of Evets decided on a new marketing model for guitars, selling a limited number each year.
Amplifiers
Vintage effects units
1954–1969
1998–2001
2006–present
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.
In 2006, 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. It has since been discontinued. Not long after, another carrying case was developed to fit five FAB or Cool Cat pedals, as well as serve in the pedal board function as well.
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
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 Distortion, FAB Overdrive and the FAB 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.