Danelectro
Nathan Daniel's company made guitars out of masonite and poplar from 1947, sold them through Sears, and accidentally created some of the most distinctive-sounding cheap instruments ever built — the lipstick pickup and the six-string baritone among them. The modern Danelectro trades on that same combination of oddity and affordability. We have covered the Dan O Cool baritone, the Spring King reverb revival and the Longhorn basses, and the brand is a fixture of our pawn-shop and budget-gear round-ups.
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- '59 shape
- Baritone
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- Cool Cat pedals
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Danelectro FAQ4 questions
What is Danelectro known for?
Cheap materials used cleverly. Founded in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1947 by Nathan Daniel, the company built guitars from masonite and plywood with lipstick-tube pickups, and the results have a distinctive thin, jangly voice that studios have used deliberately ever since.
Is Danelectro still the original company?
No. The original firm was defunct by 1969 and the brand was acquired by MCA; it is now owned by the Evets Corporation and run from Camarillo, California. Current Danelectro products are modern instruments and pedals carrying a revived name.
What is a lipstick pickup?
A single coil housed in a lipstick tube — Danelectro genuinely used surplus cosmetic cases. The narrow metal enclosure and the resulting low output give the bright, slightly glassy sound the brand is known for, and it is why Dano guitars still get used for parts that a Strat would swamp.
Does Danelectro make pedals?
Yes, and it has for decades — the mini pedals and the Cool Cat and 3699 lines are a substantial part of the modern catalogue. They sit at the affordable end and are bought for character rather than for pristine performance, much like the guitars.