A Couple Danelectro / Silvertone Builds

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Wed May 06, 2015 12:34 am

NickS wrote:Will you be doing the Swinger necks in 22.5" scale?

Yeah, I've made a template from an original Swinger neck that I bought. Someone had over sanded the radius when they refretted
the neck so it needs some work. I've got a plan to repair it but I made a template just in case.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Wed May 06, 2015 7:31 am

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:11 pm

Finally got around to making the longhorn body. On my first attempt the poplar frame twisted really bad. This time I used
the top off an old pine dresser a friend was throwing away. It's straight as an arrow and sturdy. Plus it smells musty
like an old dano should.
Can't wait to get this one ready to paint but I'm not looking forward to stripping the finish off that neck though.

Zack · Post by **Zack** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:53 pm

Looking good as always cooter, have danos always had that thick of a frame or was that personal preference?

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:15 pm

Zack wrote:Looking good as always cooter, have danos always had that thick of a frame or was that personal preference?

Thanks! The Longhorn is a smaller body which makes it look thicker but it's actually 1.75" thick. Same as my reissue DC Dano.
I made the U1 1.5" thick so it's probably thinner that the original.

cur · Post by **cur** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 12:26 am

Yeah that's great. Color?

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:38 am

I think I'm going to give this a shot.

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 7:08 am

That is brilliant - loved my old longhorn (had a baritone) - it's the guitar I miss the most. Even as a bari, it was the same length as an SG.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 4:21 pm

benecol wrote:That is brilliant - loved my old longhorn (had a baritone) - it's the guitar I miss the most. Even as a bari, it was the same length as an SG.

Thanks! I've got high hopes for this one since I never owned a baritone/6 string bass before. Just hope it turns out okay.

I got the neck pocket routed. I need to pick up some neck screws and screws for the bridge as well. I'll do that tomorrow.

Since I couldn't go any farther with the longhorn I decided to steam off the fretboard on a Custom Kraft Ambassador project I have.
The fretboard was detached from the nut to the 4th fret already and the 4th fret had been removed. I'm going to level the neck and route
for a truss rod to be installed. Then I'll reglue the fret board and refret the neck.

As with most of my projects this one is a bit further down the line. But a little work here and there helps.

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 5:05 pm

That's looking good!
I've been reading a thread on TDRPI where somebody else is building one.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 11:49 pm

Addam wrote:That's looking good!
I've been reading a thread on TDRPI where somebody else is building one.

I just checked it out. Cool build. Your Swinger build looks great too.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 2:14 pm

Small update: I drilled the holes for the pickup mounting screws and routed the rear control route. I bought some screws for the neck and bridge but I've misplaced them somewhere along the way. I'll pick up some more tomorrow. The input jack plate is on it's way and I still need to make a cover for the control route.

Here's the 1964 Silvertone 1448 project. Everything is original except the neck. It's from a different 1964 Silvertone 1448.
I made a template of the body and started a body for the 25" scale Danelectro neck I bought over at offset.com. Also started another
Dano template for a Pro 1 build.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:41 pm

Another Dano body to throw on the pile. I'm trying to knock these out before I tear out, wire up and build a new workbench in my work shed.

Not only was the frame made from a 60's pine dresser but the mdf was the backing on the mirror attached to the dresser.
So it's vintage too. So really, you're looking at a present day vintage guitar body.

With modern glue.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 12:12 am

That modern glue is no good, too many plasticizers.

Minus 750 mojo points!

I love these projects, good stuff.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 12:33 am

jcyphe wrote:That modern glue is no good, too many plasticizers.

Minus 750 mojo points!

I love these projects, good stuff.

Thanks!
The modern glue is gonna screw me over for sure. It'll probably wind up sounding like a Gibson or something.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 6:17 pm

Addam · Post by **Addam** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 8:10 pm

Cooter, I'm going to be jumping on the Silvertone bandwagon!
I've got a 12 string Danelectro neck from Guitar Fetish.
I'm planning on cutting the sides of the head off and splicing some poplar, filling half the tuner holes and cutting that whole mess into something like the 1448 headstock.
I have all the parts, but no work space so will take a while.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:10 pm

Oh man that's insane! Making 1448s. I love mine. Such a nice little guitar.

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Sat Oct 31, 2015 8:41 pm

Here's another one. This is what I think the Silvertone version of a Pro 1 would look like. The neck is a vintage Silvertone 1448
neck with a reshaped headstock.

Zack · Post by **Zack** » Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:58 pm

Very cool, I thought the pro was a cool shape when I saw the reissue a few years ago (cool enough that I had a go at making one, though in hindsight I wish I went with cheaper materials) my only issue with that shape is upper fret access. What are you thinking color wise? I really do like the rustic look of plain masonite.