Description
This is a sweet Danelectro U1, electric guitar made by Danelectro of Neptune New Jersey in December of 1956. It is a semi-hollowbody, single cutaway guitar with a solid-center construction that has a Masonite top and back on a pine frame, a grained ivory, leatherette finish, black vinyl, leather-like binding, one single-coil lipstick tube style pickup, a clear plastic pickguard with a perimeter stripe and “D” logo, two white, plastic strap pins, two black knobs, a three way selector switch, a coke bottle headstock, and a four-way adjustable chrome plated brass bridge/tailpiece with a Brazilian rosewood saddle. The neck is straight and all the electronics work correctly. This is an amazing guitar that’s in nice playing or collectable condition! It looks lovely, sounds superb and it is a pleasure to play. Grab it quick! It comes with an original hard shell coffin case. It is missing it’s original cavity cover on the back but a replacement cover is available upon reques.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
CONDITION:
This guitar is in good condition and it’s all original. The cavity cover on the back is missing but a replacement cavity cover is available. There are about five spots of wear on the back, one spot of wear to the binding/side on the lower bass bout and paint wear on the edges of the headstock. Overall the guitar still looks and sounds fantastic after over 60 years.
TUNERS:
The tuners, opened-back, 3×2’s with white plastic buttons, are in very good working condition.Description from VintageSilvertones.comiption from VintageSilvertones.com
NECK:
A straight, bolt-on neck with force fitted, white, plastic, dot inlays on a Brazilian rosewood fretboard, an aluminum nut, 21 frets, and a 25″ scale. The back of the neck and the headstock has a black lacquer finish. The Coke-bottle headstock, featuring the horizontal silkscreened logo, has some wear along the edges. The neck is kept straight with two steel rods. The action is fast and the neck and frets feel fantastic under your fingers.
PICKUPS:
The single coil, lipstick tube-style pickup is very clean, crisp, potent, and full. The tone is perfect for any style of music including rock, blues, country, funk, soul and folk. There are two black bakelite knobs, one for tone and one for volume. This guitar also has a three-way toggle for tone control, tone kill and tone setting. All of the electronics are clean and work well. The range attained with the tone knob is somewhat subtle.. Description from VintageSilvertones.com
The Dimensions are:
Overall length: 38.25″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Body width: 13″
Body thickness: 1.75″ with neck 2″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Scale: 25″ approx.
Width of the nut: 1.75″ (depth .75″)
String height at 12th fret: 1/16″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Here’s the original description from the 1957 Danelectro catalog:
Single…
Three position switch provides 3 instant tone changes. No other single-pickup guitar has this feature. Choice of six modern colors.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
BLACK LACQUER, Ivory binding U-1 Black $75
BRONZE LACQUER, Ivory binding U-1 Bronze $75
IVORY LEATHERETTE, Black binding U-1 Ivory $75
JADE GREEN LACQUER, Yellow binding U-1 Green $75
CORAL LACQUER, White binding U-1 Coral $75
AQUA LACQUER, Maroon binding U-1 Aqua $75HARD SHELL CASEDescription from VintageSilvertones.com
Strongly built with 1/2 inch thick wood frame. Pure linen covering. Deep plush lining.
MODEL M-41 for U-1, U-2 or U-3 guitars…..$25
MODEL M-46 for UB-2 6-string bass………..$30Slim, never-warp neckDescription from VintageSilvertones.com
Two steel bars placed in triangular truss position inside the neck, provide a rigidity much higher than other materials and methods used for similar purpose, a feature exclusive with Danelectro. Neck cannot warp, regardless of climate or varying atmospheric conditions. Fingerboard is genuine Brazilian rosewood. Position markers are force-fitted for permanence and beauty. Frets are precision inserted by special machinery designed and built by Danelectro.
Solid center body
A core of solid lumber, balanced by hollow wing sections, insures both moderate weight and the rigidity required for sustained tone and absence of feedback. Entire construction is joined with resyn glue, the new scientific formula glue that never varies, never fails.
Four-way adjustable bridgeDescription from VintageSilvertones.com
Up, down, foward and back, this beidge permits extremely low adjustment for softest action, as well as higher positions for whatever degree of stiffness may be desired. Rosewood slider provides precise string length adjustment.
Split-shell pickup
The only metal enclosed guitar pickup to avoid “shorted turn effect”. This irritating electrical effect is due to currents induced in the case itself and results in a loss of high frequency response. The split-shell pickup, exclusive with Danelectro, checks the path of these currents. Description from VintageSilvertones.com