1962 Danelectro Guitarlin (Longhorn) Electric Guitar (Modded)

Update 2025: I originally worked on this in 2020 and it's come back for resale. All I had to do was tune it up and it was ready to hang on the rack! It's a very stable, lovely guitar.

The story on this one is that it was a New York guitar-shop owner's personal instrument. He'd modified it to house two '60s Gibson mini-humbuckers and a Gibson wiring harness rather than the normal twin-lipstick-pickup configuration. I've gotta admit that he did a great job -- everything was installed nicely and cut well. The masonite was giving up the ghost a bit on the bridge adjuster shafts, but the guitar itself played pretty well and was rock-tastic right out of the gate.

It did need its fretboard fixed, however, as part of it was missing -- it'd been taken off because it got in the way of the previous owner's picking. It gets in the way of mine, too, after re-installing a board there, but I figured-out how to deal with my right hand after a few minutes of playing. Suffice to say... the fret access is insane on these.

Repairs included: replacement bit of fretboard, did a board plane and refret with jumbo/pyramid wire, some minor setup-side work, and cleaning.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly, with 1/16" action overall at the 12th fret (that's in the middle of the dang neck!) and a quick, fast feel. The neck is straight tuned to pitch, too, and it's strung with 46w-10 gauges at the moment.

• Scale length: 24 15/16"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"
• String spacing at bridge: 2"
• Body length: 16"
• Lower bout width: 13"
• Side depth at endpin: 1 1/2"
• Body wood: pine/poplar and masonite top/back
• Neck wood: poplar w/two steel rod non-adjustable trusses
• Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood
• Bridge: '60s Gibson TOM
• Neck feel: medium C/D-shape, ~10" board radius

Condition notes: The tuners are replacements, the bridge is a replacement, the pickups and wiring harness are not original (though they have the little patent tag on the back), and the tailpiece is unoriginal, too. A late '60s Gibson or Epiphone's guts seem to have be ported right over to this. As for the finish -- it has average wear and tear, small scratches and scuffs, and discoloration to the topcoat here and there where the arm meets the body. There are chips out of the finish at the back of the headstock and in places all up and down the neck but it doesn't distract from playing. Because of a replacement bridge there's a filled hole below the ABR-style one that's installed.

It comes with: It's got a gigbag.

One thing to note is that these necks feature micro-tilt adjustment via that recessed hole below the third mounting bolt. Loosen that bolt, then adjust to taste, then tighten it back up again.