1965 Danelectro Convertible (Modded, Nashville-Strung) Hollowbody Electric Guitar

I have worked on a ton of old '60s Convertibles and a bunch of modern ones, too. This one has a date-stamp which puts it at '65 and it still has the cool old "Coke bottle" headstock shape. I bought this for recording and hangng-out use but -- who knows! -- it may be up for sale at some point. To make it interesting (and make better use of the smaller acoustic body) I've strung it up in "Nashville tuning" in which the tuning is standard EADGBE but the EADG strings are an octave above normal pitch. It gives a half-12-string, angel-chimes sound that's really useful for tracking chordal stuff or for sitting in its own little spot when playing with a band.

This one came in without a bridge and with a dead wiring harness, so I replaced the missing bridge with a parts-bin, adjustable homemade thing (it's wonderful -- all hardware store stuff -- square nuts with an alumnum L-channel base) and then replaced the wiring harness and also fit a K&K acoustic piezo pickup inside. That lets you blend between the acoustic and magnetic pickups. The mag pickup on its own sounds as good as you'd expect -- these old Danos have their thing and that thing is delicious -- but I think the best sound is with both pickups mixed-in 100% to the signal. In that setting the whole instrument gets a 12-string Rickenbacker-like chime that's so good...

It can, of course, be strung however one likes and the saddles adjusted for good intonation.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, replacement bridge, new wiring harness (volume/volume), 2nd pickup added (K&K acoustic piezo), added string trees at headstock, cleaning, and setup work.

• Weight: 5 lbs 7 oz
• Scale length: 25"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: slim-medium C
• Board radius: 16"
• Body width: 13 1/8"
• Body depth: 2"
• Body wood: masonite
• Bridge: sort-of-Fendery homemade
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: poplar
• Pickups: 1x orginal '60s Dano lipstick single coil, 1x K&K single spot piezo
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 22w, 16, 12, 8, 13, 10 low to high
• Truss rod: two non-adjustable steel bars
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: lower-wider

Condition notes: much is original but the wiring harness and added K&K pickup are not. The bridge is also non-original but older and I had to add string trees at the nut ("antiqued" Fender-style) to keep the downpressure good at the headstock. I moved the strap button from the back of the heel to the top horn. There's general wear and tear throughout the finish of the body and neck but overall it looks nice. The finish on the neck has darkened a lot and the hardware throughout is a bit dingy.

It comes with: a gigbag.

Consignor tag: JW