1962 Danelectro 3412 Shorthorn Semihollow Electric Bass Guitar

Overview: My buddy Steve brought this bass up to liquidate in an "as-is" state and I'm snatched it from him and have been playing it since June. I had been looking at Shorthorn Danos like this around December 2023 but, as I had a different bass hanging-around for the moment, I let that quest slip for a while. When Steve rolled-up with this in its funky original case I was sold right that moment. I'm a big Dano fan and the no-frills design of this, proper short scale (just under 30" scale length), and compact nature (it's even a hair shorter than a Mustang bass) made it perfect for the honky-tonk, boom-boom, simple playing I do.

Tone: It's round, full, punchy, and solid-sounding. It can do the "thump thump" with the mag pickup engaged only or an upright-sounding thing with only the bridge selected or a "best of both worlds" in the middle, which is where I like to keep it.

Feel: The neck is a medium C shape and it has a flatter board radius but the wide/lower original frets and short scale and compact nature of the instrument make it incredibly cozy to play. It's fast and has just the right number of frets to keep you in bass brain rather than show-off territory.

Interesting features: I gave it a rubber saddle/rubber bridge setup, and fit a piezo/acoustic pickup at the bridge so you have a much-more upright-sounding tone available to you compared to the original configuration. The icing on the cake are some glow-in-the-dark side dots I fit because Dano never bothered to put side dots on this fella. Perhaps a 15-fret bass was something they thought would need no help...!

Repairs included: Per the usual, I leveled/dressed the frets and fit some old tapewounds to it. I also fit a new wiring harness (with a 3-way switch and two volume controls), fit a rubber-bridge-style saddle on top of the old bridge base, and fit a pair of K&K acoustic pickup transducers under the rubber. This gives me three tone options -- lipstick mag pickup, both blended, or straight K&K "acoustic." The middle selection is the one I favor as it's fat but has a nice acoustic "clunk" to it, but having just the mag available for retro sounds or just the K&K available for "acoustic" sounds (it sounds remarkably like a double bass pickup in this capacity) all in one platform is ridiculously good. If desired, I could fit the original saddle back (it's stashed in the original case) on it and remove the acoustic pickup, but I think in this format it's a much more robust, solid player.

• Weight: 5 lbs 12 oz
• Scale length: 29 3/4"
• Nut width: 1 5/8"
• Neck shape: medium C/D
• Board radius: 20"
• Body width: 13 1/4"
• Body depth: 1 5/8"
• Body wood: pine/poplar with masonite top/back
• Bridge: original Dano w/rubber saddle added
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: poplar
• Pickups: 1x original single coil lipstick, 2x K&K piezo sensors
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32" bass 1/16" treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 105w-40w or close to it
• Truss rod: non-adjustable (two big steel bars)
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-wide

Condition notes: It's original except for my modifications at the saddle and wiring. There's plenty of medium wear and tear throughout via scratches, scuffs, and small dings, but overall it looks really good.

It comes with: It has its original hard case -- a little worn on the outside, but solid and good to go. I will also include a fresh set of the same strings that are on it (~$50 or so) -- D'Addario black tapewounds. They're perfect for this instrument and one of my preferred sets anyhow.

Consignor tag: JW