Danelectro is a manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units. Danelectro was founded by Nathan Daniel in 1947; throughout the late 1940s, the company produced amplifiers for Sears, Roebuck and Company and Montgomery Ward. In 1954, Danelectro started producing the Danelectro lines of solidbody electric guitars and amplifiers, and also working as a "jobber", that is producing
guitars and amps by contract, that were branded not with the Danelectro
name, but with the names of various store brands, such as Silvertone and Airline. Later hollow-bodied guitars (constructed out of Masonite and plywood to save costs and increase production speed,) distinguished by Silvertones' maroon vinyl covering, Danelectros' light tweed covering, the concentric stacked tone/volume knobs used on the two-pickup models of both series, and the "lipstick tube" pickups--invented
by placing the entire mechanism into spare lipstick tubes—these lines
aimed to produce no-frills guitars of reasonably good tone at low cost.
In 1956, Danelectro introduced the six-string electric bass, which would be adopted by other companies such as Fender with the Fender VI. The six string bass never proved especially popular but found an enduring niche in Nashville as the instrument of choice for "Tic-Tac" bass lines. In 1966, Danelectro was sold to MCA. A year later, in 1967, the Coral line was introduced, known for its hollow-bodies and electric sitars.
In 1969, the Danelectro plant was closed, due to MCA's attempt to
market Danelectros to small guitar shops, rather than large department
stores.
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