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What better place to ask a question about an old guitar than a motorcycle forum??

I have been on vacation (aka honey-do ******) since Dec. 20, and part of my servitude has involved cleaning out closets and the attic to get rid of old crap and make room for new crap.
During this endeavor, I came across my old bass guitars (3) from my garage band youth. That would be, er, 35-40 years ago. One of them is a Danelectro "short" bass. I would like to find strings for it. I have googled my brains out to no avail. I sent an email to a Danelectro site, but I thought I'd ask the gurus here as well.
The thing has 15 frets, the fretboard area of the neck is roughly 18" long, and it has a single "lipstick case" pickup. There is no model info on it, just a s/n of 1023 under the neck which I gather means it was made in October of 1963.
The strings are missing. I vaguely remember looking for replacements many years ago with no result. I'd really like to find strings for this to see if it still works.

Then I can pick up where I left off, playing "Wipeout", "Hey Joe", and "Down By The River"....

Might have

Listed


Looks like "Pyramid seem to be the way to go in the UK Deon

15 fret - that is a rare beast - probably worth a pretty penny these days


This store may have what you want

And this guy would know, but I can't say as if he'd get back to you

And these folks might even have them for sale

And if Marcy doesn't know, then you're SOL

There used to be a guy who wrote a column for Guitar Player magazine
about old guitars & basses such as the Danelectros. Can't think of his name...

Now for the bad news -- all that free advice is going to
cost you a picture of each of the three, please.

think Birchr has you sorted there Deon with the thomann link. Yes I would like to see a pic or too as well and I hope the other two basses are fenders then you have really cracked it.

Since these guitars were made right here in my back yard I suggest you send them to me so I can return them to their rightful home.

Tesco del Ray was the Guitar Player old guitar guru with a taste for the wacky.

The other 2 aren't Fenders. I was a poor boy.
One is a Lafayette and the other had a tag that said Teisco Del Ray.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'll see if I can get a picture up....

Note yardstick for reference... Cute, ain't it?

[image][/image]

Wish I still had my old mother of toilet seat inlay / vegamatic switches / tuck & roll metal flake stuff.
We were all gonna be rock stars.

That is one cute bass.Good luck with the strings.Once you get it re-strung dont hide it away again man.Play it.

and when ur ready to string 'er up - I still have those special tools...

Marcy is the one I sent the email to....

I'm hoping she can give me the info. I'd hate to have to wind my own.

also, check out Jerry Jones
http://jerryjonesguitars.com/NSHbass4.htm

My bandmates own a guitar shop that has a large collection of Teisco's and other weird guitars....Check them out. They keep all of my gear up and running. Centaur Guitar

I know they usually have some Danelecto's including a longhorn bass and matching guitar.

Email Jaosn or Kelly. It was cool enough for Billy Gibbons to hang out there, when ZZ Top was in town.

Good Luck!

Cheers,
Brent

I think you may have a gold mine there, or at least a few mortgage payments... :-)

A Danelecto 6-string guitar is being reproduced by, I believe, one of Fender's subs, and marketed as a special edition retro Danelectro. So, there may be something valuable there for the real thing, 6-string and/or bass. Actually, Airline guitars circa 1960's and sold in Montgomery Ward stores made a similar but short comeback not that long ago in the retro-come-again guitar market. Take it for what it is, and good luck whatever you decide!

JZ

My dad would say "trey cool". I agree