The Danelectro C model guitars were the first instruments designed by
Danelectro
Danelectro is a brand of musical instruments and accessories that was founded in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1947. The company is known primarily for its string instruments that employed unique designs and manufacturing processes. The Danelectro com ...
, coming in both single and dual pickup versions. Designed by 1953, until being replaced by the
Danelectro U model in 1956. they were put into production and retailed from 1954 to 1955
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Unlike most all the later Danelectro instruments, the C model was a
solid body
Sound sample of solid-body electric guitar.
A solid-body musical instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electromagnetic pickup system to directly detect the vibra ...
construction made of
poplar and came in a peanut-like body shape. These early guitars did not have a modern
truss rod
The truss rod is a component of a guitar or other stringed instrument that stabilizes the lengthwise forward curvature (also called ''relief'') of the neck. Usually, it is a steel bar or rod that runs through the inside of the neck, beneath the fi ...
, but had a ¾" square aluminum tube
to prevent the neck from warping.
On debut these first guitars predated Danelectro's now signature lipstick pickup design, and instead wrapped their pickups in vinyl tape and placed them hidden under a melamine pickguard. This was replaced in 1955 when Nathan Daniel apparently acquired a job lot of surplus lipstick tubes which he utilized for makeshift pickup covers.
The pickups when both selected are wired in series rather than the more standard parallel used today by most big brands.
References
Danelectro electric guitars
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