Danelectro Dane D3V Solid Body Electric Guitar (1967)
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Danelectro Dane D3V Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1967), made in Neptune, NJ, white lacquer finish, hardwood body, poplar neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
This 6-string "White Whale" Dane Model D3V is a rare and lovely product of the last days of the original Danelectro company. The "Dane D series" were Danelectro branded versions of their short-lived "Vinnie Bell Professional" Coral-brand line, with some less deluxe hardware and lacking Bell's name but otherwise essentially the same instruments. Not particularly successful at the time, these 1967-8 "Deluxe" models represent some of the best instruments to come out of Neptune (New Jersey, that is!).
The entertainment conglomerate MCA bought out Nathan Daniels' guitar and amp operation in 1966. Almost immediately they decided to create a several lines of more upscale instruments than Danelectro's familiar cheap but very successful Masonite-and-pine Danelectro creations. The resulting very extensive Coral/Danelectro line comprised both fully hollowbody instruments (with plywood bodies sourced from Japan) and a wide variety of solid and semi-solid body guitars and basses with slim Fender-influenced contours made in the Neptune factory.
The "Dane D" series was the new top of the Danelectro line comprising 6 and 12 string guitars and 4 a 6-string basses. These newer instruments were in production only a short time before MCA abruptly folded the entire operation. Original models of either these or the Coral line are quite scarce, at least compared to the familiar long-lived, very popular (and more budget-oriented) earlier Danelectro instruments.
This "Dane Series D3V" was the top of this line, listing at $140. It is a striking 6 string solidbody guitar with some interesting features. The neck is a standard Danelectro blank with 2 diagonally spliced-on pieces to make a Fender-ish a single-sided headstock instead of the single block Brazilian rosewood used on the Corals. It sports the factory's "skate key" tuners, a plastic Danelectro logo and the ubiquitous aluminum nut. The white lacquer-finished body is in the Fender offset mode but even more liquid-sculpture stylized, and tapered very thin at the rim. The pickguard is a fantastic-looking silver swirl 3-D plastic perfect for reflecting psychedelic lights, with a smaller raised fingerrest guard below the strings that is adjustable for height.
The vibrato bridge is Daniels' re-engineered 3-point unit adapted into a functional trem system by incorporating a large coil spring underneath the rear screw, accessed by a press-on plate in the back. The simple bent metal handle is pinned to an extended flange on the bridge plate. The design is very basic but works surprisingly well; certainly good enough for surfy twang though we don't advise aggressive dive bombing!
This guitar mounts 3 of the familiar Danelectro "lipstick" pickups with an unusual control array on the sweeping chrome panel across the lower body. Each pickup has an individual volume knob, with a master volume and 3 on/off slide switches. There are no tone controls; the pickups are pre-wired for tonal emphasis, bassy on the neck PU, flat on the middle and the bridge preset in super twang mode. They can be mixed effectively with the three volumes, or quickly selected with the switches. While this sounds like a quizzical setup it is actually quite versatile in action, offering a wide range of useful sounds especially when the pickups are blended.
This is a comfortable guitar offering a lot of sound options on a light and handy body. Given more time these might have become a popular design, but in 1967-8 the over-expanded Danelectro company failed to find a market for so many newer products. Today this is D3V is quite a rare find, particularly in this bold white finish. This is a superb sounding, easy playing instrument and a 1960's Danelectro connoisseur's catch!
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) deep. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows some general wear but remains nicely original and fairly clean overall. The white lacquer shows checking overall with a number of chips, dings and scrapes on the body, neck and headstock. A few of these have been touched up, but not too conspicuously. There is some heavier flaking and chipping to the edge at the lower corner of the body.
There are visible seams from wood shrinking on some of the headstock splices and neck/fingerboard joint; all are solid and these are not wood cracks. All fittings remain original; there is some scuffing and light corrosion to the metal hardware most notable on the rear pickup ring and control plate. The neck is in excellent shape, the frets have been leveled and the guitar plays well and sounds great. This is not a mint guitar but a very rare and really cool piece of Danelectro history, something of a lost instrument in the company's pantheon. It is the only example of this 3-pickup, vibrato model we have had and lives in a modern hard shell case. Very Good + Condition.
This 6-string "White Whale" Dane Model D3V is a rare and lovely product of the last days of the original Danelectro company. The "Dane D series" were Danelectro branded versions of their short-lived "Vinnie Bell Professional" Coral-brand line, with some less deluxe hardware and lacking Bell's name but otherwise essentially the same instruments. Not particularly successful at the time, these 1967-8 "Deluxe" models represent some of the best instruments to come out of Neptune (New Jersey, that is!).
The entertainment conglomerate MCA bought out Nathan Daniels' guitar and amp operation in 1966. Almost immediately they decided to create a several lines of more upscale instruments than Danelectro's familiar cheap but very successful Masonite-and-pine Danelectro creations. The resulting very extensive Coral/Danelectro line comprised both fully hollowbody instruments (with plywood bodies sourced from Japan) and a wide variety of solid and semi-solid body guitars and basses with slim Fender-influenced contours made in the Neptune factory.
The "Dane D" series was the new top of the Danelectro line comprising 6 and 12 string guitars and 4 a 6-string basses. These newer instruments were in production only a short time before MCA abruptly folded the entire operation. Original models of either these or the Coral line are quite scarce, at least compared to the familiar long-lived, very popular (and more budget-oriented) earlier Danelectro instruments.
This "Dane Series D3V" was the top of this line, listing at $140. It is a striking 6 string solidbody guitar with some interesting features. The neck is a standard Danelectro blank with 2 diagonally spliced-on pieces to make a Fender-ish a single-sided headstock instead of the single block Brazilian rosewood used on the Corals. It sports the factory's "skate key" tuners, a plastic Danelectro logo and the ubiquitous aluminum nut. The white lacquer-finished body is in the Fender offset mode but even more liquid-sculpture stylized, and tapered very thin at the rim. The pickguard is a fantastic-looking silver swirl 3-D plastic perfect for reflecting psychedelic lights, with a smaller raised fingerrest guard below the strings that is adjustable for height.
The vibrato bridge is Daniels' re-engineered 3-point unit adapted into a functional trem system by incorporating a large coil spring underneath the rear screw, accessed by a press-on plate in the back. The simple bent metal handle is pinned to an extended flange on the bridge plate. The design is very basic but works surprisingly well; certainly good enough for surfy twang though we don't advise aggressive dive bombing!
This guitar mounts 3 of the familiar Danelectro "lipstick" pickups with an unusual control array on the sweeping chrome panel across the lower body. Each pickup has an individual volume knob, with a master volume and 3 on/off slide switches. There are no tone controls; the pickups are pre-wired for tonal emphasis, bassy on the neck PU, flat on the middle and the bridge preset in super twang mode. They can be mixed effectively with the three volumes, or quickly selected with the switches. While this sounds like a quizzical setup it is actually quite versatile in action, offering a wide range of useful sounds especially when the pickups are blended.
This is a comfortable guitar offering a lot of sound options on a light and handy body. Given more time these might have become a popular design, but in 1967-8 the over-expanded Danelectro company failed to find a market for so many newer products. Today this is D3V is quite a rare find, particularly in this bold white finish. This is a superb sounding, easy playing instrument and a 1960's Danelectro connoisseur's catch!
Overall length is 40 in. (101.6 cm.), 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm.) deep. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This guitar shows some general wear but remains nicely original and fairly clean overall. The white lacquer shows checking overall with a number of chips, dings and scrapes on the body, neck and headstock. A few of these have been touched up, but not too conspicuously. There is some heavier flaking and chipping to the edge at the lower corner of the body.
There are visible seams from wood shrinking on some of the headstock splices and neck/fingerboard joint; all are solid and these are not wood cracks. All fittings remain original; there is some scuffing and light corrosion to the metal hardware most notable on the rear pickup ring and control plate. The neck is in excellent shape, the frets have been leveled and the guitar plays well and sounds great. This is not a mint guitar but a very rare and really cool piece of Danelectro history, something of a lost instrument in the company's pantheon. It is the only example of this 3-pickup, vibrato model we have had and lives in a modern hard shell case. Very Good + Condition.