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| Nathan (Nat) Daniel |
If you haven’t read the story of Danelectro guitars, here is a quick rehash about their designer, Nathan Daniel. He was an immigrant to the United States. As a child, his parents fled from Lithuania to the United States to escape the persecution of Jews during the czarist Russian era.
Daniels was gifted with a real desire to learn. It was during his high school years that he experimented with electricity by building crystal radio sets. He became fascinated by radio and its inner workings.
In the 1930,’s he dropped out of college and made a living building amplifiers of his own design. He built these, at first, in the bedroom of his parents’ apartment. His first customer was the Epiphone Musical Instrument Company.
During WWII, Daniels worked as a civilian designer for the US Army and devised a way to equip the radio receiver/transmitter in military vehicles with a system that made them unaffected by engine noise. Daniel, or Nat as everyone called him, was a gifted electrical engineer who had studied about electronic theory and design.
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| 1940's Danelectro Sherwood |
After the war, he set up shop in New Jersey under the company name Danelectro. And once again he went to work making amplifiers for the Epiphone Guitar Company under the Electar brand.
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| 1946 Electar Amp |
During the 1940's Nat Daniel built several versions of this amplifier. Most of them had an elaborate wooden design above the grill cloth.
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| 1951 Danelectro Maestro Amp |
He also built some models under the Maestro brand name and also under the Danelectro brand.
His big break was when he became associated with Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards.
During the 1950's and '60's Danelectro manufactured amplifiers for the Montgomery Ward Company under the Airline brand name. For this current generation, it may be hard to understand the importance of Sears, and Montgomery Wards.
Both businesses were catalog based companies that began in the late 1800's when much of the United States was rural and transportation was limited. In the mid twentieth century by companies had department stores, however catalog sales were as popular in that era as Amazon is today. Though Daniels built amplifiers under the Danelectro brand name, being associated with these huge catalog companies was a real coup for his company.
Both companies contracted Danelectro to build amplifiers to be sold under each stores' brand names. Respectively these names were Silvertone and Airline. At the time, 90% of Daniel’s guitars and amplifiers sold through Sears or Montgomery Wards.
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| Nathan Daniel |
While most guitarists were well aware of who Leo Fender was, but few were aware of Nathan Daniel, because his name was not on the products.
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| MIdwestern Hayride Cincinnati |
Much like me, television was in it's early years and was trying everything it could to fill air time, and sell advertising. So even in those years my eye caught the guitar players.
Many guitarists that played popular music such as Les Paul and Mary Ford through electric guitars. Others played Country and Western using electric and Steel guitars. At five years old, I knew there was a difference, but wasn't sure what. I was fascinated the guitars were played through a speaker (with amplifier).
During the 1950's Danelectro - Nat Daniel - was developing different amplifies for Silvertone, Airline, and even the Harmony Musical instrument company. These amps had different features and prices.
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| Silvertone Model 1339 |
The following year Sears offered the Silvertone model 1349. This was a true professional amplifier, built by Danelectro. It was rated at 50 watts and had two twelve inch speakers.
By 1954, the Silvertone model 1331 was offered at $39.95. This was an 8 watt class A practice amplifier with an eight inch Motorola speaker.
Also in 1954 Silvertone/Danelectros' top of the line model with the 1336L Twin Twelve amplifier, which included a tremolo effect. This was rated a 50 watts RMS and had two twelve inch speakers.
By 1958 Sear's included the budget model 1389 amplifier. It had a slightly different look. Once again this was a six watt amp with a six inch speaker. It sold for $32.95. If you bought the single pickup model 1304 guitar with it, the price for both was $57.90.
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| 1396 Silvertone Two Twelve |
The Sears Silvertone models 1330. 1390, and 1430 Meteor amplifiers were very similar with an output of a mere 3 watts into a six inch speaker. The price was only $22.95. Thes amps were offered from 1955 through 1965.
By 1961 Sears offered the Model 1434 Medalist, built by Danelectro. This amplifier featured an upgraded cabinet design. Once again it had 50 watts of RMS power into two twelve inch speakers.
On Sunday, February 9th, 1964, the guitar boon hit after The Beatles made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. This show caused every American kid to want an electric guitar. Danelectro and Sears were ready to oblige with guitars and amplifiers.
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| Silvertone Model 1481 |
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| Silvertone Model 1482 |
That same year Silvertone model 1482 was available through the Sears . In today's market they are asking over $500 for this amplifier.. This amp may be considered a 'poor man's '57 Fender Deluxe'. It pumped out 15 watts RMS into a 12" speaker and included a vibrato circuit.
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| Silvertone Model 1474 |
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| Silvertone Model 1484 |
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| Backside Model 1484 |
The speaker cabinet contained two 12” Jensen special design speakers, that were wired in series. The amplifier had two channels with volume, treble and bass controls for each, reverb depth, tremolo strength and speed. Each channel had two input jacks, plus there was a jack for a footswitch that turned the tremolo and reverb on or off.
The three switches on the guitars lower front panel controlled were and on/off switch, a standby control and a ground control. The amplifier unit was permanently attached with a 25 foot cable.
This amp was loud enough for combo playing, rated at about 40 watts RMS and extremely clean, although the literature claimed it to produce 60 watts. Its price was less than $149.95 in 1964.
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| Silvertone 1961 Model 1484 |
A player was able to coax a weird sound out of the amp, by turning the volume down and turning the reverb all the way up.
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| Silvertone 1483 Bass Amp |
Both amps utilized twin 6L6GC power tubes.
Due to the design the bass model 1483 produced 23 watts of tube power.
This was much less than a 1960's Fender Bassman, which was rated at 40 watts. The tweed Fender Bassman was rated about the same as the Silvertone at 23 watts through two 6V6 power tubes.
The 1483 Silvertone bass amp had two channels with volume, bass, treble controls and two inputs for each, a ground switch, an on/off switch, and a standby/operate switch. It came with a 15’ Jensen special design bass speaker.
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| Silvertone/Danelectro 1483 |
The model 1483 sold for under $130, which was much less than a Fender Bassman of that era.
The most powerful tube amplifier made by Danelectro for Silvertone was the model 1485. This beast was rated at 120 watts RMS, and came with a cabinet that contained six ten inch speakers.
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| Silvertone Model 1485 |
The cabinet was separate from the amplifier. With six speakers, there was no storage compartment for the amplifier head. This beast had all the features of the model 1484, but with a more powerful sound. The whole thing weighed in at 75 pounds and sold for $239.95.
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| Silvertone 1448 Amp/Guitar Combo |
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| Silvertone Amp/Guitar Combo |
Now this is not the first time Sears offered a guitar with an amplifier built into the case. In 1941 the Silvertone 2323 was in the catalog. It contained a low wattage amplifier with a six string lap steel. However this combo was not built by Danelectro, it was manufactured by Valco and sold for $29.95.
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| Silvertone Amp/Guitar Combo |
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| Silvertone Solid State Model 1464 |
In 1967 Silvertone introduced Solid-State amplifiers. I am not certain if these were made by Natthan Daniel's Danelectro, since Nat Daniel sold the company to MCA in 1966. However Silvertone was selling the model 1464 in 1967 and 1968. This two channel amp featured twin twelve inch Jensen special design speakers and was rated at 100 watts. It was priced at $185 USD.
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| Silvertone Model 1965 solid state |
The final offering labeled as Danelctro was the solid state model 1463. This was a rather basic amplifier for bass guitar that pumped 35 solid state watts into a separate cabinet containing a single 15 inch speaker. It was featured in the 1968 summer catalog and lasted for only one year.
MCA owned Danelectro at this time. It's price tag was $119.95. Gone were the grey cloth coverings of the Dano tube amplifiers. This one was covered in a back vinyl material.
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| Silvertone Model 1466 |
A few years earlier, in 1966, Silvertone offered this refrigerator sized bass amplifier; The Model 1466. This single channel amp cranked 150 RMS transistor watts into a separate cabinet containing six 10" Jensen special design speakers.
Shipping weight was 86 pounds. The 32" high cabinet was mounted on some very respectable casters. This amp was around through 1968. After that Danelectro closed up shop.
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| 1951 Danelectro Leader |
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| 1953 Danelectro Challenger |
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| 1954 Danelectro Twin Twelve |
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| 1960's Danelectro Corporal Amp |
By the 1960's Danelectro amps included the 10 watt Corporal Amplifier with two 8" speakers.
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| 1960's Danelectro Twin 12 300 |
In the early 1963 Danelectro unveiled an updated version of their 60 watt Twin Twelve amplifier. It appears the top was removable. This two channel amp was powered by 4 6L6 GC tubes and included a tremolo circuit.
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| 1963 Danelectro Twin 15 |
That same year a larger version known as the Twin 15 with two 15" speakers was offered. This model had also been offered in 1962 with a different chassis.
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| Danelectro DM-25 |
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| '65 Danelectro DS-50 |
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| 1965 Danelectro DS-100 |
Nathan Daniel relocated to Hawaii after selling the brand name to MCA in 1966. This was an era when several large corporations ventured out of their league with aspirations of making a lot of money in the guitar industry. However the guitar boon was nearing an end.
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| Foxx Tone Machine |
This eventually became the Foxx Tone Machine that included an octave up feature that was prized by many rock players.
In the late 1990's Ridinger acquired the Danelectro brand name. The first offering from the new company was a series of guitar effects pedals that sold for a budget price of $25 and up.
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| Danelectro Guitar Line Up |
The solution was to introduce a new guitar on an annual basis. Currently all guitars the company manufacturers are offered for sale. (Click link for line up and pricing).
Around 1998 Evets introduced several solid state guitar amplifiers that were manufactured in China. That year two amplifiers were made available. The first was The Danelectro Dirty 30.
The Danelectro was a solid state amplifier, manufactured in China, that sold for only $79 USD. At best when cranked, it was supposed to produce 30 watts of power, however at best it is rated at 10 loud watts.
It was a rather small and simple amp, but it was well built. And much like the Silvertone/Danelectro amps practice amps of old it came with a six inch speaker rated at "Tonally Awesome". The three controls were for Dirty/Sweet - Level - Tone. For a mere $79 USD, you could not go wrong.
That same year, Danelectro offered a 15 watt solid state amplifier called The Nifty 50. This was an upgraded amp, pumping 15 watts RMS of power into an eight inch speaker. The original retail price was $129 USD.
Once again this was made in China. The leatherette covered cabinet was very nice. The controls panel was an improvement offering the same Dirty/Sweet feature, and Level controls, but this time with adjustable bass, middle, and treble controls.
In 1998 Danelectro also offered a bass amplifier called The Nifty 70. It was a 15 watt amplifier that came with an eight inch woofer in a closed back cabinet.
All three of these amplifier were built in the style of 1950's Danelectro tube amplifiers, complete with a leatherette covering and speaker baffle of that era. I have to say, these are very nice amplifiers and are available in the used market for around $100 USD.
Controls included Volume, Bass, Mid, and Treble potentiometers, an input jack, and a headphone jack. This tiny bass amp came with a tiny price tag of $149.
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| Danelectro Hodad Mini Amp |
The final offering from the late 1990's was a tiny practice amp, that was called The Hodad DH-1 Mini amp. Danelectro also offered the Hodad II mini amp DH-2 with the same style, but no tremolo or reverb.
Both of these tiny amplifiers shape was modeled after a 1960's Watkin's Dominator amplifier, built in the UK with a unique shape that ran 17 watts into two 10" speakers.
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| Danelectro Hodad Mini Amp |
(By the way, a Hodad was a termed used by surfers to describe a non-surfer who hangs around the beach and pretends to by a surfer.)
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| Honeytone Mini Amp |
This little plastic amplifier is widely available for around $25 to $35 USD and comes in a variety of colors. Despite looking like a toy, it does have a very nice sound.
Though the guitar line up is the Danelectro/Evets Corporation's main profit center, it is too bad that the amp market has declined. All that is left is this tiny plastic amplifier.
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| Silvertone Twin Twelve Pedal |
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| Twin Twelve Pedal |
In the mid 1960's players were looking for a mostly clean tone, which the 1484 with its twin twelve inch speakers provided. The Jackson pedal is more of a drive, or overdrive pedal. While it is a nice addition to a players arsenal,
in my opinion it does not emulate the sound of a Danelectro built Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve amplifier. However if you need a nice, chimey overdrive sound then you may consider this pedal.
With oversaturation in the industry, and the fact that most amplifiers being manufactured off shore, we can be thankful that some of these vintage Danelectro - Silvertone - Airline amplifiers are still available as used equipment.
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