Danelectro Silvertone 1448

This guitar was cranked out in the early sixties by legendary guitar designer Nat Daniels of Danelectro fame. This particular guitar went with the noted "Amp in Case" set sold by Sears throughout the sixties. The guitar was available in a few different colours and configurations over the yeras and I've actually seen a few of them, one like the picture above and one that looked closer in style to a Coral Hornet. It doesn't have a strong feature set going for it. The construction is the typical masonite rig used on many Danelectro guitars. The fretboard is rosewood and the guitar has a shorter scale than many Fender or Gibson models. It features a cheap set of six in line tuners, that pesky Danelectro bridge with wooden saddle, and a single lipstick pickup in the neck position (some models were known to exist with a dual pickup arrangement).

UTILIZATION

The guitar is not really ergonomic in the traditional sense. It's very light due to the masonite construction, but the design though futuristic is pretty clumsy to get around, especially when it comes to things like upper fret access, which is pretty poor on this guitar. It doesn't intonate or stay in tune for very long either, so you have to either play out of tune or have the patience of a saint trying to deal with its woes...

Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty simple. It only has one fairly low output pickup, but it has an eminently gutsy sound that is very suited to everything from psychedelic blues to surf or trash rock styles.

SOUNDS

This guitar doesn't have a lot of flexibility in its tones, but it does one thing really well, and that is the trashy and old school sounding tones heard on old blues records or by more modern bands like The Flat Duo Jets or The White Stripes. Though the pickup in the guitar is lower in output, it takes gain like a champ and the resulting tone is fuzzy but clear... perfect for things like bluesy chord work or some very basic lead stuff. It's not a pristine clean guitar unless you put it through something like a vintage Fender amp, and if you try to run it into your Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier you probably won't love the tones... but for that trashy and fuzzed out vibe this guitar has it in spades. It sounds especially cool when dimed through the matching 10w amp in case that came with it when new.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Silvertone/Danelectro 1448 is a cool piece of history that happens to have a great and classic sound going for it too. They're not the most playable guitars in their stock form so many people mod the bridge and/or tuners to make it easier to use. They're rising in price and currently they seem to hit about the $700 range for the set of the guitar with the amp/case. It's a high price to pay but collectors love these guitars and given their raw and just downright cool nature, it's not hard to see why.

made in the USA in 1963
a look that does not exist, short (missing about 2 boxes to the length of the strings), VERY lightweight, very rough finish, this guitar gives the impression of being a toy!

It looks like a guitar painted by an amateur and painted with what we put on the gifts of Mother's Day when we were small so that it shines. the plate is Formica (!) and the white band around the body (hollow and lightweight) is a sticker, but it took years.
The bridge is a simple piece of wood placed on the body mechanics are at 6 on a single piece, which is really cheap.
The handle is not very precise, we see the same positional errors in the manufacture of freight, corrected hastily. It is thick, the strings too far apart, but who cares because this guitar is made especially for the slide.
A single microphone, the true "lip stick" in a real case of Recycling 'round, a Knob volume Knob a treble-bass, jack and go!
we really feel authentic guitar cobbled poor and 2 balls ... and that's what's good! at least she does not pretend it is not a "copy".
Then I put a bad mark because when you see the finish, we can not put "very bad", and yet it is one of the things I like!

UTILIZATION

Use the slide: impeccable strings remote position, access to the top of the handle, the flat ropes.
Open in tune, it is also playable with fingers, since in general we make things simple and rhythmic.
we have a little feeling of a classical guitar 1st prize at the handle, so no question of doing it with virtuoso solos.
In summary, light weight and lack dish are very nice for the slide and rhythmic:
bad for the rest, but it's not why we bought it.

SOUNDS

and when you plug (marshall jmp 2203, or mesa studio 22 +).... ouuuaaaaaaah, it sounds to hell!
the marshall, found the sound kind of Kasmir Danelectro!
FYI, it is fitted with ropes pulling flat net average.
a full sound, excellent bass, a super attack, which is somewhat reminiscent of a telecaster, but fatter and fuller, finally a true personality. it is unlike any other guitar.
and with the slide and a good seed, which way!
I put "perfect" because I do not demand better, and that simplicity is a real asset!

OVERALL OPINION

This is THE guitar to be in tune and open to the slide.

collectors will appreciate the side roots of this guitar completely and references.
One can not help wondering what it is paying dearly for a guitar when you see how this one was made and the pleasure one derives.
its price (collection) is very expensive compared to the finish of this guitar which was to sell qq dixaine dollars at the time, but cheap for a real guitar collection!
I now play much on the Silvertone as my gibson 335 and strato 70s, with much pleasure!

I stress, lack of finish is almost unbelievable, but it's part of the things I love about this guitar!