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Published on 09/05/11 at 15:43The Danelectro '67 Hornet was released by the revived Danelectro company as a limited run recently. In the 1960s there was a guitar called the Coral Hornet that looked nearly identical to this and they're getting to be quite sought after, especially when linked to players such as Pete Townshend who had one in his home studio in the late sixties. This guitar is basically a reissue of that, and it was available in regular and long scale versions in a variety of whacky colours. It features a lightweight basswood body, a rosewood fretboard with 21 frets, dot inlays, 24 3/4" scale length, original style Danelectro bridge with tremolo and a pair of classic lipstick pickups for that Dano sound. They're built overseas now as compared to the USA models of the sixties, but they're still very true to the original designs.
UTILIZATION
The design is fairly ergonomic overall. It has a sort of offset vibe to it like certain short scale Fenders, and the body is aptly contoured. The guitar is very light and due to the satin finish it's got a certain slick feel that is true to the original cheap Danos. They don't feel classy or top notch by any means but that's part of the charm and I'm glad they kept that certain mojo for the reissues. The upper fret access isn't great on these guitars but the guitar only has 21 frets anyway and they weren't really designed for flying over the fretboard in the first place.
Getting a good sound is fairly simple. The guitars are really equipped to do that signature trashy/jangly Danelectro sound. It doesn't sound quite as bright as a Strat nor does it have the refined nature and strong low end of a Les Paul. The tones that this guitar gets are much more of that era - bright, brash and loud.
SOUNDS
The guitar definitely sounds better in clean to lower gain applications. The pickups are fairly low output and don't have the great tolerance for overdrive I find. However, for surf or rockabilly type clean or very mildly driven tones, that's where this guitar excels tonally. The pickups are fairly bright and jangly and for those styles where you need a loud and clean sound guitar this one is a good choice. The guitar's tone might be considered a bit too brash for some tastes, but Danos have always been a bit outside the norm tone wise so it's kind of something you learn to love/deal with. If you're going for a really fuzzed out and trashy tone the pickups work reasonably well with distortion or fuzz, but they don't offer the greatest articulation or dynamics - it's pretty much on 11 all the time.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Danelectro '67 Hornet is a great reissue of a really classic looking guitar. Ever since I saw a pic of Pete Townshend with one I wanted one and when Danelectro announced the reissue I was over the moon. They can be found for about $350 new in general which is a pretty cool deal for someone just looking for a flashback to the sixties, in looks, feel and tone.
UTILIZATION
The design is fairly ergonomic overall. It has a sort of offset vibe to it like certain short scale Fenders, and the body is aptly contoured. The guitar is very light and due to the satin finish it's got a certain slick feel that is true to the original cheap Danos. They don't feel classy or top notch by any means but that's part of the charm and I'm glad they kept that certain mojo for the reissues. The upper fret access isn't great on these guitars but the guitar only has 21 frets anyway and they weren't really designed for flying over the fretboard in the first place.
Getting a good sound is fairly simple. The guitars are really equipped to do that signature trashy/jangly Danelectro sound. It doesn't sound quite as bright as a Strat nor does it have the refined nature and strong low end of a Les Paul. The tones that this guitar gets are much more of that era - bright, brash and loud.
SOUNDS
The guitar definitely sounds better in clean to lower gain applications. The pickups are fairly low output and don't have the great tolerance for overdrive I find. However, for surf or rockabilly type clean or very mildly driven tones, that's where this guitar excels tonally. The pickups are fairly bright and jangly and for those styles where you need a loud and clean sound guitar this one is a good choice. The guitar's tone might be considered a bit too brash for some tastes, but Danos have always been a bit outside the norm tone wise so it's kind of something you learn to love/deal with. If you're going for a really fuzzed out and trashy tone the pickups work reasonably well with distortion or fuzz, but they don't offer the greatest articulation or dynamics - it's pretty much on 11 all the time.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Danelectro '67 Hornet is a great reissue of a really classic looking guitar. Ever since I saw a pic of Pete Townshend with one I wanted one and when Danelectro announced the reissue I was over the moon. They can be found for about $350 new in general which is a pretty cool deal for someone just looking for a flashback to the sixties, in looks, feel and tone.