Up for sale, a circa 1961 Danelectro prototype one-off, finished in Silverburst. According to Doug Tulloch, author of Neptune Bound: The Ultimate Danelectro Guitar Guide and noted guru of all things Danelectro, this certified oddball guitar was an employee-designed, one-of-one prototype, never intended for full production. Tracing the history and provenance of this prototype, a previous owner purchased the guitar directly from the daughter of George Wooster, the factory foreman at Danelectro in the 1960s.

Given the budget, utilitarian nature of the Danelectro brand, very few prototypes have ever surfaced, let alone examples as outlandish as this one-off. Featuring the same Silverburst gloss finish used on Danelectros offered through Sears' Silvertone line, the solid wood body has an utterly unique shape, fitted with a Silverburst-finished masonite pickguard with a beveled edge and featuring the distinctive "dolphin" six-on-a-side headstock shape utilized by Danelectro for Silvertone.

This guitar’s natural acoustic bark translates well through the original centrally-located lipstick pickup, with a snappy note attack. There's a glassy, sparkling character to the lipstick pickup design, and the relatively low wind of these single coils yields a harmonic complexity and unique bubbly treble zing. The three-way Tone selector switch features a circuit designed for easy transitions between lead and rhythm tones, acting as a Tone knob bypass in two positions. This Danelectro is featherweight at 5lbs 15oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings and low action.

Neck Specs:

-Wood: Maple
-Shape: Medium C, measuring .860” 1st fret, .905” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Rosewood
-Frets: Medium, no wear
-Scale Length: 25”
-Nut: 1 11/16”, aluminum
-Tuners: Open-gear strip

Body Specs:

-Pickups: Lipstick single coil x1
-Controls: Volume, Tone, Three-way Tone selector/bypass
-Harness: CTS pots date to 44th week of ‘61
-Hardware: Bridge with rosewood saddle
-Plastics: Cream barrel knobs, lacquer-finished pickguard

The gloss Silverburst nitro lacquer finish exhibits vertical checking across the body, and tight “shattered glass” checking on the pickguard. Extremely well-kept, there are just a few small finish chips along the body perimeter and neck pocket edge, with sparingly little wear on top or back. The nitro gloss on the neck is smooth and clean.

Given the unique contours of the body, this guitar will ship in a well-padded gigbag.