199 – 240219 Z-DanoPro – Zachary Handcrafted Guitars | Bass| Pedals | Strings

Inspiration

I owned an original Danelectro Pro 1 kid's budget guitar for about 15 years. I bought it specifically to be able to reference and make a Zachary version of this model and turn it into a first class professional instrument. I really liked the look of it and the nostalgia behind it, as is the case with all vintage guitars. This was particularly interesting in that it was meant for kids, as their first guitar. So this is where it all started with many future rockers.

This Danelectro, as with most Danelectro, especially the short scale ones, they are not really playable, or at least not beyond very basic, limited playing. So this was crying out to be made into a real instrument for proficient adult players. It took me 15 years to come up with the best way to tackle this challenge. This is what I have done after much reengineering. My intention was to be faithful to the original specifications as much possible, in order to conserve the unique vibe of this cheesy vintage guitar. There is nothing cooler than seeing an antiquated aesthetic but having it function as a high performance, modern instrument.

There was much work to be done. I had to increase the scale length, move the neck and bridge out as much as possible, having it join the body much higher, along with many other changes in order to have it function as a high-performance instrument, while being careful not to lose its vintage, corny, tacky vibe.

The result is a pure Zachary guitar from the neck shape, stainless steel frets, bridge, hand-wound pickups, the feel, the tone but I still kept the original body shape, exact thickness, as well as the pickguard shape in all of its glory. So it looks like a Danelectro Pro 1 but is a true Zachary in functionality.

The pickups are hand-wound, a hot P90 set, reverse wound, reverse polarity. The neck now joins at the 17th fret, instead of the 12th fret. The frets are big and tall Stainless and there are 26 of them on the Zachary, compared to 18 on the Danelectro. The fingerboard is compound radius and Ebony. Looks aside, this is something Danelectro never even dreamed of being. It was a different time and Danelectro was a department-store budget item for a totally different purpose and targeting a young beginner demographic.

It was not easy to do but quite satisfying to finally do it after 15 years.

Watch the video on my YouTube channel, featuring this guitar. click here for YouTube channel