DANELECTRO 59X12
Jangle all the way
Transplanting the 64XT’S pickup and switching configuration to the Shorthorn doublecut body of the 59 models, the 59X12 has a reassuringly familiar setup, all the better for investigating its octaveforward 12-string voice. An electric 12-string is by its very nature a strange beast. In recent times we’ve seen Fender’s Electric XII resurrected, complete with cartoon headstock and split-coils. The 59X12 offers something different. The bridge humbucker offers a thicker, punchier voice. As with all these Danos, there is plenty of treble, that brightness again enhanced by the aluminium nut.
You can be as fastidious as you like with the tuning and intonation and yet when you dig in there’s that natural chorusing effect; when using with any sort of overdrive it is a heady mix. Shoegaze players would love layering gain and some fuzz over the top and letting the harmonic overtones work their magic. On single-note rockabilly lines, the 59X12 sounds incredible with some slapback echo and reverb, the overtones contributing to the rumble, but it’s when you’ve got this running clean and letting those notes collide and bleed into each other that it comes into its own. Engage the coil-tap and you can go full on Byrds jangle. You could lose hours messing around with that oversized neck singlecoil, and that’s before engaging the pedalboard.
There’s a psychedelic quality to electric 12-strings before adding effects, but stepping on an old orange box phaser and you start to worry less about the odd bum note and more about that acid flashback taking hold. It can feel a little neck heavy; there is a lot of metal on that headstock, but again that Dano slimline bolt-on neck is so easy to get to grips with.
If we had other gripes it would be that the controls being a little hard to grip for engaging the coil-tap. But this is certainly no deal-breaker. At this price, the 59X12 presents good value, and it’s seriously tempting to have it as an option to complement your six-strings. All studios should have one. All players should make its acquaintance at some point in their lives.
YOU COULD LOSE HOURS MESSING AROUND WITH THAT OVERSIZED NECK SINGLECOIL