Danelectro ’58 Longhorn Guitar
The curious case of the reissue guitar that never was…
When Danelectro unveiled its Longhorn Series in 1958, the catalogue listed two bass models and a strange contraption dubbed the ‘Guitarlin’. It’s not just a clever name; this six-string guitar had an extended 31-fret fingerboard to allow for mandolin-esque sounds at the body end of the neck. While it didn’t set any sales records, the Guitarlin was immortalised when proto-punk fuzz legend Link Wray used one in the late 50s.
So, this new Longhorn Guitar, with its regular 21-fret neck, didn’t exist back in ’58, but we’re glad it finally showed up. Like all Danos, the lightweight body is constructed from Masonite (we know it as hardboard) panels glued to a hardwood frame. The Longhorn’s body is shaped like an Ancient Greek harp called a lyre, giving it a unique visual impact. More important, however, the deep cutaways give great access to the upper frets, while the spindly body horns maintain balance on a strap.
The shallow D profile bolt-on maple neck has a rosewood ’board, 21 well-dressed medium frets and aluminium top nut, plus six vintage-style tuners on the ‘Coke bottle’ headstock that Dano first uncapped in 1955. Meanwhile, the single-coil pickups are of the now legendary Lipstick tube variety, each wired to its own concentric – aka ‘stacked’ – volume and tone control, and selected via a three-way toggle switch. In a break from vintage spec, the hardtail bridge has six individual saddles with adjustable height and intonation in place of the oldschool Dano rosewood block.
Link Wray’s once-banned Rumble is the iconic tone we’re looking for here, and with some Germanium-fuelled fuzz, the Longhorn’s biting bridge pickup pulls off its primitive blues sound – it’s the missing Link, if you will. Clean, the pickup is perfect for country licks, pedal steel impressions, and Tom Petty-style chord work. Aided by those steel saddles, the neck unit has a deep well of twang at its disposal, a bit like a seriously porky Strat pickup. As with any Dano, the pickups are run in series when combined, producing a fat humbucker-like tone with a dash of sparkle that works a treat for big, Led Zep-ish rock riffs and thick Seven Nation Army- style fuzz. Back off the gain a bit and you’ll also reveal a tasty rockabilly sound. Despite its rather eccentric looks, the Longhorn is as tonally versatile as a Telecaster and an absolute peach to play. That said, not everyone will vibe with its quirky retro packaging. You could play it safe and get similar thrills from the reissue of the ’59 twin-cut 3021 Shorthorn Standard Dano that Jimmy Page used for some Kashmir karma. That said, in every respect, the Longhorn demands everyone’s attention. The guitar that never was could turn out to be the one you can’t live without.
In every respect, the Longhorn demands everyone’s attention