Danelectro might just have the solution for the player who is looking for some doubleneck electric guitar action but whose budget can’t quite stretch to a Gibson EDS-1275 – and, come to think of it, whose lower back is quite grateful that it doesn't.
The Danelectro Doubleneck 6/12 might just be the platonic ideal of the format, one neck with 12-string, the other a standard six, and an $899 price tag making it the most affordable serious doubleneck we have seen in recent memory, perhaps ever.
Yes, it does not have the humbuckers you would get on an EDS-1275 but those lipstick pickups are pretty darn powerful, and rolling back some of the tone could yield the warmth you need from the bridge pickup. Besides, that Led Zeppelin vibe is sustained by virtue of the shorthorn body style and coke bottle headstocks – it’s not a million miles away from Jimmy Page’s guitar choice for Kashmir.
Furthermore, in comparison to other doublenecks this is a featherweight, thanks in no small part to that classic Dano semi-hollow build of hardboard and spruce, with a centre block to tame feedback.
We have seen these before. It is part of the Danelectro modus operandi to launch models to little fanfare and then drop them a year later, only to bring them back a few years later with refreshed finish options. It is the circle of life.
This 2024 doubleneck arrives in White Pearl finish – and unlike some previous editions of this model it has the matching painted headstock to match, which it wears well. In previous years there have been silverburst editions. There has been white, too, but with a natural finish on the headstock.
There are six and 12-string bridges, each with individually adjustable saddles, which is a good thing, too, because 12-strings always always demand a close relationship with your guitar tuner to get the best out of them. And that goes double for doublenecks.
Each side of the guitar is served by a pair of lipstick single coil pickups, with stacked volume and stacked tone controls and a three-way pickup selector. A second toggle switch selects the six or 12-string side of the instrument.
Other specs include a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, 21 frets, and a 14” radius. The nut is made of aluminium. The scale length is 25”.
Select the six-string side, dime a tube amp and maybe give it some hair from a fuzz pedal and you’ve got a very respectable tone. Kashmir-worthy, you might say. Put it into 12-string guitar mode and you’ve got that celestial Stairway To Heaven vibe. It should similarly cater for those fans of Johnny Marr, the Byrds or James Honeyman-Scott.
We often say the most versatile electric guitars of this world are the ES-335 or the HSS Strat but that’s because doublenecks are too rare, too niche to be part of the conversation. But what could be more versatile than a guitar that serves up two necks? Steve Vai might already have found the answer to that.
For more details, head over to Danelectro. The Doubleneck 6/12 is priced £1,199 / $899.
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