Rik_Sixx

This was my first bass, back when I was about 15. Right from day one there were issues with the build quality, including the control cavity being cut too large. Several pickguard screws weren't even drilled into the body, just hanging in air. The control knobs regularly came off, and the input jack disconnected several times. That said, during the many years I had this bass it did have that classic Precision tone. The sound got a lot of compliments from people who frankly knew better than me, and even after getting a much better quality instrument I kept this hanging around for a while.

When I first played a Dano bass I'd never heard tone like it. The combination of those lipstick-style pick-ups and the hollow frame body makes for an amazing sound, but that construction comes with a few set-backs. The body is a plywood frame with masonite top and bottom, with the bridge anchored straight on to the top. On my '63 the bridge screws started to gradually tear through the thin masonite top. The vintage-style cream binding tape was never a perfect fit but started to come away in the cutaways, probably due to shrinkage. I eventually had some noticable neck-bow but this took a few years and was fixed with a truss rod adjustment - only possible by removing the neck. The Dano '63 is a great sounding and looking instrument at a real budget cost. The sound is easily better than a lot of gear at this price-point, but whether one could last for 10 years of solid playing I couldn't say!