Danelectro

Danelectro was founded by Nathan Daniel in 1947. Daniel's first “factory” of amplifiers was his bedroom in his parents’ New York apartment in the 1930s and he later moved his small manufacturing operation – Daniel Electrical Laboratories – of his amplifiers to a loft in Lower Manhattan, and his first big customer of his amplifiers was instrument maker Epiphone, which was also located in New York City at the time, and these amplifiers were called "Electar" by Epiphone. Throughout the late 1940s the company produced amplifiers for Epiphone (Electar amplifiers), Sears, Roebuck and Company and Montgomery Ward, branded Silvertone and Airline respectively.

In 1954 Danelectro started building solid-bodied guitars (Model C), constructed of poplar. The company then made models that were hollow-bodied and made of Masonite and poplar to save costs and increase production speed, intending to produce no-frills guitars of reasonably good quality at low cost. These instruments were branded either as Danelectro or (for Sears) Silvertone, distinguished by the Silvertone maroon vinyl covering, and the Danelectro light-colored tweed covering. The guitars used concentric stacked tone/volume knobs on the two-pickup models of both series and "lipstick-tube" pickups, which contained the pickup components inside metal tubes that resembled lipstick containers of the era.

In 1956, Danelectro introduced the six-string bass guitar, the UB-2, which retailed for $135. Though the model never became widely popular, it found an enduring niche in Nashville and Los Angeles for "tic-tac" bass lines, where the electric instrument doubled the line played by an upright acoustic bass. Danelectro's UB-2 model later prompted companies like Gibson, Fender and Höfner to also make six-string bass guitars (respectively the EB-6, introduced in 1960, the Fender VI, introduced in 1961 and Höfner's 500/10, introduced in 1960).

In 1966, Danelectro was sold to the Music Corporation of America. A year later, in 1967, they introduced the Coral line, known for its hollow-bodies and electric sitars.

In 1969, Danelectro closed down, burdened by MCA's attempt to market their guitars to small guitar shops rather than large department stores.

In the late 1990s, importer The Evets Corporation purchased the Danelectro brand name, marketing recreations of old Silvertone and Danelectro guitars and newly designed effects pedals and small amplifiers made in China. After initially selling well, guitar sales slowed and Danelectro stopped selling guitars after 2001 (2004 on the official site) to concentrate on effects pedals. In 2006 (2005 on official site), new owners of Evets decided on a new marketing model for guitars, selling a limited number each year.