Nice Silvertone 1443 Score

saltymonkey · January 16, 2013, 07:30:46 PM

I just found this really clean Silvertone 1443 last week; the only long scale Dano ever made. I had been looking at some battered versions on ebay and just did a search. This appeared first up on GC's online used gear site. It had evidently just arrived. There was one shitty picture but it looked worth investigating at $449. So I called and asked all the questions and decided to buy it. They said I could return it to any GC within three days for a refund if I wasn't happy. Not a bad deal. So it arrived yesterday and well it's much better than I thought it was going to be actually. It's really clean. The neck just has only a slight bit of relief which I'm quite happy about. There is no truss rod but there is a micro tilt neck adjustment which works surprisingly well. I was able to tilt the neck back and actually raise the bridge to get pretty good action. It'll get better after filing the aluminum nut which is really tall. It sounds freaking great, nice and punchy and warm. Absolutely amazing with the tone rolled off and soloing the neck pickup. There's a little bit of fret sprout too but not bad. I'm really having fun with it and it's so damn cool. Here's the pics:

Denis · January 16, 2013, 07:45:10 PM

Beautiful! I love the look of those things!

Pilgrim · January 16, 2013, 08:58:29 PM

THAT is very cool!

Dave W · January 16, 2013, 10:14:56 PM

That looks in great shape for its age.

gweimer · January 17, 2013, 04:13:19 AM

Quote from: Dave W on January 16, 2013, 10:14:56 PM
That looks in great shape for its age.

I was thinking that it really is nice. This isn't the sort of bass you'd expect anyone to take care of so well.

dadagoboi · January 17, 2013, 05:44:02 AM

SWEET! That's a keeper if there ever was one. Congrats.

godofthunder · January 17, 2013, 05:46:15 AM

Nice score! That is f'ng cool

chromium · January 17, 2013, 08:53:36 AM

I had part of a short scale single pickup Dano/Silvertone like this when I was a kid ~12. I think mine was the 1442L in turdburst. I lived in Houston at the time, and there were all these neighborhood developments around me that were left vacant during the oil crash in the late 80s. A lot of people had to bail on their homes and would just dump their old stuff everywhere in these vacant neighborhoods. I had found the Dano laying on the side of the street! It was missing the lower half of the body, pickup, and bridge.

I remember the neck on mine having a really dense feel (in a good way). I think it had two big square steel rods running thru it that were visible at the body-end. The neck profile was nice and shallow, and it just felt good to me. Always wanted to try one of these (in working condition) because of that!

Congrats - this looks like a nice one

Chris P. · January 17, 2013, 12:06:22 PM

Very cool!!! And really the only long scale they ever made?

saltymonkey · January 17, 2013, 12:39:33 PM

Thanks everyone. Yes according to everything I've read the 1443 was the only long scale bass model Dano made. Also that the 1442 & 1443 were the last new models made before the Neptune NJ factory closed in '69. Chromium that's a great story. Not what I was expecting when i started reading but great nonetheless.

chromium · January 17, 2013, 12:49:06 PM

Quote from: saltymonkey on January 17, 2013, 12:39:33 PM
Chromium that's a great story. Not what I was expecting when i started reading but great nonetheless.

Wish I would have kept it, at least for the neck! Might have made for a cool project. I ended up pitching it as junk when I quit playing in the early 90s.