12 String Electric Guitar Danelectro For Sale (2024 Update)

I am in love with this guitar! I always wanted an electric 12 string, and I'm delighted with this one. Andertons had it at the best price I was able to find anywhere, either in-store or online. It was perfectly set up and in perfect conditionReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I just got my aqua model and I’m very happy. First off, it was in tune so it was great to be able to play it right away and not go thru nightmare tuning! The fit and finish is excellent as is the sound. Both plugged and unplugged. It plays so easily that I found myself playing leads in all positions. Unlike most 12 strings of the past. Definitely well worth the $$$.Brian Limmer

Guitar was not setup properly had to adjust everything. The cheap Vinyl that's glued on otter edge already pealing. When it arrived there was glue seeping from the edges, didnt realize until I touched it & ruined my $$60.00 gold plated strings. I replaced truss rod cover, junk. Knobs dont match/ugly replaced. Nut was junk, not cut right, made my own in my shop. The glue seepage awful. Removed cheap Vinyl treating guitar to remove exess glue, ridiculous. Huge scratch on back chip on rear bottom of neck where vynil was joined. For the 60th anniversary edition… Worst I've ever seen! My original 59 still looks plays and sounds fantastic. Cutting corners using cheap materials and trying to save money is no way to honor guitars from our past. Sound not that great but I'll have to replace some wiring & tuners as well. stuff to get it to sound halfway decent. I play in a Zeppelin tribute band at all the hotels and in Vegas, definitely not stage worthy! What a major disappointment. Way over priced. My appraisal $80.00 and that's being generous. If you want one, build your own instead.niceguyvinny1968

Someone in the band said we should do one of those early 60's songs. I listened to it, and it clearly had that 12-string jangle so characteristic of the period. The best thing for that is a Rickenbacker 12-string, but I wasn't going to spring for that for just a few songs. So I zeroed in on a few possibilities, including this Danelectro, and the Dean Boca and the Ibanez Artcore in about the same price range. But the Dano is of course pretty much the exact same instrument that they made back then, and it is arguably better now than it ever was. It was always an inexpensive brand, but had the distinction that a lot of famous people played them. Therefore it has that "original vibe", like the Rickenbacker, but at a fraction of the price. So the Dano was the obvious choice, and I got this NOS version (No-S = no S or F hole which some other models have and the originals did). They say it is still made from Masonite, but you can't tell since it is completely painted and while the website says it is laminated, it is very light-weight. And it still has that textured plastic tape around the whole perimeter like it's supposed to have. The neck strap button is in an awkward location, so you may have to cut a piece off your strap to make it fit (I did, and I replaced my strap buttons with Schaller black strap locks). These guitars are made in Korea, and the build quality is excellent. I was afraid that I'd have get a setup, but the one I received has a fine neck with a nice rosewood finger board, has low action and plays easily enough (for a 12-string), so I'm going to leave it as is. The sound is great! It has that unique Dano sound because of the two lipstick pickups. It may be too bright when using the bridge pickup only, but the thing is you get used to the tone really quickly, so it may work just fine. It certainly will cut through the mix! It is louder when using both pickups, which is probably what I will use most of the time. In sum, I'm very happy with it! It will do!Willy

I didn't have high hopes for a 12 string electric at this price point, but I also couldn't resist, and WOW – am I completely satisfied! This guitar plays really well. It came with a good set-up and when I fine tuned it all the systems worked as they should. You can even adjust intonation on all twelve strings. Thus far the neck has been straight and easily adjusts to string or environmental conditions – I've given it a slight adjustment once it acclimated to my desert conditions and since it has been stable and true. Of course I should protect my guitar from the elements, and I bought a gig bag, but it stays out pretty much constantly and is used daily. This guitar is tons of fun. It easily does the Byrds style of 12 string sound. Also, I never knew just how many early Beatles riff where on 12 string until I started messing with this guitar. It's a blast. I own a Rick 6 string and have always wanted an electric 12. This Danelectro is great quality and great fun and it more than satisfies my itch (for now) at fraction of the price. You will not regret buying this guitar – it will unlock a new world!Mike

I usually wait awhile if I am going to review something and after buying selling and trading over 50 guitars over a lifetime I am well over the "Newest Toy" syndrome but I absolutely love this guitar way more than I ever expected I will. I love everything about it so far, from the important stuff like tone and playability to the superficial stuff like it's cool vintage cream paint job. I have yet to restring the guitar and my only concern is durability. I have one other Danelectro guitar that I have owned for close to a year and have had no issues with. Other than that I have no experience with Danelectro guitars. I should note that there is nothing about either guitar that leads me to suspect poor quality. The 12 string came with a nice straight neck and immaculate finish. It was very playable right out of the box. I should also note that this is my first 12 string electric guitar. I am primarily an acoustic guy and have owned several 12 string acoustics over my lifetime. I understand the pressure those strings put on a guitar's neck which is why I wonder how well this will hold up in the future. Providing it does it feels like a steal at this price. Of all guitars I have owned I have never had one turn so many heads when I went out shopping for a case. It's a shame Danelectro won't make or commission cases for their guitars. If it matched the aesthetics of their instruments they would probably be a hit as well.Patrick

The best thing about this guitar is how nicely and easily it plays. It seems to sing out and chime from any note that you effortlessly put your finger on! You also cannot beat the play-ability of this neck with most any guitar at this price level! These are about the lowest priced guitars that you can buy, while still having a sentimental nostalgia of very high-profile guitarists enjoying them, too! Jimmy Page on Kashmir! Sleater-Kinney on the album cover of Dig Me Out! This is the 12-string version, but with the amazingly fast neck on these guitars, I can easily see why professionals would still choose them. The pick ups are decent and sound balanced between neck and bridge positions. This guitar is a joy to play, I look forward to picking up this guitar and playing every night! I got the Blood Red model, which feels much more solid than the b/w classic version that I got earlier. The b/w classic uses inch wide, white tape as trim, which gives me the impression of being less durable than the superior finish of the Blood Red version!Rev316

I spent over two years shopping for an electric 12-string guitar. I own many 6-string acoustic and electric guitars, plus a very high-end 12-string acoustic, but I've always wanted a high-end 12-string electric too. I played many of the best brands, but I just could not justify the cost of some of these 12-string electrics… yes, they played great, but the cost was insane, and I just didn't believe they were worth it. Danelectro recently upgraded their 12-sting electric guitar, and for the price, I could not resist any longer. I figured if it was no good, then no worries – since I spent such little money on it. However, when I received it today, I was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY! I actually think that Danelectro is giving these guitars away for what I paid for it! Something almost doesn't make sense…. Anyway, I cannot put this thing down. It sounds great (dare I say as good, or perhaps better than the "R's" I tried out?). Not to put down "R", since I already own a 1990 360, but this Danelectro is a KEEPER! At a fraction of the cost, I have a really professional sounding and playing 12-string electric! I'm in my late 50's and have played for decades using many, many great guitars, but today is a day I'll never forget, when I unboxed this incredible guitar and played it right out of the box for hours of complete and total joy. I love it!Commish

Guitar was not setup properly had to adjust everything. The cheap Vinyl that's glued on otter edge already pealing. When it arrived there was glue seeping from the edges, didnt realize until I touched it & ruined my $$60.00 gold plated strings. I replaced truss rod cover, junk. Knobs dont match/ugly replaced. Nut was junk, not cut right, made my own in my shop. The glue seepage awful. Removed cheap Vinyl treating guitar to remove exess glue, ridiculous. Huge scratch on back chip on rear bottom of neck where vynil was joined. For the 60th anniversary edition… Worst I've ever seen! My original 59 still looks plays and sounds fantastic. Cutting corners using cheap materials and trying to save money is no way to honor guitars from our past. Sound not that great but I'll have to replace some wiring & tuners as well. stuff to get it to sound halfway decent. I play in a Zeppelin tribute band at all the hotels and in Vegas, definitely not stage worthy! What a major disappointment. Way over priced. My appraisal $80.00 and that's being generous. If you want one, build your own instead.niceguyvinny1968

Someone in the band said we should do one of those early 60's songs. I listened to it, and it clearly had that 12-string jangle so characteristic of the period. The best thing for that is a Rickenbacker 12-string, but I wasn't going to spring for that for just a few songs. So I zeroed in on a few possibilities, including this Danelectro, and the Dean Boca and the Ibanez Artcore in about the same price range. But the Dano is of course pretty much the exact same instrument that they made back then, and it is arguably better now than it ever was. It was always an inexpensive brand, but had the distinction that a lot of famous people played them. Therefore it has that "original vibe", like the Rickenbacker, but at a fraction of the price. So the Dano was the obvious choice, and I got this NOS version (No-S = no S or F hole which some other models have and the originals did). They say it is still made from Masonite, but you can't tell since it is completely painted and while the website says it is laminated, it is very light-weight. And it still has that textured plastic tape around the whole perimeter like it's supposed to have. The neck strap button is in an awkward location, so you may have to cut a piece off your strap to make it fit (I did, and I replaced my strap buttons with Schaller black strap locks). These guitars are made in Korea, and the build quality is excellent. I was afraid that I'd have get a setup, but the one I received has a fine neck with a nice rosewood finger board, has low action and plays easily enough (for a 12-string), so I'm going to leave it as is. The sound is great! It has that unique Dano sound because of the two lipstick pickups. It may be too bright when using the bridge pickup only, but the thing is you get used to the tone really quickly, so it may work just fine. It certainly will cut through the mix! It is louder when using both pickups, which is probably what I will use most of the time. In sum, I'm very happy with it! It will do!Willy

I didn't have high hopes for a 12 string electric at this price point, but I also couldn't resist, and WOW – am I completely satisfied! This guitar plays really well. It came with a good set-up and when I fine tuned it all the systems worked as they should. You can even adjust intonation on all twelve strings. Thus far the neck has been straight and easily adjusts to string or environmental conditions – I've given it a slight adjustment once it acclimated to my desert conditions and since it has been stable and true. Of course I should protect my guitar from the elements, and I bought a gig bag, but it stays out pretty much constantly and is used daily. This guitar is tons of fun. It easily does the Byrds style of 12 string sound. Also, I never knew just how many early Beatles riff where on 12 string until I started messing with this guitar. It's a blast. I own a Rick 6 string and have always wanted an electric 12. This Danelectro is great quality and great fun and it more than satisfies my itch (for now) at fraction of the price. You will not regret buying this guitar – it will unlock a new world!Mike

The cool factor on this guitar is a solid 10. So many "quirky" things – the double pickguard, poly on the fingerboard, soviet-era rocket hardware…. This is my third Rick (two basses) and the workmanship on the frets/setup is second to none. But…it did take me three tries at the 330 to get an instrument that did not have unacceptable finish flaws. The first had "orange peel" along the edge of the body and headstock. I used to work for a major US guitar manufacturer, and I recognize that a right angle edge is difficult to finish, but for this price, a good finish is to be expected. #2 looked like whoever painted the inside of the f-hole black, was in a hurry and got paint on the top and then it was cleared over. Touch it up, THEN send it out. The third one had some finish bubbles on the headstock, but after three tries, sometimes better is the enemy of good and I kept it. When they get the finish applied properly – it is stunning. The Fireglow is much better than in pictures and draws you in and "moves".Reviewinbacker

I own a number of Fenders and Gibsons. Having always wanted a Rick and knowing its limitations, I bought one at the local GC. It is truly a beautiful guitar, set up was perfect out of the box for the pure nickel 10's I installed. No fret buzz whatsoever and really, really low action. Not a great neck for bending notes and that's why, in my opinion, this is a rhythm guitar. Tonewise, it's got one characteristic "Rick" tone, achieved with both pickups. Single pickup tones are ok but not noteworthy. In summary, I would not recommend this as your "only" electric, but certainly a worthy component of any musicvian's multi guitar collection. Get the Fireglow…it's the best colorBob the Strat Player

I own a Rickenbacker 330 in MapleGlo, which I purchased new in 2004. As I started to get into home studio recording, I went shopping for a Rickenbacker guitar, and literally bought the first one that I found, which, at the time, was probably the only one in town. I tweaked the set-up when I first got it, and it has only gotten better since, with almost zero maintenance, aside from string changes. It really is a great guitar, that sings wonderfully before even plugging it in, with a full chime, and smooth, blooming notes. I have long been a fan of Peter Buck from R.E.M., which was my original impetus for getting a Rickenbacker guitar, but once I got mine, it quickly worked its way into my own world of music and sound. I use D'Addario EXL115W strings on mine, with a wound G, which helps me play perfectly in tune, up and down the length of the fretboard. For jangle and chime, I tend to favor the middle pick-up position, with the 5th knob turned all the way to the neck pick-up, i.e., counter-clockwise, and the two tone knobs at the half-way point. The 330 does appear to have a slightly larger body than the 360, which I think lends itself to a fuller chime, although the 360 may rock a little better … I would say decide for yourself, if that is possible. In any case, I definitely and whole-heartedly recommend a Rickenbacker 330 in your favorite color. It is, in my estimation, the best rhythm guitar money can buy, made by a company which exhibits impeccable artistry and craftsmanship. Every Ric is exquisite, and the 330 is right up there with the very best of them.Steve

Re issue version of a guitar used by most of Rock musics iconic musicians .. its different to Les Pauls or strats or hollow bodies .. its a mixture of all three .. dont let the construction or pickups faze you.. these really are nice to play and sound ..if your looking for something different .. also the re issues arnt too far from the originals and in some ways better ..mikeferski374

It does not have too much of an expensive or solid feel to it but it is very comfortable to play and I think it sounds amazing. I love it.andri-vaice

Set up was superb, plays really nice , took longer than I expected, but staff were really helpful , but all in all pleased with service, and finding it hard to put guitar down Many thanks, great job Andrew 👍Andrew W.

I have a passion for Danelectro guitars, and this one doesn't disappoint, lovely sound, and not as heavy as a lot of guitars, all round amazing guitarReviewed by Andertons Music Co.