DANELECTRO MUTANT CONVERTIBLE BY WILL RAY
I’m always scouting for cool inexpensive guitars and gear.
If you’re patient and know
where to look, you can find
some great guitars out there
for $300-$400, and sometimes
even under $100.
A few months ago, I saw
this guitar on eBay and had
to do a double take. It looked
like a mutant cross between
a Danelectro Convertible, a
double-lipstick Dano U2, and
a Les Paul. Peering at it, I realized some crazy person (or
genius) had apparently taken
a U2 reissue and cut a giant
round soundhole in the top—so
upon first glance it resembled
a Dano Convertible thinline
acoustic-electric. But the owner
had also added what looked like
a bridge-position humbucker.
Huh? A humbucker mixed with
a lipstick pickup? Surely you
jest. What mad scientist could
have concocted this recipe for
sonic disaster?
The guitar was listed with
a BIN (Buy It Now) price of
$149.95 and $22.95 for shipping. I wasn’t sure I was ready to
pull the trigger, so I bookmarked
the auction in my eBay Watch
List and went about my busi-
Could this be the love child of a Danelectro Convertible, a double-lipstick Dano U2, and a Les Paul?
Though it looks like a humbucker, this add-on bridge pickup is actually a ’70s single-coil.
I love the challenge
of taking a cheap,
problematic guitar
and turning it into
something special.
ness. But every time I got on the
computer, I found myself checking the auction to see if someone had bought it yet. No question about it, that guitar was
starting to haunt me. Finally,
after three or four days, I could
stand it no more. I broke down
and bought it before someone
else snatched it up.
When it arrived, I was
impressed by the guitar’s looks
as I unpacked it. The previous
owner had painted the front (and
inside the soundhole) a beauti-
ful blonde color that slightly
resembled an old Fender Tele,
and the finish looked even cooler
in person than in the pictures.
WILL RAY is a found-
ing member of the
Hellecasters guitar-twang
trio. He also does guitar
clinics promoting his
namesake G&L signature
model 6-string, and pro-
duces artists and bands at his studio in
Asheville, North Carolina. You can contact
Will on Facebook and at willray.biz.
