GEAR OF THE MONTH
1959 Danelectro
Doubleneck #3923
STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS KIES
Doubleneck instruments are wish-list items. They’re certainly attainable and
some are pretty affordable, but most novice
players rarely graduate from a pawnshop
ripper up to a doubleneck when it’s time for
their first real guitar. The cumbersome axes
have their place in onstage panache and
encore jams: Just ask Jimmy Page, Slash,
Don Felder of the Eagles, or “Mr. 5 Necks”
Rick Nielsen—all have used bulky multi-neck monsters while performing some of
their most iconic songs. (OK, maybe five is
a bit excessive, Rick.) But sometimes doubleneck instruments are bought and used
out of necessity instead of rock-star excess,
such as the case with Gus Seyffert and his
Danelectro Doubleneck #3923.
“About five years ago, my band
Willoughby was asked to open for The
Bird And The Bee,” says bassist/guitarist/
producer Gus Seyffert, who is the current
touring bassist with The Black Keys. “I
couldn’t afford to take my whole band so I
thought a decent solution would be to find
a good-sounding doubleneck to play bass
lines while I was singing and switch to guitar for the solos. I kept my eyes open for an
old Hofner 6/4—I wasn’t aware of the 3923
Dano until I saw it at a shop on Denmark
Street in London.” As a rare American guitar in the UK, it was a bit overpriced, yet
Seyffert felt a strong connection to the ’ 59
Dano and made the purchase. Immediately
after he plugged it into his rig, he says the
doubleneck spoke to him like no other
instrument he’s played before or since.
The 1959 Danoelectro Doubleneck 3923
has the standard Shorthorn double-cutaway
body with Danoelectro’s classic Masonite
construction with vinyl binding and a
copper-burst finish. The necks are made of
poplar and have rosewood fretboards topped
with Dano’s “Coke bottle” headstocks.
Danelectro’s founder Nat Daniel incorporated some simplistic and efficient designs
into the 3923, for instance, the instrument’s light body construction being able to
withstand the extra string tension exerted by
the doubleneck, and the stacked volume and
tone controls. The standard guitar portion
of the instrument has a 24. 75" scale with
21 frets while the 4-string bass’ short scale
length measures 29. 5" and has 15 frets. The
guitar and bass each have their own alnico
bar magnet pickup that’s wrapped in brown
vinyl tape and covered with a surplus,
chrome-plated lipstick tube.
Seyffert has used the guitar/bass combo
in the studio with Norah Jones, Ryan
Adams, Willoughby and countless other sessions. “I get called to play bass and guitar
for sessions a lot so sometimes I’ll just show
up with the Dano. People look a bit worried until they hear it and then they know I
mean business [laughs].” Currently on tour
with The Black Keys, he uses the 3923 on
the songs “Run Right Back” and “Same Old
Thing,” where he switches between bass and
guitar. He runs the bass side through original Sunn 1200 and Sunn 2000 heads powering two 2x15 Sunn cabs, while he routes
the 6-string signal through a 1970 Fender
Deluxe Reverb modded to blackface specs.
“I’ve had a Silvertone 1449 for a while
and I’ve always loved it—the guitar on my
3923 feels similar to the 1449 and growls
like it, too,” Seyffert says. “The bass on it
is one of my favorite basses—I own a lot
[laughs]. I even bought a Shorthorn bass
because I thought it’d be similar tonally, but
the 3923 was far superior with its full, rich-sounding guitar and deep, rumbling bass
tones. It’s still a go-to instrument.”
A special thanks to Gus Seyffert for the opportunity to feature this fine instrument and its story.
Got some gear that would make a great
Gear of the Month? Then email pics and its
story to us at gotm@premierguitar.com.
186 PREMIER GUITAR JUNE 2012
premierguitar.com
