silvertone amp in case guitars

[morgan918]

I keep finding myself staring at pics of the single pickup silvertones that came with the amp case. It's got this crazy black sparkly finish that just seems cool. Anybody actually play one of those? What's the sound of the single pickup? Is there any bite to it?

 

[chucke99]

I know this guy's played one. Not sure on which songs. I think he used it for slide:

 

[morgan918]

Do those dano's sound similar to these?

 

[Stratobuc]

That's the one, six on a side tuners. I never played the guitar, but I have played fenders and gibsons through the amp in the case. Cool distorted tone when cranked.

 

[morgan918]

I'm less concerned about the case, and more the guitar. It's only got 17 useful frets, which is a downer, but they just look so cool. I can get a decent price on one that's lost its case.

 

[Stratobuc]

I'm less concerned about the case, and more the guitar. It's only got 17 useful frets, which is a downer, but they just look so cool. I can get a decent price on one that's lost its case.

Seriously, considering this guitar - what exactly were you planning on playing above fret #17?

 

[morgan918]

Ha, I guess you're right. Not much probably, but for me to pull it off in a band situation it'd be nice to have 19. Having never played one of these, I just wonder if it's worth it. I love the sound of the newer dano's I've heard, that edgy bitey tone. I just wonder if it will be playable, setupable, that kind of thing. Maybe I'd be better of buying a newish dano...

 

[Stratobuc]

Maybe, those vintage ones are hit and miss - but they are the BEST for slide!

 

[chucke99]

A guitar like that is worth money for its coolness/mojo, not because it's actually worth the money. Understand? I see amp-in-case models (tons of brands, including Silvertone) with the amp/case go for around $400. The guitar alone should cost about $200 or so.

 

[morgan918]

Oh I know it's more about mojo than anything else. If anything, this is going to hold me over until I can save up and order one of those Fano TC6 green silvertone/tele mashups

I'm all over the place. I'm tempted between this silvertone, a dc59 dano, possibly an eastwood rs-1 which seems like a silvertone 1421. I think I'm going stir crazy in the house!

 

[Blurillaz]

Sounds like the guitar in this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2n8fkBZVM

 

[Peppy]

First guitar I ever had...a LONG time ago. Hard to play...action was HIGH, strings thick and rarely stayed in tune. Amp? Barely. But...there was a will. Wish I still had it after all of these decades.

 

[blueshawk1]

I had one of those with the amp in the case, but that was such a looong time ago, I can't begin to remember enough to describe the sound.

 

[Prof.Fuzz]

Sounds like this:



and this:



YMMV, but I love mine.

 

[TwoTubMan]

Just be very careful digging around inside of those amps. High voltage at pretty much every inch of the signal path.

 

[killermeteor]

I have/ play one and have owned a number of them through the years. It's a cool and fun guitar to play and they are quite good for slide. If you get it professionally setup, it can be quite a little tone machine.
As far as the pickup having a lot of "bite" - it all depends on what you mean by "bite." If you mean cutting treble, it does not. It is, after all, a neck pickup. The pickups in these things are kinda hard to compare to other kinds of pickups, they have a sound all their own. It does growl, though.
The finish is very cool indeed, but it does chip a lot easier than your average guitar finish. If you want to keep it looking good, you'll need to baby it and NEVER EVER put it in the case! The case will chip the headstock and most of the ones you'll find will have chips in the headstock's finish for that very reason.
If you just dig the body style and don't care about keeping it stock, you can always replace the tuners, the nut, the frets (you'll probably want to have at lest some fret work done), and the bridge assembly. Hell, if you've got a good guitar repairman/ luthier, you can even add a bridge pickup. It took me years to realize that a good guitar can be made out of just about anything as long as you're willing to put the time and money in to it.
If you really want more frets, they made a 2 pickup model (the 1445) with 21 frets, but they are more expensive and a bit harder to find. Those are a red sparkle colour instead of black, though there is the very rare 1449 model that has 2 pickups, 21 frets, and the black sparkle finish.
In my experience, barring any thing out of the ordinary, the necks are usually pretty darn good on these guitars. The tuners come in 2 types, aluminum keys (older) and plastic ones and their quality seems to vary wildly from guitar to guitar. I've had some that were great and some that were absolutely useless. Oh, and they work backwards.
I love mine and would never part with it, but whether or not it would work for you depends on what you want to do with it. If you're in a speed metal band, for example, look elsewhere. Either way,I strongly suggest that you play one before you buy one.Hope that helps!
From more info look here: http://www.vintagesilvertones.com/index.html

 

[morgan918]

Sounds like this:

YMMV, but I love mine.

Thanks for those! It sounds pretty awesome.

 

[morgan918]

I have/ play one and have owned a number of them through the years. It's a cool and fun guitar to play and they are quite good for slide. If you get it professionally setup, it can be quite a little tone machine..Hope that helps!
From more info look here: http://www.vintagesilvertones.com/index.html

Thanks for that! It definitely helps. I may wait out one locally that I can try first, but when I get one it would definitely be heading to the my guy for setup and fretwork. I thought about adding a second pickup, but wasn't sure if you can cut into those tops without shredding it. I see the red two-pickup models around, but I just like the sparkly black better. I know that's lame.

 

[supergenius365]

A guitar like that is worth money for its coolness/mojo, not because it's actually worth the money. Understand? I see amp-in-case models (tons of brands, including Silvertone) with the amp/case go for around $400. The guitar alone should cost about $200 or so.

The two pickup models go for $500-$900. I have seen a few on ebay asking over $1000. Not sure about the single pup versions.

My local store has three or four (but "not for sale yet" ). I played one two pickup version with some seriously old strings. What an absolute blast it was to play! Super thin neck. Intonation was good all the way up and down. Unplugged, the body resonated in a very pleasing way. I was willing to drop $300-$400 on the spot for it. I was kind of dismayed when he pulled the Blue Book and I looked online and saw the current prices. Just not gonna drop $900 or more on one.

 

[HRydarcik]

Do those dano's sound similar to these?

My first guitar was one like that with the amp in the case...it was horrendous.