Silvertone Guitar

ALL ORIGINAL SILVERTONE MADE BY DAN ELECTRO MODEL 1444 BASS GUITAR.I'VE SEEN A COUPLE OF THESE AND I THINK THIS IS FROM AROUND THE 1962-65 CIRCA.ALL ORIGINAL THAT IS,EXCEPT THE JACK WAS REPLACED AND THE BRIDGE SADDLE WAS WOOD AND IS NOW RUBBER.BODY IS SEMI-HOLLOW AND HAS A LES PAUL STYLE TO IT.HAS THE DOLPHIN HEADSTOCK AND THE SILVERTONE BADGE IS STILL ON IT.LIPSTICK PICKUP WORKS FINE AND HAS A VINTAGE SOUND BUT THE COVERS ARE CRACKED.VINTAGE KLUSON TYPE TUNERS WORK PRETTY SMOOTH.I REMOVED THE NECK TO ADJUST IT AND FOUND OUT THAT THERE IS NO ADJUSTMENT BUT IT HAS 2 RODS IN IT.THE ACTION IS A LITTLE HIGH AND A COUPLE OF NOTES IN THE MIDDLE BUZZ A LITTLE.PROBABLY NEEDS WORK IF YOU WERE GOING TO PLAY IT A LOT.THIS BASS PLAYS AND SOUND GOOD BUT REALLY NEEDS TO BE RESTORED.BODY HAS SCRATCHES ALL OVER IT AND IS MADE OF A MATERIAL THAT I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH[MAYBE MASONITE]?LOOKS LIKE SCRATCHES WERE COVERED WITH MAGIC MARKER?IN PIC 3,THE NECK HAS CRACK RUNNING THROUGH BOLT HOLES BUT I BELIEVE IT TO BE SOLID.BODY/NECK NUMBERS MATCH.............SORRY,NO CASE..........NO RESERVE!

On Nov-19-10 at 20:43:59 PST, seller added the following information:

Silvertone Model 1444 – Dolphin Nose Single Cut 4-String
This is your Christmas catalog bass—sold to little Jimmy when he was thirteen back in the sixties. And I’ll admit this is not the bass for everyone. However, these are tone monsters! SEARS CATALOGS SOLD THESE BASSES

The Good
Holy smokes, these basses sound great! Several of these were used in the studio when they were first introduced, and are still used today. The tone of these is very creamy and totally smokes the Dano reissue of today. The very interesting feature is that when this bass is used with a pick, it has quite a different personality from when used fingerstyle, but both work fabulously! This bass played through an Ampeg B15 or direct into a console may be the tone of the gods.

The Bad
Quite frankly, the basses are made of construction scrap. Masonite, lag bolts, soft wood, and deck paint. It has a straight wood saddle for all four strings. Let me remind you this was a budget catalog bass.

The Lowdown
It’s all about the tone, and these basses ooze tone. The vast majority of these are black, but there have to be green, red and yellow ones out there, too (those would be the bomb). Expect to pay around $900 for a really good one.
NOTE THIS INFO WAS FROM PREMIER GUITAR MAGAZINE IN AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE TOP 5 COLLECTABLE BASSES UNDER 1500.00
UPDATE A DANELECTRO COLLECTOR WEBSITE DATES THIS BASS AT 1960[LAST DIGIT OF SERIAL]