Guitarsenal: Book 'em Danelectro!

Jimmy and his Danelectro

Jimmy's guitar of choice when playing in DADGAD tuning, The Danelectro 3021 was manufactured by the Danelectro Company in Neptune, New Jersey in 1961. The guitar itself has a double-cutaway body made of a polar frame covered in a hardboard called masonite, which is steam cooked and pressure molded wood fibers, and finished in ebony with a white pick-guard. The neck is made of poplar and has 21 frets. It was originally covered in black paint but at some point it was sanded off. The pickups in the guitar are referred to as "lipstick pickups" due to the chrome cylindrical cover over them. They came equipped with alnico magnets and carried a resistance of 4.5k. Originally the bridge was a stock stainless steel model, but in 1982, Jimmy changed it out for a Quan Badass Bridge.

It isn't exactly known when he purchased the guitar, but he is first seen playing it in a picture of him taken during a recording session in 1965. Jimmy continued to play the guitar while a member of the Yardbirds. Steven Rosen asked him about it's use in the band in 1977, "Yes, but not with Beck. I did use it in the latter days. I used it onstage for "White Summer" (Little Games). I used a special tuning for that; the low string down to D, then A, D, G, A and D. It's like a modal tuning, a sitar tuning, in fact."

The first pictured appearance of Jimmy with the Danelectro

The guitar was a one-trick pony for Jimmy, used exclusively for DADGAD tuned songs. The guitar was played on stage from 1968-1970 for the song "White Summer/Black Mountainside", and again from 1975 until the band's demise in 1980 for the songs, "When The Levee Breaks", "In My Time of Dying", and "Kashmir". The Danelectro also made an appearance at the band's reunion for the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records in 1988.

Jimmy with the Danelectro in 1988

The guitar in it's original production was discontinued in 1969, but a re-issue has been manufactured under the name Danelectro DC 1959 which can be found rather cheaply actually.