Danelectro Blackout ’59M NOS+ review

Danelectro’s most famous guitar recently celebrated its 60th Anniversary and now gets a stage-aimed refresh for 2023

Danelectro Blackout '59M NOS+
(Image: © Future / Phil Barker)

Guitar World Verdict

The ‘Jimmy Page model’ gets a refresh and proves every bit as relevant today as it ever was, and sounds classically Dano, and that middle position with both pickups in series gives you a seriously fun tone to work with.

Pros

  • +

    Tidy, refreshed version of 64-year old design.

  • +

    Very well set up and in tune.

  • +

    The sound of both pickups on series seals the deal.

Cons

  • -

    Without modding, those stacked controls don’t work independently.

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We last caught up with Danelectro back in 2020 with a pair of typically funky six-strings: the ‘shorthorn’ ’59 Divine and the single-cut ’57. Residing at the upper end of Dano price brackets, neither had that ‘impulse buy’ appeal that many readers will remember of the original reissues.

To be fair, though, the so-called Stock ’59, which is based on the original 1959 3021, kicks off the current range at more wallet-pleasing $459/£549 and features the classic two-pickup double-cut body with a long seal-shaped scratchplate, original-style wooden saddle, and four-way adjustable bridge. 

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Dave Burrluck
Gear Reviews Editor, Guitarist

Dave Burrluck is one of the world’s most experienced guitar journalists, who started writing back in the '80s for International Musician and Recording World, co-founded The Guitar Magazine and has been the Gear Reviews Editor of Guitarist magazine for the past two decades. Along the way, Dave has been the sole author of The PRS Guitar Book and The Player's Guide to Guitar Maintenance as well as contributing to numerous other books on the electric guitar. Dave is an active gigging and recording musician and still finds time to make, repair and mod guitars, not least for Guitarist’s The Mod Squad.