1962 Danelectro Silvertone R&D Guitar Vincent Bell
1,049 views · Published 2 September 2016 · 4:15 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: Danelectro Guru · 2016 · Music
All Rights Reserved 2016 © Doug Tulloch. This is a working prototype of a Silvertone/Danelectro model #1449 guitar with stand that was conceived, built, & painted by the legendary Vincent Bell in late 1961 in the Danelectro factory for the sole purpose of Research and Development including testing neck pitch and neck relief designs, testing neck materials, and many other of Bell's design concepts in that period. These tests resulted directly in the development of Danelectro's innovative ‘Neck Tilt’ design, left un-patented by Danelectro, and as a result, later patented by Leo Fender as the "Micro-Tilt". It served as a test instrument for seven years until 1969 when the Neptune, N.J. Danelectro factory closed down for good. Vincent Bell took this ‘Neck Jig’ home with him and it resided in his basement for the next 39 years until 2008 when I purchased it directly from him. Unique to the guitar is the absence of the steel truss rods present in all Danelectro built instruments. This lack of a truss rod accommodated the bolts that threaded directly into the back of the neck right through to the fingerboard. It was purposely built this way by Vincent Bell. No headstock logo was ever applied. No serial number assigned. No strap buttons were ever installed. No strap button holes were ever drilled. No "Neck-Tilt" slug in the neck heel. The pick guard mounting screw nearest the input jack was never installed/drilled either. This was not a regular production guitar pulled off the line but was built specifically by Vincent Bell for the intended purpose...R&D testing. It was featured in my book, Neptune Bound, The Ultimate Danelectro Guide.
