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Mediocringly Derivative
Danelectro Bellzouki 12-String
http://www.ggjaguar.com/12string.htm
The Danelectro Bellzouki, Model 7010, was introduced in the early 1960s and the example here dates circa 1966. It has a teardrop-shaped body composed of a poplar frame with 1/8 inch masonite covering. The truss rod reinforced, bolt-on maple neck is capped by a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with an aluminum nut. The bridge is the typical Dano chrome steel plate with straight, non-adjustable rosewood saddle. The electronics consist of one “lipstick tube” single coil pickup, a 3-way toggle for tone selection, a master volume and a master tone control.
The Dano is impossible to play sitting unless a shoulder strap is used. The teardrop body simply slides off the player’s thigh. Of course, smart Dano players use the 2-pickup Bellzouki Model 7020 which has a 4-point tear drop sculpted body. The body shape on this model is more amenable to playing while sitting. The neck profile on the Bellzouki is nicely oval and the fingerboard radius quite flat. The nut width is also wider than any of the other guitars in this comparison which, when combined with the 24 1/2 inch scale length, makes playing a bit easier while not being a chore as on some acoustic 12-string guitars.
The lipstick tube pickup yields a wonderfully complex sound. It’s bright, but it doesn’t jangle the eardrums and nerves quite as much as the other models. The tone control toggle’s effect on the guitar’s sound is subtle and does not provide much tone shaping. The master tone knob is more effective. With only one pickup, the Dano is the least versatile of the bunch, but the rich sound more than makes up for any shortcoming in that area. It’s amazing that a guitar so “cheap” can sound so very good.
