SOLD!!! Silvertone U1 Short Scale Electric Guitar, 1960

The Danelectro company built guitars for many retailers, including Sears Roebuck. The Silvertone U1 was one of the models sold by Sears throughout the USA from the 1950s to the 1960s.

Designed to be inexpensive and readily available to the masses, Danelectro and Silvertone guitars were built using common materials, those these were sometimes unusual for instruments. Many of these guitars had a poplar core with formica or masonite tops and backs, with leatherette trim on the sides. Necks were often poplar with rosewood for the fingerboards and the bridge saddle. The nut was aluminum and the bridge plate steel, and were screwed into place. Still, these guitars have a unique tone, and are very light, making them popular on stages and recordings.

This is a 1960 Silvertone U1 in short scale, or 3/4 scale version, with a single lipstick tube pickup in the middle position. These guitars were sold only through the Sears Wish Book – their Christmas Catalog. In addition to the short scale, this guitar features a speckled bronze sparkle top. It is in overall good condition with not a lot of wear, but a few scratches and dents. Sold without case.