Kickin off a hot Friday at the salt mine with About Time. The cheap PC speakers really picked up on the bass lines on that track and I was struck by the piano like sound of it.

Was that a baritone or was it the effect of the high quality bridge that Dano uses in the Longhorns?

Hey Bart- Somewhere around here I have a piece of paper that tells which bass I used to record each song on 'About Time', but I sure can't find it at the moment. I think it was the Longhorn though, and I played it with a pick, which may account for it sounding brighter than some of the other songs. Incidentally, that bass is a sort of "hybrid vigor" instrument made by Hondo in Japan during the late 70s lawsuit era. They 'bass'ically copied the old Danelectro body shape and headstock, but made it a long scale, solid body instrument incorporating the premium parts of the day- DiMarzio P-bass pickup, heavy brass nut and bridge, and Schaller tuners. So it's sort of a Precision Bass that looks like a Danelectro...

Thanks Tom and how cool to be a Hondo. Kind of like Jones has been doing in the States?

I have one of the Dano baritiones and that is why it struck me. Plus it sounded like it was tuned differently than a "normal" bass. Very distinct and cool sound sir.

SEEMS like there's some baritone or six string bass on there, too, isn't there, Tom? Didn't George play some of those licks on something like that? WW

At the Work Play, Tony played a baritone on parts of this song. I was sitting in front of Tony's side of the stage. The cameraman pretty much ignored Tony in this song, except on the intro where Tony was playing rhythm on another guitar mounted on a stand. So it would make sense that he would be playing baritone on it to replicate the sound on the record.

Why do I remember stuff like this, when I couldn't tell you where my car keys are at any given time. Except when I'm driving, then I have a pretty good idea where the keys are.

I recently got a Dano baritone from an old friend, Bart. It has a couple of issues, but it's a lot of fun to mess around with, especially since it's a Hodad model with the built-in effects. The Jerry Jones instruments are much closer to the original Danelectros in construction and electronics than the Hondos, with the main differences being the upgraded tuners and bridges on some models. In fact, his early guitars were such accurate reproductions of the Danos that he had to alter the shape of the bodies slightly to avoid legal problems. And as Webb and Snake pointed out, there IS a baritone part played by George in addition to the bass guitar on "Had To Laugh". It sounds kinda like a clavinet, so that may be the piano-like tone you were referring to instead of the actual bass line.

Incidentally, I played my circa 1966 Silvertone bass, which was made for Sears by Danelectro, on our run through the Midwest last week. I love the sound of those 'lipstick' pickups...

Actually, some "cheap PC speakers" like Bart mentions really would tend to emphasize that baritone part instead of the real bass line...

We have several Danos in the house, including a Hodad in the "fabulous" blue sparkle mother of toilet seat finish. That and the baritone so I can play spaghetti western stuff.

Those pickups are unique. They just hate certain amps too.