Danelectro was a budget electric guitar brand that was used by often used by pros who loved their twangy lo-fi sound.

Danelectro was founded in 1946 by Nathan Daniel, who began his career making amplifiers in 1933.  In 1954 the first Danelectro electric guitars appeared. In the same year Danelectro also made Silvertone branded guitars for the Fall Sears catalogue.

1955 saw the birth of the ginger coloured model C "peanut" model, with the distincitve coke-bottle shaped headstock, and eventually with lipstick tube covered pickups (they used real lipstick tubes!). The U-1 and U-2 models replaced the C models in 1956, they were essentially the same except in different colours.

The 6 string bass UB-2 model (tuned exactly an octave lower than a guitar) was introduced in 1956.

The sixities saw the emergence of several cool models. The longhorn Guitarlin (with 31 frets - beat that!), the electric sitar.

In 1966 Danelectro was bought by the MCA company, who made big changes. They introduced the Coral brand (remember the Coral electric sitar on the Steely Dan's Do it Again). The brand, in its original form, was wound up in 1969. Lutheir Dan Armstrong aquired some of the surplus parts and sold "Dan Armstrong Modified Danelectros" in 1969.

The brand name has been resurrected by the Evets company who aquired the rights to the name and started to reissue the Dano models in 1995, a time when retro models were making a comeback.

Source Totally Guitar: The Definitive Guide by Tony Bacon