Danelectro AO-1 Wasabi Overdrive

It's not rocket science. It's a pedal with knobs and switches. Plug your axe in flip the switches, turn the knobs and figure out what sounds best. Everything makes sense and is easy to use.

Playing a couple of solid body Reverends, Gretsch electromatic pro jet, Ibanez Jet King II, Easton Hi Flyer and a Hammer Slammer SPF 2 through a Fender Blues Jr. tube amp or Dean Markley K150 solid state. I'm an old school player. Classic rock, southern rock, blues and country - rythm and lead and I'm not a pedal head. One or two pedals are enough for my style of music. I find the sound quality of this box to be real good. There are enough OD settings and gain settings to get a wide array of different OD sounds to suit any taste or song. This is really many OD pedals in one.

On top of all the OD features you get a fantastic "clean" boost switch of +5% or +10% which allows you to cut through the band for leads when you need to.

This one pedal serves the purpose of several overdrive pedals plus a boost pedal and I love having all of that sound packed into one pedal.

No problems so far. Built like a tank.

No opinion

A great pedal for the money and tons of fun!

Since it has a lot of features you might have to spend a little time to dial in the tone you like best. Having said that though it took me maybe a half hour of tweaking to find my sweet spot. The manual is just a chart of what the knobs are meant for.

I find with the EQ set to the "flat" setting, the tone and gain up about 3/4 and the level a little over half you can get a really nice Tube Screamer like overdrive. I have only used it with a strat with single coil pickups so far and I set the switch on the back of the pedal to single coils. I played this with the following setup: Strat>Dano Wah>Wasabi Overdrive>Digitech RP100 (set to just a flat EQ, spring reverb and slight Noise Reduction)> Guild Thunder I tube amp. With this setup I got a really good "Texas Blues" tone that I liked even better than my modded Tube Screamer in the same setup. It sounded just a little more bassy and punchy, especially with the 10db clean boost added. It really made my little combo amp blast! I tried it with my Lab Series L5 solid state amp and was not quite as resposive as the Guild amp but still excellent.

This appears to be a very well built box although I have only had it for less than a week. I would probably use it without a backup if I was gigging but then again I could always break out the Tube Screamer if I needed to..

Way too soon to decide if they are good in this area but I have the Dano Wah and a T Bone distortion pedal that are a few years old and still work perfect and this pedal is way better built than either of those..

I bought this pedal for a bluesy classic rock overdrive and it fits the bill and then some. I have been playing for over 25 years and have a Gibson Sonex 180, a modded Squier strat, a vintage Silvertone amp in guitar/guitar, and an Applause/Ovation acoustic/electric. If it were lost of stolen I'm not sure I'd pay the full list price as I have the Tube Screamer but for 20 bucks from Musicians Friend I wish I had bought two!

5/10 here because there are a great many options which aren't usually found on an overdrive pedal, and the manual - though informative - is a bit difficult to parse. You'll take some time getting to know this pedal before you start getting your sound out of it.

Without a doubt the best overdrive pedal I've used. I've stopped using my reissue Ibanez TS8 because I like this better. It may not be for everyone, though! It is a low-gain overdrive, which I use to add sparkle and body to my sound. I do not use it by itself. In order to get it to a noticable gain level, I've got the gain cranked, but with it cranked the sound is out of this world. Very rich, full-bodied sound.

Spend time getting to know what every setting does, because you will need to work with ALL of them to get 10/10 quality sound. If you're just going to set it and forget it out-of-the-box, expect 3/10 to 6/10 quality. You have to use it right.

It also gets major points because it isn't just an overdrive pedal, it's also a great clean boost. Selectable to +5db or +10db, the clean boost does just what it says and helps to drive other gain devices (pedals or your amp's gain) into thick overdrive. It can be used with OR WITHOUT the overdrive active (two switches, a comfortable distance apart for convenient stage activation, each with their own "on" light). Using both at once turns the relatively mild distortion (even maxed) into a screaming overdrive. You're still not going to even approach high-gain territory, but it's definitely all you'd need for a psychadelic rock outfit.

Great pedal, quite a surprise! I've never been particularly fond of many Dan-o products (though I religiously stand by my Dan-Echo and Fish-n'-Chips EQ), especially the distortions, but this has made a believer out of me.

The housing of this pedal is thick metal, and the switches are characteristically sturdy. I do wonder, though, why Danelectro couldn't use metal input and output jacks like everyone else. Plastic jacks on an expensive pedal with a full metal housing seems very counterintuitive. If anything will fail on this, it will be them (which would make it useless).

THAT SAID, I've got this Danelectro Dan-Echo pedal (their other higher end pedal line's delay model) which was made in 1998, and it is still working just fine - no looseness in the input/output jacks at all. That doesn't mean that they should not have used a superior technology since it was available and well within in the pricerange of the gear.

I don't worry about this pedal failing, but if the input jacks mess up down the road it won't exactly shock me.

I have never needed Danelectro customer service, and from what I hear, I better hope that I never do. Since I haven't had first hand experience I'm not going to rate this, but I've heard real horror stories...

1. What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
--> I play metal and hard rock, in addition to mellower jazz and blues. I use this pedal in some capacity in all of my playing. It's the first thing in my pedal chain and it drives my line.

2. How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
--> I don't see how these questions relate to the pedal review so I'm not answering them.

3. If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
--> I hope it never goes missing, because I don't think I could get another one for $20 brand new. I bought this during Musician's Friend's clearance of the Danelectro Wasabi overdrive and distortion stock (missed the distortion, still kicking myself over that one). That said, I would still probably buy another one because I love how it sounds and what it does in my chain.

4. What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
--> I love its sound and the fact that I can use the clean boost independently of the overdrive. I don't like the "pickup selector" switch on the back that lets you choose between single coil and humbucker input - it doesn't do anything but lower the volume or raise it. My favorite feature would probably be the "mix" control which allows you to mix between dry and wet signal for the output, but that competes heavily with the four different EQ curves which you can select (or "flat" to turn them off) which basically changes the tonal characteristics of this pedal into something completely different for each setting. I like EQ 2 becuase it sounds like a warmer, less upper-midrangey Tube Screamer.

5. Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
--> Yeah, I've used quite a few overdrives. I like them all, but I like this one more. I haven't met a pure overdrive pedal I didn't like. I was lucky to find this, my "holy grail," for only $20 on clearance - I would never have tried it at its previous $100 price, given my past experience with Danelectro's lower end overdrive and distortion pedals.

6. Anything you wish it had?
--> Metal input jacks.

7. Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?
--> After you figure out how it works, it's easy to use and definitely helps. But be prepared to spend time on the learning curve before you get the sounds you want.

Ease of use, well, it's a pedal with dials....pretty much like every pedal in existance.

I bought this as the "stupid deal of the day" from Musicians friend for $19.99. And in my opinion it is the worst device of it's kind I've ever heard. On my Marshall amp, I couldn't get anything even close to the OD that comes on the amp.

I bought this for my fender deluxe reverb silver plate amp which is in the shop right now for a grounding problem, but I seriously doubt I'll ever try it when amp gets back from the shop.

The sound it gives can only be called "toy like". It truly sounds like a little plastic guitar some kid would be playing with. And that's what it made my Les Paul on a Marshall amp sound like.

I'm going to throw it away, so I'll never find out what the reliability is. I wouldn't give this to my worst enemy.

Did not deal with company.

I've been playing for 40 years, any my original "fuzz box" that I bought when I was 13 sounds better than this. DO NOT buy this pedal. It STINKS!

Many options: 5way eq preselector, pu switch (SC/HB/neutral), boost switch (5 db or 10 db), gain, level, tone-pot, mix-poti declared to blen clean sound with effects sound.
Very versatile, but the pprice ist that you have to deal with all the options for a while.

Hmmm, i have mixed emotions. Some overdrive settings just sound bad. Especially when you use the EQ preselector it was hard for me to find a decent sound. After many trials i just left the EQ pre on this "normal", sounds best for my ears. In this position the pedal could have a little more trebles, but it is o.k. if you turn the tone poti almost up.
If i set gain from 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock, mix at 4 or 5 o'clock and tone on 5 o'clock i get a real good overdrive sound, if the pedal is in front of a slightly distorting tube amp. Then the distortion is full, has full basses and mids, is more warm and smooth than aggressive, and deserves 8.5 points.
But i didn't find good sounding settings that sound very different from that. So in my case it is a one trick pony. A little dissapointing for a pedal with such lots of options.
But all the options are worthless if they do not sound good.
In front of a very clean amp it sounded bad inmy ears. Too less overdrive, too bassy, too artificial.

All in all i can't rate the Wasabi Overdrive better than 7.
Usefull in front of a slightly overdriven tubeamp, worthless in front of a very clean amp.

The boost is o.k., but has only 2 options: 5 db or 10 db. 5 is too less for my needs, 10 a little too much in somme cases. But it sounds o.k., doesn't steal bass, doesn't steal tone.

Built like a german tank, 10 of 10!

no idea

If i regard the overdrive sound and the price, i could not rate it higher than 7. Plus one point for the decent clean boost it offers.
Makes 8 point. If price was higher i'd rate it maximum 6 points, all in all.

alot of choices there can take quite abit of fiddling around to find the best sound ,the dry/wet mix is a smart idea

i genarally dont like the tone of this thing ,sounds way to artificial compared to a rat or a dod preamp/od ,i say stick with the classics even if they have less options, this thing steals highs and recreates them artificialy

this thing is built like a brick shithouse ,you could probabley have a contest to see how far you could throw it with out it breaking,no backup needed on the road (maybe a better sounding pedal though)

i play alot of different styles that i need good drive sounds for but this one doesn??t cut the mustard.i find it dull or artificial sounding ,i??ve been playing for 20 years right now i play a gretsch country classic 2 with a sovtek mig100 ,i guess my set up is pretty top notch for a basic classic sound,the dan o.d just doesn??t seem to fit there.even though it looks cool
normaly an o.d will open up a valve amp and make it rip, this one doesn??t ,i chose it cos i needed a o.d that could do 2 volume levels for a tour with uncertain borrowed amps,one good thing is its tough and doesn??t get chipped or dented easily which is cool cos mines up for sale next week in e-bay

This overdrive pedal is 5 types of distortion pedal in one just by changing the EQ Select. Then it has all the normal overdrive pedal controls you can use such as Level, Tone, Drive, and a super cool option to adjust the mix of your dry signal and the overdriven signal. On top of that it has a pickup selector switch to adjust for your pickup-type (has humbucker-off-single modes)

Another great feature of this pedal is the boost switch, which acts as a clean boost switch (works with overdrive on or off!!!), and there is a switch to adjust for a 5db or 10db boost.

I can't say that it is any better than an eight. This pedal has some good sounds with it, and it works really well with the Wasibi Distortion. The bad thing about this pedal is that it seems to lack some natural feel to it, like it has a built in noise filter or something. I have a Boss SD1 which sounds much more natural and raw, which is what I like. Also, if you are paying full price for this thing, I would highly suggest looking at the Nady TD-1, which has one of the best OD type sounds I have heard (even alot better than the Boss).

Don't know, I sold it on ebay after buying the Nady TD-1.

The world has gone mad. Read all the reviews, listened to the website, tried it out, acutally all 3 ( Orverdive, Distortion and Metal ) and bought all 3!

These are a no brainer . No choice . No decision to be made . For the money you get exactly what it says on the tin. I have all 3 on my board, side by side. You can do anything with these 3 . Take a tip/advice/guidance from a player of 30 years, just get them.

Spot on !

Spot on( so far )

Dont know, but I assume its good

No I dont work for the company, no I dont sell anything, no I dont have an axe to grind, hang on I do grind my axe !! . Just get em !!

Ein Haufen Kn?pfe und Regler - ungew?hnlich viele f?r einen Verzerrer - aber bei jedem einzelnen ist klar, was er macht.
Von den 7 Reglern ver?ndern 4 nur die Lautst?rke an verschiedenen Stellen im Signalweg, einer dreht H?hen raus und einer mischt Original-Signal und Effekt-signal. Eq-Selekt hat 5 Stellungen: "Das ist dein Amp, so klingst Du nun mal", "Komisch, Bass und H?hen sind voll auf und der Drummer ist immer noch lauter", "?bungsverst?rker", "Marshall f?r Schlaghosentr?ger" "Enge Hosen, Blonde Locken, rosa Gitarren: 80's HardRock. "

Setup: Les Paul - Boss TU2 - Wasabi AO1 - Ibanez Delay DL10 - Wasabi Chorus/Trem - Sovtek Mig50, 2x12 Celestion-Box.

Ich benutze den Zerrer, um den Einkanaler-Amp anzublasen, den ich so aufgedreht habe, dass er leicht anzerrt. Die Zerre ist immer an, f?r Solo tret ich auf den Booster. Habe festgestellt, dass diese Methode unabh?ngig vom Amp (ich habe noch zwei verschiedene Fenders) IMMER richtig gut klingt. Dabei steht der EQ auf Flat. Mit den Fenders nehme ich auch gern die "Marshall"-?hnlichen Einstellungen 3 und 4. Pickup-Schalter "Off". Drive ca 1 Uhr, Mix 4-5Uhr, H?hen voll auf.

Mein Klangideal, also klassische "60's/70's: Les Paul + Plexi" Sounds sind damit im Handumdrehen zu kriegen: Page, Allman, Gibbons, Santana, Moore, Kossof, Clapton, Slash.... was ihr wollt. ?ber andere Soundvorstellungen kann ich nicht viel sagen. Der Grundsound ist erstklassig, und probieren geht ?ber studieren.

Der Trick, einen Hauch Originalsignal beizumischen, bewahrt Punch und Definition, die bei den meisten Zerrern schnell fl?ten gehen. Klingt sahnig, schmatzig, durchsetzungsf?hig, offen. Und dynamisch: Die Verzerrung ist per Anschlag oder in h?heren Drive-Einstellungen per Volume-Regler an der Gitarre steuerbar. Absolut klasse, wie ein echter R?hrenamp.

EQ-Stellung 1: Eigentlich der typische unbrauchbare NuMetal - "Ich h?r mich nicht" - Kacksound. Jetzt kommt's: Akustik-Gitarre eingest?pselt (in meinem Fall: Piezo ohne Preamp), Pickup-Schalter "Hum", Drive soweit runter, dass der Sound clean bleibt - - - gibt einen richtig guten Akustik-Sound ?ber PA!! Die schrillen Piezo-H?hen werden angenehm "aufgeweicht", die feedbackgef?hrlichen Mitten sind rausgefiltert, und die B?sse bleiben straff. Okay, das ist sicher mit den passenden Ger?ten noch besser hinzukriegen, aber als schnelle L?sung im Notfall oder mal f?r einen Song zwischendurch absolut brauchbar. Ich habe ganz gut gestaunt.

If "Jeff" is wondering about the "10": you own the AX-1, i talk about the AO-1. Wrong Thread, Dummy ;).

Der erste, den ich bekam, verlor den Boost-Schalter nach ein paar Stunden. Fertigungsfehler - Kann passieren. Der zweite, auf Garantie, war fehlerfrei. Das AC-1 ebenfalls. Keine Bedenken.

Kein Bedarf bislang. Aber: Auslieferung mit einer frischen Batterie! Das betrachte ich als aufmerksamen Service.

Ich bin mittlerweile so abh?ngig von dem Ding, dass ich mir ein zweites als Backup zugelegt habe. Die Wasabis werden leider schon nicht mehr produziert und man weiss ja nie......

Ich habe ?ber die Jahre (ich bin seit 25 Jahren Gitarrist, nie Zuhause, nur in Bands, Live und Studio) folgende Verzerrer besessen: Boss OD-3, Boss SD-1, Big Muff, Digitech X-irgendwas (alle verkauft), Ibanez Fat Cat, HK Tubeman, (meine ersten, lange benutzt und noch in meinem Besitz), Rocktron Austin Gold (benutzt mein Band-Kumpel zurzeit). Der AO-1 ist der mit Abstand beste f?r mich. Der Rocktron kommt an zweiter Stelle.

Wenn man den Wasabi vor irgendeinen R?hrenamp h?ngt, hat man immer mindestens einen beeindruckend guten Sound zur Verf?gung und kann per Boost dann nochmal Solo-m?ssig einen draufsetzen. Die Allzweckwaffe f?r jede Gelegenheit. Den gebe ich nicht mehr her.

It's a pretty simple product. You play and spend some time with this pedal and you'll find something you like unless you're a metal head of some sort.
The manual is very basic but explains what you need to know.

I'm using an American Series Telecaster into a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb. I'll also use my Boss Overdrive with this for a really fat OD. It's good stuff with the tele on the bridge pup. It's raw and nasty.
I find this pedal can be a little buzzy depending on the room.
With the different settings you can get something Bassman like to Vox to Marshall (I said something like, not exactly). I think you can get some good punk sounds on here to some blues or emo.
The great features for a cheap pedal like this are the boost and it's adjustment (yes, it works), the option for setting it for single coils or humbuckers, and the eq.

I'm not sure if I can depend on it. I haven't read about anyone else having this problem. But at a couple shows after playing for a while, the pedal will totally kill the signal. I've been lucky both times as it's occurred in between songs. I'm going to keep using it but with readiness to dump it when it fails. I plan to have it checked out eventually.
The pedal is heavy and feels reliable, but the controls and inputs all feel weak.
The lights are pretty cool looking.
My dog has poo'ed on it a few times and it's still going. Just don't ask me in public why it's getting brown.

Never dealt with them. Maybe I should give them a call about the killing signal thing.
I don't think the warranty covers the dog poop.

I play alternative style music in a band, a few covers but mostly original songs. This pedal fits the style.
I've been playing for about six years. I have a tele, a strat and an epiphone dot along with some acoustics.
If this were lost I'd replace it if I could find it for the price I paid before (Guitar Center sale) or I'd experiment with a different pedal.