Danelectro Cool Cat CD-1 Distortion

It's fairly easy to get a good sound out of this red box if you can work the concentric knobs. The knobs are a double-edged sword of sorts. They are tricky to set initially but can not be kicked in the heat of battle. The manual is informative and makes you want to try more Cool Cats. Call me a sucker but Danelectro has a way with words.

Overall, I have had a hard time making this pedal sound bad.

Current setup Peavey JF-2 (335 clone) >> USSR Big Muff >> Cool Cat Distortion >> Boss CE-2 >> Ampeg GV-22 (6L6 212 combo.) The Ampeg has no onboard gain and stays reasonably clean at high volumes. I needed a more usable distortion than my Big Muff (weird, I know) and checked some Youtube videos since there were few reviews. I was pleased with what I heard and decided to order one for myself. To say the least I am impressed with how good this pedal sounds. I owned a DS-1 for a while so I know the definition of mediocre tone. It blows me away something in the same price range can blow the doors off of not only the DS-1 but pedals 2, 3 or even 4 times the price of this thing.

The bass and treble controls are superior to the standard tone control option. It can deliver thin and gritty to thick and fat. You can keep your highs and enjoy some bass too. Wonderful concept. The gain control starts as a mild glassy crunch/boost and wobbles onto classic rock Heaven. You can keep turning and it will get some serious sustain, almost metal territory, but I don't need it. It plays nice with your guitar's volume controls and the pedal won't forget your guitar's or amp's tone.

To put it simply, it sounds like itself and that's cool with me.

Solid metal case and an overall tough feel. I don't see the knobs falling off and the switch has a satisfying click when you step on it (but no pop on your amp.) If you were worried you could buy and have better tone than pedals in the higher price range and still afford backup but I can't envision this pedal failing on me.

Never called.

I like to classic rock with this pedal and it serves me well. It can sustain for some solo tones or provide a glassy crunch for milder situations. It works for country, blues, rock and even a little metal. I've been playing guitar for 6 years and have owned a fair share of bad modeling amps and pedals so I can appreciate nice gear. If I managed to lose this I'd buy another Cool Cat due to the impressive quality. I love everything about this pedal. The gain control is versatile, the tone never loses its meat, there's always some extra volume on tap and it's not fizzy.

I won't say it's good for the price range because it's comparable to pedals far beyond it's cost. Anything in its price range can only weep tears of defeat in the presence of this cool cat. I am satisfied with my purchase and will happily buy more Danelectro products in the future.

Very straight forward. Level, drive and a nice stacked low/high tone.

Pretty quiet.
This can clone all of the sounds in my Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde (Hyde Distortion Side) except that it is smoother...a bit less raspy.(I'm selling the Jekyll & Hyde...the Cool Cat Transparent Overdrive does the Jekyll side exactly)!
I use it with a bi-amp set up with a Peavey Classic 30 and a Fender Stage 112 (SS). Only use the power amps since I use the Tech 21 Sanamp Tri-AC for preamps.

Not for metal. More blues or classic rock. They have Cool Cat Metal pedals (2) but I haven't tried them.

Seems well built. Solid mechanical bypass, but no pop.
Metal case. Pots feel solid.

But have a Danelectro Chicken Salad Vibe that didn't work and inside I found several components on the board NOT EVEN SOLDERED! Fixed once soldered.

Given production nowadays, I wouldn't be surprised if the Cool Cat series and the Vibe are not even from the same factory.

N/A since I fix things myself.

They do have a dedicated email address to "Marcy" who is guaranteed to make any customer service issue right.

Web site directs you well how to contact service

Just can't beat this sound and sturdiness for this price. Less than 1/3 the $ of the Visual Sound pedal.