Danelectro Cool Cat Series CO-1 Drive

Just three knobs: Volume, Tone, and Drive. That's it! Easy as pie. STEEL Input and Output jacks, and a sturdy 9 Volt Jack. Battery compartment on the bottom is easy to use.

I have a large pedal board loaded with many "boutique" overdrive/distortion pedals, and this Cool Cat Drive is putting
them to shame! With a thick overdrive that cleans up well with the guitar volume, this pedal has, to my ears, an old Plexi turned-up
sound. Good low-end and enough mids and highs. I just couldn't believe my ears when I first heard it! I use it with my Peavey Classic 30 on clean, and my 1981 Fender Walnut "The STRAT" loaded with Vintage Vibe Guitars SP-90 pickups.

Seems very sturdy with the metal case and steel jacks. The 3PDT True Bypass switch feels strong. Haven't had it long enough to form an opinion on the reliability, so a "9". But, so far, so good. No problems with it whatsoever (unlike one of my expensive "boutique" pedals that arrived brand-new with a bad 9 volt jack!).

Never dealt with the company, so, no opinion.

I play rock & blues styles, and this pedal is a good match for either. It nails the Plexi Marshall sound very well. I would get another one if lost or stolen! This is my go-to distortion pedal now.
I've played for over 38 years, and this simply is one of the BEST overdrive/distortion pedals I've ever heard. And at $23, it's a steel! This should give those overpriced boutique pedal makers something to think about!

Here's another simple one, with three controls between you and the tone of your dreams. Or not, it's all in the eye of the beholder, right?

10/10 because if you can't find something to like with 3 knobs, you're going to be screwed when you get to the dreaded 5-knob pedals... and heaven protect you from a 10-band EQ or something of equal complexity.

Unlike the few pedals in the series with concentric "stacked" pots, this one suffers no difficulty in making adjustments.

Oh, man. This one's awesome. Very thick and warm distortion tone, but plenty of midrange and treble definition. Great for fat rhythm guitar or great, sustaining, liquid leads.

I run mine after the Cool Cat Transparent Overdrive, and set the CO-1 Drive's gain at about 2/3 and Tone just above noon. The result of that layering is awesome synergy between the two pedals, with the Transparent Overdrive inspiring some sparkle and glass with the Drive's thicker, layered sound. Very, very cool. I'm not saying it sounds like '80s Satriani, but if you're wanting to sound thick but clear like that, this would be a great combo.

10/10 because there is no reason for a budget pedal to sound this good. Absolute insanity. It's upsetting my whole pedal value structure, relieving my board of pedals worth literally ten times the price.

Interestingly, the Cool Cat Distortion is billed as the "British" sound, but I think that the Drive in conjunction with the Transparent Overdrive has a lot more of the JCM 800-era Marshall vibe going on. I still haven't given the Distortion a real chance to "wow" me yet, though - just picked it up today. We'll see.

See my review of the Transparent Overdrive for my comments about the reliability of the Cool Cat series.

Does Dan-o have any customer support? I've never heard of anyone talking to them... Honestly, for a pedal this cheap, if for some reason you can't fix it (they use full sized parts and the circuits aren't too complex, so there's a decent chance you or someone you know can repair it), does it hurt that bad to just buy another? Still, it's my sincere hope that I never have to do so - wouldn't it be great if everything lasted as long as you wanted it to?

What more promising experience can you have with a pedal than for it to make every time you turn your amp on a pleasure? I'm a confirmed gear junkie, I guess, but I only keep things I like, and that means that there has been a fair bit of turnaround when things enter my possession but aren't up to my standards for tone. Now, I'm not even pretending to be The Tone Guru, Decider of Tone! Everyone has different tastes. But a review is intended to voice the experiences and thoughts of its author, and I have to say that this pedal is, for me, one of the most remarkable units I've had the pleasure of playing lately. This is one of those rare kinds, indeed: a "value" offering that will quickly earn its way to cult status, and perhaps a giant-killer for Danelectro (as the whole Cool Cat series is shaping up to be, provided the other foot never drops in terms of reliability issues or something distasteful like that).

10/10, and apologies for what must seem like another "glowing" review for a pedal in the Cool Cat series. But I assure you, it is not a superficial one - my experiences with this pedal, as with the other two of which I've written so far, hold me in good conscience to relate the high esteem in which I hold this, the object of my review.