Danelectro D-1 Fab Distortion

I wasnt going to write a review for this since it already has so many but here you go.

Level Tone and Gain controls set out in front of the pedal takes a little getting used to but otherwise no real problems.

Ok its not about getting the sounds of my favourite artists- although this IS important to me, but thats more abput the WAY that I play. Whats most important to me with a distortion box is transparency which this box has.

EQ is exactly the same as bypassed. No bass or mids taken, none added. Afterall its the job of gain boxes to do exactly that- add gain and distortion to your signal and NOTHING else.

I set the tone control to just below halfway. Turn the tone control up and this seems to add more mids which I didnt want.

Gain is all the way up which gives just the desired british crunch. To add more sustain and bite I use an OD in front of this. The pedal however even without a boost from OD offers full bodied rich distortion and plenty of dynamics.

I have absolutely no worries about the reliability of this unit.

Who cares. I'll just buy another if I need to

SUPER VALUE pedal. I play shredder rock and heavy metal. Vai, Extreme, Dreamtheater.

I use this pedal alongside Bad Monkey Overdrive into a Fender Blues Junior. The distortion is rich and full. i have tried so many different distortion boxes from keeley to MXR. This is the best one. Great crunch like an old marshall. Combine with an OD for extra sustain and bite.

the best quality about this pedal is it's eq transparency which fully compliments abd does not affect your guitars natural tone.

Simple - Gain / Tone / Volume. On/off switch. LED for status.

Gain and Volume are very responsive, but the Tone knob is a bit sensitive on the last portion of it's rotation - which makes it a tad difficult to set the Tone just right.

Other than that - no issues.

OK, I give it a 10 - but please do read on and I'll explain. You have to take this for what it is: Probably the best distortion pedal you could get for the price. $15, but it sounds just as good as any other. Taste is a different matter, but as for quality - it superb. Attack is full of presence and decay is natural and with plenty of sustain.

It's very thick sounding, no mid scoop. At high gains it gets a bit fizzy with humbuckers, but with singles, it's alright.

I can get good Hendrix-like tones with it, ZZ top, Black Crowes, Warren Haynes-like is also possible.

I ran it through a Peavey Classic 30 tube amp with an AmSe Strat and Ibanez Artstar (MIJ).

So as far as sound QUALITY-wise - is damn good!

Well, I have it for a short time now, but it's made of plastic which is not the most reassuring.

Never used it

Overall - it is amazing in value. The most you can probably get for such a ridicules low price. If it was stolen - no biggie, cost like a box of smokes, LOL.

FOr blues, rock and everything in between - its awsome. I play for about 8 years and have alot of stuff, from cheap Boss stuff to high end "bootik" pedals. This one will not put a player to shame :)

Easy to use with only three knobs but the response it poor - not really a lot of variability in the sound - sounds poor at any setting.

Awful!! This thing should be called the Danelectro midrange pedal because it cuts out all your highs and bass. It sounds like a bag of bees as far as the distortion goes. Buy something else - I wish I had.

Been reliable but I don't like to use it because of the sound. It's all plastic but seems sturdy enough.

Unknown.

It sucks - period. I bought this thing about 4 or 5 years ago and put it in the closet not too long after my purchase. I recently pulled it out and was reminded of why I put it up in the first place. I quit trying to use it for distortion and tried to use it as an overdrive pedal with the distortion turned way down but it can't pull that off either. The sound is just terrible - nothing but dull midrange. I would try a Behringer Distortion before one of these if I were you.

This product is real easy to use - the ease of use is its best feature. The level tone is a bit intense tho - i only have it about 3/4 max ever. The only criticism is the size of the button. its too small and not raised from the rest of the pedal enough meaning unless you stamp on this frail plastic piece of equipment, ypu may not switch from clean to distortion 1st time

The vintage sounds this piee of equipment produce are realy quite amazing when you compare it to others in the same price range.

For me, the rreliability is quite poor. Theres a problem with the wiring meaning i cant put a 9v battery in it but thats just a manufacturing fault for me.

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Overall like i said above, this is brilliant for its price. Only criticisms - made from plastic and design faults with the button.

Easy to use. The knobs aren't backward, they're sticking out the front opposite the guitar player so they just feel backward when you're twiddling them.

I spent the extra 15 bucks to get the Fab Overdrive so I could compare. The silver Fab OD is just like a tubescreamer, with a thick blues-friendly midrange hump, and you can't turn the effect all the way down with the drive knob. With this red Fab Distortion you can turn the drive all the way down and use as a totally clean boost; and it's a very EQ-transparent distortion--just like cranking a preamp tube on whatever amp you put it in front of, no tone change, just nice distortion up to and including 70's/80's hard rock levels. Not a cascaded-gain nu-metal thing, more like an old cranked non-master volume Marshall/Boogie/whatever. The tone knob is unremarkable but does what you need it to. Great pedal at any price.

No problems so far. Don't jump up and down on it.

I use a One-Spot AC adapter and it works fine, don't need the proprietary Dano power supply.

don't know

I've been playing for 30 years. I play real Strat, real Les Paul, crappo travel electric, misc. acoustics, and bass. I write and record at home and this pedal adds nicely to my tone pallette, and it's easy to transport to jams (and cheap so I worry not). I really like the lack of tone coloration, just a straightforward clean boost or distortion like adding another channel on the floor. I'm keeping the Fab Overdrive as well for blues jams. Rating a 10 for fantastic value, if it was $100 I'd say the same thing. I've compared to many distortion pedals, all of them more expensive, but none were better.

Extremely easy to use but of course you have to spend time with it to get your sound.

I have a Strat with a vintage Fender Vibrolux tube amp. I use this pedal with my humbucker in the bridge position. It sounds FANTASTIC !
I am updating my review because I've had a chance to compare it with other pedals. For $25. this thing holds it's own. I bought a Tube Works Real Tube Overdrive pedal with a 12AU7 tube in it which sounds amazing. The Danelectro sounded identical except it gives you a more solid state tighter bottem end sound. The Tube Works has a slightly mushier tube-like bottem end. I use the two together for nice sustainy Pink Floyd type solos. I would say this Danelectro sounds as good or maybe better than alot of the pedals out there. Keep in mind that I am not a Danelectro fan at all. This pedal is different.

So far no problems

Never had to.

I've been playing professionally for 30 years with vintage Fender guitars and amps. I play Classic Rock, Country-Rock, Blues, Pop, etc..
With my guitar in the humbucker bridge position I use this pedal to get all my Zeppelin, AC/DC, Pink Floyd type sounds. For all the blues, Santana and SRV stuff I use tubescreamers. This pedal has a natural tube-like sound but with a tight bottom end. I'd heard about this pedal from other guitarists whose opinions I listen to because they are seasoned pros. The icing on the cake is the price. Normally, I stay away from Danelectro pedals but this one is in a league of it's own.

Very easy, but it is set up differently from most pedals. The knobs turn counterclockwise for vol, gain and bass to treb and face away from you. The manual says it is a high gain devise.....cool

I was quite supprised! This unit is full, has a warm tube-like crunch and has plenty of gain. I was messing around through a Highway 1 Strat into the FAB and into an old Ibanez flanger with the speed width and regen all the way down and I swear that is the closest I have ever come to sounding like Hendrix...my wife who just doesn't care about what I do on guitar and doesn't like Hendrix even noticed that!!! I haven't noticed much noise but I haven't cranked up yet since I got it. I use it through a Randall RG100sc and it sounds great. It sounds a little raspy through my Fender Frontman ( its the speakers. I like the gain all the way up, tone at 12:00 and level somewhere around 11:00.

It is plastic but seems tough enough. the jacks don't look sturdy but for $16.00 who cares?

uh dunt know!

I play metal/blues/southern rock and my own stuff. Been at it since 1979. Have Randal amps, a Peavey Classic and a fender Frontman. Use Strat, Electra Phoenex x150, Aria Pro hollow body, Carvin Ultra V and a couple acoustics. I use vintage Ibanez and Boss pedals plus a couple newer ones. I also have a plastic Arion chorus which is suprisingly good for being cheap and plastic. This FAB is great and unbelievable for the price. It has a great late 60's sound and a little like Boston with a slick chorus and the tone at 4:00. It does make my other pedals look like an old K-car from the 1980s and its a reconditioned 57 chevy ( or red Barchetta).

its so easy to use, 3 switches, level, tone, and gain. the manual
is not that useful.

i use an ibanez rg 570 and an artcore guitar->ibanez wah->fab distortion-> boss metal zone->ibanez delay echo. well for the price it sounds great but my only complain is that when the guitar is switched to the neck pick up, the distortion sound is quite muffled. but when switched to the bridge pick up it sounds great. good sound for classic hard rock sound. must set the tone at 12 o'clock. nice crunch tone. noisy if you do not set it right. the knobs are confusing at first because of the location on the pedal i think you'll get the idea

well, its made of plastic and its made from china (well every darn thing these days are made from china). well as well it passed the quality control i think there's no problem. the switch is quite weird to step on. but i don't recommend stomping it very hard. i use a gator g-bus 8 power supply to fuel this thing. as long as it stays safely on a pedal board it will last longer

never dealt with them

well for the price it's worth it. i own a boss ds-1, its a sounds alike but the ds-1 sounds great for low end settings, the fab distortion can get really muffled and muddy. if your looking for a dirty overdriven sound this pedal works for you. especially if your on a budget

Its easy to use allright! Three knobs! Just plug in, turn each one and learn instantly what they do! No patches or anything complex.
The manual was basic, and carried a health warning about its "high gain" status! Still, if it shredded up my speaker, I wouldn't be happy.

Don't buy a POD, thats information overload!

Its a cool sounding unit too. The best tones are maybe those with the volume up, and the gain down.

My setup is either a Saga strat or a Vintage SG copy (needs some new frets!) into the Dano pedal, then a Marshall echohead, then into either a Kay 50B amp or a MArshall MG15 CDR. With the MG15 it sounds a bit too bright, but thats the amp's fault as it has a wee speaker. With the Kay its a different story, much better sounding. The Kay produces a nice clean sound, or you can add a certain amount of gain on that amp too, even though its a one channel affair. With a strat you can use the Dano pedal with the distortion right down as a simple clean boost, increasing volume and presence without applying any of its own nastyness!

The pedal can also be used as a silencer. Turn the output knob right down and its completely quiet. Very useful for swapping guitars onstage without the BANG!!!! That can damage speakers y'know!

For ?20 you cannot really fault it, it should be worth a lot more than ?20 at least. Really you could get a Boss if you felt especially strongly for a metal case, but other than that its no difference. The only gripe is that turning down the volume on your guitar doesn't control the pedal enough to my liking, instead it gives an indefenite scratchy tone on high gain settings. Not to worry though!

Here is the thing. I know its ?20, I paid for it myself. This means I take CARE of it. Where does this tredition of crushing baby pedals come from anywhere? Its not cool to lumber up ontop of your amp so you can jump on your pedal from a terrific height! I would gig it without backup, just because I am going to really take care of it. I doubt it will screw me up anyway!

I would never have bought a single Dano pedal in the past. They looked so flimsy, and had rubbish names like "fried fish and rhubarb sauce delay" or "pickled walnut and goat's testicle pie Chorus" or whatever. Stupid ugly rancid pedals. So I have yet to deal with them, but hey, ?20 for a new one isn't so bad, so hey!

I play a sort of unique Jazz/Grunge/Indie style. Basically the clever chord voicings of Jazz with the sloppyness of Grunge, and the Indie all comes from my Drummer, Gordon.

Want to hear this racket? http://www.myspace.com/thekillerpylons

I only use delay and distortion at the moment. But what did the artists in the 1960s and 1970s use? The same stuff. Okay I could get a bit of chorus in my signal if I was looking for it. Fab chorus? another ?20? aye! Sometime soon.

If it where stolen, I would find the thief and make him use rubbish Behringer cheapo pedals. They may look better than the Fabs (although the Fabs look a little like Roger Mayer Octavias?) but their reliability is terrible. Here is why. Behringer solder the input and output "jills" straight onto the PCBs. Step on the jack and you break the circuit boards, which does not a happy pedal make.

Also Behringers leave the factory in a non-working condition sometimes! THese are non environmentally friendly pedals, as I bet at least one has been flushed down the toilet, and tonnes of them endup in out landfill sites and strewn on beaches every year!

Still, the Danelectro is BETTER THAN BEHRINGER. have I made myself clear?

The easiest thing about using this pedal is taking it home from the store so cheap. Getting good tone from it is similarly easy.

Mind-blowingly good. This pedal reminds me what TOUCH SENSITIVE means. When you have it set right, you can tell it how to sound with your playing. Dig in and it will back off the highs and push the mids. Chill out and it chills with you. The lows on this are fantastic ... So thick, and that's with a strat.

I'm not using a bright amp, this is a Pignose G40V I'm running into, a nice thick amp in its own right (based on an old Bassman circuit). This pedal into this amp is heaven.

Notes hit hard start off thick and then slowly the highs blossom out from the thickness, often carrying with them an octave-up harmonic ... This pedal practically plays itself.

Not sure about this ... I think I want a backup just in case.

I've tried to find out what circuit this is based on, they either don't know or they're not telling.

WONDERFUL pedal. Read what I wrote, listen to the cool things it does, and then play through this pedal again with these traits in mind. You'll understand then. This pedal is a GEM.