Danelectro D-1 Fab Distortion

Insanely easy to use, like 99% of the pedals you'll get. Knobs are on the side so you might forget which way to turn it to get more or less of something.

My setup is: Washburn BT-4 --> Dunlop Cry Baby GCB-95 --> Danelectro FAB Distortion D-1 --> Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi USA (which is THE pedal) --> Behringer GMX212 100 watt (excellent deal for the price).

It is a little bit noisy, a little bit of hiss when you're not playing. I like my tone set at about 12 o'clock. The tone dial doesn't do much (compared to other distortion pedals), and there's always sufficient low end wherever you put the tone dial. I like how the level dial can make it pretty loud, which is great for going from clean to big distortion.

It sounds like your average distortion pedal. Not as good as a BOSS DS-1, but kind of close. If you're one of those generic teens who likes Metallica, Zeppelin, AC/DC, etc then you'll probably like this.

There isn't really any fuzz, just a good hard rock tone that you've heard a million times. What do you expect?

One thing I noticed is that it always sounds very muffled, like my amp is behind a wall when I play with this pedal. I certainly can't complain, they were literally giving these away.

It's pretty sturdy, but I wouldn't stomp on it. The button is plastic, and the graphics are stickers.

I think there was a glitch in mine right from the box, when ever I would hit a power chord hard it made this click/pop noise. I took off the back and dinked around with it and now I think it's fixed.

Never dealt with the folks. If you need to get this thing repaired, I guarantee you it would be cheaper to just go buy another one.

I think the company are pretty cheap because this doesn't come with a battery. When I went to Radio Shack to get an adapter, it cost more than Guitar Center was selling the pedal for!

I play grunge, groove metal, alternative, primus, old-school hardcore punk, and noise rock. I don't use this to seriously play anything, just as a toy to mess around with because it was free.

I like the low end on this, I'll admit it has perhaps a bit more than a BOSS DS-1. But a DS-1 doesn't sound like there's a wall in front of your amp.

If you're a beginner, this is a great pedal for you. Nothing too fancy, real simple tone, very cheap.

Also, if you want to modify a pedal, this is for you. Just take a flathead screwdriver and remove the back and you have easy access to all the internal parts! It's only $15, if you mess up on something it's no big deal.

I'd like it to have some more distortion (The FAB Metal pedal would probably be a lot better for that) and a clearer tone. Maybe a better design, you gotta admit that this thing looks hokey. It's perfect for just rehashing the same blues-based hard rock riffs that you've heard a million times. It really doesn't stand out from all the pedals I've played, but if you just want something that sounds pretty good for an obnoxiously cheap price, I recommend this.

Three knobs. Level, Tone, and Dist (distortion). Don't get much easier than that.

Sound quality is surprising good considering I paid only $15. But go easy on the Level knob - at higher levels it can get noisy. Leave the Tone knob at the 12 o'clock position and you can control the tone from your guitar. The Dist knob works great - use just a little bit and it does a great job on Stevie Ray Vaughan stuff, or crank it to the max to sound like Pete Townshend on The Who's "Live At Leeds".

It seems pretty reliable so far, but, even though it's a stompbox, don't stomp on it. It's a plastic case! And, VERY IMPORTANT, when not in use, unplug the input jack, otherwise you'll be buying more 9V bats than you need to.

Havn't had the need for any customer support yet, but at 15 bucks I doubt I'll ever need it.

I play blues with a Strat and an Epi LP Junior through an Alesis Spitfire 60 (completely clean settings), and this pedal compliments my present setup, in which I use a DigiTech RP-50 for my "baseline" sound, and other pedals to embellish it. I'd definitely recommend it, because for $15 how can you go wrong? I think Danelectro hit it right on the nail. Here's hoping they continue and I look forward to other FAB pedals in the future.

Level, Tone, Distortion, on/off... very simple to use. The position of the knobs is a bit weird, but you get used to it quickly.

Using this with a standard Tele and a cheap-o strat, into various cheap and expensive effects, into Guitar Rig 2.0. Eventually I'm going to get The Vox AD30VT, because it has a real tube in it but also has a built-in power attenuator and headphone jack, which make it apartment-friendly.

Very impressive... I wasn't expecting this thing to do clean, but it does. Turn down the distortion to zero and it works as a clean boost -- not even a hint of grit. You get quite a bit of volume from the level knob... easily enough to bump your tube amp into overdrive. The tone knob is quite useful, as opposed to the Fab Overdrive's tone knob. The Fab Overdrive cuts out the highs, even with the tone knob cranked. But the Fab Distortion sounds great with the tone at noon -- no perceived tonal alteration. Turn it up and the tone gets trebly, turn it down and it gets bassy, like it's supposed to.

I tend to prefer the distortion knob set low to medium -- basically a nice overdriven sound. But, if you crank the gain you get a nice saturated distortion sound. It seems very multi-purpose to me. It doesn't really color your tone. It's not a boutique, fansy-schmancy distortion, true. It's just an all-around useful, nice sounding overdrive/distortion pedal. I was kind of disappointed with the Fab Overdrive due to the bassiness of it, but the Fab Distortion is very cool. It does what the Fab OD does, but does it better (no loss of highs), and kicks it up a notch with more available gain. Very cool. Nice tone for very little money.

Rather than getting one of these and a Fab OD, I'd just get two Fab Distortions, because the Fab Distortion is a better overdrive than the Fab OD. It works as clean boost, a mild overdrive, and a distortion. All for $15.

Who knows? It seems solid enough for what it is, and I've never had a Danelectro pedal go out on me. But, I guess we'll see.

Never tried them out.

A very useful distortion/overdrive/clean boost for $15. The clean boost/mild overdrive capabilities were a pleasant surprise. Do yourself a favor, skip the Fab OD and get the Fab Distortion instead. It does everything the Fab OD can do, but does it better, and adds more gain on top of that if you crank the distortion knob.

Three knobs! It honestly couldn't be any easier. I bought this one because I can get it to sound exactly like a Big Muff. It was a no-brainer because the Big Muff was $80 and I got this brand new for $0.01 on eBay. I tell you no lies.

The first day I got it, there was the faintest pop every second which got louder or softer depending on where the pedal's Level knob was set. But tonight, I plugged it in and it was gone. So as of right now, it's perfect sound quality. Honestly, even if the pop comes back, it's barely noticeable and I knew when I bought it that a pedal with a MSRP of $15 probably had something wrong with it. At the moment, however, there's nothing wrong with it!

Like I mentioned above, that pop happened one time, but it hasn't happened since, so unless the pedal starts popping again, I'm going to have to say that it's pretty reliable. Just because it's a $15 pedal, I'd probably keep a backup at a gig because I have a fear that a $15 pedal means $15 craftsmanship, but that's just me with any pedal.

I've never dealt with the company before.

Like I said, I was looking for a pedal that emulated a Big Muff and this one does it flawlessly!

Here's how I use it:
Guitar > Korg DT-10 > Danelectro D-2 Fab Overdrive > Danelectro D-1 Fab Distortion > Morely Little Alligator > Danelectro Reel Echo > Fender '59 Bassman LTD

I suggest to buy this pedal immediately! I got lucky to get mine for one cent, but here's a hint: they never go for more than $5 on eBay!

2 words: LOVE IT

YES YES YES YES

I love this pedal i got it in the mail a few days ago and i relize the help that pedals can give!!!!!!


RJ

Very easy to use, just need to play around with it a little to get it to where you personally want it. 3 buttons: level (volume), tone (tone, duh) and distortion. What's great about this pedal is that it is somewhat a dual pedal. I use it for overdrive (simply turn the distortion down a bit) and a distortion pedal.

My setup, which changes frequently, however, here is the current: DeArmond M75 and/or Washburn WI64 guitars > Crybaby Wah > Danelectro Fab Distortion > Snarling Dogs Very-Tone pedal > Vox Pathfinder 15R amp. The Danelectro Fab Distortion is simply awesome. I can't believe the tone that this little $15 pedal produces! I have never been a big "tone freak", however, when I went from my DOD Grunge Distortion to the Danelectro Fab Distortion then I noticed how wonderful great tone is. I love it. This pedal produces more of a classic distortion sound and is not really that great for all out heavy metal in my opinion. I love the tone you can get from this pedal when the distortion is cranked all the way up. Very rockin', somewhat White Stripes sounding distortion. If I had to put catagorize this pedal by comparing it to a specific bands sound, I would have to say the White Stripes and Black Keys. It's more then an overdriven sound yet not super hard heavy metal sounding either. For me it's perfect and the tone holds strong when if the distortion is at the lowest or cranked out to 11.

I'm not a stomper when it comes to pedals, therefore, I would gig without a back-up. The pedal is made of a thick plastic, however, I have two other Danelectro pedals made of plastic (Pastrami Overdrive and PB&J Delay) and I have had no problems with them. If you stomp on your pedals then you could maybe break the thing, however, if you break it then you can easily pick up another for $15. Can't beat that. I'll give it an 8 just because of the plastic issue.

Have to give a 5 here since I have never had to deal with Danelectro personally.

I have been playing for about 10 years or so and I play just about everything except for heavy death metal. When I started looking for a replacement for my DOD Grunge Distortion pedal (which still works but lacks in some departments), I was originally looking at the Boss Distortion pedal. Then I happened to stumble across a review for the Danelectro Fab Distortion and people were saying how they chose it over the Boss Distortion. The Fab Distortion pedal is perfect for what I play and the fact that I can use it for a distortion AND an overdrive makes it even better. I think I will end up buying a couple more Danelectro Fab Distortion pedals just to keep in my closet just in case the one I have now would go out on me. The only thing that would make this pedal beter is if it came in a metal instead of plastic. Then again, I don't stomp so it doesn't really bother me.

Typical 3-knob Pedal...Gain Tone and Volume.... 1 input 1 output

Very good, warm basic distortion...not for shred or anything hardcore. But pretty warm and very useable distortion.

I was going to get another Boss-DS-1 but this pedal just does the job so good I won't bother.

Seriously, These must be the best pedals for the price..EVER.

I made some recordings where this pedal comes in during certain parts of a song and just lifts the song to a new level. It is performance-worthy.

I like how the pedal can be played no matter where the tone knob is, it gives more tonal options rather than just trying to tweak the 1 sound you get from most pedals...

Not perfect but has good tone. More than can be expected for the price.

Mine is made of metal

I play all kind of rock...classic rock..pop rock..hard rock. I've been playing for 6 years now and this pedal fits right in the middle of all of this. If were stolen...csome on it's les than 20 bucks...who would bother stealing it??? But in that case that it were stolen, I'd search my couch cushions for enough funding to get another.


I'd recommend this as a basic distortion for rhythms. It will do lead but it is in its prime doing chords and such.

I've boosted this with an overdrive, it gets interesting, not a typical boosted sound in my opinion...makes for distinct solos.

All in all, a fun pedal to play with

Another 3 knob wonder... if you can't use this pedal, you won't be able to read this review anyway... nuff said.

Tried it with a strat, hoping to be transformed into Hendrix. It's actually pretty good - nice range of tones. Unfortunately, I got this one at the same time as the FAB-2 Overdrive and it's nowhere near as much fun!

Still in the plastic case, but the knobs are much better positioned than the "lunchbox" series as they're set into the top.

I'm a retro kinda guy and this can produce some suitably vintage tones... not as fuzzy as a FuzzFace but more subtle & versitile than the FAB-2 Overdrive. Doesn't put the same smile on yer face though. At #16, it's astonishing value and sounds better than many more expensive units out there... well worth giving it a try!

Your usual three-knob affair. Controls seem to work backwards from normal effects, but whoever said getting more gain has to mean turning a knob to the right?

Simply ridiculous. For $15, you just won't do any better...but that really isn't fair to the pedal. This is simply a darn good pedal for any price.

It's only noisy at the highest gain settings (and if you think this is noisy, try plugging into something like a cranked up 5150...THAT is noise).

I've been running mine through a pair of Godins (a Radiator and an LG-SP90), through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Peavey Classic 30, and Vox Pathfinder for practice. This pedal doesn't seem to care what it's plugged into. It actually makes the Vox sound way better than it has any right to. The little Pathfinders sound OK clean, but their distortion tends to get too dark, compressed, and a bit lifeless. Not with the Dano. Even with a cheap solid state amp, you get a wide range of very, very warm distortion tones. I'd say it actually sounds better than a Big Muff -- more initial punch (maybe not quite as much sustain as a stand-alone unit). The better the amp, the better you get out, of course, so the C30 and HRD work GREAT with this pedal (again, the HRD is noted for a harsher distortion tone; this is a great solution for under $20).

There's some British Marhsall-y sound here, but do NOT think this is a "Marshall in a box." It's not. It just gives you a really warm distorted tone, with excellent clarity/separation, even at the highest gain settings (you won't find cheap tin or fiz from this little box). It just leans a bit Brit. A Guitar Player review compared the little Dano to a Maxon D&S (basically old TS flavor with more gain thrown on top and less mid hump). I'd say that's a fair comparison.

I have a Cool Cat Chorus that has lasted through some hard circumstances, but in this case we're talking about a plastic box. You definitely won't be "stomping" this if you'd like to keep it for a long while. As long as it's treated reasonably, I don't foresee any trouble.

Haven't dealt directly with Dano.

The "10" rating here says "fantastic value." The shoe fits. I've spent money on Tubescreamers and DOD's and the like (I had a wonderful old TS-9 I used to gig with that was on loan from the bass player in the band, but he'd never sell me it), and found the Zoom Power Drive (yes, I couldn't believe it either, Zoom made something worthwhile) worked great as a clean boost / OD. I wanted something that worked as a simple stand-alone distortion device, and this fits the bill admirably. There's a wide range of breakup with this Dano, and it never wimps into being harsh or tinny. You get a lot of very fat, very warm distortion for a very nice price.

Gotta give Danelectro credit. The stomp box market has been overtaken with pedals that can cost $200 or $300. So before you resign yourself to that SiB VariDrive, Maxon 808 or Banzai Fire Ball (all formidable, professional pedals...especially the SiB), give this little Dano a blind test. You may just be surprised. And you'll only be out $15 (and you'll at least have one hell of a back up).

When I get a new pedal I always turn everythihng down and start mving the knobs up slowly to find my tone. WEl, the knobs are backwards compared to normal pedal so I had everything maxed out and almost blew my speaker. So: THE KNOBS ARE BACKWARD. Other than that, this is easy to use.

My live setup: Epi LP-->Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde-->Danelectro Fab Distortion-->DOD chorus-->Zoom 505II-->Vox valvetronix 30 watt

It actully sounds ok. I have a Visual sound Jekyll and Hyde and although they are different sounding, their quality is pretty close together. I is on my pedea board even though I have the J&H. It is a little noisy, but that is what we call distortion.

It is plastic, but I just push the button. Its not like I take a hammer to it. So, it is fine for me.

Never dealt with them. I think it comes with a warrenty, but it wouldn't be worth it for $15. So, if you are even a least bit interested, buy it. You can't lose anything and since it sounds good, you won't be returning it.

I think it is the best first distortion pedal ever because of 1: It is mega cheap, and 2: It sounds really good. IT is also a good backup to your higher quality distortion.