Danelectro D-3 Fab Metal

dead easy to use... not exactly rocket science! good battery access too.

i bout this coz i needed a saturated rhythm sound from a laney vc30 (which sounds sweet but doesn't saturate for rythm very well) for a couple of glam-metal style tracks, and for this it's alright. one problem though - i thought i could set it up for rhythm then change channel on my amp to get a similar sound but louder for soloing. fine, except... when i play any note above the 19th fret on the high e string, the note drops an octave!!! which is really annoying if you're bending frm the 18th fret. so for soloing you have to either detune (which i'd never do) or just live with it... neither of which i like the idea of. so it sounds great for rhythm (people have said it has no bottom end, i reckon that's coz they're detuning and playing through 10 inch speakers!!! for standard tuning and Eflat it sounds full and tight). oh yeah, pinch and artificial harmonics are out coz they get dropped down an octave or two... so you get the note you started with. really annoying!

i used it at a gig two days after i got it, trod on it a couple of times in cowboy boots (honest! i know someone's beensaying that everyone on thi site is making up stuff about btheir bands. check out myspace.com/hellcatmusic) and it still works! but i wouldn't gig it again coz you have to turn it off for solos, and it's not good having a cleaner sound for lead than rhythm! coz you get used to the gain, then screw up the solo.

so i've used it once and it stood up to some hammer. looks a bit fragile though the bottom plate is pretty hefty metal.

never used it since that gig!

the octave thing really ruis it. noone else seems to have this problem so maybe i was just unlucky.

3 pots. Very easy to use.

I was looking for a cheap distortion pedal and bought this one without trying it first(It's only 15$). It's not exactly what I was looking for. First, the pedal is very bright so if you have a bright amp like me(Marshall), forget about it. Turning the tone pot down make the pedal sound dull. The distortion sound is very sterile and too colored, there is something in the clipping like a high buzzing frequency in the high mids witch is everything but natural. The pedal is probably only good for high gain lead work. If you have a good tone from you amp clean, this thing will destroy it right away and make it sounds like a broken 10W solid state combo. My advice would be to try it first. I think this pedal would work better with single coils.

Good quality stuff. Surface mount inside so forget about modding it.

brand new and working.

I'm happy I only paid 15$ cause that's about what it worth. I will keep it and maybe use it with a keyboard or has a sound effect pedal for noise. And for guitar I will continue to use my other pedals(Even my sound tank ibanez cheezy trashmetal pedal sounds a lot better than this one). Have fun.

Three knobs: Gain, Tone, Level. If you can't find a sound, you shouldn't be using a pedal with the word "Metal" in the name. Easy as pie.

Here's the backstory: I had a beautiful little 1980s Ibanez SM-9 Super Metal. It was a metallic blue box with TWO JRC4558 chips. At the time, I didn't appreciate that sound. When I finally came around, and set out to buy another, I found that they were going for about $200! I luckily found this. I can match that tone, PLUS do something the Ibanez couldn't--that low-end metal rhythm CHUNK. It's a bit noisy, but for a high-gain pedal, it's pretty quiet.

I'm easy on my gear, so I'm not worried.

Never needed it before--wouldn't use it anyway.

Got exactly what I wanted high gain AND low-end chunk. Randy Rhodes meets Metallica.

this is super super easy to use .

WOW this is amaazing folks , if there is one thing i have learned thru out the years is never judge the book from its cover , never judge a person from his looks ,and that goes for pedal effects never think oh this is a cheapo plastic made in china pedal am sure it sucks . listen no B.S i have been playing guitar for more than 20 yrs , i have owned and tried every damn pedal out there ( almost ) from boutiqe to the well known to the unknown . ok back to this pedal ,, my guitars are mostly strats ,my amp of choice is carr rambler , my effect ...this will take hours LOL .. i bought every singel danelectro pedal ever been made ,they all suck so save yourself the money and the time ,i did the homework for you ,the only pedal that sound amaaaazing is this i could not believe my ears ,it is the most well balanced distortion i have ever heard in a pedal ,the bass ,the mid , the treble are perfectly matched , ok the tone knob is somewhat useless , you cant go beyond 9 on the tone knob ,as for the level and distortion ,the distortion knob sounds great at 9 and beyond . that means from 9 and after that you cannont get a bad sound , the level is great at any setting . this mother fucker sounds amaazing with my carr amp ,the notes are well difined , it works well with any pedal you put after it ,it is never muddy , you can nail any distortion yu have in mind ,yes it is most amaazing for rythem but it sounds as good for leads . metallica should check this pedal out . it is not a scooped mid or mid humped ,like i said it is perfectly voiced , i have been looking for a distortion pedal for 7 yrs now and i never thought in my wildest dreams i will find what i am looking for is this box . BOSS ds-1 modded or not will sound like a little pussycat next to a lion . i know you have to check for yourself ,so go and buy one hear for yourself this uncanny pedal . i want to keep writing as i am just so happy that i found this little plastic box . amaaazing amaaazing amaazing .

well i have no idea if i can depend on this pedal , i just got it 15 days ago , i am super nice to my pedals ,i have never had a pedal that failed me or stoped working while i use it ,inmost cases its either works from the minute i get it or it doesnt . ofcourse because of the fact that it is made out of plastic one assume right away it wont last , its just us human we pass judgment soo fast , it is like the illusion we guys get with wonder bras and fake boobs ,once the clothes come off . you are hit by reality LOL . i will gig with this with no backup ,but guess what its 15 bucks so i am buying another one just incase .you know the story everytime a company have a product that sounds good they discontinue it .

i have never delt with them ,but if they read the comments here i would like to ask them to make this pedal in the metal case with better parts DONT CHANGE THE WAY IT SOUNDS , just fic the tone knob ,and put it on one of your petal cases . that is it danelectro .

i am the kid of the 80's i love that era , but i love blues and all kind of music , again been playing for more than 20 yrs ,i love the focused difined sound about this pedal ,it sound perfect to my ears ,with other pedals as well it sound amazing . i love how tight it is no flabby bass or smoshed notes , everything is clear ,saturation is very musical and lots and lots of harmonics , yes it makes want to play all the great 80"s hair band rock . but above all itis the best distortion pedal out there . enough said .

This pedal is very easy to use. Very straight forward pedal. This was the first pedal I ever bought and I had no trouble using it. It's very easy to get a good sound out of it if you're playing something heavy (which is what I assume most people buy it for). It just has 3 knobs, Gain, Tone, and Level. All very straight forward and self-explanitory.
The manual isn't very big, but it's informative enough to get you going if you're new to effects pedals.

As far as metal goes this is an excellent pedal, if a bit trebly. As long as you don't crank the Tone knob completely then that should be fine. I play stuff like Pantera, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Metallica, Cryptopsy, Morbid Angel, Corrosion Of Conformity, Slayer, Kyuss, Children Of Bodom, Crowbar, Meshuggah, Machine Head, etc. This pedal is absolutly great for that. If you're looking for something lighter you're better off with an overdrive pedal or mid-range distortion pedal. This is called Fab Metal for a reason. Don't expect to play Powerpop or Indie Rock with this pedal, it has A LOT of gain, even on low settings.
However, this is a RHYTHM pedal. Higher notes (around 14 or 15th fret on the high-E) this pedal can not detect and it will sound like it's an octave lower. If you're a shredder, this pedal is not for you.
I'm using it on a B.C. Rich Metal Master Warlock, and a Vibe V-40G/R amp hooked up to an Epiphone Studio 10 practice amp as an extra speaker. This set-up provides a huge sound, but still very clear. When you're not playing it is a tad noisy, but nothing that's too bad. Just don't blast the level knob or it will get REAL noisy. This pedal is plent loud at around 11-12 o'clock anyway. If the noise still annoys you that much then you can always grab a noise surpressor.
Long story shory, great pedal for heavy music, not so good for lightly overdriven music.

It hasn't broke down on me yet. However it is plastic. I would bring it to a gig for the sound, but I wouldn't go without a backup. It's also fairly bad for eating batteries, so I'd also put a new 9-volt in it right before, and just incase bring extras.

I've never had to deal with customer support.

I play Thrash, Groove, Death, Sludge, etc. Metal. This is a very good match for the music I play. However I do get an urge to play a little Zeppelin which this pedal is a little too heavy for.
I've been playing for a year and a half (around intremediate player), and this and a Boss DS-1 are the only pedals I own. If it was stolen on me, I'd research other Metal pedals and see what one was the best and buy it. For now, I'm perfectly happy with this pedal.
I didn't really compare it to anything else, but for $30 I really couldn't go wrong. I was actually pleasently surprised at the great tone the pedal produces!
I wish the pedal didn't have so much treble, but it's nothing a little tweaking can't fix.
This pedal dosen't realy help or hider how I make music. I can right a heavy riff on an acoustic if I want. It definatly helps recording though.
If you have an extra $30 (Canadian dollars) around, and you play Metal rhythm like me, then this pedal is great for you. If you're not playing something heavy, or if you're a lead player then you should look else where. Overall, it's an excellent value.

three knobs, one controls tone (which is difficult if you want to really sculpt your sound) one gain (which is really overblown distortion) and one level

well, this thing sucked a whole bunch for what i wanted at the time. but i figured out some ninja shit that changed my opinion

Sound quality was terrible at first. the distortion was thin, nasally and sounded like the cocked end of a wah pedal.
my rig:
Red bear Mke 120 head and matching cabinet (glorious but low on distortion)
Fab metal pedal (which sucked until my ninja brain kicked in and magic was revealed)
Fender Heartfield Raptor 1

While this thing was terrible at first, i ran the pedal into the effects loop in the back of the amp, bypassing the vacuum tubes and using only the power tubes at first. I can now use the pedal as the head distortion itself (which i never turn off) and i can crank it louder than the head's distortion ever could imagine. the result is a very FLAT eq that is reminiscent of judas priest. Not heavy on distortion, just heavy. oh. and i tune to b. i just wish this thing didn't suck down batteries, because when they go down, the sound quality goes down the shitter.

I imagine i can depend on it as much as any other plastic pedal. and i gig without a backup, cus i can't afford to get another.

no need, it was 10 dollars or something.

Because i play heavy melodic thrash/crust... this is my ideal tone
i've been playing about 12 years or so. it's not the most ideal solo pedal... in fact, i'd avoid soloing with it at all costs. but i play mostly rhythm so it's not an issue. honestly, you get more than you pay for! much more. but it's kind of awful in reality. but i made it work for me.

Within seconds (if you have connected everything correctly, which is incredibly simple) It is possible to get various sound options ranging from crunch-ish distortion/to metal way beyond more than I wanted from this product.

Im using this with a modded washburn hum-sc/rails-sc/rails. Bridge is JB and rails are gfs lil killer with coil tapped options. Im playing through a 15 watt vox valvetronics. I bought this for alternative crunch that I can access via foot pedal-the amp has great stuff, but I need more options at my feet. This pedal does not seem too noisy. Im not trying to emulate anyone elses sound-just going for different vibes and for $15 Im pleased with the sound. The tonal range is a hint lacking, however adequate. I wouldnt expect more from a pedal 4x the price.

Its obviously plastic-seems more durable than other plastic pedals out there-Im not sure how the footswitch will endure and its somewhat small. It appears to be quite functional though. the whole gig question depends more on how someone treats and cares for their gear. If it is on a pedal board and one is not jumping on it, then all should be fine.

If I recall, this particular company is not as easy to access and correspond with as others. I figure if this consistently works for the 30-days I have to return it then i will not plan to access danelectro anyway.

This pedal is what i expected- Im not really a metal player and someone would typically lead me to a tube screamer or a basic marshall-ish sounding distortion pedal. This however will likely lead to more experimentation and customization of my own sound(s). I think it clearly an exceptional value for the sound possibilities. Im a working adult and a parent of children. I can see my son in a few years being interested in this pedal.

three knobs, plug in, go. super easy.

I use a Frankenstein type strat with an ash body, canary/ebony neck, and Bill/Becky Lawrence L500L in the bridge. I play through low-wattage tube amps with a little, but not a ton of gain.

This pedal is nothing short of amazing. For the longest time, I had stopped palm muting because I got bored of it. This pedal commands you to palm mute because it sounds so good doing it. When I sat down to goof with it, I wrote an entire new Death Angel album with all the riffs I had going on.

It's got perfectly scooped mids, but yet not too terribly sterile. If I could nail it down to one album, I'd say Overkill's Horrorscope guitar sound.

It's pretty quiet in my setup, but I'm not playing it at stadium levels either.

I'll give it a 9 for only really having one option: ballz to tha wall. There ain't a trace of blues or low gain options to be found in this beast.

Damn, it's plastic, but for the price - who cares? I wouldn't trust it on a world tour, but the only tour I'm ever going to go on is from my computer room to the living room.

never dealt with 'em.

With this pedal, I'm back into metal. I grew up on thrash (Kreator, Annihilator, Testament, Sanctuary, Artillery, etc.), and this pedal reminds me of the glory days. I had read that their FAB line was killer, but not until I got it home did I understand the value of 15 bucks. You can't find a better heavy metal pedal for the price.

I give her a 9 for being plastic and not having any switches for a mids boost, diode switcher, etc. (I'm picky, I know).

3 controls- Level Tone and Gain. When you first get the pedal, for me anyway it was hard to know what was turned up or turned down because of how the controls are positioned. So I turned all controls midway and turned my amp all the way down! ANYWAYS Controls themselves are simple(set the Level to same as your clean sound, Tone to your favourite EQ shaping and Gain-all the way up lol).
Easy to dial in your desired sounds.

I play (amongst others) a Squier Telecaster Custom with humbuckers (Bill Lawrence L500 XL and Seymour Duncan '59).

Playing Guitar>Fab Metal>Marshall AVT50, on clean channel of course it was very easy to get my favourite sound. Actually it happened bu accident, as I adjusted the Tone and Gain controls to my liking, I realised I had virtually Dave Mustaines (Megadeth) exact sound! Well thats good because hes my childhood hero! Its a little hard for me to explain but set in a certain way, it has a very gritty, 'middy' EQ sound and the SEARING sustain seems to go on forever. I was most surprised with this box.. quite simply, not because of price- I know Dano pedals are way ahead of their price tags but because I dont like distortion boxes because they generally dont do it for me like Marshalls do. BUT this has become my new Heavy Metal sound which I THOUGHT my amps could deliver- no they cant! THIS is what you need!

Ok it's plastic but who cares- youre not gonna jomp on it because you'll miss the switch! I'll take it to a gig, if I ever play a gig.. shaddap Paul!
I cant really give this a true rating because its brandnew but like the good Lord, it never failed me yet.

I havent had to deal with them directly, but cant see how I can get in touch with the company by email. Not that Im having problems, Im after an accessory that guards the mini pedals they make.

But since Ive never talked to anyone at Danelectro I cant give it a score.

I play mostly heavy rock, try to impersonate all the shredders, Nuno, Marty friedman, Petrucci, Vai etc. I suppose deep down heavy metal is in my veins I cut my teeth with it. Fab Metal gives me such a great metal sound I never expected this from a box.
Ive been playing 12 years, I play Washburn, Jackson all USA models amongst my 5 electric guitars! I have built my dream guitar rig out of various stompboxes both in the effects loop and in front of the amp. 11 pedals in all, including this one which has itself a firm place after my Zakk Wylde Overdrive pedal.
The pedal has really surprised me. I always digged pedals, just not distortion boxes because Ive tried so many and hated them. The Fab Metal apparently compares to a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone. Ive played both MT-2 and Twilight Zone Keeley mod and I much prefer this.
I use amps dirty channel to play leads and my general rock sound but this is what I needed to play heavy metal.

Very easy to use, set the Tone control for your favourite metal sound, ie Megadeth/dimebag- oh yes it can sound like that! with all the gain you'll need.

Overall rating: 10 Super value for money

super easy,,3 knobs,...

this distortion box has NO low end WHATSOEVER!
I play a samik with an evolution di`marzio pickup.
I run it threw the distortion pedal, then into a 7 band eq, then into an old crate gx-80 amp.

The reason i know this pedal has no low end is because when i run this exact setup, but with a boss metal master.. i can`t even turn the bass bands on my eq up over neutral without the amp farting.

However, when i run the danelectro, i can crank the bass bands on my eq all the way up, and it still sounds like it lacks low end.
Also, the distortion sounds very dirty..the boss has a clean, crisp distortion, as to where the danelectro sounds generic.

for soloing at first i thought it was ok, but then i started listening to the notes closer and i realised
it sounds really crappy, specially for appregios,,you can`t hear each individual note like you can with the boss. i give it a 6 only because the price, and i know this pedal does kick the crap out of most in its price range.

i have had a few danelectro eq`s from musiciansfriend that turned out to be junk! and UNLIKE ALL THE CLOWNS IN HERE, i aint gonna lie and brag about how i am in some band, and i tour and gig. coz 90% of everyone in here are "bedroom players" and thats it.
so i couldnt answer this one,,,,except I will say danelectro is junk,,,or perhaps musiciansfriend sells junk??!

no, but this is the 3rd danelectro that got sent back for refund!

ive been jammin since age 9, and i am now 35,ive been in a few bands here and there..nothing at the moment ,,,i write all my own stuff,,,,i mostly enjoy soloing.
i will give her a 4, only coz i have heard way worse, and coz she was so cheap.

i will stick to boss...i was hoping for something to add to the arsenal.. but unfortunately danelectro doesn`t make the roster, so back it went for refund!