Danelectro D-3 Fab Metal

This pedal is so easy to use, a monkey could use it. The only suprise was which way you turned the knobs to change the sound, but apart from that, its simple and easy. One slight complaint, and thats that the bypass switch to turn the pedal on isn't that easy to hit but apart from that, great.

I will admitt im using a noob setup but even so, its sounds really good. It provides a great sound even on light gain up to, i dont say heavy metal, but a reasonably metal sound. Obviously its not gonna go to black metal levels, but you can crank a good Enter Sandman level of gain out of it. There is a bit of noise, didn't annoy me that much but if your a tone nazi then you might be a bit annoyed. Then again, its ??20, its not gonna be boutique level stuff

Its made of a solid hard plastic and it feels really nice, obviously not as sturdy as metal but it'll do. The cheapness of the pedal makes up for it. I got this off a mate who used it for 2 years and it hasn't gone wrong at all

I've never had to deal with them, but from what i've heard they are really good, very nice and effecient

I play anything, from Metallica to Radiohead and it'd do anything you want it too really. Im only a noob but even soon its a damn good pedal and for ??20 you cant complain about it. Dont expect boutique quality because you wont get it. Does what it says, cheap little pedal. And a good one at that

Like most cheap, low end pedals it has only 3 knobs. Bad if you really like to fine tune your sound, but it does make it quick and easy for setup and changes.

I play a Jackson Dinky (JS30DKT) through a 1 channel 30 watt practice amp. If you have the gain or tone turned up past half be prepared for a whole lot of buzzing, however the distortion sounds good, lots of crunch. I play alot of thrash/hardcore/speed metal stuff, anything like Protest The Hero, Between The Buried And Me, and Lamb Of God, and it works well. However it does have a bit more treble than I'd like, but still works better than an Ibanez Tube Screamer or Behringer Overdrive in my opinion.

It is made of plastic, so anybody who takes the "stomp" aspect of StompBox literally is in for disappointment. I haven't gigged with it yet but I can't see why I wouldn't, It hasn't malfunctioned on me in anyway thus far.

... but then again it is made of plastic ...

Haven't dealt with the company directly, only store clerks. I don't know if i would pay to get it repaired as it would most likely cost more than the pedal itself. But if Danelectro came out with a new "Metal" distortion pedal I'd definantly check it out.

Overall I think this pedal is a good buy for anybody who is on a tight budget, or just want's something to mess around with. Myself being a college student, every penny counts, and this is a good sounding pedal and was easy on the wallet.

Three knobs, like many basic distortion pedals.

I bought this with the "Best Seller" Pack, which also includes the echo, chorus, and flange. This is by far the best of the lot; that isn't to say the others weren't completely worth it - all four pedals have their uses. However, none of them are actually on my board simply because they're not that stomp-able for stomp boxes.

So I mainly use this with an Epiphone Les Paul Studio with EMG 81/85 pickups through maybe an EH HGR and a BBE Sonic Stomp into whatever amp is around. It's definitely noisy on high gain settings, but that's without saying. I'd say it's comparable to my EH Metal Muff, just far less tweak-able.

This is where a lot of people dock Danelectro, but I really never stomp on my pedals and the knobs are out of the way. I didn't buy this with gigging in mind; like many other gear junkies, I simply bought it to have more options.

N/A

I play in a experimental prog/post metal/rock type band from Las Vegas called Centaur Rodeo. This works pretty well for the metal riffs (who would've known!) but it also works for lighter gain parts.

I have a small but growing collection of pedals, including the Metal Muff mentioned before. For that reason and that reason alone, I probably wouldn't replace my D-3.

I wouldn't mind modding all my Danelectro and putting them into one pedal casing with true bypass etc...

Easy as can be!

Maison Dinky copy or Dean Mustaine VMNTX - Fab Metal Pedal - ancient Yamaha Budokan 10w amp.

Firstly, this pedal has LOTS of gain. I actually bought it because I wanted a cheap pedal to drive the distortion on my (crappy) amp harder, but thats now running clean with all the distortion coming from the pedal. I like technical/fast thrash, death and grind and this pedal provides all the gain you'll ever need. (I have the gain set at about 3 o'clock for most stuff and thats plenty)

As others have stated the pedal does put out quite a lot of treble, and it can sound pretty thin with the tone control past 12 o'clock, but a little time spent playing around allowed me to get near some great sounds (Megadeth, Carcass, Sepultura)from a usually terrible amp.

Only had it a few days but feels pretty solid.

For the price this is a whole lot of pedal. If (like me) you're after some great metal sounds at a volume that wont get you evicted then I can't recommend this enough.

I've not used it through anything bigger or with more volume yet but I can't imagine it will give me any grief.

Pretty easy to use. Only three knobs of which are tone, level, and gain. Very simple design.

I put it directly in front of my Blackheart 5 watt combo. It really makes the most out of those 5 all-tube watts. If I crank the level up on the pedal all the way, I could probably drown out a 50 watt solid state amp.

I get a nice early Metallica sort of tone. I keep the gain around 10 o clock. At that setting I get a nice ballsy, shimmering tone that sounds killer with open chords. Remember, this is a tube amp I'm using, so mileage will vary with a solid state.

With my setup I can get anything from classic rock, to 80s hair metal, to Van Halen or Metallica.

I would use a back up... what's another 15 bucks? You can't even get one day's worth of groceries, or a haircut for that anymore!

Seems pretty solid though for being mostly plastic.

I play mainly rock and blues...

The fact that I only paid 20 bucks for this thing is incredible. I'm sure it could hang in there with some of the more expensive distortion pedals.

Level, Tone, Gain. How hard is that?

I have a Boss Metalzone, Zoom Trimetal, and EH Metal Muff and they are great pedals. Those are great for harder metal. However, I had trouble getting an 80's sound (Ratt, Dokken, old AC/DC, etc.) from those. This pedal nails that sound, which I love.

Dunno, its too new

Could'n be clearer...

Thought many players have stated that it's not very good for solos, I have to disagree. I'm getting a very good, thick solo sound out of it. I'm playing Les Paul and Tele (w/ humbucker in the front) with Marshall 2203 amplifier. The tone in D-3 is almost all the way down with drive and gain almost all the way up. I play solos with neck pickups and get a full, whisteling sound.

No problems so far. I use it in a pedal board so it's well protected.

Never needed.

A beast for the price. I've played for 18 years and had many stomp boxes, preamps and amplifiers. I play mostly pop/rock covers. It's a bit too rough for softer material, so I'm thinking to buy some other box for more tender and vintage solos. It's a bit noisy. I wouldn't say it's irreplaceable, but still, it's a very good stomp box.

3 knobs. easy.

Sounds killer.A bit more noise than other hi gain dist. boxes.I run it through my Hush 2 cx, so that eliminates that problem. I like old EVH , George Lynch, Kill em all type Metallica, etc. I have a few tube and solid state amps I use with it. Sounds really whacked ( in a bad way) when the battery goes dead/ weak.An ac adapter is suggested, as others say it eats batteries. Charvel and Gibson V main guitars. Sounds like my ART x treme pedal.Enough distortion to kill small animals.Be careful if you have pets.

Seems dependable, even though it is plastic with a thick metal plate on bottom.Buy another one as a backup.

Last I checked, their webpage is'nt very good. doubt if I'll need it.

I stole, errrr, borrowed this from my niece to see if it measured up to these reviews. It does that and more. I'm surprised people don't like it for lead. I love it for lead and rhythm.Actually does help me make music.Been playing for 25 years. Will I go to hell if I steal it from my niece? Nah, I 'll just buy one for myself.

Level = volume, Tone = trebliness, Gain = amount of distortion / sustain. You'll have to get used to twisting the knobs backwards if you're looking at it from the front, but it's not much of a pain once you're used to it.

I use a Washburn WG-587 and usually use this in conjunction with a tube emulator, such as the Behringer ADI21 (the one with para mids), which yields a much more natural sound and gives me more control over the sound, and put that through a Peavey TNT 115 bass amp.

If you've heard the sound clips of this on Danelectro's website, I actually think they sounded rather weak compared to what this pedal can pull off. If you've heard a Fab Distortion, this is basically a 'roided up version of that pedal. For what it is, it sounds like exactly what it states it is, a distortion pedal suitable for Metal. Guys and gals who like Lightning / Puppets era Metallica will probably enjoy this with the gain between 10:00 and 12:00 if looking that this from the back, and the tone around 8:00. If you turn the Gain and Tone all the way down, you have a decent hard rock tone. If you turn the Gain up about 3/4's of the way, leaving the tone around midpoint, you have a decent death metal tone also. If you turn the Tone and Gain up all the way, you can compete with the best of black metal's tr00 kVlt.

Despite what's been said already, I've actually gotten this pedal to ring out a high E on the 24th fret. You have to be careful not to let the other strings engage in sympathetic vibrations, but it's possible to play leads with this pedal.

If a Boss MT-2 is like flying first class on an airline, this pedal is like flying coach on the same flight: it's not the most luxurious option in the world, but it gets you to the same destination without sucking your wallet dry. Look folks, you get a decent sounding pedal for under 20 bucks here. If you really thought you were getting something that sounded like a Mesa Mark II, you're seriously kidding yourself.

Beyond that, as stated, I'd highly recommend at least running this through a tube emulator on clean mode, such as a Sansamp Para Driver or some equivilant, to get that full fat tube like saturation and not something that sounds like a bug zapper, which most distortion pedals tend to sound like anyways, but for under 20 bucks, why complain?

I've had this pedal since last summer, and the worst that's happened to this pedal is some static electricity in the pots, which is nothing that hasn't happened to my Russian Big Muff before, probably caused by dust.

As said, this is lunchbox quality plastic (a darn sturdy lunchbox, mind you), so I wouldn't hesitate to use this without a backup as long as I'm careful with it. If you don't treat your pedals like a child abuser, this pedal should hold up.

Only reason this gets an 8 here is because you can't chalk a 747-400 with this pedal.

Don't know.

I play all sorts of styles, but prefer to stick to thrash metal. Though it's not the most tonally flexible pedal in the world, it seems pre-scooped to yield a Metallica-ish sound from way back when. Again, it's not a Mesa Boogie in a small box, but it's great especially for beginners or anyone who's on a tight budget and wants to experiment with heavy duty distortion. If you're looking for more classic rock distortion, you're probably better picking up the Fab Distortion, unless you're going for the all out Submersed style sound.

If somebody stole it, which I don't know why they would, other than malice, I'd simply laugh and get another one.

Beyond that, again, if you really want to get the full potential out of this pedal, I'd recommend picking up some sort of tube emulator. I had a spare Behringer ADI21 sitting around, and it really thickened up the tone of this pedal while giving me bass and adjustable mid frequencies, and on top of that, I get an XLR DI out for going straight into a sound board without having to lug around a huge rig, which I prefer when I can.

Key aspect here folks, between 14 and 19 bucks, and occassionally you can get them for a penny on eBay last I checked, and this is a very huge step above a child's toy, especially for the price.

Plug in and twist knobs until sound suits you
I give it a 7 because no matter how I twist them, I don`t like the sounds.

I picked it up at GC just for the hell of it.$15 bucks I figured WTF?
Well for this thing just doesn`t inspire me no matter where I set the controls. I play a Strat into a Traynor YCV20. I like raunchy blues rock and just plain old R&R and this pedal don`t do it. Its very raspy IMHO and no matter how I try to tame it it still sounds like crap. I will give it away on EBAY ASAP. I give it a 3.

I want to add some smooth OD to my YCV20. The OD channel is decent but I`d like to see what a pedal will do instead through the clean channel. I`m gonna pick up a Bad Monkey and give that a shot.

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!

Level, Tone, Gain. The typical knobs on a dirtbox.

This pedal is BRUTAL. There is more gain than you'll ever need for any style of music. I play all kinds of metal. This pedal will do thrash, speed, death, probably even grind if you tweak it right. I can't believe how great this thing is for $15. I am playing a Harmony Strat copy with a Duncan JB in the bridge into my Marshall JCM2000 DSL50 head and Avatar 4x12 cab. I can achieve any heavy sound I want. This pedal is not warm and doesn't have much in the way of dynamics so do not buy it thinking it's an overdrive. I use the Marshall distortion to get hard rock and select thrash tones like Slayer, but up to this point I was lacking a high gain scooped distortion sound. Upon plugging in this pedal I was blown away by the amount of gain available. I've figured out the best distortion comes with the level at 3 o'clock (adjust for your amp!), the tone at 9 o'clock, and the gain at 2 o'clock. It sounded a little thin so I dialed in more midrange on my amp and cut the highs a bit. The sound fattened up and sounds amazing. I am getting tone almost identical to Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power (great album.) It sounds awesome. I was going to buy a Randall for this distortion but now I don't need it.

It probably can't take too much abuse. I'm thinking about putting the electronics of this thing into a gutted Boss case or perhaps building my own housing with a heavy duty metal footswitch. Or, I could buy a couple more, which I am considering.

I have never dealt with Danelectro but I have owned several of their products over the years and they hold up well.

This is a great distortion for anyone seeking bonecrushing heavy sound. Once again, DO NOT buy this pedal if you're looking for an overdrive! Despite the fact that it says 'FAB Metal' right on the front, some moron will buy it thinking they can use it as an overdrive. I think this pedal is a great value. I have owned Danelectro distortion and overdrive boxes (Fab Tone, Daddy-O 6 years ago), a Boss distortion box (Metal Zone, it sucked!) and have played on many others. This is probably my favorite. I am generally a 'straight into the amp' type of guy but this is the heaviest distortion I've ever heard out of a pedal. Besides, for $15 how can you go wrong?

Easy to get good sound because it only has 3 knobs. Volume, Tone, and Gain.

No patches... just a pedal. On/Off
No manuals needed
No firmware.

The difference is that knobs are turned outward to front not at top. I think it's a matter of preference. It's good to prevent accidentally stepping on the knobs if your not coordinated, but harder to see when you bend down to turn it and see the setting under casual conditions.

I am using on Crate G60 on clean channel. My crate has nice clean channel, almost tubish with no distortion and 3 EQ. I can use the distortion pedal in front and use the EQ to shape my tone. I do not have other distortion pedals but i have 3 combo amps (Crate, Vox, Behringer, Fender, Kustom, Line6)and have had many different modeling amps (V-Amp2, Pod XT, Digitech Genesis3, GuitarPort) and have heard GT-6 .

This lil $15 cheapo has a nice discernable tone and not muddy like many modeling amps that really use a rattly distortion with no focus. It can go from a moderate distortion to extreme gain of almost any styles. I prefer the max gain setting.

It is not noisy at all. Just a slight hiss, no more then any analog distortion pedal. Not noticeable while playing and low enough that it won't be bothersome.

I use it on my Crate G60 65watt amp because the distortion on it sucks.

I can't give it 10 since i have not heard any other brand distortion pedals besides Behringer and i prefer the Dano much better.

all plastic except the base for weight. not the studiest looking pedal, but im not a heavy foot so i think it will be fine. I think they could have used a metal on the plug, it's all plastic.

I play everything from acoustic to heavy metal and everything in between except country and techno. 20+ yrs off and on.

If it were stolen, i would definitely get it again. Its better then any modeling distortion and at $15, you can't beat it. I've heard Boss distortion pedals before and i prefer Dano. It has more crunch and and does not sound thin and modified. The tone sounds more natural.

couldn't be much easier...i got confused n turned them all the wrong was and wondered why it sounded clean - but thats just be being a dumbass.

I've only got a cheapy ibanez GRX something-or-another through to a marshall MG50DFX, the pedal sounds fantastic! it went all crackly on the high notes at times but that was just battery running out...me not realisng to take the leads out the pedal when not playing. It's got varied distortion but i only like a small bit of it. usually the tone backed down about 3/4 along with th elevel then turn yer volume on the amp up and its sounds great, the distortion just rolls effortlessly off the guitar. if the level is near full the single notes on the lower strings become less pronounced. I can't think of a band it sound like to be honest...its got a great sound never the less...if some of the distortion tones were a little less flat, itd be much to my liking...i got this in exchange for a 10W Kustom amp, i gave him the amp he gave me the pedal. so im fairly pleased with it, but im thinking of getting the Danelectro liquid metal pedal after very high recommendation from my guitar teacher.

Personally i wouldn't gig this...its too small id loose it. i suppose its dependable but the battery life seems pretty poor, i guess an adaptor would be needed. My friend tried an adaptor with it when he had it and claimed and started producing smoke and smelling like a scalextic track. so ive not tried an adaptor yet personally.

never used it.

i play any thing i like the sound of really, but in genral i play metal and grunge. this is great for metal, well hence the name, but not dirty enough for grunge really. metal only really. Well no i wouldnt buy a new 1 of it wer lost or stolen or watever, id rather buy a distortion pedal with more range to it. it makes ne chord sound nice n meaty but single notes - unless the level is backed down - are bit too fuzzy. for its price its a great peice of kit, i think my friend got it for #12-15 which is nothing copared to BOSS and Digitech. if yer after a solely metal sound on budget this couldnt be more perfect.

Three knobs - tiny manual - EASY!

It sounds great to me, particularly when you consider how much it costs. I can get lots of great tones out of this thing.

I'm a beginner, so I haven't really developed many brand loyalties yet.

A little hiss, maybe, but not much. Absolutely no popping when you press the rubber-padded footswitch.

I run it into a l'il Fender FM15 solid-state practise amp and it sounds fantastic.

It looks pretty heavy-duty, even though it's made of plastic.

The footswitch seems to be of good quality.

N/A

I'm a beginner (41 years old), only just getting the feel of power chords, etc, and I wanted to try a pedal to see what sort of difference it would make to the sound of my Standard Strat with EMG's and my FM15 practice amp.

I saw a review of the FAB series in a magazine, and the reviewer seemed quite impressed, so I had my local shop order me the Fab distortion pedal.

I am very impressed with it, having messed around with it for the better part of a week now.

I would recommend this unit to ANYONE looking for a REAL deal!

three knobs. gain, tone and level.
with a little tweaking its very easy to get a great sound out of it

i run my samick through this into a crate mx20rc amp. the amp by itself sounds great but plug the fab metal into it and you wont believe your ears. wihtin 5 minutes of owning this pedal i was able to get it to sound just like metallica's "am i evil". most anything off the "kill'em all", "ride the lighting" or "and justice for all" is easy to get with this pedal. takes time but if you work at it you can get the dave mustaine "sound".
the only negative thing i can say is that if you turn the tone up too much the sound becomes a little thin. but thats not a real issue for me. keeping the tone turned down gives a nice crunch. whats metal without the crunch?!!!!!

i think its reliable but the case is plastic so i wouldn't recommend stomping on it.
i don't gig anymore but if i did i might play without a backup BUT only if i had a power supply rather than using batteries. when the battery gets weak there's a cracking noise. it will suck the juice out of the batteries, quick.

havent had to use them.

i play metal moslty. this pedal is a good match for it. good aggressive crunch to it.
been playing for 17 years. back when metallica was great and megadeth even better.
lost or stolen would buy another one. not just because it sounds great but because i'm a tight wad.
all i know is that if you need a great sounding pedal and you play metal you cant go wrong with the fab metal pedal. quit reading these reviews and buy it!!!

Easy to use. Manual is tiny, but it's all you need.

Pesonaly, I don't do a lot of metal. Just wanted something cheap to play with. It actually exceeded my expetations and sounds pretty sweet. I really like putting it after my Dano Chorus pedel (Milkshake). A little chorus or Flange before this puppy makes some great tone for Judas Priest type lead stuff. A little noisy, and damn powerfull. A little feed back, but for the price I love it.
I also have a Boss Turbo Distortion, and in comparison actually find this little Dano pedal to be superior at getting that 1980's hair metal sound. (Especially when combined with other danelectro pedals).
If you mostly play through a small practice amp (solid state) you might find a lot of use for this little pedal as i've tried it through three different ones and was surprised at how they sounded with it.

It sucks down batteries like coka-a-cola. Get a wallwart. My only real complaint is how much battery power effects the sound. You can really notice the diff in sound as the battery drains. Also, it does suck a little tone when it's not on.
I feel like you can depend on it with AC power.
As for gigging, hell, these things are cheap, buy two if you find it to be "the sound".

huh?

I play mostly blues, but once in awhile like to rock a bit. For certain things, this pedal gives me a sound I like. BTW, I mostly play a Gibson Melody Maker with a P90 pup in it, and that sounds way better on this box than my Strat copy. (Which still sounds okay).
I bought it for the price, as I'm addicted to cheap stomp boxes. I will probally buy the other two in the "fab" series based on how much I liked this one.

It is easy to get great sound from it.
The manual is tiny but you can easily figure it out.

A X3-Inc XLP and XV7 and a Drive 20 watt practice amp.
It is naturally loud but not in a bad way.
Well I just got my pedal this week and it is defective for the 4 hours it worked properly it was awsome but now it is poping all the time.
It can get the sound of Sabbath, Ozzy and Zeppelin that is all I figured out in 4 hours before it stopped working properly.

Well I can't say anything on this subject due to my pedal is deffective and worked for only 4 hours but I will gig with it when it is replaced with a working one.

Well I am about to find out tommorow because that is when I will contact them about it being defective.

Although it only worked for 4 hours in correct working order it was awsome in that time and I am getting it replaced for sure. I love the sound that it gives. I hate that my pedal is defective. It helps so much my XLP has bad sustain and this doubles the sustain. Buy it and hope you are not unlucky like me and get a defective one.

The controls are pretty easy and straightforward. Level, Gain, Tone.
No brain surgery here.

This is actually a pretty decent pedal. I bought it just because I could get one for the same price as a medium pizza, and I was fairly impressed.
(I play a Music Man Luke with EMG's through a Carvin 100w Legacy into a 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's. Good sounding rig on it's own).

First thing you'll notice is that this thing is really bright and zingy EQ-wise. I had the tone set almost all of the way toward the bass side. It's got plenty of gain, and it's pretty powerful.
The lower octaves on the guitar sounded pretty good once I got the EQ set.
If I was playing metal power chords or just rhythm guitar, it would work respectibly. However the solos/higher octave stuff sounds thin and nasally, like an inferior wah pedal.

I have no idea how tough this pedal would be. I'm guessing it wouldn't stand too much abuse before breaking.

Don't know.

The key here folks is $15.00 for a pedal.

This pedal is the sonic equivalent of McDonald's. It's fattening, greasy, and generally bad for you, but you get full for $5.00.

If you're flat broke and need something cheap for your guitar rig, this pedal is pretty cool and fairly usable. If you have the money for a real pedal, get a real pedal.