Danelectro D-4 Fab Chorus

First timers would have no problem figuring out what to do without the manual here--very basic.

Very suprising for an inexpensive pedal--the name sold me.No noise to speak of and good range of sounds. I favor Fender guitars and Peavy amps and I'll hook it down the line from my Digitech multi-effects unit

So far so good

Havn't had to use it but they have a killer website!

This pedal sounds good for all styles from rock to blues to jazz and on slow ambient tunes to fast ones

Three knobs, facing the pedal jacks turn right for more and left for less. These three knobs make it very versatile and it's not hard to use.

Incredible thing about this pedal is that it's analog and it is not noisy at all. No icy digital sound at all, this is the real deal. Very good suond even with a distortion going with it. Can get most chorus sounds.

Yes, it's a very very sturdy plastic chassis, it will never break out.

Asked a question on powering the pedal and were very nice.

Overall it's a great chorus pedal, I can't believe the price I paid for it. Makes you want to sell your old boss ce-2(which I did). No more digital ****, this is how it was meant to play guitar: pure analog design. I'd buy another one for sure if it were stolen and would beat the **** out of who stole it.

Turn the mix, depth, and speed knobs and get to work. It's not hard to get a good sound, but you'll work a bit more finding what you want out of it.

I use this with either a X-50 Pro (SD pickups) or a Predator Plus (GFS pickups). It's second in the effects chain, coming right after a Guv'nor Plus and ending in a Vox Pathfinder 15R. Pedal sounds great though both of those guitars. Very smooth sounding and gets that nice underwater sound. Goes well with the guitars clean. Using some gain will require you to change up your settings. I haven't used it much with gain, but once you set it specific to your gain setting, it's not bad. Isn't quite as clear as some other chorus pedals though. The sound gets a bit lost under the gain.

You've got a range of sounds available, from a pulsing 12 string to just a little splash over the notes to all out sci-fi stuff (which is musically not good, but if you need fx for something, give it a go). The mix is a very nice touch. That's what'll give you just a subtle sound. Now, it's not like a H20 Liquid Chorus or a Small Clone exactly, doesn't have quite as...rich a sound you'd say. But it's better than most of the digital stuff out there. For what you pay, you get a good effect.

Plastic with a piece of chrome and rubber on the bottom. Don't smash it around and it'll be fine. The button feels pretty nice and doesn't feel very cheap. The knobs are very smooth as well, no sticking or any of that. Input jacks also feel pretty solid. They don't give like some of the Digitech stuff does.

I'd gig without a backup. I don't make the effect the center point of my playing if you know what I mean. Plus, I take care of stuff. If it were to suffer a failure, then oh well.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Mainly stick to rock. Classic and blues rock. Been playing a good while now, 6 years or so. If this were stolen, hell yes I'd buy another. I was a bit skeptic at first. But after playing it, I can tell you that it is worth the $15 and it sounds pretty damn nice. It's not as good as a Small Clone or the Liquid Chorus, but it still gets and has available a nice sound. Plus, it's easy to use.

I don't use effects much, but sometimes the music just wants something under it. This chorus has helped me to get some stuff out actually. It needed something and this got the music to where it wanted to go.

TL:DR, this pedal sounds good enough and is easy enough to use to make you want to play more. For what you pay, it's not going to be the best, don't expect that. Expect a pedal that is a bit above others in the $40-$70 price range.

Can't say -- didn't work.

Again, can't say.

Didn't work. The light would turn on, but no effected sound, regardless of the position of the knobs.

Going to return it to the store, so won't be dealing with Danelectro customer service.

I think I got the rare non-working one. From other reviews I've read, this isn't common, but it can happen, as my experience shows. Just thought I'd let people know, as a word of warning.

Pretty easy. 3 knobs to regulate depth,speed and mix..turn them to you right(facing the holes for the jacks)to turn them up, and left to turn them down. After a few minutes you will be able to find any type of sound you can make out of it. I give it a nine just because they don't tell you how to turn the knobs and the manual doesn't help at all..

I have an Epiphone Les Paul100 with a Peavey Solo Amp. This pedal works great! It's wonderful! I compared to my friend's Boss Chorus Pedal and they sound the same! It always has a very clean,thick and rich sound! You can get the sound of all the artists that use chorus pedals. Try to turn all the knobs to max and you will get a cool sci-fi effect that they always used in 60's horror or sci-fi movies!(but that's not what most people need it for :D ) Usually I turn depth and mix to almost max and speed at half.

It's a have duty plastic. It's very resistant and it has a very solid metal plate under it. I would use it without a backup! If you compare to the Danelectro Mini DJ series you can tell that the fab are more resitant.

I never needed them because it works wonderfully.

I give it a 9..just because it's hard for me to rate 10 something..there is always something that you actually would like there to be..anyway, I'd buy one if someone had stolen it or if it broke! I really suggest buying this one!

OK, what's to say? This thing is as simple as corner of a house :). 100% look of a soap-bar is just funny, but we talk 'bout little overcheap effect stompbox, not 'bout serious rack device. Nevertheless we have 3 knobs (more than many much more expansive units can offere). All the knobs are usefull and work well. Almost miniature design and low weight proves that this baby will find the place in my guitar case with ease. Manual was written for 2-year child, I think, but device is quite self-explaning. It's all made of thick plastic, and have steel bottom. If not to jump on it, it will live, I suppose. Plastic footswitch is kinda strange, but who cares? For myself I found 2 useful patches - one mild chorus (less than middle for Mix and Rate while moderate Depth), enreaching the sound, and one extreme ski-fi FX (Mia and Rate knobs at max while Depth just stays moderate). One guy wrote here that he use 2 same pedals to obtain such a sounds in live. I have made some different thing (read below).

Of course, once you have so cheap unit, you just shouldn't expect it to sound superb. But the quality of sound quite good, fat and reach enough to make you wander - how it can be managed by simple 1-voice mono chorus. At least, it's analog, so (as for me) sounds better, then digital chorus in my Boss GT6. Pity, but bypass is hot, and really affects the quality of "dry" signal, decreasing it's brightness. When plugged, the pedal power is always on (in bypass mode too), so battery life's short through it.
But I bought this pedal at 20$ only, so I just have spent one evening to modify it (pissing of the warranty, I know :).
1. I've grounded inlay of pedal with the steel tape to eliminate noise pollution (but it wasn't so necessary because pedal isn't noisy a lot).
2. I've put hardwire bypass (with interhal 2-way miniswitch, switched on/off by lever of pedal's footswitch) in it.
3. I've put a power switch, which works simultaneousely with bypass switch, turning power off, when bypass mode. It will increase the lifetime of battery. Of course, both switches produce click sound when using, but it's hardwire.
4. I've placed a little 2-way thumbler switch, in front of the footswitch. It shortens the Mix and Rate controls to max values and gives me that ski-fy sound in one touch of my boot. No more need to use 2 pedals to achieve 2 different chorus patterns at live.
After this funny modification i really love this baby. 3 knobs, analog, hardwire bypass, long battery live, 2 patches avalable at live, good sounding, low-waight, small, and extreeeemely cheap... Just try to find something like that on a marker ;).

It looks not like die-cast pedal (due to it's plastic body). I have no clue about how it will be after the years of using, but suppose, that it will work untill i'll purchase some really great chorus for live and studio. In a small clubs and during the repititions i'll use it without backup because chorus is not the main part of my guitar sound. If it'll die during the concert, i'll simply turn it into bypass (of course, if pedal is modified, as described).

I've bought it with no expectations 'bout customer support. At this price much simplier to buy new one than to manage warranty repair.

I've playing 15 years, mostly hard/heavy staff like Jimi Hendrix, Zakk Wylde ets. The chorus effect is a good addition to drive sound, in my opinion. I'm lefty, so it's difficult for me to find good instrument. Now i'm using modified left-handed Ibanez SA260 through the Wylde Wah and 2-tube preamp stompbox. And, of course - this chorus. For extra-quality sound in a future I'm planning to use Danlop stereo-chorus, but this Dano's baby will be my favorite "always-with-me" backup pedal for a long time.
I'll took 2 from total 10 rating for myself (because of modification) :).

3 Knobs--pretty basic stuff here; playing within seconds of setting it up. Manual was basic, but it's more fun to tweak the knobs and come up with your own sound anyway.

I get very usable sounds out of this cheap pedal. Especially since I wasn't expecting much. I normally run it through an Epi So-Cal 50 Head w/ a Crate 4X12 cab. In my chain I have also a Dunlop Wah, Boss PH-3, Digitech Metal master through my fender Strat. I have not heard any negative sounds or signal degradation. Always turns on and off when I step on it. I've read complaints about the sound quality, but maybe that could have something to do with a player's rig (especially cables). I also run all of my power through a Furman power conditioner and use a 1 Spot adapter, so I can't speak on how it runs off of a 9-volt battery.

I have not had any problems with this pedal. I have gigged without a back-up, and plan on continuing to do so. It is plastic (So I give it an 8), but very sturdy, so I don't see an issue with it breaking. But if you are jumping on it with some Doc Martins and spilling beer on it, it probably won't hold up too well. Remember: If you take care of your stuff, it will take care of you.

Never dealt with them. If something happens to it, I won't waste my time contacting them either. For 15 bucks, I'll just get a new one.

This pedal is pretty freakin' good. I play mostly thrash and classic rock. I have been playing 20+ years and bought this as a short term replacement for a BOSS CE-2 that had been stolen from me, since I was pretty short on cash. Well, I'm very impressed with it, and it has now become my long-term solution. I get a very wide range out of this pedal, from the low-fi stuff of the seventies, to the over-produced sounds of the hair metal days, and everything in-between. If it were lost stolen, or broken, I would instantly replace it without hesitation. If you buy it and find problems, look into other things with you rig like I mentioned in the sound quality section. I give it an overall 9, just for the pedal being plastic, but really I don't think it will be a factor. Any questions, e-mail me. Thanks for reading.

This is a cheap and great sounding chorus. I've been out of music for a while and low-priced pedals like this are a new to me. The last chorus I owned was a Boss Ensemble from the mid 90s and that cost around $200 Australian and I don't remember it sounding as good or as extreme as this Fab Chorus does.

It's easy to dial in anything from spacious 12 string simulation to leslie-like rotary effects and even extreme and whacky sci-fi sounds. It has 3 knobs on the back: speed, depth and mix that kind of work in reverse to my intution. Facing the pedal, you turn the knob to your left to turn up the effect and turn the knobs to your right to turn then down. I was confused when I first used it 'cause I thought I had dimed all the knobs but had actually turned them all to zero and could thus not perceice the effect.

I'm playing a Custom Guitar Workshop Tele copy with GfS pickups through a Transtube Peavey Studio Pro 112.

The Fab probably sounds better on clean settings though I don't have a very distorted tone on my dirty channel so it works great for me. So far I have gone for leslie simulation effects, where I set the mix knob to about 1/2 and turn the speed up high and the depth down low. This is great for that rotary, or leslie type sound you hear in the Cream song Badge where it shifts to the lush D to Cadd9 B/G G progression. Very cool retro type sound.

You can also get a more spacious more subtle 12 string-like effect by turning up the the depth and turning down the speed.

If you dime all the knobs you have everything you need for abstract sci-fi flavoured soundscapes. Think of some of the corny dissonant stuff you hear in 1960s sci-fi shows. You get all that plus more. Stick this whacky stuff into a heavily feedbacked delay unit for total abstract bliss.

This pedal is a 10 for sound when considered in the context of its price range. But I reckoon it sounds as good as more expensive models.

Well...it has a plastic top and a solid metal bottom but it does seem very sturdy and I'd gig it and not worry about backup. 'Cause it's not made of metal I can't give it more than a 7, but it seems tough enough for me. I don't jump on my pedals anyway so for me it's fine. I can't really comment on the electronics yet but I have never had a pedal fail in this regard and I'm hoping that this one is no exception.

Can't comment here. But I like that they have sound samples on their website.

I play blusey rock and a bit of harder stuff, but love 60s and 70s guitar sounds. This pedal is great for that kind of stuff. It definitely has more character than my Boss Chorus Ensemble I used to own and it cost a fraction of the price. Unbelievable value. If it breaks I'll just buy another. I dont play with it on all the time but it sure does a good leslie sound and this one is staying in my pedal board. For this price it delivers cool sounds in spades. Bound to be a classic one day I reckon.

3 knobs, mix(level),speed(repeat),depth(space). very easy to use!

very rich,very quite,very analogue chorus.superb!

plastic...watchout..i hate the stompbutton too

bad...no warranty given when i bought it

best bang for the buck super chorus!...just take care of it...and it will last

Easy to set with straightforward controls. I only knock a couple points off because, for some reason, I find it hard to hit the footswitch with 100% accuracy. Manual is reasonably OK - but, if I didn't already know when the controls did, I don't think it would help much!

I play solo electric (Neil Young/Cat Power-ish). My guitars are an old Eko hollowbody and a mustang; amp either a Peavey Bandit or Fender Bassman. I use this to fill out some chords here and there and to add a little movement to some less rhythmic parts. I typically keep the depth low, the speed up about 70%, and the mix at about 80%. With these settings, I can get a subtle chorus that sits nicely with my tone and sounds very natural. By bringing the depth and mix up a bit, I can get those stereotypical '80s sounds. With everything cranked, it becomes a metallic vibrato. The tone overall is more similar to a BOSS or Ibanez box then an EH. Somewhat metallic, slightly sterile, but still quite usable when set conservatively. The reason I'm taking points off is because this thing is a TONE SUCKER! Whereas most pedals rob treble and volume when bypassed, the Fab steals bass and adds a little boost. I found the bypassed sound altered enough to be destracting, plus it destroyed the interaction between my guitar's volume knob and my amplifier. I still use the Fab, but I've moved it into the amp's effects loop to minimize the change.

Honestly, this thing is really solidly made. The plastic doesn't seem to flex at all, it's got some weight to it, and the knobs are clear of errant stomps. The footswitch does indeed use an unusual lever action to activate the switch (same switch Ibanez uses!), but you'd have to be trying to push it too far. The jacks are flimsy, but if yr gonna mount it on a board you should have no problem. I don't use it very often, so I wouldn't bother with a backup.

N/A

I bought this pedal because it was the absolute cheapest thing that would do the job. This pedal works well for what I do, and being able to mix in a clean signal keeps it from being too obtrusive. I feel bad giving it a low ranking, especially since it's a $15 pedal, but the bypassed sound is really troublesome. If they could put a better buffer in for the bypass, I think this would be an absolutely fantastic budget box. As is, it's just functional. It'll work fine until I get around to building my own chorus.