Danelectro D-4 Fab Chorus

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.

This is a no-frills chorus pedal, but it works perfectly and it's easy top get a nice chorus out of it. It will easily push beyond the normal usable chorus to really whacked out chorus sounds. You don't need a manual, it's not that difficult, but it comes with one anyway.

The sound quality isn't as thick and full as a Small Stone chorus, but it's easily as good as most digital effects floor units. Start with all knobs at 5 and adjust from there. Maybe pull back the rate a little and give it a little more depth. You can't really get a bad sound out of it.

It's made of plastic but it's a very heavy-duty plastic. I worry more about the switch. Especially mounted on my pedal board in the second row, it can be hard to use the switch. I would gig with it without a backup - A: it's pretty solid and simple, B: it's just a chorus, man.

I haven't had to deal with them on this but I've emailed them on a different pedal and they never responded. I'll give them low marks for that.

I play alternative/modern rock (over 15 years) semi-pro/pro and I have this pedal hooked up through a true-bypass loop switch so I can kick on multiple effects at once and not worry that they are sucking tone when I'm not using them. How can you go wrong with this pedal? It's 15 bucks and it works great. It's the best deal I've ever seen on a usable piece of music gear. Sure I'd love to see a metal true-bypass switch on it and maybe it could look a little cooler, but it's 15 bucks and I'm depending on it along side my boutique pedals.

I found my sound in maybe 4 minutes.

I just love the sound. It is always on when I play. It makes the sound much sweeter and richer. I am using Gretsch White Falcon -> D-4 ->TS-9 -> Fuzz Factory ->DM4 -> JCM-800

I have used it now for a year and I have had no problems at all.

I just realized that I must go and buy another one for a spare.

Well this little plastic piece of pedal is one of the best sounding chorus effects out there, un-frickin'belivable! Don't worry about the manual, cause chances are you won't need one...

the sound quality is wherer this pedal shines, it blows away the boss ch-1 out the gate! I just sold my ch-1 after I found this. I am running
a esp viper 400 w/ emg 81/85, into a powered johnson pedalboard:

rocktron metal planet
mxr m-109 eq
dano fab chorus
ibanez de-7 delay/tape echo
going into a randall rh200 halfstack
this pedal is very good for both high gain, and clean, it'll fatten up your overall tone if you don't over do it...(mix half way, speed low, depth high)
no unwanted noise at all from my setup!

Well it's plastic, but I take care of my equip. and yes, I would gig without a backup cause it's on my board.

Dano who? maybe if worked at their factory in China I would recive customer support,ha ha...

I play metal/hardcore/shred/classical/blues/folk/rock etc.
this pedal is good for all! especially for $15 bones, you can't go wrong. I wish it was made out of metal, but it would cost more, and I would toatally pay the extra. I gave boss up, you should too!

The Dano D-4 Fab Chorus is in a class all by itself...
First off, it's a mono-only chorus (not stereo) with just one output jack.
Secondly, it's very simple to use...after a few adjustments you can find a sound that will suit a clean or distorted guitar tone.
For those looking for a low priced chorus this could be the one for you!
The manual that's included is the basic layout of the dials and does not guide you through possible settings. But you can figure what each knob does by playing with it very quickly.

The D-4 isn't noisy at all...unlike some chorus pedals that make "swishing" sounds when not engaged the Dano is quiet when turned off.
Currently, I'm using a 70s re-issue Fender Stratocaster and a Peavey VK-112 amp with the D-4 and it works great!

For $15 bucks the D-4 is a steal...imagine how much we used to pay for chorus-effect pedals...this is a "no-brainer". For those who want a reasonable priced pedal this baby works well.
Dano products are in no way really versatile but what they do is cool.
Dano has "their sound" which you'll either love or hate. I personally like their limited (but useful) tones.
(I use mine without a backup.)

I've contacted Dano in the past and they did respond to my needs (after many emails) but that's OK.
For the price I paid, if it died, I would simply replace it.

I play a "mixed bag" of classic rock, blues, C& W, pop standards, etc...
so this pedal pretty much fits whenever I need it.
It's not "rocket-science" but it's simple operation will make you smile.

three knobs. play around with them. Two points deducted for the knobs pointing away from the user so you can't dial up a setting visually

Like any pedal you get variation from 'nothing' through to 'silly noises' but in between there are some nice chorus settings and at one extreme it will do an APPROXIMATION of a tremolo effect.

It has a totally different character to my Boss CE2, but that's OK, and it's not a criticism to say I can't quite make it mimic an effect I've got used to over the last 20 years. I don't think I've fully explored the Dano yet but I think it's going to be best at supplying the extra harmonic richness while not shouting 'look at me, I've got a chorus pedal' kind of thing. Giving it a 9 'cos nothing's perfect.

Very quiet operation, no switch noise. NB this pedal really hums when used with power supplies which produce no hum in other pedals. I imagine it's just more sensitive. I ended up with a switch-mode regulated supply; maybe that's what's inside the Danelectro Zero Hum power supply (costs more than the pedal, duh). But use it on battery, or with the right power supply, and my only real complaint vanishes

Plastic body but solid enough construction. If I was going to be taken out of a gig and shot if there were no chorus, then, no, I'd take a backup. I only got this pedal to add a little chorus in church without having to lug my entire pedalboard around with me. Too soon to say if it's reliable over the longterm, therefore I'll give it 6

no experience

Brilliant value for money. I would probably replace it wih the same thing. Shoot, for this money, get two to have 2 different settings at your feet. Cool blue LED. Three points deducted because of the power supply issue.
Price paid is new from eBay including postage

3 knobs, can play around with them until you get a nice sound.

Sounds amazing for $15, its my main chorus pedal on my live pedal board.
Ive noticed that the FAB series are really good and are better them some of the higher end pedals.

I use it on my main board, No problems yet.

Amazing sums it up. If you don't have it. Buy it!

Very easy. Just remeber to unplug it when you are done!

It's a Boss!! (NOT) But it sounds very good, very clear. Not noisy. I use a vintage strat through blackface Champ and silverface Super Reverb.

I bought this as a backup for my Rocktron Tsunami.

What do want for $15? Get a life.

Easy to get a nice sound - very adjustable.

I'm giving it an 8 because it boosts your level at any setting. More importantly, if the battery goes dead, the loss of volume will have you scratching your head until you figure out what "died".

These are nitpicks, however, as the signal passed is clean and VERY nice. Great pedal.

Yes - plastic case, but the pedal's bottom plate is steel with a nice rubber casing to keep the pedal from slipping - very solid.

Have no idea as I haven't had to call them.

For 15 dollars, this pedal is a steal - great sound (a little boosted), good construction, and superb sound controls.

A little more difficult to use than I would have thought. The knob response doesn't seem to be linear - ie you increase the rate, and it goes up slowly, and then you hit a point where it increases very quickly. A little touchy trying to get fast-rate chorus sounds because of this. Requires a light touch.

Anyway, three knobs, mix, speed and depth.

No too bad, especially for the money. Can get pretty cheesy, big 80's chorus sounds, but subtler sounds are also to be had. With the mix at 100%, there's a volume boost, which is kind of weird. With all the knobs cranked it sounds very strange ... you can really hear that square wave going. I find it sounds the most tasteful if you back off a bit on the mix and depth, and then adjust rate to taste. Some settings sound a little metallic, others not. There are good sounds to be had, but you have to play with it a bit. Rate and depth knobs affect each other, so that complicates things. With the wrong power supply, it makes strange, bassy swelling noises.

Seems okay. Will probably last many years with care.

Pretty good for the price. Doesn't compare to, say, the BYOC chorus, or the MXR, or CE-2, but it's not bad. I haven't used a chorus pedal for a while. I kind of got this one on a whim. If I used chorus more, I might be tempted to shell out some cash for one of those I mentioned above, but mostly I prefer flanger to chorus (I used a Howard Davis-modded Electric Mistress).