Danelectro DC-1 Cool Cat Chorus

pretty damn easy to use. plug in, plug out. two knobs, speed and "chill", a Danoism for "depth". it's so easy, how can you not figure out how to use it?

My amp is a '98 Laney GH50L with an 80's era Yamaha S210-III 2x10 speaker box. it's a particle board cabinet, much to my right arm's chagrin, but i think it sounds pretty good. i use an Ibanez GRX40 guitar. cheap, but decent.

the Speed knob is pretty responsive. on low settings, where i prefer to keep it, you can get nice, smooth, shimmery sounds out of it, like you would hear on a U2 track, or something similar. if you crank it, you get seriously trippy sounds.

the Chill knob is not so responsive. if you drop it past half, you really can't hear the chorusing effect. as a result, i always keep the chill knob all the way up. i like it like that.

overall, i think the quality of sound is great. it's the first pedal i actually bought, rather than borrowed for extended time periods and i've gotten compliments on its sound. also, the bypass causes no tone suckage, at least i don't think so.

as a side note, i used it with my bass, and it sounds great in that application too. nails the "46 & 2" sound.

It has never failed to work, but the problem is the 1/4" jacks are pretty cheap. they generally work, but sometimes they are a little loose and make loud crackling sounds, and sometimes stick the pedal in bypass no matter what the position of the switch is. a little cable wriggling fixes that. luckily, it's not a problem that occurs often.

Haven't talked to Danelectro about it.

I am primarily a hard rocker, but i also play various styles from punk, and ska and old school metal to funk and reggae with varying success. i've been at it for 4 years and i must say, the Cat is much better than the Boss CH1. i mean, it just flat out squishes it. it's cheaper, sounds better, has more depth and looks cooler.

if some arsewipe stole it from me, i'd have to find him and knife his face open with a dull blade! baesed on the HC gear classifieds, i got the best deal ever on this baby. people sell theirs for $40-50, and i got it for $30. great investment.

First of all, I want to make one gripe about a lot of the reviews here on HC. Just because someone has been playing guitar for 25 years and has allegedly played every rack unit made in the last 10 years etc etc doesn't make them the authority on tone, whether they've gigged with their rig or not.

With that out of the way, I'll get on with the review. This pedal is a cinch to use... I want a certain type of chorus, whether it be a wide open slow rate shimmer, or a fast warble, it can be dialed in seconds. For a pedal with two controls, it's surprisingly versatile and satisfying to use.

Gibson SG Standard -> Boss TU-2 -> Cool Cat -> EH Small Stone USA -> A/B Splitter. From there: A -> Vib/Trem channel, Vox AC30/6TBX. B -> Danelectro Daddy O -> MXR Dist+ -> MXR Dist+ -> Dano Fish & Chips 7 Band EQ -> EH Big Muff USA -> Vox AC30/6TBX Normal channel. I find this rig allows me a reasonable degree of versatility.

I'll be honest, I'm really not that into chorus, so this pedal was mainly bought to emulate a few of my favourite players who do use it, rather than as something I'd chose to use in my own songs. My favourite chorus sounds are those of John Frusciante, the Catherine Wheel and Bryan Adams (think Run to You). I think the JC-120 has the best chorus, however I was unwilling to pay for the stompbox version, the Boss CE-1.

As far as I'm concerned this pedal nails those sounds with class, and can be as subtle or as devastating as required. Quite warm sounding at certain settings, rich and smooth especially with the depth (chill) past 12oclock. I can get all the chorus tones I want with versatility to spare, and it certainly beats the CH-1 I owned previously. Not quite JC-120, but close enough. I can't wait to run this bad boy in stereo.

Maybe it is unfair to rate a pedal on how hard it consumes batteries, but I simply can't give this model, the older 18v version, a very high mark for reliability when it eats up 2 9v batteries in the space of a few hours. I put two almost brand new batteries in the unit when I got it, the light wasn't too bright to begin with, and it's almost dead now.

With a power supply (ie a DC Brick) this pedal is unlikely to let you down. I own a Daddy O which has similar construction and it's very reliable. If you're thinking of running your Cool Cat on batteries - even the 9v version - forget it. This is the sort of pedal that will happily consume 10 batteries in my average week of jamming and practicing.

Never did, never will. Why they discontinued a lot of their better products, while continuing the truly awful Mini Effects range (of which I've owned two now) is a real mystery, and it also makes it harder to find an official 18v adapter for the Cool Cat.

I play mostly within the rock genre, I'd be the first to admit I'm no jazz master but I do know a trick or two. Recently I've not had the chance to jam with a rhythm section, but have been called upon to play some smooth R&B and hiphop style music, one of the reasons I thought this chorus might come in handy. This is a great match for my two main specialies, rock and R&B.

I've been playing for about 7 years now. Other than what I listed in my rig, I've owned a few multis with chorus and a Boss CH-1. None of them compare to this, and this was cheaper too.

If it were stolen I'd probably just get another, one with a PSU this time though. Or if my budget was bigger, possibly seek out the coveted Boss CE-1 that John Frusciante uses.

I don't hate anything about this pedal really, which is something of a surprise. My favourite feature is sheer versatility and a warmth a lot of other choruses fail to match.

I chose this because I'm on a tight budget (student) and didn't much like the sound of the Small Clone I had considered buying before. It was recommended to me by several members of an online guitar forum other than HC.

It helps me play with more passion because it can nail certain tones that I have been seeking for the past six months or so but have been unable to get with other pedals. It's great value and sounds fantastic, just remember to get one with a PSU because batteries will get you nowhere!

Easy to use, no bad settings.

Ok. I have been playing many years -- about 25.. and have played almost every floor and rackmount unit available, art, alesis, boss, roland, yamaha... and I have to say this is incredibly CORRECT. I run a strat or a les paul into a compressor, wah, flanger, this chorus and a delay, into legend amps. I look for a good thickeneing of my sound at times, not too much digital warble effect, not too fast, just right. and clean. cant have moise, as the compressor already adds enough. This pedal, with its retro look, solid construction, and clean clear sound, is amazing.

Dont know -- I bought it used on ebay, came with the adapter.. it is built for road use, and thats what I will be putting it through, so I'll know soon enough. Cant imagine anything killing it though. I have no backup-- if it does, I'll just use the flanger on a light setting, which is what I have been doing previous to getting this.

N/A

Rock. Mostly. 80s, 90s, some 70s and modern thrown in. My main rig consists of a simple strat, les paul, and legend amplifiers. If it were stolen, I would have to do the ebay search again, and find one.. yes, I;d replace it with the same thing. cant imagine what else you would need on it.. unless you are one of those sissy wimps that need to have all sorts of controls on it to make it look good. blech -- rate and depth are all a chorus needs -- use the amp eq for anything else.

2 knobs, if you cant figure it out, put down the guitar.

Great thick warm, crisp if you want soft and mellow if you back down on it. I have les pauls and a prs, I play clean and all out melting down my triple recto with it and it sounds great no matter what the gain setting. turn it off if you want, or leave it on, doesnt matter. You dont have to worry about it messing up your tone, maybe if you have lower cost amps, or a guitar with single coils, but I havent had to worry about it at all.

I think I used it to beat another pedal to death, one that didnt work properly. but if you pick one of these up, you will see why they dont break, the only thing I have thought about is that the knobs are plastic, but if they break off oh well! I dont touch them hardley ever, so no big loss. I dont have a backup pedal, and dont think I will any time soon. have been gigging with this thing for well over a year

I called them to get a manual for another one of there pedals and the guy was cool as hell, and he sent it out to me for FREE, THAT VERY DAY!!! how can you beat that?

I play heavy stuff, but have lots of friends that play and we get together as often as possible, and then who knows what can happen, acid jaz, or metal you have to be on acid to make sense of??? who knows. been playing a decade, I would replace it and hang posters up in my town asking if anyone has seen it, I think I have hugged it before. I dont care about the battery thing everybody talks about cause I got it used with the adapter, you should get that anyway, it pays for itself in a few battery changes. hell yeah it helps make music, makes me happy with how I sound, and therefore makes me play longer and better stuff, if thats not helping I dont know what is

It has two knobs, like everyone has said. It has a stomp switch, it has a battery compartment, active LED, input and two outputs.
Utter doddle to use. I lost the manual three years ago, you really must be a rider on the short bus not to be able to use it.
I set both knobs half way on mine about 3 1/2 years ago, and aint moved them since!

Dano 59 DC, Les Paul, SG and at one point a strat of some description + Yamaha acoustic thingy c/w home made piezo pickup.
Generally either run direct into the computer, or into various Marshalls.
No extraneous noises whatsoever from it. There is usually some reverb mixed in there too. It is possible to overdo things, but Dano have put a bit of a restraining hand on it.
Lush, layered sound. Some accenting of bass, some minor attenuation of treble when playing chords at the squeaky end of the neck. Generally lovely.

Other chorus pedals have come and gone, others have been tried out. None replaces my Dano!
I don't turn it off to go noisy with the gain either. Don't need to.
Dropping the score to 9 as frequency response is not entirely linear.

It is built like a brick outhouse -except- those knobs are not collared through the chassis. Nor is the PSU jack, nor the sockets.
I've never had an issue with it, but then I just turn the thing on and forget about it.
Never ever ever gig with batteries though. It does rather eat them. Use the Dano 18v adaptor. I do not have a backup chorus pedal.

Not needed them

I play whatever I feel like. It suits most things. If it -does- get in the way, hell, turn it off. Thats a no brainer too!
Been playing for, ooh, years. Long enough to get welts on my chest and callouses on my fingers :)
I've compared it to other individual stomp boxes and effects processors. I own an effects processor that has chorus. My amp has chorus built in, yet I continue to use the Dano. If it dies, I'd buy another and use this one as a weapon.

Can't remember what I paid for it, but it has been excellent value for money. It def. helps me make music.

It's pretty simple to use. I mean, it's only got two knobs -- speed and chill (depth). If you can't figure out how to use this...

When I was in the store, I also listened to a Dod Ice Box and some other Boss box. I was able to get much nicer, fuller sounds with this than either of those.

I've been playing this with a Mexican Strat into a Fender Champ 110, and it sounds very nicer! This thing is very quiet and sounds awesome. I use it mostly for clean channel stuff with the speed set around 10-o'clock and the chill around 12. And I get a very nice smooth chorus sound out of it. I really like it! If you crank both knobs all the way up, you can almost replicate a leslie or rotary speaker effect -- but with a little more detuned warble. When I add some of the spring reverb from my amp, it sounds really sweet.

On the distortion channel of my amp, it still works pretty good. But I lose some of the richness in the tone quality -- sounds a little flat. I've tried fiddling with the gain and eq settings to work around it...but it may just be my amp.

This thing is built like a brick shithouse!! It's solid metal contruction -- almost weighs as much as my amp. You could probably throw this thing off a bridge and still use it. I've stomped on this thing for over 3 years and I've never had a problem with it.

The only "bad" thing I could say is that it requires 2 batteries, and they get eaten up pretty quickly. I actually bought a pair of the special Danelectro Batteries from Musicians Friend, and I couldn't tell a difference -- yeah, go figure. So, I bought a power adapter and things have been fine ever since.

never had a need to call them.

I love this thing. I used to have a crate amp (don't remember what model, sorry) that had an on-board chorus effect and it sounded like total dog shit. This thing is very sweet, very rich. If someone stole it, I'd buy another one.

2 knobs.
stereo or mono output.
9v or 18v power supply (the newer ones only require 9v)

flat out the best chorus on the market. i've used an infinite number of set-ups, but my main one is a goldtop into a modified '63 fender bassman (50W 4ohms) head into a marshall 1960av (4x12 vintage 30's, 4ohm mono) cabinet. i have the boss pedal tuner (so worth the investment), an eq pedal to push the amp for overdrive, and this little pedal. it's about as simple a set-up as you get. i usually put the chorus with both knobs at about 1/3. just the setting i happen to like with my set-up, but almost anywhere you set this you can get a cool, interesting sound. for those people who are writing that this pedal is too tinny, etc don't know what they are talking about. this is the best chorus on the market and has been for a while now. i'd like to know what they think is better.

even though it is one of just a few pieces in my set-up i don't use it very often, cause i have very little use for a chorus pedal, but it's that good that it's just worth having. give it a try. you can't go wrong with it. i got mine for $50 at guitar center on sale, brand new. also plug it into your a/e steel string sometime and try and find a cool sound. especially good to switch on every once in a while if you just play and sing solo on stage.

Two knobs and a footswitch. What's hard about that?

I have an Ashdown Peacemaker 40 all tube combo amp, 40 watts. It has a parallel FX loop. I thought I would be smart and put the Cool Cat in the FX loop. I found the sound in this configuration did something to my tone that I didn't like. It added a trebly edge to it, especially when I used the overdrive channel. I was going to consider reselling the Cool Cat when I thought I'd try putting it between my guitar and the amp input. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't hurt my tone like it did in the FX loop. So I now like this unit very much and doubt that I would sell it unless I have the luxury to try some more expensive units. However at this point I am not very motivated to do so since I am happy with the sound.

I think those that found the sound to tinny should experiment further. So much in a sound depends upon order in a signal chain and the gear you have.

Another point about this pedal: I found it to have very usable sound at all sorts of settings. I was really again very pleasantly surprised. I used to have a Taiwanese Boss CE-2 that really only sounded sweet at one setting. This Cool Cat has all sorts of nice sounds. With the Speed set very low and the Chill (depth) set very high, it has a very nice subtle to moderate chorus effect that might be closer to a detune. With the Speed set very high and the Chill set minimum, you get a very nice warbly effect, almost like a gentle tremolo. With both settings in the middle, you get another moderate level chorus effect that can be made more subtle or more agressive by turning the Chill. With Speed and Chill set high, it sounds like an electronic organ through a leslie.

The amount of noise introduced by the pedal was noticeable in a very quiet room, but was very minute. Totally unnoticeable in a playing situation.

The unit is very heavy duty. Certainly the outside of it can handle being thrown around. I don't know about the switch's reliability electronically. That's yet to be seen.

I haven't had to use the support yet, but I did check it out. I had what I thought was a problem (turned out to be a false alarm) and was going to return it under warranty (which is 5 years!). So I called their support number. At first I was annoyed that it was just a recorded message, until realized they were saying "just send it in and we'll either repair it or replace it". They didn't ask for receipt or anything. So they evidently stand behind their stompbox products.

I play a wide range of musical styles, so chorus is necessary. I have not used many chorus pedals, but have used chorus in a number of multi-effect units (rack and floor). This chorus rates high compared to them in terms of sound quality and flexibility.

Easy. Two knobs, one button. If you can't figure it out you're a big dummy.

Blah. Very metallic and cheezy. Great for those big haired cheese metal 80's ballads, but not really musical. The *one* cool effect I like is to crank both knobs to about 80 percent. You can get some really cool John Scofield sounds out of it then.

Pretty solid. It seems every time I buy a pedal that I hate, it's built to withstand direct nuclear hits. But, the second I find something I dig it'll break if I fart in front of it.

Dunno.

Blah. If you're a kid or newbie then this is a great starter pedal. Other than that, I'd just as soon use it as a butt plug. Not on myself of course!

Very straight forward pedal to use. 2 knobs and a single switch. The switch takes a while to get used to as its circular and much smaller than the 'target area' on a Boss pedal. The only thing is that the knobs are very hard to tell where they set once you are playing, or in a dim light, as the indentations on them are quite small.

This is the best chorus out there! I tried a TC, a boss Chorus Ensemble (which I already own), Marshall something-o-vibe and many others over an afternoon in Chandlers, and found this one to be the best. Very thick, lush are spankily! I run it in the FX loop of my Marshall JCM900 combo on both clean and overdriven sounds.

Well, It got a pint of snakebite spilled it it (lager and cider I believe) and got fluid all inside it. I had to take it apart to clean the switch and the print board. I was amazed how well the unit is built internally. The case is metal. The only problem I can forsee is the pots coming loose/breaking as they are mounted onto the PCB not to the case.

I am not sure who even distributes them in the UK. But I am sure your local shop can help you!

Great sounding functional pedal. Its nice and quiet and is the best for me. The only thing is that it seems to bump the level up a bit when you use it, which may be a problem depending on how your rig is configured. Also, watch out for the 18v version of this unit. It does, to my ears sound a little richer, but there is the hassle of 2 PP3's or a special 18v adapter. Mine one is a 9v version!