Danelectro DC-1 Cool Cat Chorus

Very easy to use, two controls: Speed and Chill (Depth). I bought this pedal used so I didn't get the manual with it.

My setup consists of a 1989 MIJ Fender Stratocaster (with the original stock pickups) and a VOX Cambridge 30 (1x10). It is no more noisy on the Chorus or bypass settings than when I just play straight thru the VOX without this pedal. The strat pickups are just noisy, so I'm used to it, so I can't honestly say this pedal is exceptionally noisy. On the VOX's clean channel, the Cool Cat Chorus sounds absolutely fabulous...it's like the Cool Cat's deep, rich Chorus effect and the bright, bell-like tone of the VOX were made for each other.

I've had this pedal for about a week now and I still can't put it down. I went and re-learned "Stairway to Heaven", and a bunch of Police songs, just to have an excuse to play thru it. Using the strat's 2nd position setting (bridge and middle pickups) seems to add an extra chimey sound, closer to a 12 string than I thought possible.

I tried some other Chorus pedals at Guitar Center and thought this one had the best Chorus tone of what I was looking for. I noticed some other pedals had more ranges of Chorus settings, but the Cool Cat had enough for me, and I liked it's very smooth, deep, rich sounding tone the best.

I don't play in a band, just at home or with friends, so having a backup is not an issue for me. The metal housing seems durable enough.

I contacted Danelectro from their website for the manual, which their site said you could send for. It's been over a week and I haven't gotten a response yet. Not a major crisis, as like I said, its very easy to figure out. Just wanted the manual to see what settings Danelectro suggested, so no big deal.

As far as repairs go, Danelectro also says on their site if the pedal's not working to send it to them pre-paid and they will send it back fixed in about 3-4 weeks. No mention if they charge you for this. If I ever hear back from them regarding the manual, I will ask them about that.

I'm not a very experienced player (about a year), but I do know a good sounding amp or effects pedal when I hear one, and I think the Cool Cat is the best sounding Chorus pedal I heard, and very easy to use.

If you're looking for a Chorus pedal to add to your setup, the Cool Cat is definitely worth checking out.
June 03,2002 lr**

I run five other pedals in my chain, and this one has to be the easiest to use! It took me about 10min after I bought it to set it to a setting I like, and I have never had to change it since.

I'm piping a Danelectro 56-U2 mostly through the pedal, however I am also known to use a Epiphone "The Dot" or Vantage Aveneger. The pedal chain consists of Boss Acoustic Sim and Blues Overdrive, a Fender chromatic tuner stomp box, Crybaby wah, and a Danelectro Black Coffee, all running into a Vox AC30 amp. I have never been more impressed with a pedal! The ambient noise through the amp is quite low considering the amount of pedals I'm running, and when I run just the Cool Cat I get no ambient noise what-so-ever!

For about a year I was running this pedal using batteries... I would have to buy a new pair every freaking week! The LCD was always dying out on me before the batteries were even half drained, and the pedal would be useless on fresh cells after about 10 hours.

So deffinatly, if you buy this pedal, grab the AC adaptor! It saves a lot of money on batteries, and keeps that LCD indicator shining bright!

never had to deal with them.

All my friends always say I'm a fool when I starting digging around the Dan-O products at the shops. Then thier wondering where I get the great sounding effects from at shows!

Compared to Boss Pedals (which are about twice as much in my experiance) the Dan Electro stomps offer twice the quality at half the price! However the knobs aren't the best in the world...

I'm mostly a Ska, Surf, and Punk guitarist, and I have to be the only one in our local scene that uses Dan-Electro gear, let alone a chorus pedal.

two knobs and let your ears do the exploring

pretty cool chorus for the price , i run it through a jimi hendrix tribute strat and jackson professional with various distortion pedals including the killer fab tone , axis research fuzz faze, and roger mayer classic fuzz with a carvin vacuum tube head. any way sounds very spacy by iteslf especially when using the stereo feature. no need to fly in space . can't wait to try it with my ultra-vibe ,when ever it gets here.

no problems yet, but consumes batteries fast. get the ac adapter.

looking for my own unique sound ,but idolize hendrix,evh,and so on . too many names to list

Can't get much easier to use. The manual is very helpful in regards to different setups. Love the Danelectro line.

I use alot of pedals in my chain. Mostly Dan-O. This pedal reacts well with them all without a noticable change in volume. How does it compare to other Chorus pedals? Well, I think it's the best bang for the buck. I've even had TC Electronic Chorus/ Flanger. I'll admit that the TC had the best sound but look at the price and the damn thing died in about a year. Big Muff killed again. I run everything through a Marshall head and a Sunn head. Talk about best of both worlds. As far as were in the chain I put this, it's just before the Dan-Echo and Dan-O slapback.

I've had my Cool Cat for three years without failure. Buy the power supply. Be aware that the pots and switch aren't heavy duty and these stomp boxes last a reasonably long time for the cost.

Since I'm running ten Dan-O pedals in my setup I wrote and called Dan-O to buy a daisy chain like the displays un stores. Hell, the tech sent me two of the ten mini daisy chains. It takes a few days for them to get back to you so be patient. The company is very good, just busy.

I'm pretty much a hard rock and metal guitar player for around 20 years. I feel old now, thanks. These products overall are a great value for what you get compared to cost. The large chassis pedals only lack durable exterior components. The Mini's are all plastic so consider them disposable. They work really well for all they are. I'll keep using Dan-O products as long as they continue to satisfy.

Easy to use. Found out the hard way that a chorus has to be at the end of an effects chain. Manual is good.

Very good sound quality. I play mellow Christian music and love to set the speed at 9 o'clock, and chill at 3 o'clock. I like slow, deep, syrupy chorus. When using acoustic guitar with EQ, EQ has to come first! Was the best chorus I tested. It also works with my Ovation nylon string, but has a lesser effect with nylon string guitar. Haven't been able to make use of stereo option yet.

It has been very dependable for the 3 years I've owned it. The 18v feature EATS batteries. Get the adapter. I prefer pedals with metal jacks. They're easier to replace. You have to be nice to plastic jacks. I leave it plugged in on my pedal board. Reduces all that plugging and unplugging that wears jacks out. 18v adapter gets in the way a little on pedalboard. Case is sturdy. Switch works OK. No need for back up.

Have no idea. Never had a problem.

I play Christian music, and it fits great on the slow worship songs. I've been playing over 20 years, and own a 70's Ibanez artist, with a neck pickup that I usually use in the split/single coil mode for rhythym, the hummer for more cutting leads. Chorus works great with lead/bridge hummer pickup, with tone control set way bassy or muted.
I also use an old Ibanez SD-9, with distortion set at minimum, tone at 10 o'clock, level about 2 o'clock, for the more power songs. For even more power, I sometimes add the Danelectro Daddy-O for bassboost, mid cut. Sometimes I use chorus with one of the distortion pedals, but usually not with both. I also use it with my steel and nylon string acoustic guitars. For acoustic, I have to have my chorus and EQ. I dislike multi-pedals with fixed chorus settings. I have to be able to adjust it to my speed and taste, and can do it fine with this one.
If lost I would buy another, without trying anything alse. I stick with things like, like d'Addario strings. I love the richness of this chorus. Like I said, it is a must on some of the mellow Christian songs. I am going to try it with compression next. I wish it had metal jacks, like I said above.

Very easy to get a sound out of it. Almost frighteningly easy. The manual has suggested settings that really are worth a $hit, unlike with a lot of manuals. It simply smokes my Boss CE-3.

A little noisy, and there's a noticeable (in my case, unwelcome) change in volume when you step on it. But the sound is SO GOOD (see above), I'll live with it! I use it next to the end of my effects loop(right before the stereo volume), but I have so many effects it's not worth listing them all.

Dunno. Doesn't look as sturdy as a Boss.

Dunno.

I don't know if I've ever been as happy with a chorus pedal as I am with this. I love it. Great investment in my sound. I'd give it a 10 if it weren't for the volume change issue.

It has two controls. "Speed" and "chill" for speed and depth. The manual has suggested settings for "lush chorus" setting and "LA chorus," etc., including some suggesting when using Danoelectoro overdrive and distortion pedals in conjunction with the Cool Cat. Very easy to get a good sound out of it.

Setup: Fender Stratocaster mostly. Amps, Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp, Peavey Transtube Bandit, Mesa Boogie Mark III head, Peavey 5150 4x12 cabinet.

The Cool Cat is very quiet, and it sounds very good. Lush, warm, really nice. No complaints how it sounds at all. I would say it is probably one of the better chorus pedals I have used, in regard to sound quality. I use it with a Geoffrey Teese RMC1 wah wah, Fulltone 70s pedal, Fulltone Distortion Pro, modded Tube Screamer (Analog Mike), Voodoo Lab SuperFuzz, Fulltone 69 pedal, BOSS Heavy Metal (1986, made in Japan model), BOSS DD-5 digital delay, MXR Phase 90, Fulltone Fulldrive 2, all on a Tom Peck "Pedalracks" pedalboard.

So far so good. I treat my equipment well. The actual housing of the unit is very good. The controls are cheap as cheap can be, same goes for the switch.

Would I use it without a back-up? Probably so. Just be easy with the controls.

I have never dealt with Danelectoro directly. I wrote them an e-mail asking for information over a month ago. No repsonse yet. Not expecting one.

Very unprofessional.

Overall, I'd say it's a viable chorus pedal. It sounds good, as stereo option, and works well with my other pedals. I was looking at more expensive pedals and gave it a try at the suggestion of the shop keeper, Steve of Steve's Music Center in Rock Hill, New York. Glad he recommended it. I got a kick out of a previous reviewer calling it a "cheap piece of Chinese crap" as when discussing the pedal with a rather noted pedal tech he said essentially the same thing. LOL.

I'm very happy with my Cool Cat.

Very easy to get a good sound out of this simple and straightforward pedal. It only has two knobs that control speed and intensity of the effect. You don't need a manual when you only have two knobs to twist, however dano sells this with a little manual that suggests some settings.

I currently have a Peavey Wolfgang, an American Strat and a Gibson Nighthawke, some other pedals (MXR, Boss and Danelectro) and I run everything in a Marshall Superlead 100 w head (GREAT!!!!) with two Mesa Cabinets. I just use the Cool Cat with a clean sound in my arpeggios or in some leads to fatten up the sound a bit. I usually set the speed knob at nine o' clock and the intensity at twelve.

I don't have the money for a backup (I'm only 19 and spent a lot of money on guitars and amps), but think I could depend on it.
I always take some extra batteries with me, since this pedal is a battery eater and I can't find the ac adapter here in Italy.

never dealt with them

Very good pedal, doesn't affect the sound too much in my opinion (unlike the dan-echo...) and for the price I paid for it, i think I had a good deal. I'm slowly giving away most of my pedals since I almost never use them, but I think the cool cat will stay with me for a long time together with my ds-1 (26 euro used) and my p-90 (43 euro used). Try one

There are only two knobs to adjust. It is pretty easy to dial into the sound you want.

I love the sounds I can dial in - you can get both a sparkling chorus or a lush chorus with ease. I especially love the the 'simulated' rotary chorus. I know it isn't a Leslie (I couldn't afford one anyway), but when I play Cold Shot (a Stevie Ray Vaughan song) I can get close to his tone with this chorus.

Very reliable. Built like a tank. You absolutely must by the AC adaptor because this box eats batteries as a 'snack'...

I bought my unit used. I contacted Danelectro via email to ask if I could order a booklet. They shipped me one for free with in a week. That is good customer support in my opinion.

I would replace this unit in a heartbeat if it ever came up MIA.

I play mostly blues and some Christian contemporary stuff. This unit definitely adds some nice color to my tone.

Very straight forward and easy to use. It's a floor pedal not a digital rack-mount piece of gear, so it tends to be minimalistic on controls. In short, very easy to dial in good sounds and become familiar with.

I use this pedal in my board and have used it on sessions. When I picked it up, the owner of the shop told me it was a piece of Chinese crap, but a good sounding piece of Chinese crap. I said with an endorsement like that, how could I refuse!

I tried it along a number of current BOSS chorus pedals (Super Chorus, et. al.), and it sounded very good in comparison. Certainly not as rich as a Fulltone chorus, but for the money it is very good sounding, quiet, warm, musical.

I've used it on sessions and it always works. I haven't had the opportunity to use it in a live band situation on stage, but it appears to be reasonably well made. For a piece of gear like a chorus, I always have at least one back-up/alternative. The Cool Cat is no exception.

Never dealt with them.

A nice sounding chorus at a very reasonable price. It merits checking out.