Danelectro DC-1 Cool Cat Chorus

Very easy

I recently bought a TC Electronic chorus...great pedal...but I went back and plugged in my 1996 Cool Cat...18v...and wow...I had to write this review after all this time.

I prefer to keep mine 9 or 10 o'clock for both settings and I luv the sound of my EJ strat thru this thing into an EL84 based amp.

A gorgeous chorus. Yeah..I'll leep the $300+ TC chorus...and it's especially useful if I have more than 1 effect in thr chain.

But I cannot say enough good things about this old pedal. I have no idea if the 9v versions are any good...but my 18v just sounds fabulous at the setting that I like.

Built like a tank...these things were very well designed stomp boxes...maybe the best designed ever.

I've never even had to think about calling them and I bought all of the Danelectro effects when these things started coming out ~1996.

I'm just guessing that I paid around ~$70 in 1996...I don't remember exactly. As mentioned...I like my new TC chorus very much...but for me...that dialed in sound that I like on the Danelectro...well..I think that one sound is better than anything I'm hearing on the TC.

The TC has that very glassy and very glassy sound that I like alot...but there is a specific sound on the Cool Cat 18v that's juat great.

Rate and "Chill" (depth). Anyone can handle this one.

It sounds very nice. It's a very smooth sort of chorus. At 18 volts there is plenty of headroom. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of chorus effects, but I bought this for the pitch vibrato.

To get pitch vibrato, ala the Boss VB-2, just stick a "dummy" cable into the stereo out jack, a cable that leads nowhere. Now the mono output jack will be putting out pitch vibrato, 100% wet.

It doesn't have the smooth sine wave of the VB-2, but it's a reasonable approximation, and sounds quite nice.

The pedal seems to be free of noise, as well.

Danelectro pedals, in my experience, are very dependable.

For my purposes - pitch vibrato, this is very nice. As a bonus, it looks very cool, and it can be had cheaply on the used market.

Two dials, one switch...
Sounds great right away. Can't remember the manual, since i own the thing for several years now... But there was one in the box.
This is the original 18 volt version.

I'm using the Cool Cat on my effect board, before ditortion, but after the fuzz. Guitars are Fender American Standard Strat, Tokai Breezysound tele copy, Ibanez SA120. Amp is a Brunetti MC2 three channel all tube combo. It's not notacibly noisy, and i power it (and my other effects) with a voodoo lab pedal power 2 plus. This one eats batteries for breakfast. Have recorded with it. My favorite chorus sound is the sound john frusciante has on the chili peppers blood, sugar, sex, magic album and this one nails it, to my ears.
Nice and fat chorus. Like it!

I own it since it first came out, and has never failed on me. Also never had a backup.

Never dealt with them.

Playing in a cover band was the reason for buying a chorus. Does the thing i want it to do in a great way. Play since "88, but purchased the chorus in "99, i guess... Didn't want to spend too much money on it, because i did not care that much for chorus in the first place. So i got this one. As soon as i started using it, it grew on me. Still think that it doesn't have to be this large. Takes up a little more space on my pedal board, than i would like to spend. Never compared it to other choruses. Bypass sounds okay to me. This will stay with me as long as it keeps working.

I've read some reviews here complaining that the Cool Cat cuts off long sustaining tones and that it makes noise as it dies away.

This will only happen if there is too much gain AFTER the Cool Cat's place in the signal chain. I experienced this with mine, but the solution is easy...make sure that the gain comes before the Cool Cat and/or run the amp in clean mode with little or no gain at the amp.

Used this way it sounds great, and is totally noiseless and will not cut off long sustains.

A great sounding chorus. Wonderful for fattening up leads or rhythms.
Put your high gain or distortion before it in the signal chain and it is fabulous.

It's super easy to use! Nothing to it.

I love this device plugged into two amps. Spread them out a little and the stereo effect is HUGE! I use it with two Fender Deluxe Reverb amps.

Had mine for several years. Goes through batteries quickly but use it with the 18 volt adapter and your problems are over.

I play a little bit of everything: blues, rock, soul, jazz, folk...

I've compared this unit to my Boss Stereo Chorus and the Boss sounds weak compared to the Dano.

Only thing: I wish it wasn't made in China. I'm a member of the Colorado Friends of Tibet and I dislike supporting China because of the horrible things they have done to the people of Tibet.

Not impresssed at all with the sound. With speed on 0 and depth on 10 you'd expect a nice almost invisible shimmer. Not there. It is still pretty damp and there is an annoying swoosh almost flanger-like. Not chorusy at all, that.

Said it above. It's not really chorusy. It is colory in that it colors your sound with its sound. One good point is that there is no noticeable volume drop or boost when it is engaged.

If you want the spacey tripped out chorus sounds for cartoon or goofy music interludes you may be good to go with this one. All I want is the capability for a faint shimmer of two guitars beating as one. It's not here.

nice and heavy pedal. If I used it I would depend on it.

I test my chorus pedals playing the verse parts of Red Barchetta. Alex Lifeson's chorus sound is the elegant efficiency that I'm after. I don't care for swirly swishy sounds that this pedal has to offer.

Very easy to use. On/Off button and two dials. Effortless.

I have the 18v version. Chorus can be set from light and transparent to annoyingly warbly, spinning drunk and trippy-please-make-it-stop. Oh well, I suppose it is good to have the whole chorus range covered. As a note decays, there is a dead drop-off that is accompanied by a sound that reminds me of somebody choking on their own tongue. Other than that, I find this Cool Cat pretty good... I have had it for three years and I since tire of substandard gear quickly, I suppose that means me likey. In stereo mode, with two amps, this stereo-chorus pedal shines. The drunken warble in stereo is something that has to be experienced to be fully depreciated.
There is no noticable noise except for the 115v humbuzzing which seems to permeate through every piece of gear I have. The electro-magnetic noise on this planet is getting obnoxious.

Metal housing goes a long way and this Cool Cat can't be destroyed. Personally, it has been outstanding thus far. Like most boxes, this thing is a battery guzzler, so I use the adapter whenever possible, which is always.
I noticed that if you play with one amp, you must pay attention not to plug into the stereo-out plug, lest you think that the pedal has ceased to function. I have read a few reviews concerning the suddeness of this non-function issue and wonder if this has been the fate of these misunderstood pedals. The stereo-out is reserved exclusively for the second amp.

n/a

I play anything and everything. I am an old geezer, so now I play more self-inflicted psychops and experimental stuff. This chorus pedal covers it all for me, except for the extreme warbley end of it, which makes me wanna heave. For the price, this is a very good stereo chorus pedal.

ez enough to use with 2 knobs but still was confused when REALLY finding out all the sounds I can get from it, manual is helpful and nice cause it gives advice for different sounds

This is OK chorus but for me im not really into it I dont know why maybe its my gear or maybe im not into the retro sound or somthing but its really aggravating sounding to me I dont know why but its better than other pedals so i give it a 7 -I should also note that one of the reasons I bought this pedal was because it got good reviews here and like the digitech 'bad monkey' I wasnt that impressed upon testing it out-(so it may or may not have an effect)

this thing needs an adapter because it doesnt do well on a battery for very long but its tough steel except for maybe cheap knobs

Im into mellow rock like beatles, nirvana, radiohead, minus the bear, interpol, etc. been playing 11 years (I own fender hrd and american tele and epiphone sheraton 2) and so far ive tried dano milkshake chorus and boss chorus ensemble and amp chorus cause im not really into chorus but i guess im still on the search for a better chorus pedal to suit my taste because this pedal was just something to try out really but its not bad sounding but I know its not for me because of the overall Tone of the pedal is not natural or lush enough or something I dunno it sounds harsh and not punchy at the same time

So simple to dial in and get the sound you want. Can't get much easier than that!

The Manual was fine, suggested settings etc...

I use with a Gibson SG, Ibanez Jem and also tried my girlfriends Daisyrock heartbreaker (sounded breath-takingly lovely through the lipstick pickup!) Used through a Vox ad50vt and various other amps through out the years!

I have the 18v version and have been told it has a much better sound, although i don't know. I know people comlained about it sucking up the two batteries and that it was hard to find an adapter but i bought one of those multi adapters for it and it has never failed me!

I don't find this pedal noisy in the slightest, the chorus is really great! I believe it's the best chorus pedal I have ever played in my honest opinion!

I can get it on the nail or close enough to any chorus effect used by my favourite artists!

SOLID! It was actually the first pedal i bought when i started playing 8 years ago. I have used it a lot since then and I have never needed it fixed... it hasn't even lost any of it's paint work!

never had to deal with them so i don't know... The pedal is just that solid!!!

I play loads of styles of music and I have jumped from grunge to metal to punk through out the years. Now I am more laid back and play Vai and Satriani type stuff. This pedal has been a great match for my styles and playing from the very begining.

I am a compulsive buyer who loves to get new effects and I'm never 100% happy with my sound! I have never left this pedal out of my effects chain... the fact that i have never even considered buying a new chorus pedal in 8 years just blows me away! IT IS THAT GOOD!!!... If you haven't got one buy it now!

If you can't operate this thing you really shouldn't be near anything sharp..

I bought this fella(the 18-volt version)brand new when they first came out; I was looking for a back-up for my old blue Boss chorus, tried this out, and the next day it became the #1 chorus, not the back-up. In my opinion, it is a much thicker, richer and fatter-sounding chorus than the Boss, and is extremely versatile. Andy Summers is my favorite player and this box can really get that old Police tone, with some echo and compression. Very nice. It does great rotary sounds, and some real subtle chorus/doubling stuff too. This is an excellent chorus for the bucks, don't let anyone tell you differently. I stowed it away in the last couple years, when I went to using a multi-effects unit live, but I still play it at home, and I still love it. Lush!! Great job on this one, Danelectro.

Very reliable, I never have had a problem with it, with the exception of my own stupidity resulting in destroying the original 18-volt adapter cord. As you know, the first issue of Danelectro pedals were built very sturdy, and can be used as weapons on a dark stage.

I've used this unit playing in bands that play classic rock, 60s and 70s, newer stuff and some chick rock and I could always get great usable sounds out of it. I'm an old bastard, and I've used and heard quite a few choruses, and this one really stands out. Sure, you can spend your paycheck on somebody's boutique chorus if you want, that's your right. However, I think the Danelectro, the EH PolyChorus and Small Clone, as well as the old Ibanez CS-series chorus are just as darn good as anything out there. Just my opinion, I don't mean to offend anyone. I just love effects and tone, and I really love the aforementioned choruses. Anyway, buy one of these Danelectros! They sound great and can even dent a drummer's skull if thrown properly!

as straightforward as every other chorus pedal out there, two knobs and a foot button

i own two other good chorus pedals (Ibanez CS9 and EHX Polychorus), so i'm aware of the range of chorus sounds out there at various price points. and i've always liked the Cool Cat a lot, it's quiet, sounded good, and it always stood up pretty well against my more expensive pedals...

...until one night this week, when a girl i was trying to impress came over to hear me play guitar, and the thing crapped out for no reason. i mean, i've used this pedal regularly with no problem since i bought it new six years ago. and on this night, when it actually mattered...nothing. (yes, this was with a fresh battery AND an adapter.) piece of crap.

i've had enough Danelectro products over the past six or seven years to know that some are great, some stink, and the company is utterly indifferent. i'm not even going to bother trying to reach them.

what can i say? it was a fine enough pedal, but it has s****** timing.

2 knobs is pretty straightforward and some good suggested settings in the accompanying manual.

Use predominantly with Simon & Patrick SP 6 Electro Acoustic and pedal has a beautiful deep rich chorus and no unwanted noise. Not as flexible as my Boss CE-5, but overall I prefer the Cool Cat

Sseems OK so far, would probably be happy to gig w/o a backup

N/A, however website seems to have no company contact details should I need them which is annoying...

Excellent piece of kit, sturdily built and nice retro styling.

Tracking down a suitable 18V adaptor was difficult, however this guy www.owenelectronics.co.uk provided a great friendly service and was able to provide one which was delivered next day!

Very easy to set up and adjust -- two knobs.

Main shortcoming is that mine requires 18V supply. It's therefore the only pedal in my chain that I can't drive with my external 9V supply. So I have to stick two 9V batteries in it, and I have to remember to unplug the input jack after each use; otherwise the batteries are dead the next time I use it. Since I'm a scatterbrain, especially after a 3.5 hour gig, this is a problem. Even when I remember, it seems to eat batteries fairly quickly. Had I known about these issues, I might not have bought it.

It sounds much better (more musical) to my ear than my (much cheaper) DOD Ice Box. My only complaint is that, when engaged, it seems to boost the level noticeably. This could be an advantage if you wanted to engage it only when playing a solo, but more often, I'd prefer that the level stay the same.

Using it with a strat through a bunch of other effects into a Gibson GA-15RV tube combo. I'll use it for the intro riff for Message in a Bottle, Come as You Are, and for lead solos on modern rock songs; otherwise I mostly leave it off.

Seems solid. If it failed during a gig, I'd simply do without... no biggy. I'm giving a 9 based on the presumption that it's unlikely to fail, but honestly, I've only had it a few months (bought it used, though).

Bought it based on a recommendation that it was a good all-around chorus. I haven't compared too many; just knew that my DOD wasn't doing it for me. If it were lost or stolen, I would probably switch to a 9V model (this or some other brand), as my inability to use my external power supply is a serious annoyance.

Very simple! Turn the knobs, step on the switch. Doesn't get any easier than that.

I had the 18V version but now have the 9V version... a bit more on that later.

Fantastic! Even the 9V which isn't quite as good as the 18V has a rich, warm chorus. It doesn't effect my sound when it's off, so I'm happy with that. At least, not anymore than I can tell given me chain of pedals.

My setup is: Raven RP450 > Ernie Ball Volume Pedal > Vox Wah > MXR Blue Box > Dano Compressor > Proco Rat > Ibanez TSDX9 > Dano Cool Cat Chorus > Dan Vibrato > EH Small Stone > Vox Amp

It gives me a nice mellow chorus that I love having for my clean sound to give it a bit more depth. Combining it with the vibrato and small stone creates insane psychedelia. I love it.

Okay... so here's the deal... my 18V copy of it died. No reason, no rhyme to it. Tried batteries, tried the adapter...couldn't get anything out of it....no idea why it died... read onto the customer support section for the rest of this story....

...so after searching for a few weeks, I finally found contact info for Evets Corp, who owns Dano. I called their 800# and they said that if your pedal wasn't working to mail it back and they'd fix or replace it. So, figuring I had nothing to lose, I put it in a box, put in a note explaining it, and sent it out. Four weeks go by, nothing. I was ready to write it off. I went abroad for business, got home, and lo and behold, there's a package for me from Evets Corp. Open it up and what's in it? A brand NEW chorus pedal. Granted it is the 9V version rather than the 18V version, but honestly, I'm not complaining. The fact that they replaced it was fantastic. I have to take points off because of how long it took me to get in touch with them, and for not being able to speak to someone, but in the end, I'm happy. I have a new chorus and it sounds great.

Fantastic chorus. One of the best I've played through. Gives me sweet mellowness, or some crazy psychedelia if you turn the speed up.

Very easy to use. I have had mine about 8 months and have now gotten to know it enough to post a review. Manual has some very good starting points. I wish I could say the same for some of the other manufacturers "suggested settings." This is the stock 18v unit.

I have used this in two distinctly different setups. One is with my Ibanez acoutic/electric AE40 TBL into the Cool-Cat into a cheap delay into a 18 year old Peavey Rage practice amp or an Acoustic 130 4x10 combo. Simply amazing! I could not believe what I was hearing! Just couldn't quit playing simple chord progressions. So sweet.

My Electric rig at the moment is either a '81 Gibson Les Paul or an '02 SG special with a SD Custom/Custom bridge pup into Crybaby > old (pre LED) Small Stone phaser > MXR Zakk Wylde OD > 2 channel LOOOPER (Channel 1: Boss MT-2 > Boss EQ-7, Channel 2: Boss DS-1 > Boss CE-2) > Dano Cool-Cat. From there I run the DC-1 into two seperate paths. The wet path goes into a cheap-ass chinese Leagion Sound delay into my homebrew 6V6 (1987 Marshall) plexi amp and the dry channel goes into a modified Electar Tube 10 (running an EL34 power tube into a Weber 8" speaker.) Running this in stereo sounds so beautiful! In mono was good but in stereo.. WHOA! Seperate the two amps a bit or turn them at 90 degrees to each other with you in the middle... amazing!

This unit does not make any noise in and of itself that I can tell that is intrusive or uncharacteristic of a chorus pedal. Compared to CE-2 it is a bit more open and has a bit more headroom. BUT, if you are going to hold chords or notes for asignificant amount of time, the DC-1 will simply cut out. Bummer! Someone has to find a cure for this and then I would not have any qualms about this pedal.

I like to use this to add depth to my clean tones and with distortions. Does not completely overtake your sound like the Small Clone (another excellent chorus) or the CE-2. It has an airy/spacey feel to it and adds body. I have tried all the possible combinations on the knobs and while they all sound good, I usually run mine with both of the knobs at about 10'oclock. It does sound better clean than distorted, but with a bit of tube amp breakup it simply shines!

I have compared it to the CE-2 which is an awesome pedal, but is not stereo. I may get a CE-3 just for a taste test.

While the sounds a textures created by this pedal are superb, I have to give it a 7 just for the cutting out due to the degredation of the input signal. Maybe a Compressor/Sustainer would take care of that, but in alive situation you can adjust for that shortcoming.

I do gig with it but I do have a back up, the CE-2. But I have it set for a much deeper and quicker tone. There has been some concern over the reliabilty of the input jacks. Theses are soldered directly to the PC board. Inserting and removing the guitar cable can put some stress on the solder joints. If yours has trouble, take it apart and reflow the joints. No biggie. I am also gentle with my gear. If you have in living on a pedal board with everything hooked up, you shouldn't have any trouble.

Just for the PC mounted jacks: 7 (But that is the way it is when you want to save money and kick out a mass-produced item these days... OH well)

Never dealt with them. Not sure I even could with success. Haven't read anything good about their customer support.

I have been playing for roughly 18 years. I play just about everything from clean acoustical ballads to jazz, rock, blues, metal, speed metal, spacey ambient stuff. I also play praise and worship at church as well, which places greater demand on getting exactly the sounds you want for the moment. This pedal does fit the bill and it would perfectly if it weren't for the note decay issues.

I did compare it to the Small Clone, which would be useful a boost for chorused leads. And to the CH-1 (way too thin, kinda fake) and the CE-5, which was ok but sterile, may have to try again. I did get the CE-2 after having this for about 4 months. The Ce-2 is good, but in alot of ways overpowering. The Dano is the right mix for me, just fix the note decay thing!!

It has helped me make music. Oh man, has it helped me make music! For the acoustic guitar alone it would be worth it. If it were lost or stolen, I would try a CE-3 or get another one.

There is nothing more that I wish it had. Yes it does eat batteries, but I use an adapter.

Two controls: Speed and Chill: rate and depth in other words. Very easy to get a good sound and even the more way out settings with knobs past 12 o' clock produce useable sounds in the right context. My favourite setting is speed full off and chill full on.

I play a Gordon Smith GS2 and a Yamaha Pacifica 112 into an MXR Phase 90, Danelectro Tuna Melt, Cool Cat, Danelectro Dan Echo and then into a Fender princeton 65. It's not too noisy. I sometimes put a compressor before everything else and that, together with the chorus, gets you a lovely, 'glassy' sound. Very good for rhythm parts (a la Johnny Marr), but with thick compression you can get an 80's George Harrison sound which is perfect for slide. On its own witha touch of delay you can get some nice jazz sounds like John McGloughlin is currently using- very nice for soling, although it won't get you playing like JM!

I gig and practice fairly regularly and it hasn't let me donw, so I;d go wothout a backup. The only slight problem is that when I'm practicisng at home there's a touch of break up at the very end of a note/ chord that you let ring till the very end. I suspect the effect dies off as it stops getting a signal. This is only really noticeable if you're playing by yourself and not as bad as someone mentioned below. I've noticed it about three times now since I've had the pedal, but luckily and thankfully each time the problem has gone. I guess the pedal needs to 'warm up' as it were, because it occurs if I haven't used it for a while.

As other people have mentioned, I would certainly get the adapter, as it eats batteries.

n/a

I play a little bit of everything. I got this because I saw it cheap, already had a Dan Echo and loved it and knew the company's reputation for sound quality. I wanted to get something that would get close to the sound my friend gets with his Boss CE-2 and I think the Dano matches it. It certianly helps me make music, and has helped me branch out to play different musical styles, like Jazz and Country.

If it ever gives out on me I'd be tempted to get another. Certainly other pedals I;ve heard don't have that warmth to it that the Dano has. Get one if you see one. They're getting rarer and rarer!

Very easy to get a good sound. Its as straightforward as a chorus pedal can get. All the sounds are very useable, too.

I use a mexican strat through a blues junior. The chorus sounds great. Considering its low price, this is an excellent bang for the buck. The more expensive boss pedals and other chorus pedals aren't as good as this one. The chorus can be pretty thick compared to other pedals. I literally sat in Guitar Center for about 1 hour comparing this pedal with the Boss chorus pedals and one or two other ones. Cool Cat won hands down. It's not wimpy and thin like the other ones. The stereo outputs don't seem to do anything though. I don't know if its just my pedal, but when using two amps, the second output doesn't have as much of the chorus effect as the first one. Perhaps this is how it is supposed to be, just seems strange to me.

I don't do any gigging or anything, so I can't say, but its held up a long time just sitting on the floor in my house. All the other Danelectro pedals I have seem to be sturdy as well.

This chorus pedal is good for very subtle effects to very thick chorus and even sounds good with distortion. Like I said before, its your best bang for the buck. The next step up would be a Small Stone chorus, but those pedals break apart easily (so I've heard). One downside is that it requires two 9 volt batteries, so you're definately better off getting an adapter for it.

This ubit is quite simply plug and play. I have never owned a unit so eay to get a good tone out of. On its "turned down setting" (both knobs turned counter clockwise all the way) there is a nice, rich, subtle chourus. All the way up (both knobs turned fully clock wise it still never gets to outlandish. I find that the best sound for me is setting the speed to 10 or 11 o'clock and the chill to 1 or 2 o'clock seeting. this gives me a rich, milky, swirl that fattens the tone without adding unwanted harmonics or muddying up the bottom end. This really is is the best sounding chourus I have ever used.

I use and OS-30 by Oscar Schmidt (great axe for the money), a Fender US hIghway 1, and a Schecter C-1 Classic, and on each of these guitars I find the cool cat adds warmth and flavor. I use the Strat for a funky sound (think Curtis Mayfield) and it works great, On the OS-30 I get a great, full, warm jazz tone with this pedal, and on the Schector it rounds out the lead sound and is great for adding character to a reggae sound. I use this with a Dunlop CryBaby Wah pedal, an SDD-2000 Multi effect sampling delay by Korg, and an RP-100 by Digitech. I have only played it live through my little Peavey Trans Tube practice amp so far and I am looking forward to using it for some recorded tracks in the near future.
The unit is pretty quiet when your strings aren't vibrating, but as soon as you strike a chord there is some slight white noise that comes through, nothing that a very subtle noise gate (like on my RP-100 cant cure quickly and effectively. All in all there is not anything to terrible for live situations but I can see I will have to work with it a little for recording. It is quieter than my strats single coil hum however. Also, as I said above this unit sounds GREAT!!!. Milky, Fat and Warm without unwanted harmonics or a muddy bottom end. As for Harmonics you play from your guitar, it fills them out and makes them almost bell like. Quite a transparent and useful chourus if there ever was one. It gets a 9 on this only due to my critical ear and having to gate it when recording.

This this is steal! It wieghs as much as a brick and I can't forsee any damage from normal use. (I would venture to say that you could drop it from a substantial distance witout any serious damage.) I would use it without a back up only because I am a dope, but Danelectro is a long time company due to Quality not Quantity. I would trust this although I would recommend a power supply and not relying on the two 9v batteries. The power supply I would use with a backup.

Never had to deal wit DE so I will hold comment for now.

I play a soulful, jazzy, funked out style of alternative music, kinda like Tom Waits fathered Nick Cave and then he married Curti Mayfield (figure that one out!) I have been playing professionally for 30+ years and own what I listed above, Have owned much more, Have a digital/analog Studio (Mac based) and have 8 more guitars and basses in my house (acousti and electric), Percussion equiptment, Synthesizers and drum machines, Sequencers and controller, mixers etc... So as you can see I have a well rounded selection of gear. If this unit was lost or stole I WOULD BY ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, AND...
Compared to my pluggin chouruses fro my recording software and to the chouruses on my SDD-2000 and the RP-100, I like this one head and shoulders more than the rest. Danelectro got it right with this unit! It really is the sweetest, most milky, warm chourus I have ever used. I had a chourus from Electro Harmonix back in the 70's and this is as good and I think better. The Cool Cat is a great device for mellowing out your sound, I would reccommend it for any style from jazz to blues to rock to metal, there is a setting for everyone and it never gets to outthere or obscene. Time to check out other DE pedals and see it they got it right a second time.

TWO KNOBS, IF THEY CONFUSE YOU, DONT BUY IT

My Setup
Fender Tex Spec Tele > Boss CS-3 > Dan Chorus > Fender Princeton

I dare you to find a better combo than that, sound is beautiful, just makes your playing sound bright and colorful, the chill is phenominal, I played the Boss version, and being a boss fan, i liked this one better, probably could even do without the cs3 because i can taste a little bit of compression in it. It was used by Nirvana in "Come as You Are" and Collective Soul uses it too and we all know collective soul kicks ass. Its an awesome pedal.

When not using it, i carry it in my purse to smack robbers with, still works fine even with that.

Why would u even need it?

I play mostly alternative and this thing can hit anything i do. I Love it. Played for a while now and it beats any chorus on the market. Its the only dan ill own. If stolen, Id buy 2 more, 1 to play with, and the other to beat the hell out of the robber with. actually, in that case id only need one cuz they are built to endure. The only flaw is that its 18v. O well, i can live with that. BUY THIS PEDAL

Easy to use.
I also use it as a splitter to send my signal to 2 amps.


Made in China.

I don't use effects often and I use this one on minimal settings to add a slight amount of chorus to my plugged-in acoustic sound.
I also use it with my Guild Bluesbird P-90 through a JCM Marshall half stack to recreate some Skynyrd sounds and to get weird on occasion.

This is a newer 9 volt model but I had an 18 volt model many years ago.
The old one never failed me.
I have only gigged with the new one a few times.
No problems so far.

I play everything from jazz to hard rock to country.
Both acoustic/plugged-in and electric.
Been playing over 30 years.
This is my second one.
I like it.

2 knobs, speed & chill (depth). Super easy.

It's really quite good. Very versatile, from lush 80's sounds to an excellent rendition of a rotary speaker... I mean reallllly excellent rendition. I haven't owned any other chorus's, I've never been an effects guy, but chorus's are almost a necessity. Listen to "Let It Loose" by the Stones... it get's that no problem. You can do a good approximation of an organ with this ala "You Make Me Feel Good" by the Zombies. It's sonic vibe is a welcome middle ground between the gruesomely 80's sounding BOSS chorus's, and the dehydrated sound of Electro Harmonix chorus's. I'm using this with a Fender Telecaster Deluxe (non-reissue, mwahahahaha), a G&L Legacy Special into a Peavey VTM and Fender Twin. It sounds real psychedelic with the Tele, and insanely soothing and lush with the G&L. Mixes well with distortion, but that will nullify the effect if used improperly. I find it sounds best with some nice warm tube overdrive. From my cited examples, you can probably tell what music I play - old stuff, but I also dig into Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Collective Soul, Everclear, Goo Goo Dolls and a plethora of other rockers and alt-rockers. I write in the alt-rock vein, and this sounds great for my stuff. Sounds great with acoustics and basses too.

Dunno yet, but I'd assume most stuff would last if you treat it well and reasonably. It's heavy for sure, but the jacks are kinda shitty. Whatever, just get an adapter so you don't have to constantly rack up the miles on the jacks. Also, buy an adapter to save yourself money and time, as this fucker eats the batteries.

Couldn't say really.

It's a very good pedal that is widely liked and recognized for it's sound. If you want a good sounding chorus that you don't have to piss around with to get a good sound out of, then you'd be doing yourself a favor by getting the Cool Cat. Cheap used, and lots of 'em around.

It's very easy, just dial in the amount of chorus (Chill) you want. You can also tweak the amount of repeats (Speed), to go from a more lush sound to a Univibe style wild chorus. Whatever settings you use, it always sounds excellent, which is very nice.

I use the pedal with my Jackson DX7 and ENGL Powerball, and it sounds very good with this combo. Very Zakk Wylde-ish. That Type O Negative sound is also easy to get. The pedal isn't noisy at all, at any settings.

Mine is the older 1996 model with the DC 18V power connector, which I've heard sounds better than the new DC 9V model.

It seems sturdy, but hearing about all those jack problems, I can't comment on that yet, I'll do that a few years later, when I've used it more. So far it seems reliable enough to gig with.

Haven't dealt with them.

I mainly play metal and some stoner rock style stuff + jam along to Satriani. It's very good for all that I play. I've played electric since Jan 2000. If this pedal was stolen, I'd buy another one, but test out the DC 9V model too, as a power supply for this DC 18V is a bit difficult to find. I really like it how you can just turn it on and get a excellent sound at any settings. I was between two choices when I was looking out for a chorus pedal; this one and the Boss CH-1 Super Chorus. I spotted this for sale for a very nice price and I just went for it. It's also fun to play around with just jamming on for hours, playing classic stuff. Very nice pedal, all in all. For this price, it's perfect.

Two knobs,very easy to use.

I run this thing in the front of my amps and through the effects loop.when going in the effects loop,you loose a little depth,but thats ok because this thing is lush.Going through the front end it sounds amazing.I do sometimes hear the effect cutting out on the tail end but who cares, how many times are you going to let it decay that much anyway.This thing sounds as good as the reviewers say.

The box is built like a brick shit house.The connection are very flimsy.

Very good for the money.

it pretty easy, you have to play with it a little but thats with every pedal... if you know what you want it to sound like then it shouldnt take more that 2 or 3 minutes to pin down a sound you like. it runs on an 18v source so either use two batteries or get an 18v adapter.

my set up runs:

guitar > crybaby > danelectro daddy-o overdrive > danelectro dan-echo > cool cat > flanger > voodoo lab tremelo > pedal tuner > amp.

this is probably one of the best sounding choruses ive ever heard. it has a real vintage vibe to it and actually has a fairly wide range of sounds, from soft smooth chorus to a almost vibrato-like flange. it gets a little hard to hear the notes from the guitar with the speed knob up, but it all depends on what type of sound you want.

the chasis is built well, however the cool-cat is notorious for having problems. this is my second cool-cat (the first one was irrepairable) and there is something wrong with the adapter jack on the pedal, so i have to use 2 9v batteries to run it. if you come across one that works fine, you have a gold mine... but dont be suprised if it needs a little work.

overall its a great sounding pedal, when it works right. it doesnt have too many problems, but its definatelynot one i would try and tour with without having a major rebuild done. i recommend this pedal to everyone, it sounds wonderful, just understand how unstable they can sometimes be.

Super simple. Speed for cycle rate and chill for depth of chorus. I got it new for $70.00 and was prepared to buy an 18V adapter but this one (are all of the new ones this way?) runs off of my Dano 9V adapter. Pulled the Milkshake, plugged in the Cool Cat, and off I went. Way cool, Cat's!

I have this in the FX loop of my Tech 21 TM60. Love it clean with my MIM Tele. Also sounds good with my Hamer Stellar 1. Had a Milkshake Chorus. Milkshake put out an obnoxious swirling noise. Also only one setting that I really liked. Milkshake did not sound good with humbuckers. Cool Cat is quiet and has many good sound settings. This is one of (if not) the original chorus pedals and I have no dislikes for this pedal. It is probable not perfect so I'll deduct 1.

Big, heavy, metal casing. Seems rugged. I am very careful with all of my equipment so I anticipate not problems.

I will gig it without backup because I don't have enough jack to carry backups.

Don't know how to rate the reliablility. I have had no problems with Dano stuff, not even my mini pedals.

Don't know, never dealt with Dano. Always go thru my dealer and he takes care of me. He's too good to me. Love my uncle Jack!

I play blues, classic rock, some jazz, 60's-70's folk rock, spacey/jazzy pink floydesque type stuff. Cool Cat works well with what I use it for. Been playing off and on for 30+ years, use a Dan Echo (great echo pedal), Hash Browns Dano flanger (love this pedal) I use for rasta/ska type music, and a Dano Fish and Chips 7 band eq pedal (good eq for the price). Would certainly buy this pedal again.

3 plugs, 2 knobs and a stomp switch. If you can't figure that out, what the hell are you doing on a computer?

The chorus is very thick and lively. Depth ("chill") and speed ranges are acceptable, excellent for what I paid. I'm very pleased with the sound quality of this pedal.

And for Type O Negative fans: Yes, this pedal WILL get you what you what.

From the outside, this pedal almost looks boutique. But then when you open it up, you realize why it's only 30 bucks. There was loose flux and small solder dropping all over the board (which i later cleaned off with a wire brush). The step switch is built right on the board which is a big no-no. And, as mentioned many times, the jacks are ass and may have to be replaced some day. Good thing I'm handy with a soldering iron.

Even still, while the inside doesn't look too good, the fact that the case is made of metal and the rear plate is well made is good enough for me.

I didn't buy it new and I wouldn't suggest that anyone else do so either. A hundred bucks is pretty steep givin the build quality and country of origin (China).

Chances are, if you're considering a Cool Cat its becuz you're as poor as I am. I've been (and still am) skeptical of Danelectro products but this one they certainly got right.

If you can get one for less than 50 dollars and can live with the fact that the jacks will probably need replaced someday, go for it.

18v version.
the unit sounds wonderful, and i am not easy to please.
i am posting this only to help solve a couple of problems people might run into.
1. the radio shack adapter (#23-349) 18 volt battery charger works fine for this unit. it puts out 120 mA at the Ni-MH setting. you'll have to change the plug, however, to a Radio Shack "M" power plug. this will require cutting off the plug that is supplied and soldering the wire to the appropriate power plug adapter (bare leads to female). the tip is + polarity.
another solution woild be to use 2 9v adapters wired in series.
2. the output labeling on the back is confusing. it should have been labeled "L/mono" "R" instead of "output" "stereo". this gives the impression that the output labelled "stereo" requires a 1/4" stereo plug to a dual mono 1/4" splitter.
3. the jacks are indeed shitty, cheap plastic pcb jacks that cannot be easily replaced. however, the unit itself seems to be built well.

Pretty darned simple. You have a rate and a chill (which equates to depth). Brain-dead easy. Oh, and it's stereo, so you can get wild stereo chorus effects. Booyah.

I absolutely love the sound of this pedal. The best thing about it is that it has its own characteristics, IE it's not like some of the other Dano effects that try to emulate more popular versions of a particular effect. The Cool Cat has its own unique, subtle chorus that doesn't particularly sound like any other chorus. I've tried DOD, Boss, Electro Harmonix, and Danelectro, and they're all pretty unique in and of themselves. To me, though, the Dano was the one that most closely represented what I wanted in a chorus: subtle, with a good dynamic range in rate, and a depth that could be both ambiguous and prominent.

This pedal sounds awesome with rate all the way down and chill at 12 o'clock. You'll get an agonizingly slow and subtle chorus that adds an ambient flavor to what you're playing.

The orignial series Dano pedals (Cool Cat, Dan Echo, Daddy-O, Fab Tone) are pretty well built, compared to their other products. I had a Dan Echo for several years without a single problem.

erm...

This pedal is what I think of when I think of chorus. Subtle, effective, moody, and ambient. In my mind, this is the best chorus pedal out there, but then, this pedal was my first taste of chorus.

When I was 15, I was shopping for my first pedal, and I tried out the Cool Cat. This was when they had first arrived in the effects scene, and they hadn't made a big splash yet. Anyway, I loved the sound of it, but opted for something else that day.

Fast forward 7 years. I had to get one of these bad boys because I found out Dano was discontinuing them. So instead of hunting for a used one, I snapped up one of the ever-dwindling stock of new ones from Musician's Friend. Oh, and it came with the French Toast Octave Distortion pedal too, so that sweetened the deal pretty darned well.

Well, if you can't figure this out maybe you should check to see if your shoes are on the right feet! 2 controls, rate and speed - simple as can be.

Sounds fantastic - it's very quiet. GREAT sounding through a clean tube amp. I run a 75 Tele Deluxe through a 74 Twin (with new Vintage 30's). Its a great effect if you use it sparingly... in my opinion, people tend to overuse chorusing sometimes... if you use it minimally it just tends to really fatten your sound overall. It sounds pretty good with a little drive. I use a Jekyll / Hide OD and it sounds good with MINIMAL drive. Any more than that tends to really muddy the tone up.

It's built like a tank - as mentioned on other reviews, the 1/4" jacks are a little cheap, but nothing that you can't take care of yourself.

Never had to deal with them - I have a Daddy O that has been kickin strong for 7 years or so and I have never had a problem.

I play everything from The Police to Springsteen to the Cure... the Cool Cat really fattens those 80's pop tunes right up. Like I said, I use it minmally... I'm not trying to get the "come as you Are" Cobain sound out of it. For what I need, it does the job great. And for under 70 bucks new, I have no room to complain.

Pretty easy to use!

Strats into a Delta Blues!
Just a Real Nice warble to it...dreamy, kinda!
Use clean!
Do not intro dirt into this!

The jacks on these Danelectros crack and make life hell!
Those guys should install better components in that regard!

Pfffffffffffftttttttttttttt.........

Rock and Power Blues.........
Chorus and I are going separate ways for now............I like my Flangers instead and can get chorussy sounds with them and they react to dirt better than choruses........
Still............Damn fine sound!

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!

Very simple to use. There are two parameters: "Speed" and "Chill." Adjusting speed, well, adjusts the modulation speed. Turning up the chill increases the modulation in the effect/dry mix. It is very fast and easy for me to find a desirable setting.

I typically run an SG through a Marshall JCM 2x12combo and play mostly rock. Though I am acquiring quite a collection of effects, I almost always play straight into the amp. However, when I desire modulation, this is a very pure, lucious chorus that does exactly what I want it to. I can add a certain fullness to my clean tones without making it sound weird and spacy (though this'll do that, too, if that's what you're going for). If you're a simple kind of guitarist, this is a simple kind of chorus. Of course, I always recommend demo-ing this sort of thing before spending money on it.

I use this item almost exclusively for recording and have not gigged with it. Thus, I am not going to rate its reliability.

No experience, no opinion.

I'm a huge fan of how this pedal only has two knobs, yet it does everything I want it to do, perfectly. This demonstrates great simplicity and functionality. When I purchased this unit (almost 2yrs ago), I compared it side by side with other popular manufacturers. This was the winner and I haven't a single regret.

Easy as. Speed and Chill for wobble and amount respectively. Anyone can use it very easily.

Nice lush chorus, goes from flangy boost to almost Leslie as you dial up more speed. Great sound clean or distorted, although I think its better with less speed if you choose to go distorted. Whisper quiet, no volume drop. I use it in the effects loop of my Marshall Valvestate 8080.

Solid as, would hurt me if I dropped it on my foot or something. Footswitch very easy to activate/deactivate. Would gig without backup.

Never dealt with them.

A great, versatile chorus. Easily the best for the cheaper price bracket. A TC Electronics or something would probably be better, but they are so much more expensive. If it was lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another- in fact I am looking to buy another anyway so I can have two different settings! Highly recommended.

You'd need to ride a short bus to not be able to figure it out.

awesome! No noise! Did I say awesome?!!!? Hughes and kettner bass amp w/ a dual henry the 8x8 cabinet

Benn using it alomost 3 years with vocals, bass and guitars live!!! no problems. It is a battery hog!

Never had to use them. Must be very reliable.

I play every style and have been for almost 15 years. I use it for 5 basses and have let various singers use it for vocals.love everything about it. Best damn chorus pedal on the planet! I have used them all and nothing compares! If it were stolen I would have to decapitate the idiot that stole it. Seriously I would get another one even if I had to steal it! :-)

Two knobs - Speed (rate) and Chill (depth)...very simple.

This particular chorus is nice and deep. I use it with my custom US Strat and a 30W all-tube amp. For clean and distorted channels it adds a nice, colorful swirl that I like much better than the Boss chorus which tends to be a little too transparent...which may be good or bad depending on your taste. If you are looking for a nice, lush, analog chorus than the Cool Cat is a nice pick. The only complaint I have is that this pedal eats 9V batteries like no other. It requires 2 9V's to run and those will barely last one gig. This means you will probably have to pick up the 18V DC adaptor which is kind of a hassle if you like having your pedal board adaptor-clutter-free.

This one has a nice solid metal shell casing and its sturdy. No problems so far...

N/A

Look for one used on Ebay for a good deal. Overall it's a nice full sounding chorus pedal that I find works well w/tube amps. Make sure to get the adaptor or a lifetime supply of 9V batteries!

I was on my way to a high $ gig, driving and trying to put a new battery in my Boss chorus....broke one of the wires...was about to be late so I dropped into a music store and bought this because it looked cool------------plugged it in, tried it out "onstage" for the first time....haven't been without it since. EASY TO USE!

It's the best one out there. That's it.

I've used it for three years without a backup. It ate up batteries initially, but I bought the ac adapter when the first ones went. It's reliable...no backup needed.

I've had 4 Danelectro pedals...they're groovy. No problems.

It seems like everyone who owns this pedal plays a strat of some kind. That's fine. I like strats a lot. I play an Ovation Custom Legend 12 string and an Elite 6 string. I play mostly (okay, I don't care, I'll go ahead and say it)...Yes, son, I play hippie music. I even use this chorus with my Custom Legend 12 string on the funky parts of Zeppelin's "Going to California". I love this chorus pedal. Someone among us said not to "use it on leads"....I don't know why not. I use it anytime I "want to hear the angels"--that's the way a person in my audience described it...(no, it wasn't at a rest home either)(it was at a gorilla love-in actually). But I even use it with my Rickenbacker 360 12-string. No matter what kind of guitar you play, if you plug it in, you ought to see the way this particular pedal will enhance your sound, your set actually (if you gig). I mean like, what else is there? Those of you who do, know exactly what I mean. I am a solo artist (don't have the cymbals strapped on my knees yet) and gig about once or twice a week and normally play/sing/harmonicate for three hours without a break (just can't set it down when people are listening) and I find that the chorus pedal greatly enhances the gig....and this one just happenss to be the best one out there...by a long shot.

Pretty simple: Speed and Chill (Depth). Nothing too tough there.

Excellent lush chorus. You can go from a chorus for light presence to a chorus like in Nirvana's "Come As You Are" and also to a maxed out speedy, spacy chorus (which sounds wicked with wild distortion during noise jams). The controls respond very nicely, great pedal.

Hasn't given me any trouble. Although, personally, I like pedals with larger footswitches so that when my foot presses down it, I feel some resistance and it feel the effect being shot in (like the design of DOD and BOSS pedals). This has nothing to do with the sound or anything, just my personal preference on how I like my foot to feel on the pedal.

Never had any trouble.

I'm a beginner (10 months) and I'm using a Squier Double Fat Strat, DOD Grunge, and an Ibanez Troubadour 25. This is the first chorus pedal I've owned, although I've tried several (BOSS CH-1, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, to name a few) and I've found the Cool Cat to suit my taste better.

I play mostly grunge/punk/noise rock. My influences include Nirvana, the Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Weezer, Black Sabbath, and the Ramones.

It's only got a couple knobs....pretty self explanitory. I like the simplicity of it, and it has all the features a chorus needs to have.

I tried a bunch of different chorus boxes, and most of them ranged from OK to pretty good (a couple of the cheaper ones sucked). When I plugged in the Cool Cat, it was totally obvious that it was far, far better than all the others. I bought it without hesitation. Even the guy at the music store raised his eyebrows and agreed the choice was obvious. The thing has absolutely no errant noise whatsoever, and the way it makes an acoustic guitar sound through an amp is awesome.

The case is so thick and rugged you could literally hit it with a sledge hammer, and the thing would probably still work. I got the 18 volt version (they are now made in a 9 volt version), and I went through a butt-load of batteries (it takes two). It would eat up a set of batteries in about 2-3 jam sessions! I went to Radio Shack to get the right adapter, but it would have cost me 60 bucks. I decided to check back with the music store where I bought the thing, and they sold me a Danelectro adapter made specifically for the unit for 15 dollars. If you get one of these great chorus boxes, it is absolutely essential that you buy the adapter with it. Now that I have the adapter, it's great. I think the company should just sell the adapter with the box, but oh well...

Haven't dealt with them.

I play mostly rock and a lot of acoustic stuff (Eagles, Floyd, etc), and a good chorus is pretty necessary for that kind of stuff. I couldn't imagine that anyone wouldn't think this chorus sounds better than all the competition (in it's class & price range). Because the sound quality is so good I'll have to give it a 10. Playing through on of these makes your instrument sound incredible, and really inspires your playing. Go get one.......along with the adapter.

Real easy, two knobs, two output jacks, and input jack. Plug in and play.

This effect sounds great! I run a Gibson Explorer through the Cool Cat, a USA Big Muff, and a Dano French Toast into a Fender Champion 110 (piece of dung). Sounds great clean or distorted with the Big Muff. Many usable sounds. I even have a setting that I call "Instant Andy Summers" that sounds just like the old Police albums!

Had it for a couple of years now, no problems. Seems sturdy enough.

I like playing all different styles of music, well, except rap rock and country. It has a very smooth sound and is quite versatile for only having two knobs. It's a really good effect to have and I use it all the time. By the way, be sure to get the AC adapter! You'll end up going through so many batteries that you'll spend more on the batteries than the adapter after a weeks use.

well umm there is 2 different knobs to turn so if you cant figure it out then well i just feel sorry for you

the sound quality kicks ass. i can make it work with a sharp solo or a pretty doodle, it is easialy the best chorus pedal i have yet encounterd, it is also good because it isnt overbearing, you can make it so the chorus comes through powerfully, but you can adjust it to make it be a more sublte sound.

the thing, (i kid you not) is more powerful than even a boss, yeah your all thinking no way, but serouisley the matal on the casingis like a friggen tank.

never dealt with them, but most musical companies are filled with assholes, thats why i like small personal owned music stores,

i play rock blues and i even can get down with some classical, but i really like harder rock combined with blues it makes a cool sound, but the cool cat really does the blues aspect of my playing a favor, umm i have been playing forever my setup is a les paul standard+ with a blues driver, smash box, phaser (which i hate), and of course the cool cat, if i lost it i would buy the same thing but umm it is a really cool thing and it totally kicks ass so whatever

The cool cat is very easy to use. I returned mine, but I think the knobs are the standard depth and rate. Pretty easy to dial in nice sounds.

Overall, I loved the sound of the cool cat. Lush, thick chorus. Really fattens up the sound. The problem was, it would cut out if you let a chord ring. At the tail end, the sound would start to break up and "sputter" out. As much as I loved the Cool Cat sound, the loss of signal was just unacceptable. Too bad too,because this truely is the nicest sounding chorus pedal I tried. I ran it through the effects loop in my 5150 combo. I was going for a late 80s Van Halen "wet" sound. I had it too, but the damn thing kept cutting out. I even gave Danelectro a second chance. I ordered another one, just to make sure it the first was not defective. Same thing. Tried it through different amps in the store, same thing. So take this for what its worth. Great sound, but in my experiance with 2 of them, there was signal break up. And no, it wasn't the guitar. The Cool Cat did the same thing with 3 different guitars. Nothing's perfect I guess. I wound up buying a Boss CE5 Chorus Ensemble. I get the sound I like with it, but to be honest, it is just not as nice or as thick as the Cool Cat.

I'll be honest, those cheapo knobs scare me. But they do the job. I returned mine. (See above for reason.) If I still had it, I would gig without a backup, just because who can afford to have a "backup" for every pedal or amp they have? The pedal itself is very solid, and heavy. You could easily cause head trauma to someone with it. But those knobs......

Never talked to them.

I've been playing about 11 years, and it's the nicest sounding chorus pedal I've heard. Of course the one's I bought all sucked. This either says the pedal has a design flaw, or the quality control at Danelectro is really awful. What are the odds that I got two crappy pedals, with the same problem? I really wish the Cool Cat would have worked right. My advice is to really try it out well before you buy it. Don't order it online. TRY IT!!. Look at the Boss selection as well. They don't sound quite as good, but they are reliable, and get the job done.