Danelectro DE-1 Dan-Echo

This guy is pretty basic and extremely easy to use. I bought it about 8 years ago when I was still a beginner and even back then I had no problem getting good sounds out of it. Every switch and knob performs a basic useful function.

I've been playing guitar for a little over 10 years and I've used this echo with several very different guitars, amp setups, as well as keyboard synthesizers, drum machines, and vocals. Currently I use it with my 78 Gibson SG along side a Boss chorus into a Marshall JCM 800 2003 with a Sunn Reissue Cab (hopefully I'll be replacing the cab soon). Honestly, everything I run through it generally sounds really good. It's just a really organic sounding echo that doesnt getting muddy. The sound is clear and defined but at the same time very warm. I've gotten numerous compliments over the years on my echo sound. Everything from short slapback to longer spaced out delays keep their integrity without sounding sterile. Very low noise too!

Hmmm, well there are some plastic components to it, however I've been using it constantly for the past 8 years and have never had a single technical problem with it. Sometimes I worry about the plastic reliability but so far so good!

Never had to deal with them

I've stuck with this pedal even after buying several other "higher quality" echoes that never seemed to match the sound of this little guy (see Line 6 DDL 4 - whatever their echo modeling pedal is, various Boss echoes, even the famous memory man which I recently purchased and will soon be getting rid of is no match to the DE-1!!) I absolutely love this pedal and would definitely buy another one if it broke. My only small complaint is that it doesnt have a switch so you can keep the trail echo going after you turn the effect off. This could probably be fixed easily with a mod which I might have a friend work on. I think these things have dramatically gone down in price since I purchased mine for $100 8 years ago - probably due to the reputation of some of the lower quality products that danelectro has put out over the years (see their overdrive, heavy distortion, and chorus of the same time period - bad news!). Maybe time will be good to this product and itll go up in value after they stop production just like the tube screamer 808.

4 knobs. Mix, time, repeat, Hi cut. I have mine set up with varying mix settings (9:00 - 2:00), time @ 12:00, repeat (fully counterclockwise) and Hi-cut (fully counter clockwise). I saw a pro had this on his board with the same settings. Oh the switch was on Hi which is longer delay.

Hard to turn the little knobs mid song. I like a little delay all the time for reverb effect but I like to add a long repeating delay for that "dream sequence bridge" in a song or too. It is difficult to make this adjustment on the fly with the little knobs.

My setup, guitar-tuner-danecho-Boss NS2 (in the loop is a Tubescreamer, EMMA reeze, Phase 90, EH Small Clone)- Fender Pro Tube Pro Reverb.

This pedal sounds great. I love the Hi-cut knob which rolls off high end I guess like a vintage tape echo. The Hi-lo switch is cool for a on the fly quick delay like a rockabilly type.

I purchased this new maybe 4-5 years ago. It worked great but developed the previously discussed whining noise that is altered when you move the time knob. It can be loud during a gig. I really liked using this after all my pedal or in the effects loop but needed to move it to the input of my Boss NS-2 to take away the noises. Thank god for the NS-2 what a life saver. I have to sacrifice pedal placement in my chain but the noise is gone.

I almost removed it from my board before I cured the "ATARI" noises. I can't have an audience hear the funky things during a song break. I have to give this a low rating for the funky noises coming from the pedal otherwise a creamy and good sounding delay pedal.

Not reliable. I almost stopped using it but found a spot prior to my Boss NS-2 that eliminated the noises the unit was making.

No it is not my setup. I tried the pedal on many different amps and isolated the pedal and the noises were always present. I am using the supplied Dan Electro "Zero hum" AC adaptor.

It is not worth the money to send it to be fixed.

I have not called Danelctro so no opinion here.

Good sound, love the Hi cut knob and Hi-Lo switch. Very warm delay sound.

Making weird noises and almost parked it and bought something new. My Boss NS-2 Noise suppresor saved the day. I still use the pedal but comprised and placement by putting the delay almost first in my chain and before my Boss NS-2 input.

My recommendation is to avoid this pedal if you are a gigging musician.

If you've used delays before, this is pretty cut and dried. The "hi-cut" may confuse some beginners, but it a great feature once they figure out what it does. I like the "hi-low" switch for delay time. My only gripe is that the controls are a bit compact for gig use. But, like any other piece of gear used on a regular basis, you get used to it and appreciate how little space it takes up in the gear bag.

Even if you're new to this delay, the documentation will get you started with the basic settings.

Great! Looking at some of the reviews, I may have The Blessed Pedal. Very little noise and no change of tone along my pedal line when I hook it up. Keep in mind that I gig on Bourbon Street and do festival tour, so I change my battery at every gig. It beats the digital delays by a mile. It holds the tone without sounding sterile, which is something I get from most digital delays. This pedal has served me well in venues and the studio.

It has a great rock-a-billy slap echo, and I usually use an EH MMD for that, but I switch to it for a different sound on songs.

I play an ES-295, Gretsch Falcon, Rik 360, and Telecaster through a Fender Blues Jr and Marshall JCM 900, and the tone sounds great because, IMHO, it all begins with the amp/guitar combo and this pedal does not take anything away from it.

Okay, no one is wild about the plastic plugs on this box. I've got 2 of them. One is a free flowing pedal and the other is hard-wired (sans plugs) to a pedal board for touring. They've both served me well. I play on Bourbon Street with loads of drunken tourists in the audience dumping drinks on my gear. The pedal has survived for 3 years without a problem.

It also survived hurricane Katrina. I had 1-1/2 feet of water in my house. The pedal wasn't submerged, but after spending 2 weeks in a mouldy house, it didn't corrode like my DOD flanger which was right next to it). The Dan-Echo still sounds in top form.

Never had to deal with it.

Great pedal! They've packed a lot of goodness into this little box. I've come across many delays that cost much more, but didn't sound nearly as good. It's not noisy. It's also got a wide range of sounds. I've used it for Johnny and Santo's "Sleepwalk" and Killing Joke's "The Hum". OTOH, I really wish Danelectro would make a stereo version of this pedal with larger controls.

A couple of knobs and a switch! It does have a myriad of tones and uses if you want to dig around and turn the dials. Fairly intuitive.

Does what it says. Can go from a clean 'digital' sound to a reasonable approximation of a tape delay with it's dark and fuzzy edge.

I have put it through much abuse after deciding that I should leave my Boss Dm2 at home. This pedal gets thrown about a bit and still has no problems. That said those little plastic knobs look like they could snap off at any moment.

Never dealt with them, so I have no opinion

I play a variety of music from rock, country, pop & jazz. This pedal works well for everything I do.

The knobs are kind of hard to turn and the rate and Hi-Cut knobs are backwards from what would make sense to me. The manual gives good explanations of what each knob does and also gives 15-20 sample settings which is really helpful and showcases what it can do. The lo-hi delay time switch makes it easy to switch styles quickly on stage.

Great warm analog sound from a digital delay, what more can one ask for? The hi-cut and mix really help to keep the echoes from over-powering the dry signal.

This thing feels like it is 5 pounds of solid iron, but the knobs are made of plastic and I'm afraid if I step on them too hard they might break. Also, my repeat knob is messed up and the thing only repeats once most of the time regardless of where the knob is. If I get it to repeat more than once it goes away after switching the switch or stepping on the button. If not for that I would give this a 9.

Danelectro has no customer support as far as I know.

I really like this pedal, and would recommend it if not for the repeats knob problem I have. I will eventually replace it with a good analog delay or Line 6's big green delay modeler.

As easy or as tough as you want it to be. You can set everything at about 12 o'clock at get a real nice delay effect, or you can play with the settings given in the manual to come up with more great sounds. Give it a tap tempo and you would have simply the perfect delay pedal. As it is, I'll take it over just about anything else out there.

I run this at the end of my rig and before the amp. I have a tuner, a Digitech Grunge, a Boss OD-3, Crybaby, MXR phase 90, yamaha chorus, then Danny Boy. The "mix" and "hi-cut" knobs make it very easy to avoid sounding "antiseptic" with this pedal. Very natural sound. My ax is an American Strat and my amp is a Peavey (oh, quit rolling your eyes till you've tried one!) Bandit II. This box very simply does everything I need it to do and nothing I don't.

I was surprised to find all the reviews about these things crapping out. Mine works like a champ. Every time. I've never even thought about getting a back-up. I'd just have 2 of 'em around.

n/a

I play contemporary worship, which encompasses most everything, and I play in a retro dance party band. Lots of funk, r&b, disco and such. This little guy handles all of it. If you've used the Danelectro mini pedals, this is an entirely different animal. Those feel (and perform) like toys. This is a real tool. If it were lost or stolen, well, I ain't even gonna go there. I bought this pedal after hearing a friend use it. I've NEVER regretted it.

Easy to use, good manual.

My setup for the last 2 years has been Boss FZ-2 (for boost)>Fulltone '69>Danecho> 1968 Bassman. I haven't gigged during those 2 years, but I've been buying new stuff since it looks like I'll be back into it soon. The Danecho sounded very nice while it was working, but recently started making weird noises, whether it was on or off, and I'm currently looking for a replacement. Disappointing for a piece of gear that never left my practice space.

Worked for about 2 years, with very little use. Never had the chance to gig with it.

Never tried to contact, so I'll go with what others here have pointed out

Can't give unreliable equipment a high rating, no matter how good it sounds. I've been playing for 24 years, gigging on and off for 16. My current setup is Boss FZ-1>Fulltone Choralflange>VHT Deliverance (I like to keep it simple). My next delay will probably be a Boss; at least they're reliable...

Great easy to use for what I wanted. the swithch should have been a button.

Sounds great. Wait the review starts to go south.

I came to this post because I wanted to buy another one of these because I liked mine so much. I died and was unfixable. I thought it was a fluke and was ready to buy another. NO FREAKING WAY! After reading all the posts about this I'm taking out my old RP3 and using the delay on that.

Non existent

If they fixed the reliability problems I would buy another. I absolutely loved the sound. I must rate it a 1 though because if it doesn't work... well, it doesn't work.

I had no problems finding a good sound. Easy to use.

I thought it sounded good. I used a strat with a Mesa subway rocket, it worked nice with the effects I used, until the unit crapped out on me.

I bought it on ebay used. It worked for a month or two after I got it. Then it started up with all this horrible noise. I had it looked at by a tech, but he deemed it unfixable. I'd like to send it back, but I wasn't the original owner. So I'm sol, I figure.

There's no way to get in touch with them on their site, there's no service info on there. It's basically an advertising site, showing all their products.

I really liked it until it went to crap. I never dropped it or anything, I just hooked it up one day and, bam it went crazy with this sick blipping noise. I'll give a 3 overall for the nice delay and ok price on ebay.

easy if you know how to fiddle with delays. sure, it takes some tweaking to find the right amount of repeats/feedback and hi-cut, but that's the nature of a guitar pedal with 4 or 5 knobs, right?

i use strats/teles -> fender amps. the dan-echo provides good sounding (i.e., analogish or tape delay style) echo repeats. the hi-cut knob is great for that 60s tape echo sound. works pretty well with other pedals, doesn't get TOO muddy all things considered. this isn't the pristine digital repeats of a Boss DD-X. a whole different beast really. a good test for any guitar pedal (in my view) is set the knobs all to the midway point: do you get a good sound at that setting before any personal tweaking? then you've got a good pedal on your board. that's the case with the dan-echo. flipping the toggle switch from hi to low takes you from pink floyd territory to 50s style slapback. it does the rockabilly thing REALLY WELL, about as good as any delay pedal (short of an ibanez or boss analog).

built with a metal casing. much tougher (and heavier) than other danelectro pedals (and i've played several). no issues here, assuming you don't drop it off a third floor window. i haven't had issues with mine at all, and i bought it used.

i play experimental space/jam rock with british 60s influences of the kinks, small faces, yardbirds, early stones and who. the dan-echo works well for stretching out into david gilmour trips and also for the 50s style rockabilly the other guy in the band likes to do. very versatile in that respect, and the single toggle switch makes it easy to go back and forth stylistically on the fly without alot of knob twiddling. i like that... i won't sit here and say this is the best delay out there on the market, but you need to know what kind of delay sound you're looking for before you buy. but at the price you'll pay for one of these on ebay, it's hard to deny you're getting bang for the buck.