Danelectro DE-1 Dan-Echo

Fairly easy to use. No markings on the pedal to indicate levels in any numeric form (i.e. 1-10 around each knob). If you plan on changing your delay settings several times during a gig or practice, be prepared to do a little guesstimating and fine tuning. Although I never use it, I do enjoy the possibilities offered by the toggle switch in the middle.

The sound quality (and I am speaking about the quality that it is suppose to have) is decent. Nice warm tones and good definition.

Disclaimer: Just in case you see this review and pass by it due to it's length (like I occasionaly do), if you are having problems with your Dan-Echo pedal and are looking for like minds to compare to, read this. If you are a potential buyer, I have two things to say:

1. Buyer beware
2. I'll sell you mine real cheap.

It goes without say (but, hey, I'll say it anyway) that these are strictly my opinions based on my experience with the Danelectro product(s). Like anything else, there are always going to be those who absolutely love it and those who extremely hate it. Now then, on with the review.

Oh boy!!! I've heard other say built like a truck. This couldn't be more true. Ford body frankensteined with Dodge engine and various components. I'd rely on this things structure staying intact if the house collapsed on it, but that's as far as I can go. Ive been getting a lot of hum out of my amps recently and I attribute the Dano to at least a portion of the problem. I was doing some close examinations last night and I noticed several problems. Maybe it is just a defect in my pedal (I've yet to read anyone else mention this) but it acts like a microphone. Literally!!! I tapped the pedal and heard it through the amps. It was exactly like tapping on a mic head. It also did this when I tapped on the end of the cables going in and out of the pedal. When I tapped the end of the other end of the cables (coming out of my AudioTech wireless receiver into the Dano and the out into my MXR Phase 90), nothing. Which lead me to the next problem. When the end of the adaptor cable (when plugged into the Dano) is even lightly touch, horrible noises came out of the amps. It's best compare to the sound generated by rapidly unplugging your guitar over and over again while you amp is on. That is just a description of the degree of noise annoyance and concern. I don't remember ever having this problem while playing, but I'm fairly gentle with delay pedals. Lastly is a past problem that I had that I have heard others complain about. I've had my pedal for a few years now and can't actually recall how long before this problem arose nor how long it lasted. Basically, I bought it, it worked fine for a month (or a few maybe), then one day it stopped working. "What the F@#K!!! It worked last week?" I thought. Well, after countless attempts to get it to work, I gave up, took it out of the chain and just put it aside. I sporadicly, checked on it and nothing. The one day (a few months to half a year down the road), I check it and to my surprise, it's working like there was never a problem to begin with. Temperature, humidity, bored little elves that normally steal remote contols... to this day I have no idea what the problem was. I also had a mini Dano chromatic tuner do the same thing. Piece of s@#t still won't work. Just stopped working one day. I'm very displeased with Danelectro products and will mostly never have confidence in their quality. Even today, if I ever hear of someone having a rig with a Dano product in it (amature or profession musician), I can't help but shake my head in both shame and wonderment. The only exception would be the classic Danelctro guitar made famous by Jimmy Page. I trust his opinion. I'm pretty confident that, due to Jimmys endorsement, thay would put a little more quality, time and care into that particular series of guitars. As for effects, wouldn't touch as of now. I'm saving money to build a rack system and several delay opions are going to be part of it (from a boss pedal to a T.C. Electronic rack effects unit). I may sell the Dano if I can find my conscience clear. If I don't just store in an old box never to be remember, it will at least be a hell of a bargain.

Don't care enough about the company or products to try. They may fix it. They may replace it. But honestly, a refurbished or a new piece of s@#t is still a piece of s@#t.

If are in anyway interested, try it before you buy it. If you can test it with your own equioment, even better. All in all, keep your receipt and the packaging it came in just in case.

The pedal is actually quite complex, with the hi-low feature and 4 knobs that each provide a distinct and huge range of sound variations. If you buy it used, attempt to download a manual. When I see bad reviews of the pedal on here, I'd be willing to bet a buck that the user didn't get a manual. Well, this isn't a Boss DS-1. It's not "plug and play". You have to mess with it.

10 for the echo, no comment on the delay because I don't really use it for that purpose. I'm running a Toronado through a Harmonic Percolator, a Small Stone, and the Dan-Echo into a Peavey Classic 50. I couldn't be happier with the way this pedal's echo allows me to create an endless, giant cacophany of noise and distortion. 99% of the people who buy this are into rockabilly, but for noise-rock (Shellac, Tar, etc) this thing makes you sound like you've got 4 guitarists on stage. A+.

Danelectro products, while often considered cheap or crappy, have always performed wonderfully for me. Even their little plastic mini-effects hold up.

N/A

Great pedal for a noise freak. Think the beginning of "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" by Nirvana.....that's the kind of reverb/distortion/echo mess you can make with this box. Rock + roll. For $35 used, can't beat it.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THE GOOD RATINGS THIS BOX GETS! Okay, here's my story...
First one I bought: Failure of the input and output jacks after a few weeks. They are made of plastic and soldered to the circuit-board (saw that when the guy in the shop took it apart). A very cheap and unreliable construction, as far as I'm concerned. Exchanged this Dan-Echo for a new one: After a few months the on/off switch on this unit was not working anymore! I asked around and found other guys who had the same problems, so I know these defects are common.
OTHER CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN PROBLEMS I NOTICED DURING MY USAGE:
a) When in use, the Dan-Echo emits a high-frequency whine. Not to loud, but noticable. It changes when turning the second knob from the left, but never goes away. Out of curiosity, I checked two more Dan-Echos in the guitarshop, both had the same problem.
b) Using the switch located in the middle of the knobs, when unit is on, sometimes produces a very loud squeal. Watch your ears!
c)Knob on right (attenuation of highs) works the other way round.
I think Danelectro should spend less money on "Retro"-Design and advertising and more on the quality of their products. (I once had a Dirty Thirty Amp, that was crap, too). I have now exchanged the Dan-Echo for a Digitech DigiDelay: More expensive, colder sound, but at least it works! End of story.

Tiny, too-stiff knobs are a bitch to tweak, especially on a dark stage, but at least they're straightforward enough in function. The only oddball (but not necessarily bad) feature is the switch that selects fast/slow delay range; I would rather have had one nice big full-range knob to control delay rate.

Mostly, this is one nice sounding pedal. The repeats are not nearly as glass-clear as a digital delay (or at least one that speaketh its name) but that's the whole point of a tape-echo simulator, right? I hardly ever use my Dan-Echo for the rockabilly effects that everyone else seems to dig; I'm more for the spacey long delays of Pink Floyd or early Joe Walsh, and the pedal produces this kind of stuff with flying colors. Two gripes: there is no setting for endless repeat or those whack oversaturated tape feedback effects--a very important part of tape echo's sonic appeal for me--and the distortion that gets added to the repeats sounds more like digital artifact than something intentional, and gets annoying, especially with clean guitar where you don't want distortion at all.

BRING EXTRA BATTERIES! The Dan-Echo eats nine-volts like a mother, and when the battery goes, the tone and volume go to s**t. This actually happened to me on stage recently with an Epiphone Les Paul, fuzz, Cry Baby, and a flanger behind it...I was all ready for the dramatic set-closing E-bow solo and the wimpiest wet squeak of a sound came out.. The Dan-Echo had just swallowed another Energizer whole. It, and I, went out not with a bang, but with a whisper that night, so to speak. Ugh! Go with one of those Dano AC adapter thingies, and this problem disappears, so my rating reflects this:

Physically, tho, Dano's higher end pedals seem pretty well-built, although I wouldn't count on those knobs lasting forever--they look like that chintzy chrome-plastic that they used to use for the bumpers on toy cars. The jacks appear to be plastic too. Hmm. Best to be careful.

Never used it.

The Dan-Echo doesn't create a perfect tape echo simulation, but it puts you in the infield at least, for a lot less than a real tape-based delay would. In the context of my current band, something like the Dan-Echo is indispensible, although we also use a Roland Space Echo on stage and in the studio, and I wouldn't dream of replacing that amazing piece of vintage tape-based analog delay with *any* pedal. The Dano is great as a general thickener-upper and also as a spacy weird-effects generator, especially in combination with a good fuzz or distortion pedal. I suppose that it'd also work great for rockabilly slapback echo, although that's not my thing at all and I never use the Dan-Echo in that way, so let the Gene Vincent and Stray Cats fans have the conch for that side of the story. Bottom line: as long as you don't have to do too much involved, detailed knob-tweaking--if you don't need to "play" the pedal's controls like you would a Space Echo or an analog synth, and all tape-echo-like devices almost beg to be "played" like this--, the Dan-Echo delivers the sonic goods. And remember to bring extra batteries.

Easy as. Knobs are a pain to deal with onstage, so I set it to a slight slap back and forget it. I've found a setting which lets me switch LO-HI between slap back and echoey sound. Wish there was a Tap function, IMHO all echo units should have tap built in.

Out of the box its pretty good, but it does suck the tone and can steralise your sound, the bottom end drops out altogether.
It does this whether bypassed or on because it isn't true bypass.
There is a mod which you can do yourself or pay someone else to do which fixes this right up. I had this done by Ron Holmes for US$75+P&P and feel it was well worth it.
There is very little change in tone when plugged in now and after a year of collecting dust its now back in use full time. :)
The mod is written out well here:
http://www.e-basteln.de/harp/
or you can get Ron Holmes to do it for you
http://www.holmeseng.com/
or Kinder who charge twice as much.

Now its a sweet little unit with lovely echo and plenty of flexibility.

Very dependable. Haven't had a problem with it yet. Built like a tank.

N/A. No need to contact them yet.

I play Harmonica & Sax in Blues, Rock, Jazz and sometimes Pop. Definitely a good unit once I had the mod done. If I had to start over I'm not sure what could deliver the same results for the same price including the mod. But since I already had the pedal, the mod was what made it really worthwhile having for me.

I find this pedal great for studio recordings, but a bit bothersome at live gigs-quick change of number of repeats or speed was nearly impossible until I Mcguyver'd a rig-- my delay now wears the tip of a radio antennae (so I can kick it back and forth between reverb and echo) and wire "t" bars to adjust time and number of repeats. Easy enough though, who wants to have a perfect effects pedal anyway?

I now use two seperate danecho's, both set at parralell time, on with the antennae to kick into reverb; a wah, flange, phase, and overdirve. The delay is super meaty, almost tube sounding, and works well i.e. doesn't leave that empty metallic sound when bypassed. Overall great sound

I've used one pedal for about two years and the newer for a few months, both are definitely dependable.

I play roots, dancehall, and dub reggae/rock, and this pedal is a great match. I've been playing music for around ten years, and this is one of my favorite effects, both in the reverb and delay settings. I've played it through Ibanez G series guitars, Fender strats and tele's, and even keyboards for live dub applications. Definitely a great value, worth dropping the bill.

I would say 'very', you plug it in and it sounds beautiful. The four knobs (mix, speed, repeat, and hi cut) are intuitive (for anyone who understands delay boxes) and easy to change on the fly. There's also a switch to adjust the speed range, from hi to low, which I find very nice (set it one way for spacey, reverb sort of effects and set it the other for rhythmic ones).

I am using this with a fiddle, and I love it. Violins have a very complex timbre and poor equipment just sounds like ass. I play a quintus 4-string with an Ithaca Strings two-part bridge pickup system. Sometimes I run through a Fishman Pro-acoustic preamp, but lately it hasn't been doing much for me and it's extra weight at a gig. Most often I'm using an acoustic sound with minimal effects.
I have had no luck what so ever with digital delays, even the best units leave a metalic residue in the sound. I run this through the effects loop of my AER Compact60, an amp which exposes all the weaknesses of any electronics, and this unit sounds like gold (purple gold). If you give it good sound it will echo it!
In edition the hi-cut knob can give a really nice filtering effect, harkening back to the tape delays of yesteryear. Turn it to the left and it leaves the sound un-altered.

It feels like a rock, and although I haven't had mine too long I would trust it. If I were to drop it on concrete or it got run over by a hummer I might check it out carefully, but I suspect even then it would be fine.

I have been play everything from old-time southern to celtic to bluegrass to jazz to funk (on the fiddle) for 13 years now. Most of the music I play doesn't allow for heavy effects and so I use this unit on its own most of the time (with my amp - see above). If you're playing acoustic music, and want to hear the sound of your expensive instrument ringing through, then I would say this is the delay for you.
Then when the time is right and I can get out my fuzz and wah and let it rip - this unit still comes through! I love it.
I'd buy another to replace it if (heaven forbid) it were to disappear. My setup wouldn't be right without this purple pedal!
at the risk of rating inflation I give this pedal a 10:

Its labeled with ease. If you can read you can use this pedal. Selector switch for Delay to reverb. I love slow solos on Reverb.

I run a Epiphone Sg400 and a Ibanez Rg370 through this to an Ibanez 65w amp. Sounds great. I mix it with the Distortion and Wah and bam its awesome.

Its tough but alot of Danelectro products are cheaply made. But Ive had no problems. Others have. Just like cars, built on a friday and they suck.

Great Pedal!! I have been playing 4 years now. This has improved my sound and my will to play. If stolen I would buy it again. I played a friends Boss Digital Delay and this pedal eats it alive. Aside from having both echo and delay. Its got a great sound!!

pretty good. Two settings - one cleaner, more clinical delay, and one duller "deteriorating tape machine" echo. the controls make sense in each setting. Very adaptable, and easy to grasp.

The effect is very good. the sharp delay is sharp, and the dull, deteriorating sound is just that. However, it is pretty noisy when not in use, picking up other electrical sources.

terrible. As I've found with other Danelectro pedals, the quality of the jack & power sockets and knobs is pretty low - none of my Dan pedals will work off of a power jack, as the sockets break. It also malfunctions pretty regularly, cutting out or just plain not working in the middle of a gig. I've only recently had to start using it at gigs, and I'm getting a new pedal as soon as i can

not been back to them - warranty out of date by the time the problems appeared

If it worked properly, this would be a fantastic pedal. However, it can't be relied upon, something I've found with other Dan pedals, and so i wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I'll be replacing it with another brand as soon as i can. It looks great, that's about the best i can say for it.

Fairly easy to use. I hate a lot of switches and knobs on a pedal, but with Delay, it's usually necessary. Not too bad in finding a good sound though.

I gave a pretty dismal review of the tuna melt because of its overall cheapness and tempermental sonic qualities. This is not the case with the Danecho. This is a nice delay pedal that, in my opinion, sounds much better the the Boss DD-3 I used to have. For a digital delay, I haven't noticed that metallicy sounding noise I got from the Boss and other delay pedals. I especially like being able to switch from the older delay sounds to the newer ones (via the switch on the unit)

As far as digital delays go, this one is hard to beat for the money you can get them for.

Very sturdy and well built. Unlike the cheap plastic pedals they make, you can take this out with you and use it feeling confident it will perform after constant use.

Never had to deal with them, so I will not leave an opinion.

For the price I paid, this is a great pedal. I sold it to help pay for a Fulltone2, but I would have no reservation about getting this pedal again. I even thought about going to the store I traded it to and buying it back, but I'm going to try the new Digitech Delay since I really like the Digiverb Reverb I have. If, for some reason, the Digitech fails me, I will most certainly buy the Danecho again.

If you're looking for a good, easy to use, versatile delay pedal, you should consider the Danecho. Despite its cheesy 50's style looks, it is actually a great pedal with more versatility than its housing advertises. For the money, these are hard to beat.