Danelectro DJ-1 Pastrami Mini Overdrive

Very simple, two knobs (level and overdrive)...doesn't get much easier. There was a manual that had sample settings, etc, but I didn't need it. Getting a desired sound was easy.

I am running an Ibanez GAX70 or Samick strat copy into a Morley Mark tremonti Power wah, then this, then the French Toast Octave Fuzz, then Cool Cat Chorus, then Zoom 505ii into a cheapo Matrix M10 or a Peavy Blazer 15 watt. The pedal was noisy when I put it before the wah. The pedal cannot produce the down and dirty distortion sound that I sometimes crave, but it is, after all, overdrive, not distortion. I think it is a great overdrive pedal. I like it just as much as the new DIgitech X-series one.

Although it is plastic, its HARD plastic. I could depend on it.

I really like it, especially for 20 bucks. I play Creed, Metallica, Zeppelin, the Foos, anything rock basically. If it were lost or stolen, I'd buy another in a heartbeat. I compared it to other overdrive pedals, and this one really stood out.

Plug it in... Turn a couple knobs, push the footswitch... couldn't be much easier..

I'm surprised to see all the 10 sound quality reviews... Given, this pedal is SUPER cheaply priced, it actually impressed me for what I paid... I bought it a while back when I just wanted to mess around wtih distortion for as cheap as possible.. It did the job.. but now when I compare it to many much better pedals, I honestly never want to use the thing again. Way too much FUZZ and lack of tone. Don't expect to be amazed, but at the price it isn't too bad if you like fuzz.

Built like a tank. Oh, wait... It's plastic. Danelectro has never been much for high quality, long lasting pedals.. These little guys probably wouldn't last too long out on the road.. But, honestly, would YOU take it on the road??

I gotta give 'em credit for making such an incredibly inexpensive pedal.. It worked for me when I was younger.. so hey, if you want something cheap, go for it.

Two knobs...Level & Distortion
Pretty easy!!

Alot Better than I expected!!! I play an Epiphone Les Paul Jr with Gibson P-94 pick-ups in it, and I use an 73 Ampeg VT-40
The ONLY reason I bought it was because it was only $20, I figured what the hell...I was pleasantly suprised!! It sounds to me like an old school fuzz

So far so good....

Dunno !

Overall it is a great pedal to have...AND its ONLY $20!!
Not for Metal, Rock-n-Roll, AC-DC, Johnny Thunders, Mudhoney, etc..
I never really cared for Danelectro...but this really is a good pedal!

This is very easy to use, only a couple of knobs. they're labelled, but i don't think they do exactly what they're supposed to.

Oh yeah! This little bitch sounded great when i hooked it up to my Fender Champion 15! Here's my setup Hohner HAG-250 (the bomb with a Dean Markley pickup!)>Boss MT2>Line6 POD (I got it from my uncle, one of the knobs is twisted off, but it is ok because I still have the Modern High Gain setting)>Snarling Dog Mold Spore>Fender Champion 15. I think I need a Klon boost and a nice warm analog delay. It makes this already tight rig sound like Brian May and his Vox amps!

Not very reliable. One day my dog got into my pedals (he's a big dog) so i tried to fight him off, but not before he bite my Dano Pastrami in half. It is ok, though. I put some scotch tape around it and put it back together, now it sound more like a Slipknot distortion, but if I tweak it just right, I can nail EVH's "Eruption" (only a few more bars to go).

I have never needed to talk to them. One time I emailed them a joke, but they didn't say whether or not they thought it was funny. Cool website, though.

I bought this pedal used from my older brother who plays in a metal band. He said this was crucial to his sound and that if I wanted to sound like anybody totally sweet, I had to use this. Boy, was he right! I love it! I practically stole it from him. I am trying to start my own punk band and the guys I have been practicing with play trumpet in the school band. Even they say it is killer!

2 knobs - Level and Overdrive. Danelectro makes it simple enough

I'm using this with a Crate GX-15 with my JB Player Les Paul cut. Sounds great! A very hot pedal, great for lead. I only have my overdrive set to about 6 and it is perfect.

Danelectro has never failed me. If I were good enough, I would take this on a world tour if I had one. Very awesome pedal

Never dealt with Dano.

I play classic rock like .38 Special and Van Halen. Pedal does it great, especially for Van Halen, even if I dont have a 5150, I can get a great "EVH" sound, sounds awesome when you play "Little Dreamer" and "You Really Got Me"

Ok...2 knobs...level & drive...how hard is that?...get the amount of drive you want and then either optimise your level or boost it...i guess you could cut it if you want, but that is tonally degredating

I use this to boost the gain on my Marshall VS65R. I use this amp as my rhythm amp (lead is a Peavey Classic 30) and I only use the overdrive channel because I don't use pristine clean...just drop the gain down on the drive channel for semi-clean/lightly overdriven and then kick in the pastrami crunchy rhythm tones and power chords. This works well enough in that it boosts the gain just a little, not too much and doesn't sound like crap as long as the gain on the pedal is below 12 o'clock. The cool thing is that, since this pedal is a little bright (compared to boss) it keeps the marshall from being muddy with the gain boost. If I need any more gain than the pedal at 12 o'clock then I boost it from the amp to keep the tone smooth and decent cause this pedal will sound like crap at higher gain levels. So, 9 for gain boosting (for me anyway)-6 for anything any gainier than that.

Yeah...its plastic...I will only use soft velvit gloves on my hands and press the footswitch with my index finger. Well...not likely in a gigging situation, I think as long as I don't actually stomp on it I will be ok...I don't really need a backup because I can always bust out the channel switcher and use that...I just hate the pristiness of the clean channel...but I can live with it if I had to.

Right...don't know, don't care

Playing 8 1/2 years, classic rock and blues based rock. This gets me the crunch rhythm tones that I need for most of the stuff on the set list without making the tone crappy thin or muddy, so it works for me...plus...I only paid $20, I can live with that. Replaced? like I said I can live without it, but I might get it again seeing as its cheap.

It has two knobs and a footswitch... ummm... pretty easy to figure out

First, I paid a measely, lousy $10.00 for this thing "used" it still had the "Editors Pick" label from GP on it, it looked like it was used maybe once...its not all that noisy, I use it in front of my Fender Champ 12 tube amp, with a frankenstein style tele with a vintage noiseless bridge pup and a texas spec. rythym pup, its a fuzz box / Semi-clean boost pedal as far as I am concerned. Fuzz tones are hard edged and mid-rangey, and this I like alot. To my ears, its Jimmy Page-ish all the way. As a boost (with little drive added) its well suited to use with my Champ, like a third channel almost. At one time I owned a Vox Cambridge 15, and for reasons I cannot explain, This pedal warmed up the Hybrid Vox very nicely when used as a "clean Boost" I am partial to this pedal, At times it can sound harsh and edgy, but again, I like that, you may not.

Its plastic, but its heavy plastic and all things considered, fairly well built and solid... for living room use that is.. the the controls are tiny, and the foot switch is suspect... My plan is to (someday...) gut it and stick it in a more suitable ie. rugged housing, or i could just go buy a couple more of them and keep them as backups.. Hell for $10 or even $20 apeice who cares.

? dont know

Hell its a $10 pedal, cant think of a better or cooler gizmo for that much... I happen to like it alot, If i gigged (I dont) I would either buy a backup or rehouse it and upgrade the footswitch. I think at this point it may become a keeper and a permenant part of "my tone" I play a bit of everything from Zep to the replacements and everything between. for some tones its not the tool for others it is... I wont part with mine... could become a "Pawn Shop Prize in ten years..." Try it, you may like it and as I have stated over and over its CHEAP!

Actually, folks, this thing requires a little fiddling to get it to sound good, all over my rig. Of course, the pedal itself is only two knobs. If you can't figure out two knobs, you are at least one knob...

I use an Epiphone Special with PAF style humbuckers into a Fish N Chips, then into a Milkshake set low to emulate something between a reverb and a tremolo, and then into a Pastrami. Then I send it all through a Beringer Firebird 15 Watt retro-style amp.
If you play with all of your knobs, you will discover that the Pastrami Overdrive is the absolute God's truth COOLEST overdrive you could possibly have a la "Spirit in the Sky". Oh, man, does this thing kick some lovely juices into my joints. I may get evicted over it, but darnit it's so freaking cool! Use your Fish N Chips to pump up your tremolo and bass and cut out some middle, then give it just a hint of swelling with the chorus. Then crank up your guitar to about six or seven. Then keep your amp sound crisp and clean (because the Pastrami will handle all the dirty). Play your clean, crisp chords, then during your heavy riffs, kick your sound into the killzone with the Pastrami. Man, what a great sound. It is a dead solid "Spirit in the Sky", and I was born to be wild, folks.

Yes, it is plastic. So don't jump on it, punky. Of course, the jumpers probably are going for something less hipcat, and more slipknot. So don't jump on your Licorice either, kiddies. Still, it ain't broke yet...

Haven't dealt with them.

I call what I play neo-retro. I don't necessarily dress in bowling shirts and wear Buddy Holly glasses, but I like to connect with the clean sounds and powerful playing of the late sixties, and early seventies. Something about that period was so pure, and wonderful. I am also very poor, and cannot afford vintage equipment. Thus, I play Danelectro pedals, and dig them, daddio. Man, if you want the real thing, and not the eighties hair band, wanking wunderkinds, but the real God's Socks Goodness, this is the pedal for you. And what a price! I get the best pedal I can get for my sound, and I get it so cheap! I feel like I'm stealing beauty, without having to sit through that long movie again!

Two knobs, Level and Overdrive. Easy to get sounds from it.

This baby runs almost on any guitar and amps, I compared it with a Boss Super Overdrive and I think this pastrami thing its way much better. It has a brighter sound, and you can set it up quickly than the other. Brighter sound is not always the best but the Boss was too warm and dark for me.

This is maybe the best pedal made by Danelectro, and maybe it will become a classic, It is has a lots of uses, first you get warm sounds wich open chords have good sounds, blues and funky solos are great too. And with the full settings you get a fuzz box, a little shy but a decent fuzz. Some classic rock I get from it.

I use this pedal with songs with open chords, I try not use it for heavy stuff or punk, it doesn't work for it, it's only an overdrive pedal. If you think that you will get a distortion from this pedal you will be dissapointed.

It's a 10, it makes me play more inspired and confident. It does it job well on stage, zero noise, zero headaches. Try to use it with choruses, reverbs and delays, it gets much better. However it is still great working alone.

This is the "but" part. It's plastic, and I had it repaired two times. I would buy another if it breaks on gigs.

I live far from the USA, they wont assist me

Great, for everything that requires overdrive. I would buy another and would kick ass if it's stolen, it has a wide range of overdrive sounds, and it works perfectly for me.

Listen to it live in www.geocities.com/billysefue

I have a very brainless dog who could probably operate it.

At first I like d it, but then realised it's quite crap. Its just fuzz with no tone, rather like my old squire amp that came with first guitar. Not nice. On lower overdrive levels its quite good for blues but you can't get a decent rock n roll sound.

Seems quite tough, but its plastic so i dunno.

I'm a student, and it was cheap, so I bought! Thing is, with guitars, amps, and fx pedals, you get what you pay for. A good pedal for a beginner, but for not much more you can get a much juicier RAT pedal, which I plan to purchase soon.