Danelectro DJ-1 Pastrami Mini Overdrive

Very very simple to use... only a couple nobs.

I am playing a B.C. Rich Platinum series Warlock through a Peavey Envoy 110. This pedal sounds incredible on the clean setting on my amp... but when I play with any distortion at all on my amp all it does is make it louder. But if you have no gain or anything coming out of your amp it will sound great for a lot of different types of rock and such.

It's solid.

never dealt with them.

I play mostly classic rock ranging from Zeppelin to Van Halen to Sabbath and stuff like that. I have only been playing for 2 to 3 years now. It sounds great especially for the price.

No manual, but I got one of the later ones with the invaluable foot shield. Very easy- two knobs, one volume, one fuzz. Takes 15 seconds to adjust.

It's not an overdrive. It's a fuzz box. I was originally getting this (mail order) to round out the fuzz off of my ProCo Rat with some warm overdrive, having heard the nice tones coming out of the 'overdrive' on a Dano mini amp. But this is really fuzzy, and not a lot better. It's still nice, I use it with the Rat as a limiter for a nice kick of distrotion on solos and such.

My rig:
Dano 56-U2 --> Snarling Dogs Very Tone Dog --> Boss Flanger --> Dano Pastrami --> Proco Rat --> Dano Tremolo --> Boss analog Delay --> Cheap Peavey amp.

This thing is useful $20 worth, but not a lot more. A very predictable and uninteresting overdrive.

It's made of plastic, don't drive over it with your SUV. But with the foot shield it stands up well from my use. Had it 6 months, no issues.

I've talked to them with my Tuna Melt Tremolo, and they sent out a replacement free of charge...

Overall it's a nice cheap additive to a better distortion pedal, the Rat. If you want this kind of sound, get a ProCo Rat. They're wonderful, and only about 3 times as much used... If you want an extra button ot push which will make your solos scream with fuzzy distortion, get one of these. I wish it had a limiter, or a 'warmer' setting, but I'll eventually get a Blues Driver or Tubescreamer to replace it.

Very simple, only 2 knobs (level and drive). Because it's very small, the input/output are very close to each other.

WOW!!!! My search is over! I was looking for that early eighties punk/hardcore sound (think Negative Approach, Minor Threat, Black Flag etc.) and this pedal is perfect for that. Other pedals I tested were always missing something; overdrives were missing dirt, fuzz boxes were ehhh too fuzzy, distortions were too metallic sounding. The pastrami is overdrive with a little bit of fuzz (just the right amount for me). I play a telecaster and epiphone les paul through a Fender sidekick reverb (solid state). I once tried it during a band practice through my soundcity head (tubes), sounded also great!
It's a bit noisy, but who cares, I play punk!
I never use it for other music styles, so I don't know if it's versatile. If you won't a nice warm, smooth overdrive I think you better look somewhere else.

I don't know. It's from plastic......But I never had any problems thus far (6 months). I have not used it during shows.

It's totally perfect for old punk/hardcore. Very dirty, raw overdrive (NOT for blink 182 stuff!!!!!!!) with a little bit of fuzz. I only wish that they made it in a metal box instead of a plastic one!
I also have other overdrives/distortions, like the MXR distortion +, danelectro daddy's, Turbo Rat, metal zone and they are great pedals but just not it for the sound I was looking for. They should call the pedal "Punk Overdrive"

It's got 2 knobs Level and overdrive. No manual needed, just a good set of ears. lol

I'm using an Epiphone Les Paul not sure what model it's got the open humbuckers with a Rocktron Rampage R50C (must review this amp soon)...It rocks with this amp!I sometimes use it with a Yahaha bass.
Very versitile stomp box.

People say that it's made of plastic, well it's pretty thick plastic & it arrived with a protector for the knobs! It feels EXTREMELY solid almost a metalic feel to it. I don't gig but I wouldn't need to gig with a back-up since if it fails I'd just kick in the crunch from the Rocktron, or mabey dig out the vintage electro harmonix big muff Pi.

Never delt with Dano customer service, I'm sure it's good or word would get out that it's bad.

I play classic rock and some new stuff. I hook this up to the guitar and amp on the clean setting on my amp so that I don't need to switch from 'clean' to 'crunch' on the amp. That saves me changing the settings and that is fantastic...I don't like to keep dialing in a sound.
Where can you get this much for so little $$? What are you sitting her looking at this review..Go out and get you a Dano DJ-1!

2 knobs, 1 button. Level and OD. Quite simple to dial in a light fuzz or crank some crunch out.

Ok, this pedal has it's applications - all I can say is if your in need of your first distortion pedal, this could be the way to go if you like to play multiple styles. I'm not guitar guru, but I do enjoy tweaking my sound (I'm a solo industrial recording artist). You can get a great bark out of the tiny little pedal, but of course the highs seem to leave a bit to be desired IMHO. Tested it out on my Ibanez GRX20Z bargain bin and a buds Ibanez Ghostrider. Ghostrider obviously sounded better, but with this Dano pedal the crunchy bark comes out naturally on my GRX20Z.

Reason for the "8" rating is the fact that mine seems to be picking up radio stations, unless I position it in a area of low interference (which happens to be my dorm roommate's bed, top bunk).

Overall, not bad, but certainly not something you'd want to use the rest of your life.

I've chipped chunks of plastic off, and sometimes the nobs will come off easy. Other than that, yeah, no prob.

Never had to, never want to. My mother does tech support back home, and I don't want to frustrate someone like her over a stupid pedal :)

I play Industrial rock, jazz, blues, and a little metal. This pedal helped me out by being nice, cheap, and reliable to get me started. I understand you can wrap the inner casing with tin foil to reduce the radio frequencies, but I never tried.

If it was stolen... I don't know. I think I'd use it as an excuse to bug parents to get me a new pedal since I'm a broke college student :) (hey, there's an idea...)

Been playing for 5 months guitar, 8 months bass, and I've been in the music industry in general for about 8 years. I'm a musician, but not quite a guitarist yet - most of my friends say I've evolved quite a bit more than they did after 5 months. I spend my life with my guitar though, so I guess I should :)

Kinda wish Dano wouldput the buttons at more of an angle and more sensitive to the press, it'd be easier to use it that way for me at least.

nuff sed

I have scads of Dano effects, both mini and maxi. This may be my favorite or very close. It is certainly applicable to a wide range of music, so I wouldn't say it is ultra-specialty. The crunch sound is very high quality. Furthermore, it excels when used in conjuction with other pedals.

bad. don't break a Dano item

I play punk, classical, new wave, classic rock, blues, avant-garde, ALT-country, you name it. This pedal helps out. Think about the cost! It ain't much....

Very easy. Two dials and a button.

This overdrive has a really nice fuzz, crunch sound that I love. I can get the same sound as areosmith "Walk this Way." I chose this pedal over all the other dan electro pedals that were twice as much as this.

Also the type of amp can change the sound to it.

I have stepped on it, dropped it, overload it and much more, and it still holds up. Yes, this little cheap plastic thing! I am so amazed that it has lasted this long.

N/A

I have been playing for over 3 years. I play rock, classic rock, a little bit of metal and rhythm. And it happens that this pedal fits in every category. If this was lost or stolen, I wouldn't be too upset because its only $25, then I would buy it again in a heart beat.

Well, its got two knobs, level and distortion. I can handle that. they are kinda teeny tiny knobs, but i can forgive it.

I love this pedal. Especially for the price! I use it a lot on my bass and I really like the sound it gets. It doesn't overpower the bass like some of the other distortion type pedals I have. It makes it sit nicely behind the guitars on recordings, but yet stand out somehow. I don't use it much for my guitar, but also use it on very low settings on a pos drumkit I record with to hide their hideousness.

I havent had a problem with it, but I would be gentle with it. It's got to be so cheap for some reason.

It probly sucks, but who knows.

I'm very happy with this pedal. Ive bought other dan pedals since and Ive been pretty happy with most of them. The only one I have a beef with is the octave pedal, it really struggles, but thats for another review. I recommend this pedal if you're looking for a nice, not over the top, nicely priced overdrive pedal.

Plug it in and stomp on it.

I use a 68 SG and a 75 LesPaul Black Beauty through a Boogie .22t or
an old Beltone tube amp. It's great alone or as a second overdrive to boost your lead over the mix. It sounds like an old overdriven Fender tweed to me..

As long as you don't stomp it with army boots I believe it should stand up. I've used it on many gigs and had no problems.

I'm sure if it's a company fault they would replace no problem.

I love the sound of this thing either alone or as a second boost. I've been playing for 33 years and tried them all. I can put my old TS-808 Tube Screamer away from the road now. I don't really care for the input output jacks being so close but it's a mini.. one on either side would be better.When in doubt..Duct tape! I have a few other mini Dan pedals and they all have been great..the Surf and turf is great especially with a bass. Well worth the bucks.

Two knobs.

A real nice sounding unit for the money. Gets a slight to medium amount of gain (no metal here). Sounds more like a dist. than an overdrive. Not very noisy at all, and doesn't load down your signal. I use mine with a Mesa Maverick a 1991 Les Paul Standard, 1995 Explorer, and a 2001 Fender American Hardtail Strat. A good 70's + 80's style rock tone (again, no metal).

Plastic construction, not too overwhelmingly sturdy. I keep mine in the pedalboard, if you don't kick it around it should be fine. Plastic PC mounted jacks and knobs stink but, for 20 bucks what do ya' expect.

For under $20.00 it's the best overdrive out there (not that there are many if any to compare it with). It provides a good useful sound. Worth looking in to. Great "Bang for the Buck"!