Danelectro DJ-1 Pastrami Mini Overdrive

no manual, not needed. very easy to use.

If you are looking for your all in one overdrive, this is not it. however, it makes a great first overdrive, for more subtle type adjustments. i have it paired up with a fab tone ditortion, which is a great combo-the overdrive to kick it up a bit, the fab tone to go all out.

everybody bithes about the plastic case, well lemme tell ya, i have several of these with no problems so far. remember that this is an electronic component, don't throw it at your drummer, and you should be just fine w/o a backup.

haven't had the pleasure.

i play rock with some punk, jazz and very occasionally metal, and this has worked well for some applications in all of those. it is a very good all around pedal for everyday use. i would most certainly replace it if it were stolen. this was the first in a series of pedals i have bought from danelectro, they now make up nearly my entire signal chain, and even though their guitars suck (excepting the convertible of course) the pedals are killer value.

Very easy to use. Very Very easy.
Doen't come with manual, but who needs one ? The in and out jacks are so logical, guitar in, amp out.

A Peavey Rage 158 amp, Epiphone ES-300 guitar.
Not very noisy.
The effects sound great, always.
Peavey Rage 158.
I can't really get Slash's (guns N Roses) Sound with this pedal, but it still rocks.

Very reliable.
No need for other pedal backups, but there is a need for battery backups, i'm not into using adaptors.

I Live in Singapore.....duh. No need for services, they are far away in the Us.
Never repaired it before, it never works wrongly.

Suits my style real well, i play rock.
I played guitar for about a year and this is my first pedal.
Stolen ??? Of course i will buy it again...it's the best pedal.
I love everything about it except for.......the material, it's plastic....very soft plastic.
i compared it to Danelectro's Black Coffee metal distortion, but it was too noisy and always makes squeaking noises, very irritating.

Easy. One knob for volume, another for overdrive level.

I?m satisfied with the sound quality. I?m a keyboard player and I use this with a tremolo pedal to add some much-needed growl to my organ patches. After messing the pedal for a few minutes I was able to get a tasty amount of dirt. Banging the keys and doing glissandos sounded great. Turning the up the overdrive level got me a nice ?Highway Star? Deep Purple sound.

Maxing out the overdrive level makes your tone disappear and you get a sound that?s more like static. I don?t know if this is normal for overdrive pedals. Since I?m able to get the sound I want it?s not a big deal.

If you?re using a battery then it?s reliable for about 6 hours. Get an adaptor or a pedalboard with a power supply.

Never tried 'em, wouldn't bother.

I?ve been playing for 10 years. Now I?m in a 50?s and 60?s cover band and this pedal works well. In a previous band I used to haul around a Hammond and Leslie, but sound guys never know how to mic the Leslie and couldn?t be bothered to learn how ("You mean I gotta use more than one mic?"). My beloved Leslie ended up being a 100-pound, thousand dollar vibrato pedal.

For gigs now, I end up getting a better sound with an overdrive->tremolo chain (ah, bitter irony...). This pedal gives me the effect I need at a price that can?t be beat. If I run across a guitarist with a fancier overdrive pedal I would borrow it and see if it gives me a better sound, but for now my Dan-Electro works just fine.

This is a very simple uncomplicated pedal just like all of the Danelectro pedals. It has level and overdrive knobs and an off/on button.

The sound is great. it isn't noisy at all. I wouldn't describe it as an overdrive. I would call it a dirty fuzz/light distortion. I just love the dirty light distorted tone it has to it. It is awesome! It lacks some low end but you could probably repair that with the Fish N' Chips EQ. It is great for Creams "Sunshine of Your Love." It is also good for about any 60's & 70's era rock. Some exaples of bands are Clapton,Cream,Deep Purple,some Aerosmith, and stuff like that. It is alright for some of Hendrix but I don't think it is quit heavy enough for "Purple Haze." For purple has a suggest you get the T-bone(which I own and it is awesome) and turn the disortion to abour 2 or 3 o'clock or so. It also works good for some lighter modern stuff like Collective Soul (sometimes) and about has enough for Bushes "Glycerine". It is perfect for Everclear's "Santa Monica" On that song it is clean at first then it is light distorted(which I use Pastrami for) Then it goes into heavy distortion(which I use the T-bone for). If you play hard rock or metal this isn't for you. Since I play a lot of styles of rock I use Pastrami for most 60's & 70's stuff. For 80's rock and 90's punk, alternative, and grunge I use the T-bone. I am going to get the Black Licorice Beyond Metal for Metal and some 80's hair bands and Black Sabbath. I suggest if you play metal get the Black Licorice. I tryed it at the store and it is has to be the best metal pedal out there. But Back to the Pastrami I think i will give it a 9 because of the fact it lacks some low end but hey it was $22 bucks and an EQ could probably help it sound better. There is one funny thing about it..... when you turn the overdrive up all the way and your guitar turned down all the way you can pick up the A.M. radio.

I could depend on this. I wouldn't use back up. It is AWESOME!

They don't respond fast enough with my questions. I didn't have any problems with it but i just asked a few questions about it.

I play all rock like i said. this is a good match for 60's and 70's like i said. I would buy another one if it was stolen or lost. I love the dirty fuzz tone. I really don't hate anything about it exept the lacking of low end. It helps me make music I use it for some of the things I wrote. I will give it a 10 overall because of the price and the dirty fuzz/light distortion sound it puts out.

I now use a piece of crap squier, into this pedal, followed by a Boss CH-1 super chorus, into a 55 watt Roland Jazz Chorus amp (the chorus is broken. It sounds good if you're playing loud, but it has no "bite" when you're playing quietly. When you're playing loud, it always great if you like the overdrive sound. When you turn it on, your guitar gets louder, so you have to adjust the volume. It sounds really good with the chorus on as well. I gave it a 8 because it makes your guitar louder when you put it on, and it sounds like a piece of crap quietly. What can I ask for, i only paid 20 bucks for it! Trust me, it's worth it.

I can always depend on this pedal. The only thing you need as a back up is a battery. DON'T LEAVE THE PEDAL ON, WHEN YOU'RE NOT PLAYING. it wastes the battery. THis pedal has a short battery life if you play a lot or leave it on.

I give it a 9 because it's a great pedal, but when you play with your amp or guitar quietly, it sounds like loud crap. But it only cost 20 bucks, so I really can't complain. It's worth more than $40! This pedal is great if you gig or play loudly.

Gets good sound but it kinda hums a bit. There is no manual but it sure doesn't take rocket science to use it. It's definately a great overdrive for the price you pay for it.

I'm using a Ibanez GRX20Z ,, and a Crate GFX-15 amp. Sounds good with the equipment i'm using. If i turn the overdrive up a ways it gets noisy and has a hum. They effedct sounds pretty good overall.

Its dependable but its' fucking plastic.. Sorry!

No customer help needed.

Definately good for the price you pay ...

Very easy to use. Two knobs; Level and Overdrive. No manual but the Danelectro web site has suggested settings.

In bypass mode, the pedal is VERY TRANSPARENT. No coloration or loading of the guitar signal. NICE!

When engaged, there is a little hiss - just like any other high gain pedal. While playing, you can see internal Light Emitting Diodes glowing through the red plastic cover. So, this unit uses LED clipping diodes which gives it a crunchy overdrive sound. This is why some reviewers say it does not sound like an overdrive. It DOES behave and act like an overdrive, just one with a lot of crunch! =)

I use if for overdriven rhythms and it cuts through the live mix nicely. The uncolored guitar sound passes through in overdrive mode which maintains instrument character. A well designed unit! It is a fun sound and I use it a lot. It is well worth the $19 cost.

Ummm... I've only had it 2 days and I used it at rehersal last night. It has worked fine. So, no reliability opinion yet.

I emailed Danelectro a question and they have not replied yet.

I play in a church worship band and the Pastrami is good for overdriven rhythm. I do not plan on using it for soaring lead solos, but for crunchy arpeggios it works fine, too.

If lost, I would buy another.

I "wish" it had a toggle switch to choose LED or Silicon diodes for an additional sound. I may add this myself. I also "wish" the metal bottom cover was grounded. As is, it is isolated from the circuit and could afford a little shielding with the addition of a simple wire.

I got this pedal, a T-Bone distortion, a Chicken Salad Vibrato, a Hash Browns flanger and the Dano pedal board with cables and power supply. It had been a BIG HASSLE to carry a separate power supply, a tube screamer, chorus pedal, Boss DS1 that I got sick of all the setup and many pieces of hardware. Now, I carry 2 cables, the Dano package and I can setup & tear down in 30 seconds!!

Two knobs. Output (level) and Overdrive. Just dial in your output and adjust the overdrive to your liking.

Sounds really good in bypass and when engaged into O/D. I just need to get a different instrument cord cause it makes a lot of noise when I engage it. But I know it's the cord cause I used my friends cords and it sounded really great. I didn't expect such raunchous fuzz/distortion from this box. I play bass and it sounds really good even on the low B string.

It's plastic, but it's a Danelectro. As long as you got a warranty it's all good. I just wouldn't go haywire and like stomp the fire outta this thing.

I've never dealt with them before. But the store I bought this pedal from is pretty reliable.

I say 9 because of it being made of plastic and never dealt with customer support. But for this pedal, it's awesome. Buy it.

This thing is not complicated. Two knobs, if you need help figuring it out find a stray cat to lend a hand (or paw). Anyway, manual was ok for starting a fire in the fireplace. It's got two knobs! However, this is not an overdrive, it's a fuzz pedal. Kind of a misnomer there (that means it's labeled wrong for all of you educated in California!) : ) By the way, I'm from California!

I ran this through my pedalboard (modded Crybaby, Fulldrive II, Danalectro Cool Cat, Boss EQ, Martin Compressor)into a '65 Deluxe reverb reissue. I used various strats, with single coils and humbuckers. The pedal was kind of noisy, and sucked a little tone, but hey, it's $19! It's a pretty cool fuzz, though, sounds alot like my friend's expensive Freddy Fuzz. I really don't use fuzz much, mostly just to mess around with, but it was cool.

It doesn't look to reliable, kind of small, plastic, etc. However, I would use it on a gig, and if it was part of my regular gigging board I would bring a back-up, hey, it's $19!

Never dealt with Danalectro

It's pretty cool for the money. Is it as good, clean and well built as a Fulltone 70 fuzz? God no, it's $19! If I lost it I would go get another, just having this little thing is pretty cool. I've given away a couple as gifts so far, I dig it!

Two words - Trained Chimp. Actually the chimp probably wouldn't even have to be trained.

This pedal is a good sounding little overdrive/fuzz pedal. I say fuzz because at extreme settings it does sound kinda' like a fuzz. My guess is that a lot of people in the reviews below crank the gain knob pretty high. I get a nice overdrive at low gain settings. I also don't experience the thinning out that other players seem to be experiencing. That being said, I usually turn the bass on my amps up pretty high and I don't cut my mids that much if at all. I have a ton of amps that include some vintage 100 watt Hiwatt heads and Fender and Marshall vintage reissues. For guitars it's American Fenders and American Hamers mostly. I have found this pedal to be really good for lightly overdriven rhythm work with all types of pickups and and pickup positions. It can also get pretty rockin' for higher gain sounds, but it is not a tight bottomed chunky metal sound. That's what the Metal Zone or Rampage pedals were created for. I have played in chunky heavy rock bands ala Quicksand and Helmet. This is not that pedal. Lately I've been playing more 60's, 70's and noise pop sounding stuff like likeT-Rex, Bowie, Built to Spill, My Bloody Valentine and even my old favorites, The Smiths. This is that pedal. I have and have had many pedals and overdrive/fuzz/distortion effects including the Full Drive 2. Does it sound as good as a Full Drive 2? No, and to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised by the reactions of those who seem to expect a $19 import overdrive to sound as good as a hand built $200 overdrive. Get real. What this pedal does is sound good for very little dough. Good for recording. Good for live use, you just have to know how to use it.

Mine works well, but I have tried other Danelectro pedals in the store that didn't work properly. If I used this as my main overdrive pedal, I would probably have a backup, but at $19 a pop that's still cheaper than a single Boss overdrive.

I have not had to deal with them, but I hear they replace their pedals without too much hassle if there's a problem with them.

Good sounds at a silly price. If it broke or was stolen, I would buy another.