Danelectro DJ-10 Grilled Cheese Distortion

I really don'y know why everyone tears these pedals apart so much! It's obvious that Danelectro wanted to designs these so that people with not a lot of money can afford a wide range of effects for their guitar rig. I have seven guitars including Strats, an '83 Explorer, and a Schecter. Plus, I have many amps including a few Marshalls. My pedals include: a Boss Blues Driver, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Line 6 POD, various Digitech pedals, an original USA Big Muff, and I can proudly say that I own, and play regulary, 10 of the Danelectro Mini Pedals with 2 cases/pedalboards. I think the pedals are really cool and I tour with them too! So, if you really don't have a lot of money, or you wanna try some pedals out for fun, go with the Danelectro mini pedals! =]

Easy to use, yeah. 2 knobs. Level and a thing they refer to as 'Resonance'. The level isn't the level of distortion, it is an overall volume. More on that later... Easy to use only because lack of features, which is acceptable for a cheapy pedal.

The "Resonance" should be marked "Nasality". The 'Resonance' controls the nasal overtones of this pedal from Michael Jackson nose post 2002 plastic surgery to flat out Barbara Streisand. Terrible nasaly tone like a DOD "Grunge" pedal. Horrible, midrangy full tilt distortion. I don't know why it reminds me of scratching your fingernail on the bottom of a wax Dixie cup, but every time I hear it, it's what it reminds me of. Noisy even w/the Dano AC adapter. Even the noise is nasaly and hollow. No gain control, only overall volume level so from first stomp it's full on distortion. I can't even get it under control using my guitars volume controls to get a 'broken' distortion. Now, I DID only pay $10 for it used at Music Go Round, so it's okay, but if I paid even $30 list, I'd be pissed. Only good thing I can say is easy battery replacement.

Seems ok for plastic. Again, I know they're going on the cheap here. I wouldn't abuse it for a moment or it would crumble into dust. The removable battery access bottom is pot-metal and seems decent but the case is plastic.

Ah, for the first time I can respond here. Evets Corp now owns/distributes Danelectro. I tried to contact them regarding their new Dano line of guitars - not once, not twice, not three but four times. No response. So, I just won't buy one. No contact phone in their (very thin, content-light) web site, no emails. I had to call information and called them. No response, nothing. Osama Bin Laden is easier to find than an Evets/Danelectro rep.

Rock, blues, pop, punk. I'm not afraid of someone stealing this pedal, I'm ASKING someone to. It's nasty. Not for me. I can't even imagine anybody who it's designed for. A metalhead maybe who likes noses and nasaly sounds coming from his ESP Explorer-style black monolith with dragon graphic. I'm giving it a 2 cause it's cheap, and Dano tried.

2 knobs and a button, doy. You need a child's fingers to turn the knobs though; they be tiny.

If this is the only distortion pedal you use, then you are going to cry. This thing's for flavor, not anyone's primary sound (I hope).

"The sound is pretty much a fixed-position wah over a solid-state saturated distortion", somebody wrote. Yeah, what he said. It basically takes a real spazzy nasty squeal and squelches it to where you want it, so long as it's between here and there.

Here's the thing: my rig is basically one guitar running a 3-way split chain to 2 amplifiers. Primary is Big Muff-to-Soda Meiser-to-A/B/Y box, splits from there and runs and MXR DynaComp to a Fender Twin and a simple RAT to an Ampeg 400w Bass Amp w/ 4x12. That's a lot of low-end buzz. The Grilled Cheese runs independently, followed by a Ranger treb. boost, to the Twin. I dial the volume on the Cheese waaay back, with option to boost it back up and brighter with the Ranger. This crazy semi-buried high end wail acts as a counterpoint to all that low-end. Turn on the comp., the sound gets all phased and weird, and the Grilled Cheese jumps out even more. I was never disappointed with the sound this pedal produces, but it took a lot of experimenting to find out how to make it be useful. As someone else mentioned, it could've used a gain control to make it more versatile.

So the anecdote goes: My friend saw mine one day and said 'I have one too, aren't they just great?'. Four months later she saw it again and said 'You still have that piece of junk? Mine broke a long time ago'. I've never been a fan of Danelectro, and of gear made of plastic in general. But this thing's almost entirely plastic, save for it's base plate. Definitely don't get drunk and fall on it. That being said, mine's holding up fine, but it's only 2 or 3 years old.

These things are still a dime-a-dozen. Would I buy another one if it broke? wouldn't I?

This pedal probably isn't for you. BUT...if you have an experimental nature, or just don't want to sound like everybody else, you might try one out. I don't know about '60's tone though, the only thing '60's this reminds me of are the plastic plates at my grandma's house.
The thing is, out of all the gear I use, this is the one pedal that makes my get-up sound like nobdy else's. And that's worth something.

This pedal is quite easy to use. Two knobs and an on off switch. It is not easy to find good tones with this thing though. In fact, I have concluded that it is impossible.

This is by far the most terrible sounding distortion I have ever heard in my life. From what I understand, it's supposed to give "that cheesy 60's tone". They've got the cheesy part right at least. Cheesy is actually a great word to describe the sound of this pedal. It is VERY nasaly. It sounds like a wah pedal with a bunch of nasty distortion added. In fact, the Resonance knob is essentially a wah in a knob. The Resonance pot is almost exactly like a pot in a wah. If you move it while your playing, it sounds just like a wah with distortion. What a horrible concept! The product description is right, it sounds hollow and tunnely. VERY thin and TONELESS. I use a Barber Direct Drive for my distortion and it sounds like God. Very organic and thick and FULL of tone. Of course, it's totally handmade in the USA out of the best components. Certaintly, the Barber is out of the Danelectro's league, but even in the $30-$50 price range, there are better pedals (ex., Boss DS-1, Boss Overdrives, probably even any DOD, actually, anything else), otherwise I wouldn't be so hard on the Dano. So, summing up the sound quality: BAD BAD BAD!! Also, it sucks your tone. It kills your signal in the chain (my Barber is true bypass and does not have any effect on the signal when it is bypassed. True bypass is always better; go with it anytime you can).

This is a really cheap pedal. Plastic knobs, plastic casing. This pedal will break, I promise you. One of the knobs broke off of another Danelectro mini pedal I have. Neither of these have stopped working, but that's because I never touch them. They sound terrible. But anyone who looks at this thing or messes with can tell that it's a matter of time before it dies.

Never contacted them, don't really want to waste my time. But from what I can tell, they are a fairly shady company and obviously (from my experience with their products) don't care about their customers, as they sell undeniably low quality products. If a company doesn't feel bad when customers by their cheap stuff that is sure to break, why would they care if they have a problem (and they will)? If they really cared, they could have at least ATTEMPTED to put some sort of quality element into this pedal.

This is a really junky pedal. Please, don't buy it. You and anyone whi hears you play will be greatful. Fork out at least another 10 bucks (I paid $40 when it first came out, but they are only $30 now) for a Boss DS-1. If you're serious, I'd look into paying at least $100 for a nice boutique pedal (like a Barber Direct Drive). Let's face it, boutique is where the tone is at, as well as the quality and customer service. I can understand how sometimes people who go on about their really expensive boutique pedals can get annoying, but they really do sound good and are built very well. They are frequently worth the money and there are plenty of logical reasons as to why they are superior to consumer Boss, Digitech, DOD, etc. pedals. Better components/design and better construction methods = better sound and better quality - it makes sense. So knowing this, don't buy this pedal and get something better. Maybe not boutique, but better. I would honestly say anything is better than this.

Easy to use, no manual or anything needed.

I just borrowed this from my friend.

Now, I am really confused by other people's reviews. The resonance control acts almost like the tone pot on a wah.

This thing sounds like I plugged in a crybaby and a cheap distortion in series, and left the wah on a single setting.

It isn't desirable crappiness like fender blender where the insanity is what you want. It is just crap. Not good for any style of music.

I think you can depend on dano pedals.

The only reason for using this distortion is because you don't have anything else. Get a behringer VD-1 distortion, they are a similar price and sound a heck of a lot better. Or you could get a dano fab distortion or overdrive. Just don't get this.

easy as making a grilled cheese sandwich, switch is a bit hard to find with a pair of size 15 shoes but other than that, E-Z

first i plugged this in to my SG copy into a clean 120watt combo, i love it, great for harmonics in the style of pantera. I want to convert one into a wah casing and use the wah pedal for the resonance control, could get interesting, i love effects like this, the distortion is good for the music i play (grunge/metal) not for a main distortion though

i would use this to gig without a back up, plastic but still tough as balls

i have so far only tried this pedal with my drummer not with my band, it think it would fit in very well, this was my 3rd distortion pedal after my rocktek metal worker, and behringer tube OD, as you might tell i cant afford much, i woul ddefinately replace it if lost or stolen, it is fun to use while playing with one hand and adjusting the resonance control with the picking hand, plus at 80% off the original price i doubt you can go wrong

level and resonance, its that simple. Instant sound no matter the setting and only a tiny amount of fiddling required to find your tone.

using this before a nobles chorus and cry baby wah. Peavy Raptor plus guitar and FENDER princeton Chorus amp.

little bit noisy but it is expected isn't it. With resonance set as far back as possible some really expansive and unique sounds will result. I see this pedal as something a little different, not the effect to use all the time but throw it in to give your solo or special riff a point of difference.

looks cool but is in a plastic case, if you got carried away with your playing its all over rover. I've never had problems myself but can see the potential. would gig without a backup as this is not the mainstay of my sound.

Will likely become a collectors item on 10 years if it manages to stay in tact.

never used

I play mostly funk, ska, and punk with a twist of reggae. This pedal, while not in the same leauge as big brand (and big dollar) dist. pedals it does offer its own unique sound. Try one and if it fits your style buy it. you wont look back, if it doesnt fit your style leave it, just leave it. Ive played for 10 years and in that time the most important thing ive learnt in guitar playing is that every part of your setup needs to reflect your personality and music.
love the resonance feature, wish it had effect level as well as volume level though.

totally easy to use

the thing is,right,you do have to play these things first,and any guitar shop owner worth his salt will let you do this.i had a choice between this and the T-Bone and i chose this.It's both the best and worst pedal i've ever heard.It wont give you Steve Vai,man,but it will give you Joey Santiago,Thurston Moore,Kurt Cobain,Guy Picciotto,alongside its more retro benefits.

i trust it.

nah.

i play a mixture beween total sonic noise (jesus and mary chain,sonic youth,fugazi) jazz (miles davis,john mclaughlin) and pop music (the beatles,the kinks) and i use it as my main disto.i love shitty pedals,my bassist plays through a rocktek for christ's sake. i run it through assloads of reverb and it gets everything i need. the thing is,this pedal isnt high on gain or whatever,its totally responsive to how you play,you'll be pretty surprised if you just ease off the attack how much it alters the sound. i'd say it's a noisenik's pedal as much as a retro distortion.

Easy as falling off a log. No instructions needed.

'Quality' isn't really in this pedals dictionary. Distiotion past 1 o'clock brings the noise floor up to the roof, so a noise gate would be a good mate for this one.

Plastic construction seems a bit arse, but it would probably live through gigging with a bit of T.L.C. I actually plugged in two power supplies of the wrong rating (1 amp and one with the wrong polarity) and it survived.

N/A

I make industrial dance/electronica sort of stuff, and have a studio consisting of a few synths, sampler etc. I was looking for real cheap distortion with some kind of tone control to dirty up my Juno 106 keyboard independantly from the other gear, and this little cheesebox fits the bill. I can choose what frequencies I want to stand out so it fits in the mix better while still getting that biting distortion. It was exactly what I was looking for.
Only problem is the knobs are pretty small and there are no markings around them, and they aren't as heavy as I would like (but they still are heavier than thay look).

Since the sound of this pedal is so distinctive, you can really do whatever you want with the level and resonance knobs.

I play a standard MexiStrat through a 65 watt Peavey Classic VTX & a homemade 2x12 cabinet. "Pristine sound quality" does not exactly capture this pedal's sound. The Grilled Cheese is loud, extremely rude and obnoxious distortion. It is perfect for howling, screaming, nasty, dirty, undisciplined, balls to the wall solo work, a la live Link Wray. Great sustain and feedback. It'll shake the teeth out of your head, so use it sparingly. If you don't like the sound, it's because you don't like the sound. It's not the pedal's fault. It is what it is. As for me, I love this little yellow monster!

I have had no problems with any of my Dano minis. I treat them with respect and they respond in kind.

n/a

I like a rude, dirty, cutting sound. I love the fearless attack of players like Link Wray, Hendrix, John Lennon, Buddy Holly, etc. While my primary sound is loud tube overdrive, alternating between a TS7 Tubescreamer and a Dano Pastrami, the screeching, squawking bone-rattling Grilled Cheese is a great little sonic bomb to throw on occasion.