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.

Two knobs, level and resonance.

This is definitely the most fascinating pedal i ever tried. When i first played it at the music shop i thought it was the most horrible thing ever created and i had to fake a smile when my cousin gave it to me for my birthday. But fooling around with it i didn't just starte appreciating it but actually loving it! The resonance can give a quite unique distortion if you find a setting that fits, plus it can do something cool if used cleverly. I still get asked by many hearing my band's demo what's that fucked up leslie sound i get on one solo, that the grilled cheese with my bassist fucking around with the resonance while i play. SWEET!

Too much plastic, i would keep it away from any heavy stomping feet

never dealt with em

Well if you look for a distortion with a cool gimmick, that's it. For anything else look elsewhere. But in the end it's so cheap that you could get it for fun (Plus it's so odd that many people return them cause they can't figure it out and you can get it super cheap used)

Very easy, just 2 knobs. The level knob acts as a volume and you have to use guitar's volume as a gain. Other than that, pretty simple.

I'm using a Fender Fat Strat with a Princeton 65 amp. This pedal creates very little "noise" in that there are no irregularities. Of course, when switched on, that's all it is, and oh, what a beautiful bit of deliciously irritating static it is! This is a great pedal to experiment with, and the sound you get can vary from a mild texture to a full out scream. It also increases sustain. Fun to play with; a good vintage tone. If you're looking for a sound near to the Satisfation riff or any of Clarence White's far out work on The Byrds 1969 LP, Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde, this is the way to go. Fantastic!

Plastic, breakable, but I take good care. Haven't really put it to the test yet.

no idea

I tend to lean towards the 60s rock style, also country and folk rock. This is a great vintage style distortion that you either get or you don't. It doesn't work everywhere, but you'd be surprised at where it can work nicely. Overall, a great value for the price (long live ebay) I think Danelectro has a great variety of vintage style gear; just getting into it, really. It's not so much trying to sound like something that's already been done, but that a lot of those sweet tones of yesterday have vanashed, and it's refreshing to hear.

Ease of use for a two-knob, single-button stompbox is almost implicit. But if this topic were questioning how easy the Grilled Cheese is to use musically, that's a whole 'nother story. Right up front, folks ? this is a one-trick pony, relevant only to those who already have their signature distortion sound and want a brash, what-the-hell-is-that alternative to break things up a bit. Upon first hearing this pedal my initial thought was: here is a sound that could only work for the kind of sparse guitar parts you hear in techno and white-boy hip-hop (like Beck or Pop Will Eat Itself). And definitely only for recordings, not performance. It actually has a bit more breadth than that, though it will take some time experimenting as you try to figure out how to place it in a song.

As noted by many other reviewers, the sound is pretty much a fixed-position wah over a solid-state saturated distortion. The Resonance knob determines the range of the enhanced or notch-filtered frequencies. The 12:00 position or nearabouts can give a fairly sane-sounding distortion, allowing for an equal range of more extreme tones that tend toward more dull or more shrill. There's no knob to alter the Gain ? you'll have to use your guitar's volume, but altering its gain wouldn't be necessary for just a quick riff or a lead, which is how this sound works best. Given the relatively low self-noise, and a variable output level that can easily match or boost the unaffected signal, I'd say the quality of sound is excellent, obviously taking into account that it's supposed to sound snotty. Those that think of this as a specialty pedal, and don't try to make it a core component of their sound, are going to be much happier with the cacophony it creates.

Don't get me wrong ? I love these little Dano pedals, and most of them sound good enough to deserve careful handling. But I'll always be skeptical of their funky footswitch, the tiny knobs and plastic In/Out jacks. For me, these minis will just be stay-at-home gear ? for live playing I'll stick with Boss, MXR and other types of stompboxes that are designed to stand a bit of accidental abuse. Ironically, these minis will command more value in the years to come if they DON'T hold up well to a bit of kicking around.

Others' experiences with customer support indicates a mixed bag. In general, Danelectro seems to just replace any pedal deemed to be defective, no questions asked - that's a good sign. Personally, I have not had the pleasure, and I hope I never do.

When I first saw the composite Sound Quality score of 7 here for this pedal, I figured it must be cheap-sounding and pretty much unusable. In contrast, once I got to try one I realized that here was a distortion pedal designed to sound quite unique with no apologies. It's kind of like having a spice on hand that you wouldn't want to use every time you cook, only when you want a really different flavor. I suppose the GC might be hard to control in a live situation but it's just the ticket when recording a series of songs where you don't want all guitar parts to have exactly the same "perfect" distortion. Think about it ? many memorable classic guitar parts really stand out because they were recorded with a purposely imperfect tone. The Grilled Cheese doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, a specialty distortion. If your main sound is still a work-in-progress, I don't think the GC will be much help to you. It's a steaming heap of fun only when you're ready for something different, and then the dirt-floor price makes it a no-regrets decision.

You must be in serious mental trouble if you can not operate this pedal!

This thing sounds AMAZING ! Yes absolutely amazing and EXACTLY as it is advertised! You must be crazy if you buy this pedal for a full,fat and warm overdrive sound.This pedal sounds horrible and cheezy but in a GREAT way.LOADS of personality and cheeze tone.LOADS of output too.
SOME PEOPLE NEVER SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME PEDALS ARE MADE FOR SPECIAL EFFECTS,not NICE but SPECIAL like this one.
But than again SOME PEOPLE......

I've had two other mini pedals in my heavily toured pedalboard for 2 years now and they still operate with ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS.Yes they are plastic but they have metal bottoms and are built VERY well.
Just don't crash on the whole pedal wearing vermaht boots with steel soles you baboon!!

If you want to cover a very hard to reach distortion tone zone buy this pedal.You will love it.
If you want a vintage ,warm sounding pedal buy another one and stop whinning!!

Two simple knobs. If you can't use this then...ahem, um...yeah.

blah. I tried this out in a music store once and to tell you the truth it was the worst sounding distortion I have EVER heard. It's so bad that it hurt my ears. I had to turn the damn thing off...it was making a bit of noise in the pedal chain too. It seems to "squawk" rather than growl. It sounds like a chicken on a short-circuted PA with an injured wing or something.. I gave it a second chance though, just to make sure. I gave the pedal a rest and tried out some others...and I happened to like some of the other dano pedals. When I turned this one on again, I had to ask the store for some asprin, because one of their pedals had given me a migraine.

well, actually I think dano pedals are cute. they're so small...I can't believe how reliable some of them are though. As long as you don't STOMP on the things, I'm sure they'll be okay, but they make you feel uncomfortable nonetheless.

don't own one, so I don't know.

like I said, some dano pedals are great, but some...like this certain one, just aren't worth buying. If you're looking for distortion, go with something from Boss or get any other pedal. This thing is horrid in my opinion. If you want danelectro distortion, the T-Bone is slightly better, but almost anything is better than this box.

Level and Resonance are the knobs on there, easy to use like any Danelectro Mini Pedal

I use this on my JB Player Les Paul copy with a crate GX 15. With a noise supressor you won't have to worry about noise. All my high gains leave a hum with the amp. I can play alot of kewl tunes with this pedal. It's great. Mix it with Chili Dog Octave and it's a killer 60's retro sound.

Everything Dano holds up for me, nuff said.

I would have given a 10 if it were cheaper by a few bucks, I've been playing goin on 2 years now. I love the sound it gives. Put Resonance on 1 o'clock. Dano stuff is simple to use. I love it. It helps me make music easily since I can do harmonics easier.

Easy -- two pots, a switch. In and out jacks
are clearly marked, and are mounted at the front
of the unit. The resonance control determines
the frequency range being emphasized.
Changing the battery requires removal of the unit's
bottom, so I need to dock it 1 point.

I use Strats and Fender tube amps, usually with nothing between
them except for a cord. I dabble in overdrives and fuzzes.

My impression of the aptly named Grilled Cheese?

Yeeek! I was expecting something a little bit more
straightforward. Admittedly, I hadn't read much about the
pedal's design philosophy -- the catalog blurbs just call it
"classic '60's fuzz" or something, which to me suggests, say,
a Fuzz Face. Not even close. It's actually the single-pedal equivalent
of a fuzz running into a Wah set to a particular frequency (hence the "resonance" control.) The fuzz itself most resembles a DOD FX55
distortion -- one of the nastiest, cruddiest pedals ever built.
If I'd known that, I wouldn't have bought it -- my distortion
needs are limited, and this one doesn't make much sense for me.
It does what it was designed to do, though (very in-your-face,
nasty, cheap-ass fuzzcrud through a frequency filter) so my
bad for not having understood that. It's also noisy, though
you're unlikely to be able to pick out the noise from the
by-design caterwaul of this little yellow monstrosity.
So the long and short of it is that, as for usefulness to
me personally, it's a zero. For meeting its design philosophy,
I'll give it a seven. Its design philosophy is not, however,
very well explained in the product's promotional blurb. I only
spent twelve bucks on the thing, so I'm not crying. And if
you're looking for what it does, then the price is sure right.
Just be prepared -- it ain't no sonic beauty queen.

It looks pretty, ahem, cheesy. I'll have mine forever (my stuff
stays home, and this won't get used much anyway) but as far
as road-readiness? No way. Let's face it -- it's a $20 pedal
brand new, and is built by slaves from correspondingly cruddy
parts.
It is not, in other words, an heirloom...

Hee hee.

I was looking for something more straightforward, and
just hadn't done my homework (tho the product lit was not
very helpful.)
If you're into really trashy-sounding fuzz, then you may like
it. Mine simply adds a splash of color to the room.

Pretty easy to use. Basically, this pedal imitates a fixed-position wah with distortion. The level knob is just what it says. The resonance knob is basically the position of the wah. I give this a 9 because the level always seems to be obnoxiously high and because of the high tones, it's hard to get a sound out of it that will be pleasing to the ear.

Like I said above, this is a very loud pedal. The level seems to be obnoxious. There is a tremendous boost to any signal that goes into it. Other that the loudness, it's a pretty neat sounding pedal that imitates a fixed-position wah. For many people, this isn't a very useful sound, but those who do the 60's retro-rock, classic/psychedelic/experimental stuff, it's right on.

Anyway, I play a mexican made Fender Strat through it, into a Peavey KB60 Keyboard amp or a Vox Pathfinder. I've only used it a couple times, but felt the need to experiment with different combinations. All were loud. I also used it with a Dano Pepperoni Phaser, Dano Surf & Turf Compressor, Dano Fish & Chips EQ, an Akai Intelliphase, and a Vox wah. All were loud. On higher notes, there was almost always a nasty, high-pitched feedback. Not good if you're just practicing and not gigging.

In the end, I've decided that if I want the fixed wah sound, I'll just use one of my other distortion pedals (Dano Pastrami Overdrive, Big Muff, Rat2, Dano FabTone) through the Vox Wah. I'm currently selling the Grilled Cheese on eBay.

Never gigged with these, but the plastic is pretty thick. If you take care of it, it shouldn't break. I don't know too many stories of these breaking.

I e-mailed them once about something relatively unimportant and never heard back from them. Never dealt with them otherwise. I'll just withhold my opinion here.

Basically, I summed everything up about in the Sound Quality section. I'll review:
*loud
*fixed-position wah sound
*works for 60's/retro/classic/psychedelic/progressive rock
*I'd rather use another distortion through an actual wah and do things manually. Guess I just prefer a long string of analog effects to something that tries to do shortcuts.
*Don't try to eat it...it'll break your teeth.
*You can't steal mine, but if you want to bid for it on eBay, it'll be there until 4/20/02.
*I wish it had less volume.
*I wish it could grant wishes.
*I wish it was an MXR Flanger...okay maybe not.

In summation: not the worst, not the best, could be better.

How freakin hard can it be... level, resonance, and a big button right in the middle... it's not neuro surgery...

This was my first pedal, and i still could tell it sucked ass... it hums really freakin loud in my fav. pickup settings (i.e. bridge), i could get the sound of my favorite band if my favorite band was Captain Schlorb and the Mighty Defenders of Justice, otherwise, no such luck. Overall the sound sucked.

You can't really depend on it, i don't think... mine gave out for no reason at all, then came back one day. it's a little plastic p.o.s. what do u expect.

Never dealt with 'em, no upgrade/repair or anything

While this piece of shit is easy to use, it sounds like it was built by retarded monkees and sent to the U.S. for people to buy and get pissed that they ever wasted money on such a little travesty of sound.

takes about 2 seconds to figure out

you either get quiet or loud, and both sound like crap

this thing lokks like it'll fall apart any second. One drop and boom! Play live? yea right.

never dealt with them

i was thinking this would be just a cheap little pedal to fool around with. It's cheap, but you can't fool around cuz there's nothing to fool around with

Too simple to use.

I read a whole bunch of reviews on this little beastie, and I honestly don't know what the heck anyone's talking about. Anyway, I tried this little pedal with a Les Paul and a Strat, both through a Mesa Rectoverb and an old Silvertone 5-watt tube amp. In any configuration, it yielded what I consider to be many variations on 80's metal. There is NO muddines in the distortion, and there is clearly a midrange peak that sounds like a wah pedal. The "Resonance" control adjusts the vowel of the wah. Excellent for palm-muting stuff. Played through my little Silvertone amp, it sounded great. Played through my Mesa's clean channel, it had one hell of a kickin' sound, because the Mesa allows for more low-end. Damn it's fun to play with!

I think they'd be very reliable if you took care of them and didn't drop them. Not tough like Boss, so minus a few points here for the plastic, but still pretty good

N/A

I really only bought this pedal to play through my little Silvertone amp. I just ditched a new Boss MT-2 Metal Zone the other day becaise I hated it. It too had a similar "wah in the middle postion" sound to it, but NO character. I like this little alot pedal better. Is the 'wah' sound overbearing? Yes. Is this pedal a 'one-trick pony'? Yes, except for the adjustable 'Resonance'. Will it make smokin' 80's metal riffs pour out of any amp? Yes- infact that's all it does. If some fat bastard stepped on it and crushed it, would I buy another? Yes. Not for professional use, but a hell of a lot of fun! P.S. The distortion is adjustable via your guitar's volume knob.

This pedal is very easy to use, and easy to get the sound you know you want from it. (raunchy 60's fuzz!) with just 2 knobs to control it, you can't really go wrong.

I've seen reviews of this pedal that miss the point entirely. For what the Grilled Cheese pedal is supposed to do, it does it WELL. Like I said, it's raunchy, ugly fuzz. Very 60's garage/psychadelic sounding. On my amp (solid state) it nailed the lead riff to Satisfaction. Nice!

It's a little bit flimsy . It's not a metal covered tank. Simple plastic covering, that will treat you well if you don't abuse it. I'm careful with my stuff, so this pedal will last a while.

Never had to deal with Danelectro.

I play in a psychadelic, new wave type band. For an awesome 60's fuzz sound, this pedal nails all of that. Also, just hearing the kind of sound the pedal makes is really fun in itself.

Plug yer guitar into one hole and the amp into another, twiddle a few knobs and there you are. It's about as easy as they get.

I did not like it. It wasn't what I expected. It sounds a like a distortion pedal played thru a fixed WAH. Think of the solo on Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh. That's the sound. I guess I wanted that Cream or American Woman kind of sound. I did buy it unheard over the net. I sold it for what I paid for it on eBay.

If this is the sound you want, it DID have a quality sound. I just did not want or ness. like it. I did get a T-Bone to replace it and LOVE it.

It ought to be OK as long as you don't drop on a hard surface. It has a heavy plastic shell with a steel base. Treat it with the respect any musical device or instrument deserves and it sould last forever.

I wouldn't even bother for the price I paid. The web site at Dano is slick but spartan. I get the best support right here at HC in these blessed reviews.

Style of Music: Blues/Folk/Roots/Alt.Country/Old Timey.
Playing for 32 yrs, sounds like 2.
I sold it after 2 months.
Sounds like a fixed wah.

It is really easy to learn how to use it as it only has 2 knobs (level and resonance). The resonance knob is function is a little bit weird, but once you understand what it does, you can get a really cool sound.

I am using it with my American Standard Strat, and it's followed by my Zoom GFX-707 and a Boss FV-50L volume pedal all run to a Crate GX-30 amp. With the resonance knob set around the leftmost point it can get a little noisy, but not too much. I like using it with the resonance knob around the middle, a little turned to the right.

Although it has a plastic cover, the plastic seems to be durable, so I think It is reliable for a gig. I would use it in a gig without a backup, but I would be more confident with one.

Never needed them, but the fact that it came with one of their batteries was a good detail.

I play a lot of Satriani like stuff. I use it with a wah and a compressor (both in the ZOOM), and it works fine, but I'm thinking seriously of changing it for another pedal.

If it was lost, I maybe would replace it, but I'd rather buy a better one.

I love the high ended distortion it gives me, but I hate that I don't have much control of the distortion. I wish it had a knob to control the level of distortion.

I compared it to a friend's Ibanez Mostortion. I liked the Mostortion a lot more.

I think now it gets in the way for me to make music, because of the lack of distortion control, though it's good to make experiments.

Super easy, u'd have to be a dumb ass not to know how to use it

superb quality, but no for you if u are looking for some seriously heavy distortion. It's great for putting an edge on light rock

Bit small, looks as if it could break easy, but it hasn't for me yet

Never needed any

Needed one, got one, it was perfect, i recommend it for all types of decent rock.

guess

I am from the 60s. I used to have a real fuzz box. They sound like crap. This sounds good in comparison. It was way better than expected. My expectations were so low it would have been hard not to exceed them. I figured it would not be useable, basically just a novelty sound as one other totally irate reviewer has already said.

don't even think about it. Read my comments in the Rocky Road reviews.

I have 18 effects pedals. This ranks in the top half in terms of plain old fun. Remember, you're not going to get a Steve Vai tone. This is for the age of aquarius stuff.

any idiot can get a sound out of one, there are two knobs that you twiddle. the problem comes when trying to find a 'good' sound. there is no manual, but you dont need one....

I used this pedal with a epiphone g-310 (sg shaped doodah) into a fender blues deville. this thing sounds dire! '60s distortion it says... its horrible. I play everything from 60's surf to '90s grunge. this pedal is good for nothing, except maybe a novelty noise every now and then.

it is made of flimsy plastic, with crappy little plastic knobs sticking out of it. it is tiny too, which doesn't help... my big size 12 shoes are in constant danger of breaking something. and it is too small!! tiny box, with a tiny button!!

never had any reason to deal with them

I hadn't been playing for long when I bought this thing, and the only reason I did was to get distortion from my crate practice amp without finding the tiny little button on the front. I will never again buy a product from a mail order catalogue without listening to it just because it is cheap. I really tried to like this pedal. I defended it when my friends mocked it. I plugged it into a Gibson SG, a squire strat and a fender tele, and into a multitude of different amps, including my Blues DeVille and a 100w marshall stack. I have all sorts of music trough it. and it has repayed me with novelty crap. it has nothing going for it. I eventually managed to sell this thing on ebay for about 20 squids. I was glad to see the back of it.

Migrain in a box?Tonal buzzsaw?This Jondus-colored pedal is the shit.Hats off to Danelectrofor it's 2 finest distortions-this and the frenchtoast.Resonance all the way down and tone knob rolled down is superb.Res. at max is great toowith its sinus-y,feedbacking underbelly.The only recognizable sound I can get is the riff to"Satisfaction".That's actually a good thing though.This is a unique pedal.Even those who like it might tell you to use sparingly.I say use it has often as you want.Using it as yr main distortion would be a very ballsy move.This ain't gonna go over well with the metal community nor with tonal puritans but suited for noise architecture and tone texture fiends like me.Yes definitely an aquired tastelike the MXR Bluebox or the DOD Gonkulator.Use this with a smallstone to avoid its usual tone-vampirism-perfect for each other.

I play lush,pretty stratospheric music-no good for that-wait sure it isyou can actually get a nice overdriven sound with it by toning down the level to taste.I also play noisy fuzzladen cathartic shit-perfect for that.Play synthy weirdo kookoo shit with envelope filters,octaves and such again,you may want to consider toning it down to keep the filter from sounding like a cat's tail under a rocking chair or maybe not.This thing perfectly suits my style/s.I've been playing guitar since I got my first chemistry set on my 9th birthday.Today's my birthday and I'm 24.I've always been a little off-kilter in my approach and would take my testtubes from my chemistry set and slide em up and down the neck of my guitar.Enough with the bio this thing is a perfect match for me.

only 2 controls - volume output and a resonance control (probably a notch filter)

I usually play a Gibson SG Standard into this pedal using a small Peavey Envoy amp. The sound is VERY biting, hard-edged, razor-sharp and almost turns the air into "swiss cheese". However, unlike what other reviewers have said, the sound is not like that rotten 1960's transistor distortion. Oh this is edgy, and very much on the "trebly" side but not what I would call tinny. If you listen to the Yarbirds' "Shapes of Things to Come" or "Over Under Sideways Down", THAT'S the kind of sound it pushes out. One great advantage of this peadal is that you can get some serious distortion and sustain at very low volume levels. This is great if you are practicing in your apartment and don't want your landlord evicting you for disturbing the peace. For those who say they wouldn't use it all the time I agree. Some effects are like that. Would you want to use a Wah-Wah pedal for every song? This is the kind of effect you would use for a wild solo such as the Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction" (but as stated before - not as tinny). Definitely a pedal for the garage band sound.

It's still working.

N/A

My musical style - "garage band", classic rock and hard rock and I've been playing guitar for decades now. The only word of caution for those of you thinking about buying one - this effect REALLY stands out, and should therefore be used sparingly. Good value for the money.

This is VERY easy to use, with only 2 knobs, you'd have to be Very stupid if u dont know how to use it. There is the Level knob (volume) and the resonance knob(tone)
if you have the resonance to the left, you get a very tinny sound, and if you have the resonance all the way to the right, you get a very muffeld sound that sounds like its coming out of the back of your amp. there is no manual for this pedal, but i dont think you need one

It sounds great! if you like to play punk rock, I would recomend this pedal! I'm not sure what it sounds like for 60's stuff though
I play with a Fender Squier P-Bass,with a scronnie BP-15 amp and i play alot of cliff burton/old metallica stuff, with a wah pedal which sounds great with this pedal. It sounds wierd when you play along with a different band, but, whatever

i guess it depends how you want your distortion to sound

Its not a stomp box, so i would recoment stomping on it and its made out of plastic, and i havent broken it, so i guess its pretty good plastic
i play with it live and i've never had any problems, but i would go with a backup, just in case

Nothing to say about this

Its great!!!! i love to play nirvana stuff with it and if my grilled cheese was stolen, i would cry, then buy a new one!! Its way better then the DOD distortion have, it sounds better
i love the sound from my grilled cheese, its a total chick magnet!! but, i hate, well....nothin! I would have to say this is the best pedal! atleast for me!!!

3 knobs, level, distortion, resonance,,,,tweak it to your liking

for all you people who say its thing, and whinny and sounds like someones talking outta their nose..... thats the point of this distortion... it gives you that '60s style "cheesy" distortion, that thin high end, distortion, hence the name "grilled cheese distortio"

its plastic, but its been holding up... probly would have a back up... knowing how i play i would...but still, plastic? not very reliable unless you "touch" it to turn it on not "stomp" it like stompboxes should be

never dealt with any thing here.....

its a good distortion if your into that '60's era high end fuzzy distortion..... but other then that, thats all its good for.... i play bass, and i've found better pedals than this..... i sold it to my guitarist and he uses it with an overdrive pedal, which sounds thicker and heavier with the bottom end of the overdrive.... so yea, '60s and 70s era distortion = great, metal, punk etc = crap not even worht trying......

Very easy to use, you got the level of distortion and the resonance.

I'm a little confused as to how this pedal is supposed to sound. Live, it can't be an asset. It gives out a high pitched whinny, nasally distortion, it seems to just drop the bass altogether. I can see where it can add some variety and be kinda fun in the studio. It might sound pretty good paired with a flanger.

It seems as sturdy and reliable as any other dan pedal that I've used. Pretty tough equipement.

n/a

Fun to mess around with, but I could never take one of these pedals seriously. It might be a neat toy in the studio for added effects.

Two knobs, one for level, one that changes the tone.

Cort Str@ through a Fender Champ. The sound is kind of nasal, not good for rhythm at all, but it makes a pretty good lead shriek at some settings.

The best sound I found was to run a Boss flanger into at at high speed, medium depth. It makes a bizarre science fiction kind of warble that is weirdly attractive, like a martian bird call.

The nasal sound tends to grow on you after a while. There's no bass whatsoever, even at its deepest setting, but it does cut through the clutter.

Punk-n-blues, it doesn't really fit with my style, but it's still fun to fool around with. I don't play lead very much, but since it doesn't really make a good rhythm sound, I end up noodling more when I kick it.

set for an idiot

if you want a very tinny...fuzzy sound...this is your pedal ..not for the hard rock 90s...good for playing nirvana and bush type rock

one of my other pedals (not this one) started to click when i steped on it...just be careful

good

The button is too small and i keep on missing

it can be made goo d when i use it with other effects like a flanger or phazer but on its own its very tinny

good solid build

ive never needed to get it repaired

its not a very good effect for heavy deep rock but for late 90s punk or 50s music it would sound good.

I use this Danelectro Grilled Cheese distortion pedal with a fender hot rod deluxe amp. ax's are fender strat & Tele.I get a wide range of sound,as far as noise,I just fnd a quiet spot to stand. This peddle in my opinion really puts out well for a cheep price,easy to use,I can go from a mellow sound to a crunch to jimi hendrix dist.

Easy of course.

Not for me. An ugly hollow notched distortion for use as a novely only a novelty I can do without

Ok you knows?

likewise

Ok for turning a few heads, but anybody who played thru this all night
would be nuts.

2 Knobs. One for volume and a resoance knob to change the sound. Extremely simple.

I play this on a Silvertone guitar using a plain old amp and It rocks.
With the res. knob all the way to the left you get a real shrill, tinny distortion that makes your ears bleed and all the way to the right gives you a warmer, more muffled fuzzy sound. With the knob in the middle somewhere you get a a tone somewhere between the two mentioned above along with a high-pitch feedback underneath the sound (at least on my amp anyways).

I haven't had it that long but it seems ok. It is made of plastic but it's not "cheap plastic", it feels more like heavy duty plastic.

n/a

I play lots of surf, and some rockabilly, punk, Noise-Pop and garage. This pedal can definately be adapted to all of these styles. The garage sound is a given, and if you're into Man or Astro-Man type surf you can put an echo on this and you'll be rolling. I tried hooking this up with a Boss Ds1 and you get LOTS of feedback and shrieks a la Henry's Dress. If you're into any of those styles I'd definately go to your local shop and at least give this a try.

it's about as easy as you can get to be honest. just a volume knob which adjusts the volume (bet you wouldn't have guessed that without an explanation), and one called resonance. the resonance is a bit funny, it's like the tone control but it's weird. it seems to control the sound as if it was a distortion pedal and a fixed position wah, and the resonance alters the 'position' that the wah pedal is in.

i use it with my sg and my valvestate amp, and i run it along with 10 other pedals. it goes like this:
guitar>electro harmonix bass microsynth>cry baby>marshall jackhammer>GRILLED CHEESE>korg toneworks 411fx>boss dm3 analogue delay>marshall vibratrem>danelectro cool cat>dod vibrothang>dod stero flanger>electro harmonix small stone>amp.
the pedal by itself has very little background noise unless the resonance is turn fully to the left, but if in use with another distortion or overdrive pedal it can get pretty squeely between notes. but that's just cos of the amount of gain i suppose. the sounds it makes are very unique and i don't think it could ever be used as a straight ahead disortion or overdrive pedal. for a start the gain isn't adjustable, it's pretty high gain and you can't alter that. but also, it's very lo fi sounding....which i happen to like, but i'm sure certain people would hate it for this too. i wouldn't be supprised if ace from skunk anansie uses one by now. i can get perfect replica's of the intro sound to 'lakini's juice' by LIVE, the really tinny trebbly part half way through 'born of a broken man' by rage against the machine, and if you use it with the jackhammer and the small stone you can get a perfect sound like the solo to 'mayonaise' by smashing pumpkins. it's definitley not for everyone, and it is limited in it's application, but uses sparingly i think it would be excellent in a full band situation just to change the texture of your sound every now and again. also, i forgot, it sounds just exactly like the intro riff to 'leech' by limp bizkit. if you know these songs you will surely understand what it sounds like. i think blues guys will hate it, but anyone willing to be a bit different with their sound will put it to good use. my rating for this section is in my opinion, but i think it would get a 1 from jazz or blues players or anyone 'traditional'.

well it's plastic so i wouldnt exactly throw it about, but mine's on my pedalboard already so i dont see me having any problems with it. it does seems pretty rugged considering it's only plastic. although i've had it only one day, so i can't really judge this at all.

never dealt with them, but i've read that they're good.

i play loads of different styles of music, but in all honesty i think this would only work in a rock band. i have been playing about 5 years and recently i have become a pedal junkie.....and i must say i like it for it's originality. for not much money at all you can get funky weird sounds that most people don't have-providing you actually like the funky weird sounds it makes. i do love the sound. it sounds great to play a heavy riff with it on a really trebbly setting, and then switch to a huge sound from the jackhammer and play the same riff. the contrast in sounds really does sound good cos it goes from small and grainy sounding to big and fat sounding. try it. i do wish it was made in one of the metal boxes like my cool cat though cos it think that thing will long outlast me, and i can't see this one lasting anywhere near as long. i didn't really compare it to any other products because i dont know of any similar ones, there may well be other similar products out there but i have no idea. i plugged into the danelectro showroom pedalboard for a bit of a laugh, not intending to buy anything, and i came away from the shop with this because it sounded new and different. it will definitley help me make music on future, although i will stick to the jackhammer for my main rhythm sound and just use this on certain parts. also on the pedalboard, the others i'd recommend are the tuna melt trem pedal (although i will stick with my vibrothang), and the hash browns flanger. the flanger was fantastic, especially for the money. i am seriously considering trading my dod stereo flanger for the hash browns one because it sounds so much better.

NOTE: I'm re-reviewing this product. Mine was the original review that should be at the bottom of the page. I originally wrote the review after having it a day or two, so I wasn't completely exposed to it.

Eh, I think just about any stomp box is easy to use. It's a bit smaller than my liking, so that deducts a couple points... makes it harder to get the switch w/o stoping on the knobs as well.

On further evaluation of this box, it is not worth buying. In fact, I returned mine a couple weeks after I bought it. Like I said before, the presence of the effect was very subtle. It did boost the gain a whole bunch, so you could get killer feedback... but that was about it's only use. I'd expect a little better from Dano. Hey, save up another $20 and get one of their GOOD, bigger pedals.

no additions

Didn't deal with Dano. I can say though that the salesman at Guitar Center (Booooo) was a pain when I tried to return it. For at least a half an hour, he tried to talk me out of returning it. Then he tried to blame me for it not sounding right. "oh, effect pedals usually don't work right on acoustic/electrics or with practice amps." BULL. I've used plenty of boxes that work fine with both.

Don't buy it, unless you're looking for some PASSIVE effect that sounds alright. I guess it makes that "hollow" sound that it's advertised as.... but you can get better effects for that. The price is tempting, but don't give in.

ITS VERY EASY TO USE.THERE IS A LEVEL OF VOLUME AND RESONAGE-THIS CREATES EITHER A TINNY DISTORTION OR BOLD AND GRUNGY. THE PEDAL BUTTON IS A BIT SMALL THOUGH.

THE SOUND QUALITY IS GREAT! FOR LEAD OR RYTHM ITS KOOL! I USE A STRAT INTO THIS, INTO A DOD FLANGER INTO A PEAVY BANDIT 112 AND IT IS GREAT! THERE IS A SLIGHT HUM THOUGH. YOU CAN GET THE SOUND OF KURT COBAIN THROUGH MY SET UP ON FULL RESONAGE.

IT SEEMS VERY STRONG FOR A PLASTIC PEDAL!!!I WOULD AND HAVE GIGGED WITH IT WITH NO BACKUP.

NOPE?

I PLAY GRUNGE-METAL AND IT WORKS FOR EVERYTHING.IF I LOST IT I WOULD PROBLY BUY ANOTHER. I LIKE THE RESONAGE CONTROL BUT THE SIZE OF THE BUTTON DOES LET IT DOWN...I COMPARED IT TO MANY OTHER PEDALS AND THIS CAME OUT TOP SO I BOUGHT IT! AND SO SHOULD YOU!

Two knobies - one for level (volume), one for resonance (tone - sort of like a moveable filter). Simple!

I owned this pedal for a week and a half before exchanging it and several other dano minis. It is a very cool, original, cheesy, novel sound that does exactly what dano claims it would do - hollow, tunnel-like, boxy 60s fuzz/distortion. If that's what you want, buy it - it's perfect! I like that sound, but I can get a similar sound with a big muff pi and a notched crybaby wah, so I exchanged for the big muff pi because the muff does that and so much more. Cool pedal though - very trashy and raw sounding. I ran my PRS Custom 22 and my cheap strat copy (which is very cool sounding) into the grilled cheese - to my Dr. Z Ghia. The cheese just takes over the sound completely, which is probably what it is intended. Sounded best with single coils - responsive to picking dynamics. I'll give it a "10" for sounding exactly like it should.

Cheap plastic. Don't drop it, stomp it, slam it, sneeze on it. No, sort of kidding here - it seemed okay. You could gig with it because if it went out on you it doesn't matter - it's not a sound you couldn't live without. Cheap...

Dunno.

Not really my deal, but cool, fun, and great for the money. Save your pennies and get a good fuzz (big muff, fuzz face, creamy dreamer, fulltone '69, etc.) and a wah pedal and you can do all this and much more.

Very easy. 2 knobs, level and resonance. Level controls the... umm level? And resonance controls the filter. No manual but you don't need one.

I'm using this with a Strat and a Marshall VS102R amp. Noisy? God yes. When its on its terribly noisy. But thats all part of its charm. Its not really noisy at all when its bypassed. The effect is never weak... its very aggressive. Its is pretty responsive to guitar volume, you can get a pretty cool semi-cruddy tone by lowering the volume on some cheap pickups.

I'd depend on it. The plastic case is actually pretty sturdy. I'd probably use it on a gig without backup.

Never dealt with 'em. Although it came with one of their vintage batteries.

I play in alot of different styles. I bought this pedal hoping it would give me that trashy fuzzed out tone, and it did. Splendidly. I'd really recommend this pedal if your looking for that sort of tone. You can't beat the price either.

The thing has two knowbs and the footswitch. cmon, who the hell needs a manual. just turn the knobs a little and youre where you want to be in no time at all. i dont know if it can use batteries, the one i played at the store had an ac adapter. if it did use batteries, i cant imagine it would eat them up as quickly as the bigger danos, but i dont know.

i tried it with a standard tele and a marshall combo amp (solid state i think). the sound is EXACTLY like what danelectro promotes it to be- hollow "tunnel like" 60's distortion, almost sounds like a fuzz but not quite ferocious enough. as pointed out in previous reviews, this pedal is very original. if you want something different, go out and get one (its also very inexpensive). i didnt purchase it myself, but i plan on it someday, although i think this little one might be more targeted towards teles and other single coil guitars, but i have not tried it on other guitars. The effect itself is very cool, the only problem i have wiht it is that i feel likke i needed a little bit more of the effect than the knobs would allow me. for this reason, i think it might be better as an addition to another dist/od box as opposed to standing alone.

This is probably how danelectro made these things so damned cheap! theyre not pieces of shit, but i wouldnt dare go nuts on one. the bigger dano pedals are, IMO, the toughest sons of bitches on the market today- tougher than boss. but these things are very small and lightweight, made oout of some high-test plactic.

overall is a very cool pedal and i think is more than worth its price. just be aware of the sacrifice in durability.

Very simple. It has two knobs. Level and Resonance. There was no manual, as if you needed one! Simple enough to understand. The resonance knob is the key to your sound.

I am using this with a Strat and a Crate amp. I use a Boss delay pedal, a Big Muff distortion, and a DOD EQ. My amps chorus sounds good with the Dano Grilled Cheese. You get a hollow or "tunnel" effect when the resonance is all the way up. All the way down will give you a rocked forward wah sound, very thin. I love the sound of this thing. It is definately "cheesy". The distortion is somewhat subtle. It is different from any distortion I have ever heard. Go buy it. For $39, you can't go wrong. There is very little noise if any that I noticed. Even when it is not on.

It is made of durable plastic. It isn't a tank like a Boss, but I imagine it could hold its own. Just don't jump up and down on it or drop it from a three story building and you'll be alright. I would most definately gig with it.

I play anything from blues to metal. This thing was not made for metal. It does have that "60's" sound. I could almost say you can get a Rage type sound out of it. But trying something different is supposed to help develop your tone, not someone elses. I have been playing guitar for 8 years. I own a few distorion pedals. This ties as my favorite with the Big Muff. Yet they sound totally different. If it got lost or stolen, I would go get two more. For $39, you can afford to buy two at a time. I am definatley going to check out the other pedals in the Dano mini series.

It's a simple pedal with two adjustment knobs: level and resonance. I can get the desired sound in a few seconds. A manual came with it, but I'm not sure if I'll ever open it.

I use this pedal with several different setups, but mostly with my acoustic/electric or strat on various practice amps. It can get a bit noisey, but no more than one would expect from a distortion pedal. It's a "60's Distortion" effect. Very true. It gives a very hollow mid-range-- and a "tunnel-like" sound, as Dano advertises. With resonance at a maximum, the sound is focused (tunnel sound). The tone sounds almost like that of a wah. Cool stuff-- very 60-ish. The distortion sounds very dry with no resonance.

The effect is fairly subtle by itself. I can hear it being a great compliment to a good overdrive pedal-- I might just have to go out and get one now. The only drawback is it's lack of strength-- it could use a bit of a boost.

Seems reliable. Its case has that 50s look that all Dano pedals have-- as cheesy as its name. Anyways, I think the outer cover is a hard plastic, but everything else is metal. It seems durable although it's significantly smaller than the higher level Danos.

Haven't had to deal w/ 'em.

I play a variety of styles, but usually use this pedal for my more classic rock-esque songs. It fits well. I don't know why they called it "Grilled Cheese", but it definately fits its label of "60s Distortion." I haven't heard another pedal that has the same effect, so its originality is a plus. I haven't listened to very many of the similar vintage distortion pedals, but I'd probably buy it again if it were lost or stolen. Like I said before, I wish it were a little less subtle, but otherwise it's a good pedal for the $$$.