Danelectro DJ-13 French Toast Octave Overdrive

Very easy to use...on/off switch for octave up sound...level, distortion and eq controls as well.

My main reason for submitting a review here: there's an effect called the Ampeg Scrambler which fetches entirely too much money retail or on eBay; probably because it's a cool pedal to have. This $30 pedal produces basically the same sound. Down the neck with octave up on it sounds like trash can lids smashing together (in a good way, of course)..up the neck you can really hear the second ocatve...nice ping to it...with the octave up switch off, it's a nice warm fuzz pedal...as said earlier, controls give you a wide range of tone...but KEEP IN MIND, this is JUST AS GOOD as the Ampeg Scrambler...don't fall into the cool pedal trap.

I would recommend highly one of the hard polymer knob "Protectors" as I've broken the cheap plastic knobs off of one of their pedals before...I don't gig but I probably wouldn't expect this to take much of a beating...that said, it's a $30 pedal so, buy another if need be.

Bottom line here is: it's cheap as hell, it sounds pretty good (no way you'd want it as a primary distortion pedal but for fun/change of pace it's solid) and you can do some cools things with it. I'd recommend it if you like Jimi, stoner rock, Sabbath or just want to irritate someone (the sound can get quite trashy).

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Don't play chords with the octave effect. Also use the neck pickup it will track much better, especially around the 12th fret.

Yeah I can see how it might sound crap, but I got some very nice sounds out of it. And you know how? EQ! Yeah as with most dirtboxes, you can tailor any tone you want if you change the eq on your amp or on a pedal or soemthing. That said the EQ on the French Toast is very good too, it's more like a low pass filter in my opinion, so you're cutting off the higher frequencies the more you turn it down. I'll give it a 5 because it depends on so many factors. The upper octave is good, but not as good as other upper octaves I've tried. It doesn't track well, but the sound is the same on any upper octave really, just soiunds like controlled feedback.

Hmm dunno, it's mostly plastic and surface mount and stuff, but I've never had a Dano pedal crap out on me so who knows.

I'm sure they'd be helpful. I hear a lot of people just get new pedals sent out to them if they break under warranty. Thats the benefit of cheap pedals.

I suppose it depends on what you're expecting to sound like when you get this bad boy. I have a thing for fuzzes/octaving etc, but I don't own a Jimmy album so I have no expectations.

As at least one reviewer has already pointed out, it is much easier to get a good sound out of this pedal with good equipment. Any pedal is going to sound like #### playing through a 15 watt transistor practice amp. Also, a little goes a long way with this pedal as far as the settings. Keep your tone down around 9 to 10:00. The gain is most useful at the lower settings as well. Use your ears. Keeping the gain low on your amp is critical as well. It should be remembered that Jimi Hendrix kept his amps in a lower gain structure, and colored that basic tone with his pedals.

I use this pedal with a USA Hamer Studio with Seymour Duncan P90 pickups into a Crate V5212 tube amp. At present, this is the only pedal I use other than a Buddha wah. At lower settings I find it to be as quiet as you can expect from a distortion pedal. I use it primarily for solos with the octave off. Through this rig, I am very pleased with the sound. I would like to compare it with a fuzz factory, rat, big muff, or fulldrive. For the money, I think this is a very entertaining effect.

Although the construction of this thing is far from robust, I have had no problems with to date. it has actually held up better than other more expensive pedals I have used in the past.

I have never dealt with the company after five years of use.

I use this as a significant part of my sound playing blues/rock/alternative country etc. If it were stolen I would be tempted to try other fuzz pedals as well, but for the money, it would be difficult to find its equal.

3 knobs (gain, level, eq) plus small toggle for octave. not hard if you're experienced with tones, setups, effects, etc....

using different guitars(strats, dan dc , dano u2,i'm primarily a sc player), variety of distortions/ od's into a peavey classic 50.i tried it out in the store with a gretsch import with a single pickup into an old vox ss twin 'verb...you could get the jimi sound, no probs..

took it home, and i love it even more...using the octave in the lower position it nails the solo from "little sister" from queens of the stone age.
i leave the eq at about 5, distorion varies from 3-8(it varies, has a lot of gain)...
bottom line: for the bucks, it's great. i paid 20 for it new (didn't have a box)..you can dial in some good classic fuzz/ jimi etc sounds, but you can also get heavier, modern tones ala muse, some radiohead stuff,etc....if you're into metal you can also make this thing get nasty as well!

yes, it's plastic. but, i've got a 5 year old dano "black coffee" that's still going..on the other hand i've got pedals i paid 140 for that are already going bad in less time....same as everything, hit or miss.

most of the dano stuff, either you love it or hate it. for the bucks, you generally get some good sounding stuff. i paid 20 for it, it's fun, has lots of useable tone.....it's certainly going to make some unique tones for me!

You have four degrees of freedom on that pedal. Level, Drive, Eq and Octave-Switch, which alters the tonal quality of the effect quite drastically. Basically, it is rather a fuzz, not a dostortion. Getting a good sound out of it is hard, but once you have understood the trick, it
is a source of fun. It can produce some fairly disgusting tones. Think of mosquito nest in a beer can. If you want to play guitar weirdo, simply dial in the most disgusting sound you can imagine (it's easy, trust me, tip: eq far right!) and let your friends doubt your mental sanity.

Ease of use if you want to hurt your ears: 9.
Ease of use, if you want to get some usable sound out of it, that is somehow pleasing: 5. Excellent sounds are there, but well, the pedal has a wide range of tones and interacts heavily with your equipment, so there are no general rules. Steep learning curve, but the magic is there.

I give it a solid 7. No manual included by the way. Would not make sense anyway.

This little thing is a disgusting monster, but if you treat it right, it will treat you right.

My first approach: Epi Les Paul->Toast-> Vox Pathfinder 10. Sheer horror. Buzz, squeak, hum, fizzle. A very harsh sound. But there is a lot to be explored. I think it's essential to set the output level that way, that your (cheap transistor) amp can hadle it without getting into ugly distortion itself, but of course, you can have that if you want, up to the point, that all harmonics are swallowed. I think this thing is good for driving tube amps. So my Vox, which has a _really_ nice clean sound, is no good for that application.

Next Setup: Epi->Kampo 901 Tube Overdrive->Toast->Vox Pathfinder 10.
Well, useless. The toast renders the EQ-Knobs of the tube overdrive useless. Everything is mudd.

Next try: Epi-> Toast -> Kampo 901 -> Vox Pathfinder 10.
Nice! In addition to the different sounds the Toast can produce (in combination with the guitars volume knob!) I haven an additional three band EQ on the tube pedal to shape the fuzz to my hearts desire. Too much "icepick"? Eq low on toast or heights down on the EQ. More mids? No problem! Ok, your amp can do that too, but-> kick in the tube distortion and have some extra fatness. Hit the octave in and well, good! Power chords work well with added octave!

Ok now, what about adding a Wah and trying it with a Pod, for the VOX is not really made for that impact.

Epi-> Cry Baby Wah -> Toast - > Kampo Overdrive -> POD Brit Classic
Bad, bad, bad! Wah? What Wah?

Next try:
Epi-> Toast -> Cry Baby Wah-> Kampo Overdrive -> POD Brit Classic
Damn! This is crazy! The wah really shines with the octave hit in! And the overdrive adds some additional fatness to the sound and there is much more to be explored! This is where I stopped last night after 6 or 7 hours of fun and frustration, so beware!

After all, this pedal is difficult. It adds quite a variety of tonal possibilities to the rig if used right. It's definately not a plug and play device! Care for it, and it cares for you. Know, that you have a volume knob on your guitar, and that you can use that to fuzz or unfuzz the sound. Set the levels in your effect chain right. Don't overdo with cheap low wattage amps. Experiment, take some time, take a trip to fuzzland.

If you want something, that makes you sound good: 0 Points.
If you want to make something sound good: 10 Points.

So I give a solid 5.

Plastic housing. Wiggly kobs. Nasty, shocking look. If I giged with it I would be in a mode of "I don't care, if you care" so it would not be a problem, if it broke. ;-)

A really nice feature would be an appropriate metal housing with a footswitch for the octave effect.

After all I would give it a 5.

Don't know. Never talked to them. But if you send in a registration card, you get 1 year warranty. Never used anything from danelectro before.

For now, I really like that thing, because it added quite a lot of tonal flexibility to my setup. It was not build to sound good out of the box. You decide how to use it, and it can really spice up some things. It's quite good for solos, and with the right settings, you can get some really nice, fuzzy sounds, and interesting power chords with added octave up and possibly more. It really shines in combination with a wah, if you are into that. But you can also wreak tonal havoc easily.

In my opinion either you hate that thing, or you love it. It reminds me of an ugly doll. So as always: your mileage may vary.

For me, the overall rating is 7 because of the cheap housing. But the fun factor is a good 10.

Not easy to use at all, it's unusable

Sad but true that this gets good reviews and I read them and believe it. And thats true of alot of FX. I'm using quality hand built guitars loaded with gibson and dimarzio pickups, a modded SD-1 a Teese Picture wah and a Marshall JCM 800, 2205. Incredible sounding rig until I ran this thing with it. I tried it in different positions in my short chain and honestly couldn't get a usable sound from it. I was obviously expecting more from a $25.00 pedal than was possible. And if they say this is modeled after the Foxx tone machine then I could safely say that sucks too. I was lookin for a Hendrix kind of thing with my strat but I got earpiercing , buzzy noise even with the distortion all the way down. I realize different strokes for different folks but I really hope I never hear anything like this pedal on my radio from a band. If I did already, I'm sure I thought it sucked.

Wouldn't know, I actually threw it out because it's not worth selling it to some unsuspecting person

I've siad enough.

well it`s easy to use like all these guys say!

i dont like the sound of this pedal it`s very bad tone sound like mud!
good is the switch for the octave, switch it on and it sound much mudier!

it`s plastic
i wonder why it isn`t broken yet!

one of my danelectro plastic pedals was dead and they gave me a new one for free!

this pedal is better than the dod supra distortion(the new one, the old is great) but it is too noisy to me
for an octave fuzz it is very cheap and it does it`s job, but remember the best danelectro ever did was their old guitars!

When I got it I have to admit that I really didn't like it. But you really have to fiddle around with it to get a good sound and the little knobs are a bit small, especially with the plastic guard on. It's a very fiddly operation!

I'm very pleased with my setup at the moment, it goes something like this:
Variax 300>Boss SD1>French Toast>Frontline Chorus>Danelectro Wasabi Delay>Marshall MG50DFX
I've really started to like the sound and variation of different pedals and they all work really well together.
It's got a very distinctive sound, and I think that if you turn the distortion knob up too high some of the character is lost. I tend to have it at just above 9:00 and then I can boost it with my SD1 if it needs it ;-). I don't really use the octave function because it makes the sound a bit tinny, which is why I'm giving it an 8.

I think that it is solid enough even though it is made of plastic and I wouldn't have a choice to gig with a backup so that doesn't really apply.

No Idea!

I've been turning into a bit of an idie kid and this pedal suits me fine, I just wish that the knobs were a bit bigger. I shouldn't really have bought it blind from eBay and I should have tried a few out, but I don't think that it was that bad a choice. If it were stolen I would probably shop around and just test some others, but it does fit in very well with the vibe of my pedal board, so who knows!

Not hard to use. The "octave" switch is not labeled on or off and the 'down' position = 'on' which seems backwards to me, but maybe it's alluding to a vintage pedal that works the same way, I know some effects that are based on older ones purposely mimic the controls of old originals, even when they're not exactly conventional. I've read this is based on the FOXX TONE MACHINE but I've never had one of those, so I don't know if that's the case. Technically the word 'octave' is under the switch, which you say says it all, I guess. Either way you'll hear what's on and what's off.

There's no 'blend' for the octave, but you really don't need it (more on that later).

One little peeve: the knobs could be better, sure they're cheap plastic which is I guess not a big deal considering the price, but what bugs me is that I can't easily see what my settings are without getting a close look or having the light glare hit it just right. I guess I can and probably will sharpie a line or arrow on them, but still it seems like an oversight, especially for a fuzz pedal, in which setting just the right settings can be important.

It's a minor gripe, but if you have or get one of these you'll be tweaking a fair bit too, and you'll know what I mean about leaning in close over and over...

An LED would be nice, but as stated below you don't need it, you know when it's on.

When I first fired it up it sounded awful, really fizzy and not warm in character, but after exploring the knobs some I found some really nice sounds. How much "dist" you dial in makes a big difference, it's a totally different sound at max than it is set low. Set high it can be really noisy and hissy, but that's true for most any pedal of this nature, and it's no noisier than others of it's kind. The noise is chaotic when you're playing, so some may really LIKE this factor, I have fun with it anyway. For most of my purposes, I generally like the distortion dialed maybe by half, and here it is not so noisy though still has bite.

Putting this first in my chain of effects is where it shines for me, if you're not getting the character you want from this, definitely try it first in your chain too, it made a differnce to my ears. I haven't tried it after a boost or EQ, but I'd bet it would react differently to different inputs, so experimenting is recommended. I found what I like simply putting it right after the guitar, and then adjusting the guitar for different shades of the sound, which works well.

Also turning the octave on and off doesn't just omit or add the upper octave, like you might think, but instead changes the overall tone of the effect. It's almost like 2 different fuzzes to me. The octave 'off' fuzz can be nice and is worth checking out, but IMO the octave 'on' is so sweet that I rarely turn it off.

Like I said above there's no "blend" but it's not a problem because the octave harmonics are not extreme and lay in the effect already blended, in a sense. I LOVE heavy harmonic tones like synths, ring mods etc, but this is NOT what this pedal does. It has a very guitar-centric, classic flavor of it's own, not industrial or metallic. It can be aggro but still warm, brash but still inviting. Play it and you'll know exactly what I mean.

The EQ knob is a ESSENTIAL to usefulness of the this pedal. Without it I'd chuck the pedal, because through most of the dial it's WAY too shrill for me. Icepick central. But roll off the EQ and you're in business. I rely on my guitars' settings to keep the sound clear and mud-free, which works way better than reaching for the EQ on this pedal for desired crispness.

The bridge pickup and playing near the neck tip has been covered, but it really does make a big difference for bringing forward the upper harmonics.

Though I haven't yet, I would gig with it. This effect isn't something I use all the time so it still files under non-essential, though that may yet change soon, since I'm using it a lot these days.

I wish it were metal obviously.

I've never knocked on their door, but my general impressions are only so-so. They were nice at the last NAMM booth I peeked in, but I don't know that they're all that invested in their products, given the mass production and inexpensive construction. Who knows. I wouldn't make a fuss over something so bargain-priced like this anyway.

I've had a lot of gear, lot of pedals, and consider this one very cool. It has, surprisingly, replaced my main fuzz. I won't say what that was, to be fair, but it's a much pricier pedal that's very highly regarded, if that means something. The dano just has that special tone that works best with my playing at the moment. If I needed to replace it, I think I'd shop around for something boutique that has a similar tonal effect, since it's becoming a favorite of mine and I could justify upgrading. But for the price, of course, I could always replace it with another french toast, which I would do without concerns.

I wish it had a foot switch for octave on/off like so many similar pedals seem to have these days, and maybe a 2nd EQ, one for each on/off setting. Sure maybe that's a lot to ask, but then you'd have a 2 channel superpedal. I guess I could just buy a 2nd french toast... but if they saved us the trouble that'd be fantastic.

OH YEAH and I wish it had a GATE knob/control. That would really be awesome. Tame the hiss and have that vintage gated sound too!

Even still, it's a 10 in value no doubt about it.

Very easy to use, just set the distortion knob (really a fuzz knob), EQ knob, and level knob then decide if you want the octave switch on (yes you do if you can play lead worth a shit)

What is with the negative responses concerning sound here?

Whatever these guys here who have reviewed it negatively have been taking - I just want a 1/2 of one??

All kidding aside this pedal is really good at what it is intended for. Getting that very fuzzy fuzz sounds with the choice of using an octave up effect. It was modelled after the original FoxxToneMachine?, so yes its a fuzz.

The fuzz is very fuzzy on the edges, but can be very creamy when used in combination with an Overdrive or distortion unit. Great for 60s tinted trips.

The octave up tracks so well I can't believe there has been anything bad said about it's sounds. The octaves are dead on, and the overtones change with your dynamics. Also, the unit responds so well to your tone/volume knobs. I think it's one of the best deals around for folks who like fuzz, even if they are already set with thier favorite fuzz.

I can't in good faith give it as high a score as I would a ruggedly built metal housed pedal. It may hold up well over time and I hear they actually do not break easy, but I still cannot give it the score I would a tank of a pedal.

Again, guys who have replied negatively about the sound - hook a brotha up, I just want half of whatever you took when you heard this pedal and/or replied here.

I don't know what else I could say. If you like Hendrix's music and would like a very fuzzy fuzz sound while ALSO having the option of a very well balanced octave up effect that tracks better than some units costing MUCH more, this is it.

I would have to say the fuzz alone is great for single-note riffs. If you also use a seprate overdrive then the fuzz is a nice creamy one for any other use. Add the switch, play up high registers with the neck pickup and watch out for that SPLAT!