Danelectro DJ-14 Fish & Chips 7-Band EQ

Easy enough, if you know what frequencies do what, it's very simplistic.

Agile LP2800 DLX > Peavey 5150 half stack ( Effects loop: Boss sd-1 and fish and chips EQ.) I cannot stress enough that you MUST put this pedal in your amps effects loop in order to get a good consistent tone. This is true for ALL pedal EQ's i've tried. PLacing this pedal in an effects chain in front of the amp ( Like the guy below me did) doesn't do anything. Afterall, you want to EQ the amp(i.e. put it in the effects loop), not the signal comming into the amp. Simple as that.

Well, mine is always on, it just sits on top of my amp all the time. So, i've never beaten it to death or anything. Really, it sounds good, thats what matters.

Never contacted them. Thats the way I like it.

I play in a grindcore band, and this pedal really helps me to achieve a nice cutting midrange heavey sound. This is a good thing, because my band is a 6 piece grind band, therefore anything that helps push my tone out front is a good thing. My modded 5150 has a lot of high-midrange. This pedal helped me dial some of that out and boost the more pleasant midrange frequencies. For thirty bucks, it's worth it even if you end up not likeing it. Plus, with a soldering iron and some know-how, it can be modded into a crazy sounding fuzz box with little or no effort. I mean 900 rusty chainsaws crazy. Too crazy even for a grind band :)

I found out that it was a battery related problem, thanks to a little help online (the stompbox forum on guitargeek.com). Strange, as the battery light was bright and clear. Anyway, I run it off a mains supply now and it SEEMS to have sorted the problem out. Keep this in mind if your Dano plays up.

This is a re-review to follow up from the one a few below, about this being a noisy pedal. Once I got used to the frequencies (I used to use a Parametric EQ before this one) it was a doddle, and tweaking the tone for awesome drive sounds was easy.

In my modest little rig it fits in like this:

Gibson SG -> Boss OD-3 OverDrive -> MXR Distortion + -> Dano Fish & Chips -> Roland JC-50 (into the low input).

To begin with, this worked great - sure, the pedal added some extraneous noise of it's own, but for the control I got over my tone I could overlook that. Until strange things started to happen to my tone.

Whenever I run the OD-3 and Dist+ together, or even just the Dist+ on its own (output full, distortion 10 o'clock as I like it) it seems to overload the Dano in an audible crappy sort of way - funnily enough, it sounds just like fat when it's boiling chips.

This happens on any note, every time, and destroys chords and solos instantly by putting this overloaded bad sound over the top. And it started to happen just when I had my tone as I liked it.

I was always a little suspicious of the Level control - when turning it up a few dB, the tonality of the guitar would change - kind of like an extra level of gain as opposed to a flat level boost. It seems like it's that which is the cause.

I changed patch leads and removed the OD-3 from the chain, no effect. I'd test it with different cables if I had some, but my cables are custom built and are well made as it is. I expect putting it in a different place in the chain would solve it, but the point is it was where it was in the chain because it sounded best there. Now I have to put the Level control right down to -15db - sucking away tone, even then it seems like it's still overloading.

When I tried the Dist+ and OD-3 on their own it solved the problem, even when hitting chords really hard. So it's a pretty strong possiblity that it's the Dano pedal.

It's lucky it got a 3. I gave it more than 1 because when it worked it was good enough.

Well maybe it's cos it's second hand, maybe I overloaded it by running two pedals before it. But it's only 2 pedals - most units can handle that level of voltage - if I had 5 pedals I might understand. I can't depend on it - I can't use it at all, anywhere, anytime.

Safe to say I'll be e-mailing them and asking them what the hell is going on with it, secondhand or not.

I've been playing five years and I owned a Dano pedal before, a BLT slap echo. That started doing strange things too, so I traded it in. I should have learnt from that that these miniboxes aren't up to the standard of a quality manufacturer like MXR, ProCo or Boss.

Yes it's cheaper than a Boss GE-7 EQ, yes it has the same range of cut and boost (+/- 15db) and yes it has the same amount of bands and those bands are on the same frequencies.

But what it doesn't have is reliability/durability, a good signal-to-noise ratio or anything worth buying it for. The fact it's secondhand doesn't count - I've had secondhand stuff in the past and it never does any of this. Be warned - it's cheap and not cheerful.

I hope they didn't name it Fish & Chips because it's supposed to sound like fat cooking.

It's easy to use if you know a little about equalization. If you don't, you will learn from using it. The manual simply describes a few positions you could set the sliders at. I recommend you figure it out on your own.

I use this pedal in combination with the DOD Grunge. It's amazing how much I can get it to sound like anything from metallica to slipknot. I put the EQ after the distortion. I don't know why you wouldn't. To get a good slightly scooped sound icrease the 100Hz bar, decrease the 1.6K, and increase the 6.4K. Variations of this will do. The lowering of 1.6K also reduces noise.

I can always depend on it.

I never needed to.

This pedal would be just as good as the BOSS 7-band EQ except it's not. It's one third as expensive. This is the best EQ pedal to buy unless you want to pay a little more for the DOD 7-band EQ. The DOD has +/-18dB.

If you know about EQ curves and what frequencies make a guitar sound good, it couldn't be easier. I'll give it a 7 cos an EQ is still harder to figure out than most normal stomp boxes.

At this point in time it seems a little too noisy, maybe because I'm boosting a lot of high frequencies. Or noisy distortion pedals, I'll have to find out.

My setup is Gibson SG Standard -> AXL TOD9 Tube OverDrive (a possible classic in the making) -> Danelectro Fish & Chips EQ -> MXR Distortion + -> Roland JC-50. Make of that what you will.

The sliders are really solid - they won't move unless you mean to. That's a comfort as on something this small, if the sliders were easily nudged by your feet it would defeat the object of using it as for example a solo booster.

The thing with the sliders and the fact it's hardened plastic make a pretty good case for the thing. It's small too, so it's easily portable, but does look a little silly sitting next to, for example, a Big Muff.

I'd need to test it more as I've only got it today. I'd say the frequencies it's centred on and the +/- 15db headroom are excellent, I just hope it's not as noisy as it seems, it's not like I'm using Death Metal levels of gain here.

Its easy to get a good sound out of if you know what your doing.
The manual is...pretty crappy guess, i never really bother with manuals.

my setup= ibanez rg-270 ->boss ds-1-> boss bf-2-> boss ph-2-> ibanez sm-7-> boss sd-1-> korg toneworks multi effects-> danelectro fish n chips eq-> laney 100 watt head driving a marshall 4x12 cab.
It isnt at all noisy and there is no noticeable colouration of my sound when the pedal is off. it gets a little hissy if you boost the volume slider up to max but thats just to be expected.
You can get whatever sound you want pretty much. you can get a crappy lo-fi radio sound a meaty scooped distortion sound (when used after distortion pedal) a weird filter/wah sound if you boost the mids and cut the highs and lows and pretty much anything in between.
if you put it after either an overdrive or distortion pedal you will notice a marked difference in your sound when the pedal is on. i also used the pedal on its own and very little difference in tone is noticeable.
so i would say use it after a distortion/overdrive pedal i suppose

I can definately depend on it, they may look like toys but they are actually fairly solidly built
I would use it at a gig without a backup

Dunno

I play anything from funk to thrash and this can shape your sound to suit pretty much anything
Ive been playing for about 3 years and i only recently realised the benefits of using an eq pedal...if your not already using one GET ONE, i cant imagine my sound without it.
if it were lost or stolen i would probably get another one
i compared it to the boss pedal and considering it is about half the price and also better sound quality this won hands down
i wish it was bigger and didnt have the stupid i/o jacks on the back
danelectro...little advice, change the fuckin stupid names you give all your pedals and they will begin to be recognised as they should be as pretty decent effects cos at the moment many people just view them as colourful toys

Ease of use? Plug the guitar in the "in" and plug the amp in the "out". push the slider up for more of a frequency, down for less. I'd say it's easy to use.

Here's my setup: Gibson Les Paul- ProCo RAT- Dano EQ- Johnson chorus-Washburn phaser- CryBaby Wah- Crate GX 1200H. No buzz at all. It really beefs up my tone. Makes my solos cut through way better than before.

It's plastic and the switch is a piece of metal on a rubber button. But I've got a pretty light foot for a fat guy. I'd use it without a backup, but haven't had a gig since I got it.

Never had to deal with 'em

Great sound. Cool retro look. Great for blues, or anything else. I'd definetely get the same one if it were stolen. For the sound and the price. Great pedal!

Well, it's not 31-band...those only get 9's.

My setup consists of a Lefty Les Paul, a Marshall VS265R amp, and about 16 pedals, 3 of which are store bought, and the other 13 being homemade, either by myself or others. Out of all of the Dano minis, only 3 of them are useful to me. Unity gain-modded Spinning Speaker, Compressor(sometimes), and this. This is the best of the lot, and it's the only one that permanently stays in my setup. Almost totally transparent, and the EQ sliders work exactly how they are supposed to, and they are semi-stiff and low to the pedal, so your settings won't accidentally get changed. Unlike Boss. Just don't turn up the volume boost above +8 dB, or else you'll get a very shrill solid-state feedback. But, if you really need a solo volume boost, go for an overdrive.

Seems fine. The footswitch seems a bit stiffer than the one on the compressor, though. Not that this is bad.

Ummm, no.

I play music that requires guitar. Except country. Seriously, though, my band is this psychadelic hard rock/jazz fusion outfit that tries to emulate NOBODY. I'm currently shopping for 3 more of these so I can EQ each effects loop I have, plus have one in front of the guitar for an initial tone shaping. So, yeah, I'd buy it again, and way before I'd EVER buy any Boss junk. Oh yeah, and it retails for like $49 US, so it's not gonna break the bank.

It is a plain 7-band EQ with 7 levers to shape your sound(going from 100 to 6.4Khz)and one lever for your volume(+-15Db), a switch to turn your unit on and off and a LED to indicate if it's on or off. It did not come with a manual, but since a 7-band EQ of this type does not need one(it's plain simple!)i don't complain about the manual being not there.Easy to use as most 7-band EQ of this type.

I play this Fish&Chips on a lot of different set-ups and it sounds good on every single one of them. I use it to tailor the sound as well as to boost it in volume, and all works very well! The unit is not noisy at all, very quit even and does not change your basic sound when bypassed so that s real great to me! Works really great with great sound quality and no noise!!This unit,which is much cheaper than let us say a Boss GE-7, easily delivers the same sound(or even better because it leaves your basic sound as it is and is real quit!)than lastnamed unit.(And many others!). For this price, if you need a 7-band EQ or even a booster, GET IT!You ll like it a lot!Normally i would give this unit a 9 in sound quality but since it is so cheap i just gave it a ten, and for that price it really deserves it as well!

Here is the point where a lot of people are affraid of the Fish&Chips, because it is small in size and looks a lot weaker than a Boss pedal. However, mine is built on my pedalfloorboard and goes on the road a lot, but i have not had any problems with it of whatsoever! Indeed, the outer housing is less strong than that of a Boss pedal, but it looks a lot weaker than it actually is!I opened mine and it is just the outer housing which is plastic the internal housing is metal (and durable as well). So my conclusion is the Fish&Chips is decent enough to take on the road even without a back-up as long as you use it and don't abuse it. Like i said it looks weaker than it is!!

I have not dealt with Danelectro because i have not had any problems yet with their products so i can't say.

I play a lot of different styles and the Fish&Chips is in all my set-ups, and i am really, really very pleased with it!Works great for soundshaping as well as for boosting.If it was stolen i would buy a new one the day after because this pedal is SO GREAT FOR IT'S PRICE!!Unbeatable because it ll deliver the soundquality of a pedal which costs the double in price!Truely very pleased with this mini-pedal from Danelectro!!!!If a 7-band EQ and/or booster is what you are looking for:BUY THIS ONE!!

As simple as any other pedal EQ....whats to figure out?

I just reviewed another Dano mini, the compressor. I rated it as the worse gear buy i ever made. Yet this EQ is just the oppossite. It's really odd how much these Dano mini's seem to vary. Some are great, some worthless.

Any way, the EQ really amazed me. It blew away my Boss GE-7's that i used to own, and every other EQ pedal i've tried/owned. First of all, it's very quiet, far far more than the GE-7 which gets very noisy when used with amp distortion. The range and way the sliders work is perfect too. Finally, the sliders are designed so that they are very low, in fact almost flush with the top. So unlike the boss you don't have to worry about the sliders bending or the caps falling off every time you bring it to a gig. Those things and the fact that it's very compact leave me hard pressed to think of anything bad about it, so i give it an easy 10.

Had it 2 years with no probems. The design does lend itself to possible switch and jack problems tho. So even tho mine hasn't had problems, i can't give it a 10. If you're mechanically/electronically inclined at all tho, any of that can be fixed. I am, and so this doesn't bother me, especially considering what a great pedal it is otherwise.

yea, right !

Nothing much else to say except that i highly recommend it. I don't see how a simple EQ pedal could be any better. No noise compared to any other, EQ bands all work perfectly, battery seems to last pretty long, cheap, compact, what more can you ask for? They stopped making the Dano minis recently, so if you even think you'll ever want or need an EQ pedal, i'd suggest you run out and see if you can find a store with some remining stock and grab one. At the price you're getting more than your money's worth......WAY more IMO.