Danelectro DJ-15 Chicken Salad Vibrato

Got it home, plugged it in, sounds good - for 5 minutes. Battery stone dead. After 5 minutes! Dare not use it without a power supply.

Use it with Mesa Mark II-C and a USA neck-through super-strat. Nice swoosh, like a phaser, only more subtle. The problem is it sucks the top-end out of the tone when switched on. I'm surprised no-one else has mentioned this (or is mine faulty?) Lose 4 points for this.

I don't know if I can gig with this - a shame, because the effect is nice, I just can't accomodate the loss of top-end every time I switch it on. And surely they ought to build them without a battery compartment at all if they drain so much power - 5 minutes is just silly. How come Z Vex effects are soooo good and have such a long battery life?

No idea. My music shop is good to deal with though. Maybe I should talk to them about the probs.

Love the Tuna Melt tremolo, the compressor is pretty good too. I also have the big delay pedal, which could have been put into a smaller case (the big ones looked really cool when they came out, but take up too much unnecessary room on a pedal board).

Only two knobs. I guess really really dumb people may want one knob.....but this guy has two.

I tried a few other units from other manufactures....and this one just seemed warmer and less "stiff" sounding.

This is where it gets weird. I bought it...took it home...plugged it in and it sounded KILLER in my rig.....for about 2 minutes...then nothing....dead. So, I took it back and got a new one...get back to me on how long this one lasts.

dont know...

If my new one works and doesn't die on be this thing is GREAT. If the new one dies also...i will just repeat to myself.."you get what you pay for...

Very easy to use. The only thing I think that seems to be stumping some people is it eats batteries faster than a digital delay. I tried
mine in a store and the battery went dead in 5 min or less. Get an
adapter!

For the money this is real tuff to beat. I like this pedal better
than the Voodoo Labs Vibe (too dark!) and Roto Vibe (Too chourusy)
at a 1/4 of the aboves price. The only down side is a slight hiss--Not bad at all...I think this unit uses IC's and not a photo cell--which is amazing cause it sound very close to a univibe. And for $30.00 or less

We'll see

Never delt with them

Getting a good sounding uni-vibe "like" effect for $30.00 is the
best value on my pedal board. I also bought a regulated adapter
with the unit. No problems at all. It's sad that soo many of the reviewer's took this pedal back for a new one/or got rid of it
just because it uses alot of 9v juice. GET AN ADAPTER!!! and this is
a great sounding pedal reguardless of the price.

Plug it in and go.

Set both knobs at 2 o'clock for that "Too Rolling Stoned" univibe sound. I used an ac adaptor--didn't try the zinc battery. Alkalines would be a better choice for this pedal. For $25 bucks I give it a nine.

One misstep and the reliability will definately be tested.

No opinion.

It won't make the pedal board, but it's small enough to bring along. Patch it in for a song or two for something different.

Sound, what sound. This thing was broken from the moment I got it. I bought 2 Pedals that day, and it was like the sick little runt in the litter, plugged it in and turned the knobs all the way up and it just stared at me with that cycloptic red light looking stupid. The only odd sounds I got was when I turned the Speed knob around rapidly, otherwise, it did not do a damn thing.

For awhile, I thought the crappy Gorilla Amplifier I was running this thingy through (Which has two volume settings: off, and SHAKE THE BLOODY HOUSE), was why it did not work. Instead I shook it, took it apart, and put it back together again all to not know what the heck was going on inside this thing, only until I could completly disassemble the basic assemblies with a screwdriver, It basically was a little orange decoration with a beaming stupid LED.

Now heres where I continue my rant, tonight I just took some time to do a little discovering (For $10.00 I should at least learn something), mainley how a Vibrato Pedal, I mean, a Danelectro Vibrato pedal works. I took off the bottom cover with a dime (as always with the little plastic screw), took out the old 9 volt from my compressor, and, unscrewed and removed all the boards and knobs, then hooked back the ribbon cable and plugged the battery back in. At this point I tried grounding the pedal to everything inside the case, to see what was wrong (it's called deductive reasoning). I grounded it off and got a few ground faults and odd hums but nothing unusual. so then I would proceed to the next step, that little cooler looking thing in the middle of the effects pedal.
I took off all the hot glue (which was not holding shit together), and took off the top of the thingy that makes this thing tick. Inside were four light sensing diodes (I think thats what the Light sensors are called), and one little tiny light bulb looking dead as can be. I finally put the board down on my desk with this pedal hooked up to my guitar and my Multi Effects processor. I played a few notes and noticed a wah kind of effect. The wah was coming from the lamp on my desk blinking into the light sensors as the board rocked back and forth, I discovered how this thing works, the little light blinks, and the sensors go on and off rapidly causing changes in the tonality of the guitar, thus causing a vibrato-like effect. So I finally got my moneys worth out of this busted in the factory pedal. Plus I got a new wild Idea, If I drilled a hole over the sensors, and waved my shoe over them, I could get a crazy Wah like effect using the stage lights and my shoe, it would sound insane. I found the faster I cut the light source from the sensors, the faster the changes back and forth went. So I'll give it a 5 here just to be fair.

This is a disposable pedal, if it breaks the company will laugh at you for asking them to fix it, get a day job.

I learned more from this fucked up piece of camel poo than anything else I got for $10.00. The Vibrato did not work because one of the capacitors or ICs were blown, but the numbers on the ICs were too small for anyone to read much less desolder anyway. Besides, now I can have a perfect companion to the Z-fex Fuzz probe I still have my eye on (Some crazy distortion pedal that uses the RF frequencies in your boots to make crazy distortion related noises). It will never be stolen as I will keep it around to use as a brick on drunk ex-best friends and theiving ex-lovers psyches for awhile. Its a lovely toe toy now, so I will give it a 10 for educational value and experementers delight.

There's only two knobs. VERY easy to get some cool sounds. A retarded sea cucumber could use this. There's no manual with this guy, but who needs it? This thing is simple and fun to use.

Well... I'm a weirdo keyboarder who likes to use effects pedals, and this thing did the trick for me! I have a great selection of flat tones on my 'board, but none them have ever had the modulation I've been looking for - until now! This pedal is now an essential part of my sound now. You can get some REALLY cool synth sounds when you use this on top of distortion. This pedal also works great with my Yamaha acoustic\electric. The best sounds for guitar are the really low settings.
Oh yeah, allow me to take a moment to address the battery consumption issues concerning this pedal. Here's my story: I brought this pedal home, plugged it in, and gave the button a push. The LED came on, but I got no effect. At this point I began to feel pretty bummed out. But, since I had read the reviews of my fellow Chicken Salad owners who complained of shotty battery performance, I though I would try the effect with an old 9v AC adapter I had laying around. Guess what? It worked!! But... I still felt something was wrong so the next day I replaced the Dano battery that comes with it with a normal Duracel 9v. It worked fine without the AC unit!! I have no idea what's wrong with dano batteries... but if your's dosnt work with the battery that came with it try another. I know the battery life sucks on this pedal so I'm not going to make a habit out of using batteries - but it's nice to know I can use one if I HAVE to. Here's my thoughts: Do yourself a favor, buy an adapter. I don't know why dano dosnt just tell us this, they HAVE to know that this pedal blows on battery power, especially THEIR battery power. If you dont already have an AC 9v adapter, buy one for this effect - trust me, it's worth it! My cheap keyboard sounds like a genuine organ now!

Hmmm... well.. it IS plastic. I guess that's ok, I've never heard of anyone completely breaking a mini. Just be reasonable with it, and it should give you years of great warbly-sounding effects.

Let just say something here... I hate it when people say they've never used a company's support and give a rating of 5 or something. That's crazy! If you've never used it, don't rate it! I've never had to contact Dano, so I have no opinion on the quality of their customer support.

I play in a punk band. This pedal allows me to get the rock-organ sound that I need to play The Clash\Rancid style tunes. This pedal is an essential part of my sound. This pedal hicks serious butt when combined with a distortion pedal, I can dial in some extrordinary synth sounds. It's like owning a poor-man's analog synthesizer. If someone stole it I would cry, and then buy a new one($40 yay!!!!!). If you play a fairly cheap keyboard like I do, this pedal is essential for the modulated sounds that are the trademark of rock organ. If you own a guitar, this pedal is still a great buy. $40 gets you some wonderfull trippy sounds when the settings are cranked, and some graceful, swooping melodic action when set low. Buy this pedal!

There was no manual, and there were only two knobs so you think it would be pretty easy, but no. Plugged it in, nothing, used the battery, nothing. Tried all my different AC adaptors and nothing. I looked inside and couldn't see anything that might be wrong so I closed it up again. It worked for about 30 seconds then didn't turn on next time I clicked it.

Switch (when it does work) makes nasty clicking and buzzing noises, it doesn't vibro so much as it's just another trem. Swirly and distorted. Yuk. I'm glad it doesn't work so at least I've got an excuse to take this back. It isn't a vibe at all, god knows what it is.

Reliable? It doesn't even BEGIN to work. I can't use it on a gig, I can't practise with it. It's a cheap plastic wank box.

I won't bother, I'll take it back to the shop and use my refund on a second hand pedal that does something.

I only gave it a one because there's no zero. Don't waste your time even thinking about walking to the guitar shop to try this out. It's awfulawfulawfulawful and doesn't work either. Shame, cause I was really looking forward to having a cool looking, nice sounding pedal but all I got was an abortion.

Okay, see if you can understand this:
this unit is so easy to use that you may wonder if you're using it right. It gets a great 60's -70's vibe effect, and that's about it. I found that turning the knobs down under 12 o'clock seems to make any of the effect dissapear. So I guess the useful range on the dials are between 12 o'clock and maximum. The battery compartment on these little puppies is only accessible with a flat head screwdriver. And batteries get drained too quickly anyways, so an adapter is pretty much mandatory. Strange thing happens when the battery gets low; the effect dissappears and you're left with a dry signal, wondering if the unit is faulty i.e. " Crikey! wot the 'ell 'appened to my vibe sound?" Just get an adapter and forget about it.

Used with humbuckers or single coils this box had me smiling as I recognized that old vibe sound from my earlier days. The vibe effect this box puts out is useful, but must be used somewhat tastefully and more subtly than say an overdrive pedal. A great description of how this sounds would be as a keyboard player mentioned. It's just like the washy sound on Billy Joel's keyboard in "Just The Way You Are". Very dream-like effect. I'm glad I was able to pick it up so cheap because this is not an often used effect, but a very recognizeable one. It hums a little, but not enough to render it useless even in a studio. Besides, it's a great way to add Lo-Fi noise to your digital recordings.

What do you want for $25? This unit will continue to give you years and maybe even decades of pure playing pleasure. I just had to say that since Danelectro didn't in the invisible manual that comes with this unit.

I called Danelectro awhile back and they sent me all their literature and even a *gasp* STICKER! Oh what joy! What rapture! They seem like real regular people intent on satisfying their customers. Hallelujah!

I like to play roots rock and surf-a-billy-ska. I wanted a vibe effect like dave Wronski from Slacktone (incidently the best surf band in the galaxy). I have other "large" Danelectro pedals and I'm very happy with them. I think this unit will help to add some signature sounds to my tunes.
What I want to know though is the story behind the naming of these little pedals. Marketing mayhem.

Very easy to use! Getting a good sound out of it is fairly simple as long as you can figure pout what exactly a Vibrato pedal can do! The manual (as with most Dano Mini pedals) is pretty useless, but if you have used phasers, choruses and the like, setting his pedal to a setting you like is a breeze!

The sound quality is quite good considering the price I paid for it! There is a bit of hiss (but then again I like to compress My Strat) but nothing too earth shattering. Describing the sound of this Vibrato compared to Phasing, Chorusing and Flanging, well, let's say it's is in a league of its own: similar but not identical.

A chewier sweep so to speak, any more intense would be distracting!

Allow me to repeat myself: those plastic suckers are more rugged than they look. Treat them with respect and they'll last! Forget about using batteries though they won't last.

The AC adaptor is a wise investment. Or if you intend on owning several Mini Dano's, the Minipedal pedalboard/Carry case is an even wiser investment as it will get you the adaptor, carry case and patch cords all at once!

I've never dealt with the company but I have heard a lot of good things about them.

I've always been on a retro trip it seems, getting "retro" sounding effects to nail those old Prog/Psychedelic/Brit-Rock sounds is quite natural!

I confess that in spite of a few bugs here and there, Danelectro's Minipedal series is impressing me a great deal:

their Surf and Turf compressor brings out the best of my Strat, their French Toast octave fuzz makes my epi Les Paul sing, their Rocky Road rotating speaker pedal brings back memories of Pink Floyd, the Chicken Salad takes my guitar tone to a new level!

I'm expecting a BLT slap echo (got it from Ebay) to complete my "retro" mini Pedalboard ... get some of that classic Scotty Moore vibe!

I'm personally trying to crusade more keyboard players to write reviews on pedals- it helps us all since it's such a different beast.
Nothing like running a $30 pedal on a $3500.00 Kurzweil.

Anyway: dead easy to use. No manual, you won't need one. speed, and intensity.

Tried the pedal on a couple of honest to goodness vintage keys: Rhodes and Wurli, as well as my Kurzweil Pc88 and some other synths. When I first plugged it in it was completely different from what I expected. On keys it gives more of a phase shift sound, but without the "swoopy" cycling whooshy sound [how's that for technical terms?]. Almost like phaser-"light". I instantly dug it. You can get a qausi-vibrato out of it, and it really is limited to either a slow swirl or a vibrato. But hey, $30.00!!

You know the drill on these things by now.

Gig without a backup: unless my band played "deacon blues" and "just the way you are" all night long, I think I could survive. Not planning on playing "babe" anytime soon.

Listen to the six-stringers here; [thanks for the tip!] , buy the AC adaptor.

Actually pretty good. I've found with emails to companies like this that a little courtesy and compliments can go a long way.

I found this pedal much more useful, and preferred it, over something like my phase 90 or the Dan Electro pepperoni. Those pedals (at least the re-issues) tend to distort with my Rhodes and Wuril, and I hate how they suck the life out of the tone. This pedal works great with electric piano and clavinet sounds. I finally found something that gave me that Donald Fagen phase 90 sound without killing the natural tone of my Rhodes.

Been playing professionally for over 20 years. I've spent way too much money on things in the past to be on the bleeding edge anymore. This pedal makes up for that $700.00 I paid for a Roland Space echo.. ;)




Lost or Stolen: Yes, I'd buy another.

Anything I wish it had: built in ATM machine.

Hey fellow keyboardists how about your thoughts on pedals your using it really helps!!.