Danelectro DJ-20 Rocky Road Spinning Speaker

it takes a minute to figure out the ramping, but otherwise, simple

7 it has a good basic sound. it rolls off too much bottom end; and has what sounds like a 9db boost automatically when you kick it in. this is completely stupid; devices like this should be set to unity gain. the drive function is awful, it would have been far more effective to have a variable out level with a center detent. also, the slow to fast ramp is way too slow, in my opinion.

it seems very tough; that plastic seems like helmet material.i could go w/o a backup

there is a potentially great (for the money) pedal here. if there is a way to tame the output to unity i'm keeping it. 8 out of 10 guys that would use this already have a distortion pedal of their choice (i absolutely hate 'em and use them only when necessary). i'm using a very early expandora that i recieved as a gift on tour in japan when i have to. strats and a super or deluxe reverb with a 56kay archtop with 3 p90's and a reverb tank on occasion. i'm a straight blues player in an acclaimed roots band (20 albums and counting). i'm out at least 200 nights a year, so i've got a pretty good idea about what cuts it and what don't. get rid of the drive and put an output level in it's place and you've got a winner! (and someone please post a mod if it can be done. i'ts a nice sound for a couple of tunes a night, but i can't justify 400 bucks on a h-k tube rotosphere). by the way, i also own an original leslie #16 (fender vibratone). can't justify schlepping that every night either, but as they say, ain't nothing like the reeeal thing baby...

Well, no manual, but easy to use, but I wouldn't recommend it. In spite of it being straightforward, I can't get a good sound out of it, unfortunately.

I agree with most of the earlier posts. Man, turn down your guitar before you turn this thing on.....I got Hendrix-like feedback from my Vox Pathfinder and a Gibson SG '61 Reissue when I hit the on button, and the Pathfinder was on the low gain channel! The gain boost is unbelieveable, and unfortunately makes what would otherwise be a decent sounding Leslie effect, in my opinion, worthless. It's going back.

These little Danos seem to vary a lot in whether they last or not.

I don't like dissing these little Dano pedals. I think that when they work and when the sounds are right they're fantastic values. This is really only the second one that's disappointed (the octave fuzz was too much for me, but that's more a matter of style/taste than it necessarily being a pedal that can't be used). I got this and the new PB&J delay on the same day; that one's great, esp. at Musician's Friend's 39.00 price; nice analog delay at an outstanding price. The Dano Flanger is great; their little yellow vibrato/tremelo is great (can't remember the names). This one....I don't see how it could be used. If they could re-engineer it to kill that horrible gain boost........

the unit actually houses two different effects which, in tandem, are supposed to effectively simulate a Leslie/Vibratone thang. First there is the "spinning part" a knob that lets you control speed and then a "ramp" button. Just like a real Leslie, it gradually speeds up or slows down to a certain speed (just HOW fast is determined by a fast/slow "ramp" switch). Additionally, there is a drive knob fuzzy overdrive sound) and the drive can be turned on/off by an additional switch. I guess this was put on there because of lot of rotating speakers when pushed at a lot of grit and bite and underlying distortion to the tone....often you hear Hammond B-3 players taking advantage of this. Once you sort all this out it's easy to work with it.

Kinda disappointed in this unit. Dano has other mini effects which work quite well (like the comp and the EQ) but this one left me scratching my head. I was hoping that 1) it would be a very convincing Leslie imitation and or 2) that it might work to replace my Rotovibe to get "that" swirly sound. In fact is does neither. Although the "ramp" function is pretty cool (and pretty accurate); the sound of the unit itself is just that of a chorus pedal with the depth set low and the rate set high married to a mediocre distortion sound. Anyone who has a decent chorus pedal and/or a decent disto pedal can get this tone....so why bother? Granted, this pedal does have the authentic "ramp" function but with a Rotovibe you could change it manually anyway AND adjust the EXACT rate of speed with the footpedal...or you could even just bend over and change the speed on a standard chorus pedal. I was hoping for something more "Leslie" like that didn't thin out the tone like a chorus pedal does- regrettably that's what this pedal also does as well. A real Leslie sounds FAT, which might be why they added the (mediocre) drive as well. It's 60 bucks....you could get a Rotovibe for $100 if you looked, so...gotta come down hard on this one.

Sadly for Dano, this is hardly retro tone...sounds like a thin 80s chorus married to a shit distortion pedal. Thins out the tone....if you want a more convincing and/or intoxicating sound then save the cash for a Rotovibe, it can does everything this does but with way more control over the parameters AND it sounds very trippy and warm, gives the chords a vibe. Sorry Dano, better luck next time!

Easy to figure out. I didn't see an actual manual in the box. Effect
on/off button, and a fast/slow speed toggle button. Speed of rate change can be selected via a mini switch.

This unit is an amazing Leslie simulator. Sounds like they have added a little treble boost (maybe 4 db at 6k) and a little ambient delay (about 20ms) to simulate the waveform resonanting in the Leslie horn. Remember old Santana/Schon? Think "Song of the Wind", "Samba Pa Ti" or the first Journey album. This thing really takes you there.
THERE IS A PROBLEM HOWEVER:
This box comes with a gain boost knob that allows massive gain increase. That's fine for those who want to push a stubborn amp- just turn the knob. However, even at the minimum setting, there is a large boost- so large that when turned on, you're suddenly blasting the stage. Are you listening Danelectro? This is an awesome box, but until the engineering change order is put through , this is going back to Guitar Center. I don't want the hassle of running a volume pedal after it to tame it when it's switched on.

Not sure about the ruggedness of these little Dano pedals. I have a few and so far so good. The knobs will come off, but can easily be replaced. Sometimes the power plugs are a little stubborn.

Never dealt with them. The website is a little frustratingly brief.
I emailed them about the above design goof but never heard back.

Professional player for 25 years.
Rig: 1971 Les Paul into two mid sixties Fender combos- one Deluxe and one Tremolux. Boss Ds-1, Vox wah, Intellifex for stereo reverbs and delays, Dano flanger on one side. I wanted to use this awesome sounding Leslie sim but can't.