Danelectro DJ-21 Black Coffee Metal Distortion

Like most Danelectros, This is a pretty standard, simple pedal. Very easy to use.

Can somone explain to me why this is called a mini effect? This thing is A BEAST! I've never heard something so Hardcore in my life. My setup: Fender Strat Repl.>>>Fender M-80 (clean)>>>This pedal>>>Danelectro Pastrami>>>Danelectro PB&J. It's a very sharp, very noisy pedal, but adding bass can make it very close to Metallica. Unlike what most people say, this thing works whisper quiet for me on the humbucker, there's hardly no feedback at all, which is great.

I would absolutely gig with this, because I'm not rough on my pedals. I have to agree though, it's hard to sit on the fact that it's made by plastic components, but still... how damn rough do you have to be on these things? You push the button, it works, and it runs on a 9V battery. Simple! I don't see the point in stomping the Sh*t out of this thing and kicking it around on stage.

Never had to deal with them.

I play Heavy Metal, so this was right smack dab what I needed. For 75$ (CAN), this is by far the best pedal I've used. I'm a guy who is used to the boxed in sound of he amplifier itself's distorion, so it makes for one hell of a jump. I strongly reccomend it for anyone and everyone who are into Heavy Metal.

Well... I'm sure there is a use for this pedal, but not in my set. When I think of a "metal tone" pedal, the old Rampage or Metal Master pedals come to mind. The "tone" that you get from this pedal is awful. It's very thin, sizzly, not anything you can seriously rock with. Do you remember those old guitars with the speaker built in and "distortion" effect? That's what it sounds like.

In "passive" mode, your batteries still get eaten up and there is noise added to the clean signal.

The knobs are very thin, one has already broken off while in my gig bag. Overall, the reliability of this thing... you can count on it to always sound like crap.

With a little tweaking, it's pretty easy to get a usable metal guitar sound out of this pedal. And by metal, I mean late 70s/early 80s bordering on hair metal, but that's what I like.

I'm using this with a Strat, Tele and Dano 56U2 and a Fender Blues Deluxe amp, and this pedal makes them all sound the same, so the sound really lives in this pedal. It can be noisy since the distortion seems to be set to 12 internally, but I found that I can control it with my guitar's volume. That lessens the distortion and gives you more control over it. I like the bass and treble controls. For me, what works best is having the bass at 3/4 and the treble at 1/4. Sounds like Van Halen to me. Add a flanger and you're Eddie, without the bad lead singer choices (C'mon Eddie, swallow your pride and beg Dave to come back!!)

Haven't gigged with it yet, but I've gigged with other Danelectro pedals and they're fine. Just don't stomp on them like a monkey.

Don't know and don't care. If it broke, I'd find another one on Ebay, or not.

I play all kinds of music and I like to listen to all kinds. This pedal appeals to my metal side. Not really usable for any other style of music. Maybe for adding a really metal solo to something.

For me, this pedal is easy to get a good sound out of, but then again, this is my ultra gain pedal. The pedal has three knobs, Level, Bass, and Treble.

My setup is Hamer Vector or ESP LTD MH-201 into this pedal, and into my drive 30w SS 1x12 practice amp, or my Peavey Vintage Tube Series Rockmaster 120w tube head with a Laney 2x12 cab. The pedal does have a hum to it and is noisy because of the high gain, but what high gainer isn't. I have, now, two really great and heavy distortion pedals. One that is kinda Mesa voiced, and can go from blues to death metal and beyond (now that's high gain), but I really don't like using it for that. So, using these two pedals makes my amps a nice three channeller rather than a one channel amp or a two channel with a bad distortion. The effects are quite strong and work very well. I can get a vibe of my favorite artists which is a lot more inspiring than having an exact copy of the sound, because having my own sound is always best. My favorite artists are Megadeth, Metallica, Children of Bodom, Anthrax, etc. The reason this gets a eight instead of a ten, is because for those who don't play metal, aren't going to like this. However, I really like this, and I would get it a 10, if only it weren't noisy. Noise pedal would probably solve a lot of problems

I can depend on this, since I dont jump on this thing. Would I gig without a backup? No, I wouldn't gig with it at all. Why? It's a little too abrasive for a band situation, meaning it wouldn't stand out, I dont think.

I play metal. It's a good match for thrash, death, black, power, and other extreme types of metal, but as for hair metal or something, nah. If this were lost, stolen or dead, I would definitely buy another. It's a fun toy to mess around with. If it were more than 40, I would get a Rocktron item. But for 30 bucks, it's a fun pedal to mess with. Also, this gets a 10 because it fits my needs perfectly.

already been covered; simple

Horrible...I use various guitars, most of which are equipped with Seymour Duncan pickups (and usually hot humbuckers at that). It's not really too noisy on it's own...the tone is just very lifeless and low quality. No mojo. I used this a little on a couple 4-track home recordings, and usually with other fuzzes and distorions for more gain saturation...basically, I used it to create noise.

I've used these mini-danos before and never had any problems. I refuse to give a low rating just for the plastic case

never dealt with 'em

I play a little bit of everything (classic rock, modern rock, blues, experimental, etc.) This pedal is mainly only useful for noisy experiments.

I don't need to worry about it getting stolen 'cause I already sold it...doubt anyone in their right mind would steal it anyway.

I've used a Big Muff, Univox Square Wave, Maestro Fuzz Tone RI, Vox Valvetone, DS-1, Subdecay Stupid Box, etc. etc. etc. The Black coffee is definitely more along the lines of fuzz, but without the character of the Big Muff. Of course, given a choice between the Maestro reish and the black coffee, I'd have to go with the coffee. But I'd take just about anything else over this Dano.

Overall, I sit on the fence with Danelectro products. The stuff they've got is pretty unique and inexpensive. Lot's of low-quality stuff, but once in awhile you stumble across a gem (Fish & Chips, Surf & Turf, Tuna Melt, Dan-Echo, Cool Cat, etc.)...I'd never recommend the Black Coffee to anyone.

As someone strongly addicted to black coffee, I can honestly say I'm offended to have it named after my favorite drink. sick.

It's very simple to use. I'll give em that much.

When I first got it, it sounded good. After continuous use, it kept getting worse. It was really noisy when you weren't playing and if the pedal got a little bit cold, it would'nt even distort anymore. It sounded like a fat guy farting. It was just really bad. I thought maybe I just got a defective one and got different one and I was wrong. Apparently they're all like that. It's just a peice of shit. No one I can think of uses one. (No the battery wasn't dead either. I change my batteries every month and use power sources when in my house.) I also owned a Danelectro Wah and "Pastrami" overdrive and they were just as bad if not worse. They have no character or personality or a decent tone.

This thing is a poor excuse. The knobs all busted off a couple month's after I bought it. The casing is incredibly cheap as well. The fucken thing split in two! It didn't even have a long fall to the ground. The input jacks were also coming apart.

Never Dealt With Them.

I play metal and this thing just didn't come close. I should have spent like 20 more bucks and got a BOSS pedal when I got this thing. Here's a hint: It's probably not a very good pedal for rock or metal if it's named after food, Black Coffee Metal Distortion? Grilled Cheese Distortion? Pastrami Overdrive? What the hell are they thinking? No serious artist would use something with "Grilled Cheese" in the name. I'm begging all of you not to buy this or any other Danelectro pedal. You'll be very disapointed in the long run.

Danelectro is famous for ease of use, simple, predictable, absolutely no surpises (i.e. move the knob a pinch, gets crazy) here.
Couldn't get any simpler than Danos

Too much noise, just way too much for me to give it a good rating. The only way to cut down the noise is to (almost) kill the treble, which is not good. Sound very dry also.

I could never play this stomp alone & plugged straight to clean channel. The best (& only) way for it to be usable is to use it with other distortion or thru the overdriven channel.

After tinkering with it for a while, I finally found a use for it. For a pre-amp volume/treble booster when you're onstage whipping out a solo and need extra "bite" to come thru the sound of your rythm player(s).

One last thing: It doesn't do well with tubes.

Can't really tell. I've used it about 3 times onstage, but never really "pushed" it to the edge of breaking.

Never Dealt

I play Heavy Metal, the melodic kind (i.e. Children of Bodom, Cradle,etc)
Very noisy, ended up being an "auxiliary" pedal, doesn't really do anything special.
Still a good bargain though.

Good way to get a great rock/metal sound, is to keep the friggin treble down. When its up, it sounds like crap. WIth the bass at 6-8 and the treble at around 2-3, you can get a really good sound.

Im using a Tradition Soulster (with SD distortion pickup) - - Seiko Tuner - - Danelectro Black Coffee - - Kustom QUAD65.
Its noisy, relaly noisy. But that can be changed by adjusting the treble, it really helps. I love the sound i get with my new amp, on the old one it sounded like crap.
I dont know who it sounds like, but it kicks arse anyway.

Its in a weak casing, but for the price, who cares. Its all plastic, so dont stomp too hard with it. Id gig without a backup. But always replace the battery before a show, sounds like shit on battery.

Never delt with them

I play prog-metal, death metal, rock, and some ska/punk. it sounds good with it, but the distortion is off the charts, so it really suits more hard metal.
I would probably buy someting else if it was stolen, but i like it right now anyway.
I love the sound, i hate how it was built. Really weak.
I bought it on a whim, when i saw it, and the price, im like "Yeah 8-)".
I wish it had a gain knob, that would have been nice.

Three knobs, volume, bass, and treble. The knobs are very small I felt. It was kind of annoying to try and mess with them and I have small hands for a guy so it must be hard if you have big hands. Bought it second hand from a friend of a friend without hearing it, but it was only ten dollars so not TOO much lost I guess...

When I hooked it up and hit the button with my foot I couldn't believe how loud it was! I was just standing there not playing and this noise from my amp blaring. The noise is just ridiculous. Never stop playing with this thing or people will be booing you off stage. It's also really trebly, which I don't like so it really doesn't suit me at all. I don't know why they call this a metal distortion because I haven't heard any metal bands play somehting like this. Maybe would be good for a Steve Albini sound (Guy who produced Nirvana's In Utero and was in Big Black, hardcore metal band in teh 80's) but I don't know. He has a real harsh, dry sound. It's really harsh and I can't take too much before I turn it off. Not a lot of control I feel from the knobs either.

hmmm it's plastic, so doesn't look too good on this front. Knobs wer wobbly and the guy before me hardly used it either.

N/A

It's really cheap but I still wouldn't bother buying it because there is very little usefulness for it. I doubt that many people could find much use for it. Save your money and buy a Boss or something.

Simple enough. Threre isa treble, a bass, and a voliume level control on it. Can get many tones out of it with a good amp. Dont even bother with batteries. Its not worth geting the batterie case open! Just my opinion. Ate up my dano 9 volt like me eating a sandwhich. But thats just because dano batteries SUCK!

Never used a noisier pedal. It sounds great though. The thing i like to do is run it through the overdrive/gain channel on the amp with almost no gain. This gives it an exellent more vintage 70s distorsion. I use it more. The clean channel gives it the trebley metal tones. Another thing is the sustain on this pedal. It can hold notes until the cows come home. It can get some big muff tones with the bass up a lot. One other thing i do is used the guitars voliume controls while the pedal is on. This will instead of lowering the voliume just lessen the distorsion. I have a fender princton chorus and a peavy rage 158. The pedal sounds magnificiant through the chorus with lots of chorus and mid. Through the peavy on the gain channel, i like to set it to a vintage amp model. It gives me 70s power rock like blue oyster cult and led zeppelin. Excellent. Amazing tonal versatility.

Only thing to really watch is the knobs. The level knob broke right off at the stump. TO AVOID THIS, DONT PUT IT IN YOUR GUITAR CASE!! Danos "vintage" metal looking knobs are just reinforced HOLLOW plastic!! Dont stomp on it with a boot either.

Never did send this pedal in tix the knob. However, i did send in my broken dano mini amp. Even though im here in massachusits and dano is in CA, they sent a NEW mini amp within 2 weeks. Very nice! I give a 9 for there annoying press 1 for... phone message thing. Its like a maze.

perfect for ANY music with distortion!!! Through the gain channel and clean channel. Just expieriment with it and your amp and it will definetly surprise you. It goes far beyond a metal distortion pedal! Great for its price. Will match any BOSS or EH distortion pedal anyday