Danelectro DJ-21 Black Coffee Metal Distortion

Very simple

If you are not playing, there is a distinct buzz. You can alter this but the buzz is still there. When you play it, the buzz goes away. So basically I just keep it off until I start a song then turn it off when the song is over. I play it for lead in my worship team at church which is basically a punk type style I guess you could say. Awesome sounding distortion. Sometimes it takes awhile to get a good setting though.

I "gig" it every sunday for church and when my band has shows. I suggest buying the purple case that comes w/ the power adapter, because batteries go away rather quick. You also will have to be semi-gentle with it since its plastic.

For the price, you definately cannot beat this pedal. This is more of a new age type distortion, not like fuzzy stuff. It really screams. It sounds really good palm-muted also. Since I have very little money, I would definately buy it again because of the unbeatable price. I play a Fender Tele

This pedal kicks ass, I went 2 the local store , tryed it out and BANG! I found the pedal of my dreams, i love playing stuff like KoRn, Slipknot, and Disturbed.

I have a crappy Squier strat and a Squier 15 Champ amp but it sounds PREMIUM. At first i had sum trouble with a lil feedback, but roll the knobs around a lil and it should do the trick

DONT JUMP ON THE THING! Its only plastic, if u want 2 JUMP on ur pedals go buy a Boss Medal zone, or a BIG muff distortion ( if u can find it ) I would gig with it cuz i love it

Havent dealt with them yet, but frum the guys above it sounds like there good ppl

I play insane medal like Slipknot, Pantera, KoRn, and Disturbed. It was EVERYTHING i need . I kinda want 2 get a punker kinda sound sumtimes , so this pedal didnt work 4 that cuz its a METAL distortion , its made 4 METAL playing and thats what it does VERY VERY well

Its easy...even if you just a beginner you'll understand what to do to change sound...level - bass - tremble.

So it was custom Jackson and 15 watt Marshall G15RCD ... you know..it sucks..really sucks....Just a noisy (metal?? maybe I dont like this shit).. I cant play punk with it.. I bought it 2 months ago, but now i sold it and going to buy BOSS OS-2 overdrive/distortion.. Me setting was little bass (1/4), half tremble and full level...I had to put valume of guitar to half to play without noise. BIG feedback

plastic...suxx . Battary dies very fast... and if it dying the sound becomes more awful..

I didn't use it...

I play punk and alternative but I hate this sound effect..

I'm from Russia so sorry for mistake... I hope you understand what I mean...

very easy, 3 knobs... very simple

for my band, dallas winston, i use a 4x12 peavy cab and a peavy butcher head. this pedal rocks, a little noisy, but is perfect for any form of punk/hardcore or for anyone wanting a good crunch for their band.

this thing rocks, give perfect sound for my puropse...good stuff man...im cant wait to use it again.

3 knobs (Level, Bass, Treble) and a footswitch. EZ. No manual, though but it's not needed.

I'm playing this though a hot-rodded lefty Johnson guitar (tapped bridge and neck humbuckers) and a Fender Frontman 25 watt solid state amp. By itself, that pedal has A LOT of gain. Much more that the T-Bone (I thought that was pretty high gain). The gain level isn't adjustable but if you're going to play metal, you're going to max the gain anyway. Tapping and pinch harmonics are EASY with this baby. However, it has a weak bass response. I have the bass knob maxed and the treble knob at 3 o'clock on the pedal and it's still pretty thin sounding. Fortunatly, I have the Fish & Chips pedal and boosted the bass alot and boosted the mids ever so slightly. Much better. This pedal doesn't sound anything like the T-Bone, it sounds like the Pastrami Overdrive with three times the gain and the mids scooped. This pedal has so much gain, you MUST have a humbucker installed or you'll have a horrible buzz. A noise gate is recommended. It'll keep it from feeding back when you want it to shut up. I'm glad I have one. So, pedal by itself, 7. Pedal with EQ pedal, noise gate, and compressor (keep those harmonics squalin' even longer), 9. Not a very heavy sounding pedal but great for 80's metal.

Plastic casing but it's pretty rugged. I have several Dano mini pedals and they're pretty sturdy. Don't be a 'tard and jump on it and it'll last a long time.

My Chili Dog pedal started messing up so I shipped it back and they sent me a new one. No questions asked.

Not a versitile as the Boss Metal Zone but this does a great job holding it's own compared head-to-head. A great high-gain distortion pedal. Perfect for headbangers or a budget.

Real easy to use, but you can actually get a variety of sounds out of it if you take the time to play with the knobs. Really simple, though.

The sound that comes through this pedal is frickin crazy! It howls and crunches so damn hard! I mean thick, heavy, fuzzed out, crunch-to-the-max lows, and sick, howling distorted sustain on the highs. Very nice. The only problem is that you can't adjust the level of distortion. This thing is on or off. You can vary it a little with your tone control though.

I've never had one of these fail on me, but the fact that it's made of plastic makes me a little nervous. I don't stomp my pedals, so I won't break it with normal use.

For gigs I always put in a fresh battery, because this thing sounds like a fuzz box with the flu when it's low on juice. I'll probably just get the power source and stop worrying about it.

Never dealt with these people, so I can't give an opinion.

Sounds perfect for me, I play bass in a goth metal/speed metal band and I can just shred away with this thing. I can very closely match the bass sound that Twiggy gets in Marilyn Manson's version of Sweet Dreams.

This thing is exactly what I needed, perfect for my kind of music. If I lost this thing I would go get another, or maybe consider getting the Black Licorice. Come to think of it, I'd stick with this thing. Hell, I can get two for the price of a Metal Zone and go totally insane.

I like this thing so much, I wouldn't even trade it for a Metal Zone. It's just exactly what I need, I can get my sound rockin' right away. I do wish it had adjustable distortion, but that would just be so I could play around a little. I'd leave it cranked anyway.

For the price this thing is absolutely awesome.

it would take a moron not to be able use any dano pedal . it has 3 knobs level,bass,treble not to hard to figure out how to work it :)

i play hardocre/metal/hard-punk ( none of that blink 182 crap you hear on mtv ) adn its absolutly perfect for it. never had problem with afeedback couple times but i just turned the volumne knob on my les pual down quite simple solution :) .

long battery life ( i have found out that for best perormance use a dano power supply or a dano battery ) seems prety solid excpet for the knobs but i just broke em of put some nice super glue nd havent had a problem with em ill give it a 9 just cause the knobs

never had to really deal wiht em just once and they were really nice peeps

the thing is perfect almost.i have tried a smash box but it just didnt seem to ahve as good as qualtiy sound

Pretty damn simple, level knob, bass knob, treble knob and a button for on and off, no manual,(who would need one?) it's just three knobs and a button

RUDE,RUDE,RUDE.... I would hate to here what Black Licorice sounds like. I played it through a fender strat w/ emg's 81/sa/sa through a tech21 trademark 60 and it howled till the cows came home, there is no controlling this pedal, I would put the volume on zero and it still fedback, the effect is great but it is so in your face. and ther is no control...RUDE RUDE PEDAL

I have seven dany's and my bass player has four, I don't smash my pedals so I think they will last ok. Heavy footers should probably go for a boss ,dod, or stringers

never dealt with them, at the price paid and the demand for them I would figure it should be pretty good.

First off, me and my bass player have decided these mini dany's are great, they are like Pokeman cards, we buy em and trade em, with one another, you can't go wrong. we play classic/newer rock, we've been together for about six months, I personally do not like it but it definately suits someone else needs, had I had it 7 years ago when I was into death metal it would have been the cheese for my whine. a switch to make it -10 db would be nice... RUDE RUDE PEDAL

The pedal is extremely easy to use, two knobs and one switch. A trained monkey could operate the thing.

I use an Ibanez RG270 and a Peavey Envoy 110 amp with mine. The pedal is pretty noisey and I know it is used for distortion but, theres a difference between crappy noise and clean raw distortion. The thing sounds like it was cheaply made, it gives off a 60's style hum thats unexplainible. I paid very little for this pedal so I suppose I got what I paid for. Actually to be honost, my amp puts out a better sounding distortion than this pedal does so I don't really use the pedal anymore. My advice to you is not to purchase this item, unless your amp puts out no distortion at all...than this pedal should be considered (if you on a budget of course).

I wouldn't use this pedal without a backup. But, the thing is fairly sturdy. Something about the black plastic makes me unsure of its durability. I don't usually stomp down hard on my pedals so I suppose its gonna last a while for me. If you like pounding on yours however, try something thats more reliable.

I havn't dealt with the company but I am sure they are friendly. The website it quite informative also.

I play alternative rock/punk and this pedal doesn't really help me out at all. I have been playing for 6 or so years and I plan on purchasing alot more guitars gear in the future. If mine was stolen or lost I would probably never know it because i never use the thing. I dont like the sound but it looks kinda neat. Out of all the danelectro pedals I tried out at the store, i chose this one. That doesn't say alot about danelectro. I just wish the damn thing sounded better. If you wanna hear how it sounds e-mail me, I'll play any style on any setting for you and send you the file.

Easy to use, sound is mean, what manual?

I can't believe the average review on this thing is 7.5, I went to the music store and compared the Jack Hammer, Smash Box, and Coffee back to back on a Rhoads model Jackson. #1 The Jack Hammer is over rated for metal. #2 Smash Box was dis-appointing #3 Coffee shreds. If your looking for a modern metal pedal buy this one and as far as feedback the JCM 900 (Over rated) does the same thing, tip= roll the volume knob back.

I don't think you could stomp on this thing but mine hasn't broken yet..

Haven't delt with them...

My style is metal and this pedal is the best I have heard for just searing metal distortion. I have been playing for 15 years. I own a Crate amp, Digitech Rack, Jackson DXMG, I have played on Marshall Crate and Laney amps, Fender, Gibson, and Kramer Guitars, Used BOSS, DOD, Digitech, and Danelectro Effects. I would buy it again if it were lost or stolen. For the price man this one rocks...