Danelectro DJ-3 BLT Echo

I've had this pedal for a few years now. Its very easy to use cuz it just got two knobs. One for mix and one for delay type.

I play an austin strat through my fender frontman or peavey rage. Strictly low budget guy here... The delay on this pedal is great for fooling around and practicing on your little combo amp but I wouldn't give it much confidence for playing live. This thing will work great in a home studio though. Its perfect for that.

You definately can get that surf rock/50's rockabilly sound outta this thing. Its actually pretty cool and somewhat versatile. Its too bad that the pedal's output is so weak that it doesnt work very well with other pedals. It gets drown out in front of distortion pedals and with bigger amps. You get the best sound by using it by itself on a small combo amp.

Its taken its share of dings but it hasn't broken yet. I wouldnt want to drop it from a height of more than 3 feet though. Its made of cheap danelectro plastic.

Overall this is a nice rockabilly/surf effect to mess around with at home. It does what it is advertised as doing. It gives you that vintage slap echo sound but it won't blow anybody away. Don't use it at a live show, its much too weak. If you wanna spend under 40 bucks for a nice toy to mess around and maybe use for home studio jobs, then get it. But if you expect to change your whole sound with this pedal, you are kidding yourself.

This is yet another review of this pedal by myself. I've sold it since submitting the last one because I've found that it, as well as all the Dano mini pedals, work well except for one thing. They do degrade the tone of your guitar if you use them in front of your amp. If you put them in an effects loop it's OK but between a good guitar and a good amp they definitely degrade your sound. With a cheap setup this doesn't matter and the effect itself may even improve things. With my HRDx it was OK in the effects loop but I now use a Fender Blues Junior which doesn't have one. Putting a pedal without a true bypass in front of the BJ makes the clean tone go from great to average and I've found that the Dano pedals do this more than my Boss pedals.

This is a follow up to my review 7 down (the one from Ireland). I have to appologise to Danelectro for slagging their pedal. It turns out that the pack of batteries I'd bought were ALL weak and were making the hiss. With the pedalboard power unit I now have (or a decent battery) this pedal is wonderful. I can get as much or as little echo as I could wish without any degradation or thinning of the original sound of my guitar and amp. I use this instead of reverb to improve the overall sound and it works a treat. Full marks.

There are two knobs to dial in the "Mix" of the echo and the the "Repeat" of the echo. The "Mix" knob controls how loud the repeated sounds are. the "Repeat" knob controls how many repeats there are after the initial sound is made. then of course, there is the on/off button. very easy to use, maybe too easy. i kind of wish there were a few more options.

i am using an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with a Fender Performer 650 hybrid combo amp. i got this pedal since the reverb on my amp does not work when i have the footswitch plugged in (and i NEED that footswitch plugged in). This pedal does not give as deep a reverb as my amp's but it can give you many different types of ambience and short delay. my favourite setting is to put both knobs pointing at 12 o'clock. this gives me a good lead echo/delay. don't expect too much out of this pedal. it gives you very short delay but then again, that's not what this pedal is. it's an ECHO pedal, not a delay. you can sort of get a "Welcome to the Jungle" intro delay going so that's cool. no real problems here, although i wish, again, that there were more knobs to fiddle around with and get more different sounds.

well, here's the thing. it's made out of plastic and it feels like it's made out of plastic. it's almost a toy. i wouldnt say it's sturdily built since if i shake it, i can hear the battery moving around and the circuitry is RIGHT next to the battery so i'm scared that something's gonna snap in there. i can very easily see myself breaking this thing but i usually take very good care of my gear so it should be ok. my only other gripe is that the "Repeat" knob pot was scratchy right out of the box. but that really doesnt matter too much.

haven't dealt with them.

i play lots of guns n roses and i bought this pedal because i needed something to beef up my lead tone just a little bit. this pedal is best used as a small adjustment tool to tweak your sound. dont expect TOO much out of this pedal while it's alone. however, you can get some great sounds when you're playing clean. it helps your clean tone a LOT. it creates great ambience and atmosphere and can be dialled in to get some creepy sounds (if you're playing the right chords). i wouldnt say it was worth the $55 (canadian) that i bought it for but it's a nice little thing that i'll use until i get a real delay pedal.

The BLT only has two knobs, one for mix and one for repeat, so needless to say, its easy to operate. Getting a good sound out of this unit couldn't be any easier. Pretty much just plugging it in gives you a good sound, the knob tweaking simply allows you to more personalize the echo.

At first I had alot of trouble getting the BLT to work properly. There was a very bad low frequency hum present whenever it was plugged in, but eventually I figured out that there was something wrong with the BLT's ability to utilize a 9V adaptor. So now I just use a 9V battery and viola, no more hum. But getting to the actual sound of the BLT, its very much a vintage-type tape echo that sounds VERY good. I don't have a functioning reverb on my amp, so this is my reverb, and believe me, it does reverb and alot more. Lots of artists of the 60s and some more modern sounds can be captured here. In combination with my Snarling Dogs Tweed E Dog pedal, I can get some very convincing Velvet Underground tones. The echo is not a delay, and no one sound mistake it as one. Regular delay is much more crisp and clear, while the tape echo sound of the BLT is more ambient and open. I love the sound of this pedal and I'm only docking a point because there is a bit of added color to your tone once the unit is on. I would rather have it be completely transparent, but not to worry, the added color is nice and doesn't really take away from your sound.

Reliability is questionable for this unit, because of the problems I mentioned above, but other than that I don't see any reason why it would break down. The casing seems durable enough and I've never had a problem with other Danelectro pedals breaking down. I would definitely gig without a backup.

I've never dealt with Danelectro and hopefully I won't have to. I was considering sending the pedal back, but now that it works with the battery, I don't see any reason to.

If you don't have a sufficient reverb on your amp or are just looking for a vintage-type tape delay effect, this is it. I've been playing for about eight years now and own a few guitars including a Miller Strat copy and a Cortley LP copy, both of which have been heavily modified from their original condition, and I play into a Fender Princeton Reverb from the early seventies. If this was stolen (not likely) I would probably just buy another since they're so damn cheap. For this price, you're not gonna find anything like it. Just watch out for those faulty 9V adaptor slots.

Its easy to get a good sound, 2 knobs- Mix and Repeat.
It could use an adjustable delay time, but that would have increased the price.
Delay Time set at around 110ms-130ms. Mix control works more smoothly than other echos I've tried. Repeat knob is also smooth in range.

Fender Strat, '59 Bassman RI, Boss SD-1.
Not noticeably noisy, especially when compared to some older real analog delays that make horrible metallic hissing noises.
I leave it on all the time.
It definately has that shower-stall echo sound, a bit tunnel-like, but acceptable if you aren't too picky.
I bought it to use with my Fender amp, since it has no reverb. Fills out the sound nicely.
Repeats aren't extremely clear and upfront like a typical digital delay, they're more muddy like the subtle repeats on an analog delay.
It sounds very good, but not pristine.

Small plastic case, metal bottom and button, typical for the low price. For use at home, I'm not gigging with it. I could get by without it if it did break.

I play rock n roll, 13 years. Single coils and clean amps.
I've tried alot of amp/effects modellers, sold them all. Pedals sound the best, though they are noisier and more expensive. This will suffice until I get a Maxon or steal a MoogerFooger.

2 knobs. Very easy to use.

Excellent sound with any guitar and amp. Short quick echo. Can give a bit of a hiss if used with a wall wart in the middle of a bunch of other pedals. But since it is not used with anything else except maybe a touch of reverb or a touch of gain, there is no hiss.

I have had it for a year now. Batteries seem to last a long time. I don't use it for every song. Just for surf music.

I play anything. I use this pedal for surf music only. With maybe a touch of reverb. Everyone's eyes go wide and the surf medley is very popular with the crowd. I sometimes use it with a harmonica. I only use it with batteries. It even looks good. If you play only 1 surf song, it's worth buying. If you don't like it, you can sell it for more than you paid for it on ebay. For only 25 bucks U.S. "new" and for the great sound, you can't give it less than a 10.

The Dano "BLT" is a simple yet effective to work with. The BLT is what most pedals should be: easy to use and inexpensive!
Dano includes a manual that is not specific or needed-but cool anyway.

I'm using the Dano BLT with a Dano Milkshake Chorus with a Fender Strat thru a Fender Princeton 65 amp. The BLT is actually quieter than the Milkshake and is extremley easy to use. The BLT sounds equally as good thru the clean or overdrive channel.

This series of Dano pedals are made of plastic-but seem sturdy enough to hold up over the long haul. So far, so good (as the saying goes). I will use the BLT without a backup.
I'll give it a "9" for it's plastic casing.

I have found Dano to be very supportive to musicians. If you have a problem contact them via email.
They can be slow in replying but I think they're working on it.

I play in a style that is "retro" in it's roots! From classic rock of the 50s, 60s,70s, 80s to country to blues. I've been playing for 30 years. I would replace this pedal in the event it was lost or stolen.
Dano impresses me with it's good prices and their classic looks. They have made collecting pedals fun again!

Its got two knobs. Not exactly rocket science. Very easy to use.

I use a Fender Tele and a Epiphone SG and it sounds pretty good. I run it through either a Marshall MKII or a 1976 Marshall Park Tube. I like the sound.

I've been using it for over a year and it hasnt failed me yet. It's been dropped probably 10 times and it still sounds great. I always use this at a show and very rarely bring a back up unless I'm playing a rather set.

I've never had to deal with them. I guess thats a good sign that their products are made with care.

I play a lot of punk music, mostly Clash and this pedal comes in handy for a lot of songs. I've been playing for 3 years and I doubt I'll ever buy another echo pedal if this one holds up like it has. If it were stolen or lost I would definitley buy another one.

Plug in, twiddle, go...

Echo is OK but there is too much hiss.

Seems OK but is plastic.

?

I like the echo sound but I don't like the background hiss. I spent ages getting a setup I liked that I could get a versatile and usable tone from (U.S.Tele + Fender Hotrod Deluxe Amp) and I don't appreciate having it mucked up with hissing. Call me fussy if you like but I'm not having nigh on #2000 worth of gear sounding like a cheap Squire/tranny combination because of a pedal. Does anyone out there know of an analogue type echo that doesn't affect your basic sound quality?