Danelectro DJ-3 BLT Echo

I bought one Dano effect (Tuna Melt) it was o.k. so I ordered a BLT slap echo. Sounds cool-like Scotty Moore the Elvis guitar player. However the plastic screw that holds the back cover was broken when I got it. Sent the screw back with a letter and they sent me the broken screw back, no new one? They are hard to get ahold of by mail, always changing their address, no e-mail, don't return calls. I work in a machine shop so I made a metal screw out of a 12-28 thread. Doubt the cheap plastic housing will hold up to it.

I use mostly Fender tube amps, play old rock and roll, Rockabilly, blues, Sounds good for this and Bo-Diddley. Gets a good slap-back and a kind of reverb.

It was already broke new so how could I trust it?

No customer support, see above.

Sounds o.k. but I see why they they name them after food. Good today gone tomorrow buy more. I will not buy any more of this brand. Not worth my time to send the whole thing back. (Ordered on line.) I consider this a cheap lesson to buy locally.I knew before but forgot.

Very easy.

I use only for playing harp through. It's fine for it's price and because very small. Doesn't sound nearly as nice as my DOD FX-96 analog delay or my Yamaha Magicstomp. However, I sometimes use it with a mini amp for practicing. Sounds decent for what it is.

No problems.

For being dirt cheap, it's pretty decent and simple to use. However, there are nicer sounding pedals out there.

This unit is very straightforward and easy to use. Two knobs and an on/off switch is all you really need for this effect. By simply adding it in between guitar and amp like any other pedal and making a few adjustments to suit one's individual taste, one can have a usable "slap back" sound within seconds. The parameters of the controls do not allow for a great deal of variation, but this pedal is designed to serve a very specific and limited purpose anyway.

I tested this pedal with a Strat into a Vox amp, and the results were very satisfying. This pedal lends itself to rigs like mine intended to produce retro tones from the fifties and sixties. If you're a shredder, punk rocker or metal head of any sort, you should stay away from this pedal. It does, however, produce a warm and mild echo reminiscient of an old analog tape delay. The best and most recognizable examples of this sound are found in the old recordings from Sun Studios, such as early Elvis with Scotty Moore on guitar. For a more recent reference, it's similar to Brian Setzer's sound. The pedal is very quiet both when engaged and disengaged; switching is also virtually noise free. Overall, the sound is very warm and not at all harsh or sterile like the Boss DD-6 Digital Delay it replaced in my rig (which also cost me nearly 4 times the price paid for the Dano BLT). Any player who seeks classic electric guitar tones for Surf, Rockabilly, Blues, or Alt-Country should buy this pedal - there are many on the market that can do the same basic thing, but none for this price!

I perform regularly and would have no hesitation whatsoever in playing live through this pedal. Some users have reported "horrible white noise" after a period of use with the BLT Echo, but I suspect this is simply the result of battery failure (since this is common with many types of pedals). I recommend using the pedal with an AC adaptor, since access to the battery compartment is inconvenient compared with most pedals on the market. Also, I wish the chassis were medal instead of plastic. I haven't encountered any problems with this yet, but we'll see how this pedal holds up to having its little brains bashed out by me while gigging.

I haven't had to deal with Danelectro yet. To me, the best customer service is the kind you never need to resort to because the product doesn't break in the first place.

This is a good pedal even though it is designed to serve only a limited purpose. It does its job well, especially for the price. If you're a player who wants to sound like your favorite old recordings without the expense and reliability risks of using vintage gear, buy this pedal.

The easiest pedal unit I personally own. Two knobs "mix" and "repeat" to adjust the amount of dry/wet signal and to adjust the number of echoes.
You don't need any kind of manual or instructions. Just mess around with it for a few hours and you will discover the settings you like.

I play with Fender Telecaster/Ibanez RG -> EHX Doctor Q -> EHX Double Muff -> EHX Small Stone Phaser -> Behringer OD100 -> Danelectro DJ-3 -> Korg AX1 -> Marshall JCM 800 w/ 2x12 cabinet (100 W).
This unit doesn't make any noise but it makes noise sound louder when it is on, probably beacuse it echoes everything that reaches its input. So try and be careful with the amount of noise that comes from the rest of your FX chain. i.e. an overdriven autowah sound with the DJ-3 on it is annoyingly noisy when you don't play anything.
You can use it with both knobs around 11-12 o'clock as a reverb unit or with both knobs at 9 o'clock to add some sustain. Very useful settings for lead parts and solos. When you turn both knobs at maximum you get a sound perfect for country and bluegrass styles...which are not my thing. It is also useful for creating a richer distorted rhythm guitar sound with mix knob at 11 o'clock and repeat at 9 o'clock.
The only bad thing I found is that when you play clean rhythm guitar using delay it kinda sucks out almost all the harmonics.

Made out of hard plastic it seems to need an extra care when carrying it out for gigs, recordings or rehearsals. But I've done all these and nothing bad happened to it.
I also must say that I bought it (1,5 year) used and it was in perfect condition. The knobs and the footswitch are working alright and the plastic cover is not broken or cracked.

Never had to deal with Danelectro or the dealer that sold the unit to me...but I shall mention that when searching at their website I found almost nothing. No technical specs, no dealer catalog, no big pics...just a small image of the pedal and three lines of useless information.

Well...before I bought it I was thinking "if it wasn't used I would have to pay double the money I paid for it and 60 EUR are too much money for something like that and I would never give it". But when I plugged this very-very small piece of fx into my pedalboard I found out that I could make it useful in many different ways. I love the rich smooth guitar sound and in most songs I play with tons of delay. Using it with my delay unit I can create at least 5 different, very nice effects so I think it's worth the money it costs.

Of course out there you can find many other more expensive Echo units that probably can create more sounds and have a better quality. But when paying 40-60 EUR you know what you can expect...and beleive me you expect less than it can give! If you want my opinion don't go and buy one of those expensive, vintage, short delay units unless you hear this one! I think it is capable to give this extra "echo thing" to your sound and you won't have to pay a fortune.

I own it the last 3 months and I really love right now! I would go buy another one if it was lost or stolen...but I am not such a jerk to lose my gear!

Two knobs: depth and repeat. Can't get much simpler than that.No manual, just some suggested settings on the back of the package(which you really don't need. Just twist some knobs, it's impossible to sound like crap).

I'm using a late 70's/ early 80's Memphis '72 Tele Custom copy, through the BLT, a Dan-o Tuna Melt tremolo, and a Fab Tone distortion, to a Music Man 65 112 RP. I play a mix of old school country, blues, rockabilly, and garage. This thing is designed to emulate the slapback echo on all those mid-50's Sun records and Cliff Gallup's tone on the Gene Vincent records. It comes DAMN CLOSE. Conjures up images of a hot-rodded '32 Ford deuce coupe with a flathead V8 and a flame job, with a Bettie Page-lookin' chick in black leather in the passenger seat smoking a cigarette, with Gene Vincent at the wheel. However, turn up the mix and the repeat towards max, with the Tuna Melt set on "hard" with the depth all the way up and the speed at 3 O'clock, with the Music Man's built in phase shifter results in some ungodly weird space alien sounds. Not too sure how usable that setting would be live, but it's fun as hell to play around with.

Not had it long enough to tell, and I'm primarily a bedroom player these days. Never had a problem with any Danelectro gear. They ARE plastic, but as long as you don't stomp on them like an idiot they should be fine. What the hell do you people do to break your pedals anyway?

Never had to deal with 'em

As I said before, I'm a country, rockabilly, blues, surf and garage player, and I got this to give me those mid-50's Sun records sounds. It'll do that and does it VERY well. I've been impressed with all the Dan-o minis so far. Great stuff, especially considering that everything else out there is 4 or 5 times more expensive. If you're a rockabilly cat or a wannabe rockabilly cat and on a budget, take a gamble and get one of these little blue bad boys. I don't think you'll regret it.

Rate and Depth ,2 knobs on top , just twist till you hear what you like. No big learning curve, I got free so no manual.

Its a cool verb sound with both dials at 12 o clock ,and 3 o clock. Both Maxed gets alittle metalic sounding ,but others may find bthat cool. Not noisy while on or off. I use a 50 watt Marshall combo ,and 15 watt Behringer practice amp, sounds good with the 15 watter, and nice on the low (clean ) channel on the Marshall. With a Dyna Comp, I can get good Rockabilly,Conutry,and Twang, at the 12 o clock setting, smokey lounge lizard Jazz with the 3 o clock stting.with the amps or other OD , it can get lost in the mix , but I like either really clean, or crushing Fuzz.

Plastic , but Plastic is tuff, it will outlast human beings , and metal can rust, plus no paint to peel off!Would I gig with out a backup, I,m not buying another one , if it breaks , its in the trash.
But it would take alot to break with your foot. Most people hate plastic on their effects, but the Dano's are the first ones I find this cool on.

really could not tell you ,if I have to repair , I'll try to myself ,but if I can't fix , whats Danoelectro gonna do for me , I got it free remeber.

Good for Counrty ,Blues , Rockabilly, Jazz, or any Twangy guitar part.I love to play along to the Sun session Classics with this baby. If it were lost , I may get another one. But I would check out other verbs ,so I might get something else (just bought a Rocktron short timer on ebay)It does what it was made to do give you verb.

The most dead simple delay i've ever used, that's for sure. With 2 knobs you'd probably think it was TOO simple, but both offer a pretty good wealth of variation, surprising for such a simple little thing. I ignored the 'manual/packaging,' as it's pretty simple, seriously.

Hard to get a bad sound at all, if not impossible. It's a little shrill if you dial it in MAX and MAX, but surprisingly very nice sound throughout the dials. I got this sucker cause I needed to blow the rest of a gift certificate, and my expectations were nil, but I gotta say I love it. I have a few delay pedals, both cheap and expensive, and this cheapo sounds great. I hate BLAH reverb and only use delay usually. This gives me a dedicated 'verb replacement, and frees up other delays for spacial runs and sample-styling.

Not noisy. Not true-bypass, but retains a sharp signal when bypassed (and like many us, I am indeed picky about this).

I have had several mini danos, and all are working after years now. They won't last forever, probably (what does?), but so far so good. The sound is better than other metal-housed pedals... and what's more important??

Never dealt with.

A definite score for me, hasn't left the signal chain since day one (about a month ago). I'm always yanking pedals out that aren't being used enough, especially if they're dulling my signal/sound, but this one's still there, and rarely off. Sounds great.

I think more control options are always attractive, but having other more convoluted delays, I love that this is very set-and-forget.

Good pedal. Good sound. GREAT price.

Don't waste your money on 'vintage' short delays without trying this one, because your search could be over.

Simple to use, two knobs to control. PLug in and find the right mix for your taste.

I use various guitars at the moment. I mostly use a Fender Telecaster with Texas Spacial pickups. I also use an Epiphone Sheraton or a Danelectro 59-DC. The pedal gives off a very slight buzz, at least with my equipment, but nothing that I can't deal with. My amp is a Fender Blues Junior, simple for the type of music I play which is blues and blues rock.

The pedal does what it is supposed to do, give off that 50's effect. Perfect for adding a little texture to my rhythm and can provide a good rockabilly tone. Sounds rather nice with clean chords, just enough echo for me.

So far it has worked when I needed it to. I'm not one to abuse my equipment so it should hold up. If you are careful, gigging with it doesn't seem to be an issue, I wouldn't jump up and down on it.

Have not dealt with them, never needed to.

For blues, jazz, rockabilly, early rock, I think this does what it is meant to do. Perfect for those needs, very limiting if you were hoping for something else. I have been playing for 20 years and this was an affordable way to get the tone I wanted for my new band. It is simple and you can tell the difference when it is on or off. Thus far it has done the job and I am happy with it.

It's easy to use.

If you expect to much from this dinky thing, that's your problem, not the pedal. I probably don't use this pedal for its intended purposes. I mainly keep the presence of this effect low and combine it with some overdrive just to get a unique texture. This makes the guitar sound as if its being played through a giant pop can. Yeah, I don't really want that mid-50's guitar sound you could potentially use this for. By the way, I play an Epi Crestwood ET-290 or an Ibanez Jet King through a Maxon OD808 overdrive. I really like it for recording vocals too, again in combination with distortion. All things considered, I find it quite enjoyable to play with. It can add surprising flavor to some commonplace textures and tones that every guitarist is confronted with.

I've only brought it on stage once, and I actually forgot to use it. It doesn't seem like it could take much of a beating though.

Haven't had to deal with the company.

I write and play jazzyhardcorepoprock music, and this pedal helps me get a distinct sound, a unique flavor I can call my own. I play through a 65 watt Peavey StudioPro 112 (TransTube), which has a reverb effect that for some reason is comparable to the sounds I like to try to get out of this pedal. So, sometimes I just use that instead. Not a lot of the people I play with like it much.

Two knobs, repeat and mix. The only pedals I have simpler than this are a one-knob MXR Phase 90 and a no-knob Orange Sunshine fuzz. There's only one delay length, a short slapback, so either you like that or you don't.
Battery compartment is hard to open.

I used it with a Gibson SG and Mesa Boogie. "Instant Duane Eddy," my lead singer said. I've also used it on a Danelectro battery-powered pracitce amp. Nice for fleshing licks out with space and twang, but can thin your tone a bit.

I had it for a month and it died. Instead of echo, it just squeals. (The repeat control still works, so I get repeating squeals.)
I like some of Danelectro's stuff, I have a DC-3 guitar that's really nice, and the Honeytone is a good?though sometimes short-lived?practice amp. But I expected this to last more than a month!

Stupid me. When I brought it home and it worked, didn't send in the warranty card.

I liked the pedal a lot. I mainly play punk, rock'n'roll, old soul & R&B, psychedelia, and reggae, and it fit all of them, was simple to use and easy to carry. But there's not much point in lugging a dead pedal around in my gig bag, is there?

At first, I liked this pedal. I only wanted some "slap echo" and that's what I got. With guitar, it sounded pretty good. However, even at low settings, the pedal added a slight hiss to my effects. Even alone, the pedal added a slight hiss. I wanted this effect mostly for harmonica and the hiss was more pronounced.

I bought this pedal used, but I guess it was used once. It was in pristine condition. I play blues. I wanted to use this pedal for guitar and/or harmonica. At first, I liked this pedal and it was inexpensive to boot but the faint hiss it caused finally got the better of me. My buddy liked it, so I sold it to him for same price I paid for it. He sold the pedal not long after. I guess he heard the faint hiss too.

This pedal is very easy to use.If this pedal is capable of the sound you want , you should find it in five minutes.There is no manual but the packaging has three sample settings.

GAX 70->Dunlop Crybaby->DOD FX69B->Boss MT-2->Electro Harmonix Small Clone->Danelectro DJ-3->Crate MX15R
I use all my effects with Danelectro DA-1 adaptors(minus the Small Clone)and Monster patches.This effect is very quiet.If the overall sound of this pedal had 10 parts , only 1 of those would be noise.For comparison , I would say the Small Clone (vintage) is 2.5 parts noise.
The Echo , Chorus and amp reverb are my clean sound and I set them subtle so they sound good distorted.The only time I turn the DJ-3 off , is for my distorted solos.

Too early to tell if I can rely on this pedal.If I was going to gig , I would back this up just because of its usefullness to price ratio.

My experience with customer support is limited to an email question and so far so bad.Though they may , someday , redeem themselves.Deep down my gut says maybe.

I play Punk(the dead kind) , Grunge , and Folk.Been playin' for two years with a couple of long breaks thrown in.If my DJ-3 were lost or stolen , I think I would buy it again but I make no promises.I love the way it sounds with my Small Clone.(makes me wonder if sex with electronics will be next to reach legality / acceptance)
The way I shop for pedals is to listen to their soundclips on musiciansfriend.com.If the sound grabs me , I come here and make sure it doesn't have huge flaws.I find that if I like the sound , and it holds up well to the users' reviews(and there are atleast 20-30 reviews) , that I am usually happy with the results I get.I am happy with this pedal.I plug in more often , now that I have it.

that "good" sound you think you are getting is pry from your amp's reverb - turn it off and use the pedal, then guess again. this is pretty much the dano mini reverb pedal with extra delay in it.

sounds like garbage, in comparison to the corned beef reverb - like a sprinkler that gives you one drop of water. colors up the sound a little, but a good onboard reverb can do the same.

i wouldn't gig with it, much less depend on batt. power - always use a 9v wall wart.

who cares? i don't care. a horse's ass is better than yers.

i would only keep this if i got it free and had to choose between a corned beef and this bl...............crap.

Like everyone has said, there are only 2 knobs. It doesn't really get any easier then this kids.

I play a Telecaster copy for mostly 50s,/60s rockabilly and this works great for it! You can tune in a great over the top echo or make a nice subtle reverb if you want. No matter what amp I use this sounds great on it.

It's never broken on me but being that it is plastic I am a little skeptical to not have a backup when gigging. In the four years that I've had Danelectro pedals none have broken yet.

This thing isn't the most versatile or robust echo out there, but it sounds great. If you want a very old-school sounding slap-back on the cheap you really can't do better then this.

Really easy To Use Only 2 Knobs, repeat and mix, simple just the way It should be.

This has sound like no other, I found you can get 3 sounds out of it. The first is mix and repeat all the way up, slap back echo(hence the name) for palm mutting, retro. The next is a different reverb, and I use this for reverb now, because the reverb on my amp has gone bad(a hissing noise). And then you can get a simple/ light chorus sound when tweaked right. It has great sound for such a small pedal!

It has always worked for me, when my reverb on my amp starting hissing, through a recording mic it sounded bad(peavy reverb). So I used the dano and it got me through it, saved me for the recording. But It's downfall is the plastic, but I don't understand what some of you do to your pedals, that they brake easily? reaguardless of the durability of Boss, its still an electronic, and they both can break if messed with enough.

Never talked to them, I should call them just to talk about how it's still working!

The people at guitar center were telling me not to buy it, and I bought it to prove a point. 1- face the fact that I can't afford Boss(most people can't), sorry but its true. 2- Its a store, shouldn't they have been encouraging me to buy it or convincing me to get it? If they though it sucks, why not just givve it to me for free, its obvious they wanted me to spend a ton on an overpriced Boss Pedal, Admit it they are way overpriced!!!! Anyway I use it for reverb and for slight delay parts, it actually sounds sweet with a wah, well at least with mine.

Super Easy to use like all Danelectro minis. Mix and Repeat knobs. No manual needed!

Awesome echo effect. Never heard anything like it before, it's like a "super Reverb". It's a quiet pedal with the 9V battery. I use a crate GX15 amp. It sounds killer when you do picking songs and jazz chords. This pedal screams blues! I don't know of any artists who use this, so it's a good pedal to be a foundation for your own writings.

I would go anywhere with this pedal and use it anytime, it's a great pedal.

Never had to work with Dano customer service

Perfect pedal for me and my bluesy technique. I've been playing for almost 2 years. I also own Dano Pastrami OD, French Fries Auto-Wah, and now this. I love Dano pedals. I would buy another one of these in a heartbeat. I love the sound it gives.

Very easy to use.

No manual needed.

This pedal sounds great. It has a cool slap echo sound (very close to the sounds on the early Elvis Sun records).

This pedal is not noisy at all and works good with all effects (as long as this pedal is the last or next to the last pedal in your effects loop).

Also sounds great when using your amp's reverb with it.

Should last for years as long as you don't stomp on it.

My pedal stays in a Dano plastic case (with AC power).

I haven't never dealt with them.

A great echo / delay pedal.

Even won the Guitar Player editor pick award.

Really easy to use- two knobs. Turn 'em 'til it sounds good!

I think this is a grrrreat pedal- part of that's taste, of course, but it's an odd effect that, if you like fifties tunes, sci-fi sounds, The Cramps, etc. you're really gonna want. It's an echo, yeah, which you can find anywhere, but it also has this crazy kind-of metallic lo-fi outer-space quality to it when you increase the repeats. It has a cool voice, basically- it'll do the Sun sound, the surf sound and the American International sound equally well.

No problems at all.

Never had to deal with Danelectro.

The only reason I'm not giving the BLT a 10 is because it's a one-trick pony... but it's a great trick! For what you'd spend at a bar for a night, it's definitely worth trying out. It's a weird, cool little pedal that grows on you.

Very easy to get a good sound, & versatile

Using a Gibson with humbuckers, and an old Peavey Studio Pro or Fender Champ amp. I got an almost "reversed guitar" sound by turning the mix knob all the way up and the repeat to 1 repeat. I also used a chorus to get a doubled sound. The mix knob at 10 made the repeat sound come back louder than the guitar sound , for a faux backwards guitar effect. Sounded good that way with a little overdrive for playing the "Star Spangled Banner" ala Hendrix!

Seems pretty sturdy, I have been playing with it for about 2 years now.

Emailed the company and got decent answers to my questions. They also have some suggested settings you can try for the pedals.

Not perfect, but a good value for the money. Does not seem to degrade the guitar tone. I use it with a battery sometimes, or an adaptor.

Too easy. It's got two knobs: Mix and Repeats. I'd like a third knob for delay between repeats, but it works, and it was cheap.

Sounds very much like an amp's spring reverb. My Crate VC110 doesn't have reverb, so this is a welcome addition. Surf tunes are no problem with this pedal. No matter what amp I use, the sound coming out of the pedal's consistent. I'd like to team it with my friend's Fender Twin to see just how springy the reveb can get.

Unfortunately, there's not much delay in the echo. If there was a third knob for delay intervals, it would be more true to the pedal's function.

I haven't had to change batteries yet. The plastic housing is a little flimsy, but more durable than my Zoom 505.

Never had to deal with the company.

This is as close to reverb as my cheap ass will get out of a pedal. Whenever the money comes around, I'll buy a digital reverb pedal. I do like spring reverb, though, so it might stay in the chain for a while.

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.