Danelectro DJ-5 Tunamelt Tremolo

very easy to use - mine is the older unit with the toggle switch instead of rotary to change from "hard" to "soft" modes. Two knobs for rate and depth. The knobs are small and sensitive, a bit difficult to adjust on the fly on dimly lit stages...I use a homebuilt poser supply to power my pedals

This is the last effect on my pedalboard. I use it with a variety of amps depending on the venue. No noise whatsoever. There is a bit of volume boost when the pedal is engaged. Although I was initially annoyed by this, over the years by actually using it on countless gigs I have found this to be useful. It helps the effect cut through instead of being lost int the mix. The "soft" setting is definitely the winner. Classic tremolo sound. The "hard" setting, I have found no use for after ten years. Goes from on to off. I bought it from a band mate about 10 years ago for 20 bucks at rehearsal. I plugged it in, switched it from "hard" to "soft" and started playing some CCR. He instantly wanted to know how I got "that sound" out of it. Geeze!

Well, it has had a permanent position on my pedalboard for about 10 years. I would say that is reliable enough.

never contacted them, I only own two dano pedals

I play classic rock, blues, alternative, contemporary adult and original music with some folks from Nashville. I love the small footprint on my pedalboard. I love the classic vibe of the effect. It is not used often, but it fulfills it's intended purpose for cheap. It has not let me down for nearly a decade. Too bad it has been redesigned.

Built the way trem pedals should be built - just like an amp tremolo, just with two knobs.

Simplest thing to use.

Want to add that there's a very slight boost to the affected signal that just keeps at the same level as the unaffected signal. The boost is nicely done - not too much, just enough.

For this price? The best in its range, or anything costing twice as much.

Just really nice and warm tremolo waves like amp tremolo. This must be the cheapest (and best for the money) solution if you have a tremless amp.

The only drawback is the fact that the knobs are just so tiny, making it hard to turn on the fly. Have considered just housing the guts in a bigger metal case with bigger knobs.

These dano tunamelt things are the winners in the cheapo dano range. I've got 3 of them. Enough said.

Not hard at all, but knobs are so small it can be tricky to tweak them just right.

Danelectro are a budget brand, and as such, this pedal performs well enough. You get a tremolo that works, you can choose whether it's fast, slow, whether you want it subtle or strong etc, etc. It works fine. But the problem is it really doesn't cut through that well all the time and gets lost a bit on some settings, even when you set it to a hard tremolo. It just lacks a bit of solid umph that you'd get with a better pedal. If you're thinking of trying out tremolo, get this and then decide if you want to invest a more expensive one that will inevitibley work and sound better.

Had mine for a few years, and it had the stomp guard with it, so very solid.

Nice little tremolo, but if you're experienced with this effect, spend a bit more and get a better effect.

easy

Great sound when switched on, absolutely useless in bypass mode, it seems to mess with the phase, had to remove it from my board. It's a shame because the trem itself sounds beautiful.

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I'll have to try another one, unfortunately...

The guitar player in my former band had this pedal. I borrowed it from him once to use in my bass setup. Immediately ordered one for myself.

A great tremolo pedal with just the controls you need: speed, intensity and a switch for soft or harsh tremolo. You won't need a manual to get the effect you like out of this baby. Just plug in and start twiddling; You'll find a setting to your liking in no time.

I use this stompbox at the end of my bass effect chain:
Boss GE7B Bass Equalizer -> Electro Harmonix Q-tron -> EBS Multidrive -> Danelectro Tuna Melt. I play Reverend, Fender and Squier basses through a 1972 Fender Bassman rig. It really doesn't matter what bass I plug in; the Tuna Melt just does what it needs to do. With both knobs at 3 o' clock and the switch set to 'soft' it gives me a nice tremolo effect for quiet, spacey movements. When it has to be freaky, I turn every knob at max and turn on the Q-tron. Sounds wicked.

There's a very, very small alteration in my tone when the pedal's on, but it doesn't bother me that much. Hey, this is a pedal that costed me ??? 27 right out of the box. I'm not gonna complain about a slight change in tone. Besides, this thing ain't noisy at all, so there's another plus for it.

I didn't bother trying other tremolo pedals. I noticed the guys from Oceansize using it so I guessed the stompbox had to be decent. It is!

When I borrowed the guitarist's Tuna Melt the intensity knob wasn't working. According to him the knob functioned normally before he gave it to me...and after I gave it back :S

I would gig without a backup, but don't put too much faith in its reliability. If it would fail on stage, I'd probably toss it and play on.

Never had to deal with them.

I've had experience with other Dano pedals (distortion, tuner) but didn't like 'em that much. I was a bit sceptical toward the Tuna Melt therefore. However, it's a great pedal, certainly for the money I paid. What's more to say, the pedal just does what it's supposed to do. Nothing more nothing less.

If it would break down or was lost, I'd probably look into other tremolo pedals out there. I'd try to locate a more reliable stompbox and one that would even had less effect on my tone.

It is very easy to use this tremolo pedal. It has a Rate/Speed knob, Depth knob and one toggle type High/Low tremolo sound selection switch. This pedal has a very warm, full and rich sound. It has really amazed me when I first heard it. I used it for both acoustic and electric guitars and it is superb. I mostly use its Low end tremolo sound by selecting it from the toggle switch. The Low end tremolo effect is a real pleasure to play. I found its sound very smooth and have not noticed any backgroud noise. It did not come with a manual and I think there is no need of it because of its very simple understandable operation.

I found its sound quality one of the best. It is very smooth, rich, warm and has plenty of depth to be used in any kind of home or live situation. It can produce from the most mellow to the lightening tremolo effects with ease. It is not noisey atall. It remains noise free at any setting. The effect produce by this small box is very strong. I do not agree with some's review that it has a very weak sound effect, mine has a real powerhouse of tremolo effects. I think may be someone has got the defective one, he should better replace it from the company if it still falls under warantty period. I have used it for both single coil and humbucker pickups guitars and found great. I am using Fender FM212R, Yamaha G50 112 III and Yamaha JX50 combos and it handle each of them perfectly.

I have been using it for the last one year and it has not yet give me any sort of trouble. I have used it in live gigs and it is okay. But I did not like its thin plastic body. The knobs are again very small and thin, pedal looks to me more like a toy against Boss pedals. I like the thick metal base plate which gives it a heavy feeling and more reliable bottom side to withstand the rough handling at stage. Circuit & operation wise I will give it 9 points but body wise I will give it 5 only.

I play rock, blues, popular and country music. It is a very good match for all kind of styles I play. I have been playing guitar for the last 27 years. I have lot of gears including Yamaha Studio Lord SL400S (Les Paul copy)1980, Yamaha AES620, Yamaha Pacifica 412V, Epiphone les paul black beauty, Ovation CS257, Fender 12 string D6 and Yamaha FG470S guiars. I have lot of Boss pedals and other brands pedals. If this is lost I will buy it again because of its sound quality otherwise I would perfer to buy the Behringer Ultra tremolo pedal because of it good professional shape and same price range.

The knobs are small and I can't get the sound I need. The pedal is absolutely worthless to me. The battery is a little difficult to get to for a mass produced pedal. I expect to pull out a screw driver for my boutique pedals but not for a plastic cheapy.

This pedal is worthless unless you are only looking for a slight trem effect. So much of the original guitar signal comes through it's difficult to hear the trem effect at all. Even at the "hard" setting you don't get a hard sounding trem.
There seems to be a slight decrease in volume also that is impossible make up with this pedal. Not a problem if you have a boost pedal, but it's annoying. It's just not good enough for pro use.

It's cheap plastic but it seems sturdy enough at that.

Didn't deal with them.

I hate this pedal. I can't say it any more plain than that. Maybe I was expecting too much for $39 but you can barely hear the trem effect because so much of the original signal comes through. The slight decrease in volume is unacceptable. Maybe it would be good for a bedroom jammer, but even still, there are much better pedals out there.

Great sound, but small knobs make it difficult to change settings in live setting. You'll probably want to find your setting and leave it, and also get one of those plastic protectors that Danelectro makes. I put it on top of my amp, and don't stomp on it, so the fragility doesn't bother me.
Basic two knob function of classic tremolo, with added bonus of having the hard switch, making it sound like you're turning the power on and off rather than the soft which is like turning the volume up and down.

Fantastic. I also own a Carl Martin tremolo (SurfTrem) and this sounds just as good at half the price. Plus, unlike the SurfTrem it has the hard switch, which allows me to get machine-gun like heavy Cramps style tremolo effects. Versatile, high quality sound and cheap. Get it!

I play secular music so I like to keep mine on the soft setting with both knobs around 2 o'clock, more or less, or for the Cramps sounds, put it on hard setting, crank both knobs, and crank the reverb on your amp. You will become a bikini girl, baby!

Cheaply built case and knobs, but worth it for the sound. I've had mine for about three years with zero problems. I set it and forget it, leave it on the amp, not on the floor.

Fantastic value. Cheaper than a set of bass strings, but it sounds great.

Easy to use-take a little time to find your sound.

Sounds great to me regardless if some may think it looks cheap. Who cares-if you get the sound ya want and you take care of your equpiment it should last you. Made of thick plastic and the smaller compact version is great to save room. 2 tremolo style--old classic and newer. does the job and is great. Better to use a power supply tho. Sounds just as good as more expensive pedals. Higher price doesn't ness. mean better sound. That's all also to do with someone's own ears. Some may like it some may not.

Yes great. Just don't use it as a hammer.

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Great pedal, if you're concerned of the plastic, mod it by putting it into a different metal box then. But great sound, looks, everything.

Pretty much explains itself. Easy.

I love this thing. I especially like pairing it with distortion. Reminiscent of Chicago blues tone. Plenty of variation can be had when tweaking. I tend to go to a subtle setting more so than the Tommy and the Shondells thing. Mine is very quiet and the price was definatley right. I only use it with guitar.

I gig with it with all confidence. Granted it's plastic but I've had mine for a bunch of years and have never felt I had to treat it any different than any of my other sturdier effects.

No idea. Never had to contact them.

Been playing 42 years. I've learned to let my ears determine what I like and not what a particular artist endorses. I do put a lot of stock in the reviews found here.

That said, I do have some favorites in my chain like an Ibanes AD-80, Boss ce-2 silver screw, Analog Man modded ts-808, block logo phase 90 and Dynacomp. This pedal fits nicely in the chain and I find myself using it frequently. One downside is too much "depth" feels heavy and uninspiring to me.

One last plus is it doesn't make that tell tale "click" that the tremolo pedal on my Twin makes when I engage it.

It may take awhile to get the tremelo setting your looking for but once I figured mine out then it wasnt hard for say someone else to mess with and for me to still find my old settings

Im not too familiar with tremelo's at all but I tried the boss TR-2 at guitar center and still loved my tunamelt's sound, it's fun to mess with as far as with other pedals like distortion or wah especially.

I use a Fender HotRod Deville 212 and American Telecaster as well as other effects, I used to own the milkshake and hashbrowns and these were great sounding pedals too so to me they all sound nice but I like this pedal cause it does put out some nice sounding tremelo and it's just simple and cheap.

I hate the plastic part of this pedal and the fact that its so small compared to other pedals

For example I have trouble finding a spot for it on my pedal board because its so short and other pedals are so much taller than it that my foot has to push others away before I can click it.

Its too light as well, my patch cables sometimes make this thing Lopp sided.

and no volume knob :( Somtimes its too loud when I turn it on and other times its not loud enough but I have this same problem with my other pedals so compared to them the volume is set just right

I may or may not keep this because this is a beginners pedal in my opinion but its doing well for now and sounds great and this is all one really needs but I make get pedal picky in the future and buy another tremelo pedal but it seems this pedal just keeps getting better the longer I own it.

For example little things like knowing what kinda 9volt ma adaptor it needed conveinently placed on the bottom like other pedals should.

Easy, has Speed, Depth, and Hard/Soft controls. Turn the knobs and listen.

First of all, I purchased this pedal because I love simple old-fashioned tremelo. I love that Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells tone, or Love Hurts by Nazareth. I just wanted this to pick chords arpeggio style or strum simple chords. I always use Soft mode, always leave Depth at around 3 o'clock position, but I do vary Speed according to the song. And for what I want this pedal works very well, gets the tones I mentioned before. I own a 1958 Premier Twin 8 amp with fabulous tremelo. This pedal is not quite that good, but close enough. It is warm and full sounding. This pedal is not noisy at all, but does give a slight volume boost when you kick it in. I do not find that it affects tone when off in the chain at all. I have tried the Hard mode but did not care for it. Not saying anything is wrong with it, just not something I'd ever use. But for good old fashioned vintage tremelo, this pedal is very good. If I had to say anything negative (and it's not really a negative) about this pedal it would be that you have to carefully tweak the speed.

I currently own 7 Danelectro pedals and have never had a single problem with any of them, some over 10 years old. I play in a Classic Rock band and use several of them on my pedalboard. Not all Danelectro pedals are great, but some like the Daddy-O and the Fish & Chips 7 Band EQ are. They are often far better than "name" brands that cost 2-3 times as much. I am never afraid to take my Danos to the gig, they have proven themselves over and over again. I have had a few of the expensive names brands break, but never a Dano.

Never had to contact support 'cause these pedals never break down. The best customer support is a good product to begin with.

I give this a 9 because this pedal gets me very close to the old vintage tremelo I want at a good price. I have tried other more expensive brands that were far worse. I have been playing 34 years, play in a Classic Rock cover band, so I think I know good tone when I hear it. If lost or stolen I would buy it again for sure. Danelectro makes some good effects pedals, and this is one of them.

easy - bought new in 2005

guitar >>>>> a s**tload pf pedals >>>>>>>>>> amp

not noisy - I use it with a tweed bassman / strat
this gets the right sounds for me
It does effect tone when bypassed.

so far/so good.

40 yrs playing - past 10 yrs gig x2 per month in pop-rock/party oriented cover band ( translation - a garage band that does pretty well ) I use tremolo for maybe 15 minutes in a 4 hr gig. I have been the happiest with this cheap little plastic box. - much more organic and warm. Others I have tried: Swamp Thang ( $200 boutique box - whatever that means ) Dunlop ( the one that pans - the tone on this was the worst of the bunch ) Voodoo labs box - uh uh. vibrato on a re-issue vibrolux reverb I sold in 1999 ( $900 ) - this was pretty good - but this $10 little yellow box
( ebay ) is better.


there are only 2 downsides to this pedal:

1. it effects overall tone when off - so I use a true bypass looper to keep it out of my chain when it's off.

2. you might be embarassed to have people see this little thing next to your 'boutique' pedals - but you can cover it with black tape and stick it inside a cardboard box stuffed with paper and spray painted black so nobody will see what it is.

Extremely Easy!
Play a note and fiddle with the knobs until it sounds like you want it.

Brilliant!
I play a mixture of styles (Heavy to 50's / 60's) and it somehow fits in everywhere. Works particularly well on a clean setting with just a touch of Reverb...

Again - faultless.
I bought one of these little boxes about 5 years ago. Bearing in mind that I *do* look after my kit, it hasn't gone wrong at all.
Power consumption is almost negligible, so I've not had to change batteries very often at all (although this isn't the easiest thing in the world - a bit fiddly, but certainly not Rocket Science...)

As I've said, 5 years without a single fault - I've had no reason to call them.

My basic setup is this - Sexy Mexy Telecaster / Tuna Melt / Occasional Delay Pedal / Classic 30 valve amp.
This setup covers almost everything I need to do and the Tuna Melt is a great (and dependable) piece of gear. I bought it un-played as a bit of a cheap risk, with a view to buying a more expensive unit if I really liked the sound. I'm still using my faithful Tuna-Melt. It's great. I'd be distinctly upset if it got stolen / broken / lost, but at this price, I'd go and buy a replacement the very next day. I can't rate this little beast highly enough.

Incredibly easy to get a good sound out of this. No manual needed at all. They give you a few example settings, and those work good though.

I don't find it to be noisy, and it works great and enhances a lot of other effects. Overdrive, ring modulation, chorus, you name it. This does what it is meant to do, and very well.

I got a little plastic protector with it. I don't think it is gonna break anytime soon.

I have never contacted Danelectro, but I assume they would be friendly. I've always considered Danelectro a company on the verge of bankruptcy, but that is just because they discontinue stuff often and have a cruddy website.

I play shoegazer/gothic/post-punk/post-hardcore. I use it mostly in slower noisier songs, as that is where it shines. It is a great effect, and the hard/soft switch makes it more than a one trick pony.

Two knobs, speed and depth, and a hard/soft switch. Piece o' cake, except as mentioned before the knobs are tiny.

My setup is a late 70's/early 80's Memphis Tele Custom copy(don't laugh, awesome guitar from back before Memphis turned to complete shiat), Tuna Melt, Danelectro Fab Tone distortion, into a 70's Music Man RP 112 65 watt combo. I play a mix of blues, rockabilly,surf, old-style country and hillbilly(not this Toby Keith watered down Bon Jovi garbage), garage, punk and 70's style hard rock. I used to be in a few bands years ago, but now I just play mostly around the house. I got this specifically for that Duane Eddy/John Fogerty/Bo Diddly/Louisiana swamp blues sound and it NAILS it. A friend of mine used to have a '66 Vibro Champ and this thing could give the Fender's trem a run for its money. I think I detect a SLIGHT volume loss, but nothing major. Switch this thing on and it's the early 60's again. I thought about other tremolo pedals, such as the Boss, but I'm on a fairly tight budget, and this little yellow box will do all I need it to do and sounds INCREDIBLE for the money. I'll give it a ten, considering how inexpensive this little yellow beauty is.

Can't say as of yet, as I've only had it a couple days. However, I've had other Dan-o pedals and never had a bit of problem out of them. Switch seems a bit dodgy, but for the price I can always get another. Stupid Dan-o battery that came with it crapped out in 20 minutes though.

Never had to deal with Danelectro on anything.

Like I said previously, I'm mostly a retro style player and got this for Duane Eddy, Bo Diddley and CCR type stuff, and it nails it. Any rootsy guitar player looking for a tremelo, you'd do well to take a chance on one of these before shelling out $100 and up for something like a Boss.

I didn't like changing the battery on this pig. Couldn't be designed any more poorly. But hey, use a digital power for all your pedals and you're golden. They're cheap. Also, I didn't like the tiny little knobs either, but I guess that's part of the charm of the 'Dano' pedals.

I was playing my strat through an Ibanez UE-300 multi-fx compressor/tube screamer, then the DJ-5, holy grail reverb, out to a crate vc-2110 EL84 amp. Sounded real good, no loss of high end, just a little putt-putt on idle which wasn't bad.

However this little pedal is no longer with me - I actually put an axe through it, then my lawn, after trying to wrestle the battery out after an apparently too long day at work. I'm embarrassed. Geez there were little Chinese plastic parts all over the place. It really was a cute pedal.

Otherwise, I think it would've held up pretty well.

I highly recommend using a power supply with this pedal.

Extremely easy to use. There is no manual - just some notes on the packaging.

I love it! I've wanted a tremolo pedal for a long time, but they're so damn expensive that I could never justify spending the money for one. This thing really sounds great - I'm very surprised. It seems very quiet too which is amazing for such a cheap pedal. I spent a couple of hours playing with it after it arrived - must have played Born on the Bayou for 20 minutes....

OK - it's plastic, and the footswitch doesn't seem very solid. I was thinking about trying to either replace the footswitch or even moving all of the components to something a little sturdier, but I'm not ready to start hacking this thing to pieces. The good news is that it's cheap enough to replace and I may even buy another for a backup.

Haven't had a problem yet.

Fantastic value for the money. I just wish the footswitch were a little taller and sturdier.

Pretty easy to use. just two knobs, a switch, and the on/off button. not exactly rocket surgery. getting the speed set to the exact rate you want can be tedious though. that's not all that uncommon with tremolo though.

The main guitar I use this with is my Les Paul and I run it into a Fender Blues Jr. I have other pedals, but thats irrelevant. The tremolo effect itself is pretty good. Not great, but good. I like how the volume doesnt drop like the Boss TR-2 does. I used to have the TR-2. The TR-2's effect sounded better and was more flexible, but the volume drop turned me off. I use the tremolo a lot of the time for arpeggios over strummed chords and if the volume drops, i cant be heard so the TR-2 was almost useless to me. The Tunamelt though doesnt have that problem. Doesnt sound great, but for the price, it certainly sounds good enough. If I had $120 to blow, I wouldve gotten the Voodoo Labs Tremolo pedal, but this will do.

dunno. i'm sure its not Boss reliable, but i'm gonna give it the benefit of the doubt and say i'm not worried about it fizzing out or anything.

never dealt with them

I play Brit-rock and this thing gets the job done. I rarely use tremolo, but when I do, this thing works fine. I've been playing for almost 6 years and i've had 3 tremolo devices. One being the boss tr-2, the other being on one of my old tube amps that i no longer have, and the third being this. this is better than the tr-2, but not as good as the amp's tremolo. if it were lost or stolen, I dont know what i'd do. I probably wouldnt get another tremolo pedal for awhile and i dont know which i'd get if did get another. I bought this on an impulse. it was $30.49 (including shipping) for a new one (still in packaging) and i've been wanting a trem pedal for awhile so i snagged it. i'm definitely glad i got it. $31ish isnt much for a pedal, especially one that is pretty good.

if you want a decent tremolo and are hurting for cash, this thing is great. great value.

Very obvious and easy .. speed, depth. And a switch for hard vs. soft trem.

One minor complaint is that because the input and output jacks are so close together, I can't use two of my right-angle patch cords with it; one has to be a straight jack.

I don't have any experience with other trems, but I have absolutely no complaints about the sound. It does exactly what it's supposed to, with no obvious signal degradation or noise. When I say "obvious", I mean in a live gigging situation ... I haven't tried it for recording.

I'm using it with a Strat and a Gibson GA-15RV combo. I use it mainly to get some vintage trem sounds like for the intro to Born on the Bayou and similar. Also planning to use it to get the lead-in to Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", though I think to get that to sound right will require me to change the order of effects, putting the trem before the overdrive pedal.

I have no reason yet to be concerned about reliability. Seems well constructed for the price, despite having what appears to be a plastic body. I've played gigs for 3 years without it, so if it failed, I'd just return to playing without a trem until I got it replaced.

I'm putting an 8 just because I haven't owned it long enough to give it a 10.

No experience with customer support. If this unit broke, I'd probably just buy another.

How I bought this: I went into the rec.music.makers.guitar forum and posted a question about decent quality trem pedals. I got lots of good advice, but the recommended models were all in the $150 to $190 category. WAY too much for an effect that I use on maybe three songs in a 50-song gig. Then someone highly recommended this unit and suggested that I could get it on e-bay for only $30. I found one on e-bay, bid, and sure enough, won it at $30 the same day. It arrived in like-new condition. I am very happy with it for the price; if it were stolen I'd buy another.

I've never seen an easier pedal to use. Just 2 clearly labled knobs and a switch for hard (choppy) and soft (classic, traditional) trems.

The hard switch is for that stutter, cutting the volume completely out of the picture, the soft switch is more like what you hear on your classic rock and blues songs.

Have you heard this thing? Have you heard any of the pedal-sized competition? I think this blows them away. It is definately an upgrade from the Boss Tremelo pedal.

It also sounds organic, natural, and smooth. I can't think of anyone who needed a tremelo effect who could say a bad thing about this pedal. I think the most important part of it is how well it blends with good equipment. I do notice a very very slight volume boost, but not enough to even really notice. If anything it makes the parts you play with it stand out just a human-sized hair more than it does with the effect off.

I am loving all of the Creedence Clearwater Revival covers our band has been doing lately and thats why I got this. I compared it with the Boss Tremelo and it was no contest in sound, although I know the Boss is built like a tank.......but why could'nt it sound as good as the Dano Trem??!!??

Great sounds for that classic trem, and the hard switch nails the Green Day "Blvd. of broken dreams" stutter effect at the beginning. I like a nice smooth trem that is medium tempo, great for blues. If you like that wet/vibe sound with your trem all you need is a chorus effect before it!

Some would argue, but Ive personally never saw one broken and Ive even used a few other Dano mini effects for at least 3-4 years with no problems. Thats all I can ask out of a $30-$40 dollar pedal.

I know they are extremely helpful and kind. I had 1 mini pedal (ordered) that was defective upon delivery and they replaced it no questions asked.

I don't understand how any person could say anything bad about this particular effect unless they simply have a hard-on for steel housed pedals. What I mean is to at least try one. I have used the dano mini EQ for 3 years with no problems so they have to be a little tough. I don't treat them any more gentle than I do the steel pedals.

Sound, that's where this little puppy shines. What else is there to know?

Dead easy. Two knobs (speed and depth), one switch. On/off button. Go figure. The only complaint is that when the removable plastic cover is in place, it is hard to access the knobs, but I guess that's the point of it, so I can't complain. It does mean that during a gig (when presumably you would have the cover on) it is very fiddly to change the settings. The knobs are very small and quite stiff, but I have podgy fingers, so maybe it's my problem.

Great. Unlike other reviewers on here, I cannot tell any different in overall volume with the effect engaged. It is a very transparent effect, by which I mean it adds a tremolo effect, but does not change the tone or volume in any other way at all. It seems to be pretty quiet, and does not generate any adverse hum. Hmmmmmm.
All effects pedals benefit from a level setting, but seeing as the level setting is only there to allow you to ensure the overal volume is the same with the effect on and off, and this pedal does not seem to affect the overall volume, this is not really necessary.

Can't comment. I've only had it a week. It has not broken yet! It is made of plastic, and seems less robost than some other pedals, but hey, it's #30 so what do you expect. If you insist on stamping on your pedals as if they were cockroaches then they will break. Treat them nicely and they shouldn't. As another reviewer correctly said, you don't stamp on your guitars do you? I don't. Mine are too pretty.

No comment. Never had to deal with them. I have however looked at their website and it's rubbish, so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

I like it. I wanted a nice late 50's early sixties sound to use with a telecaster, a little distotion courtesy of a Death Rattle, and dripping in rich springy reverb. Boing. I then go through a cry baby, and into a 1970s Traynor TS-50 combo. In this guise it sounds delicious. It makes me think of drive-ins, diners, lipstick tubes, black leather and chrome. And a vampish young lady drinking milkshakes and smoking dirty cigarettes. That might just be me though. I find the "soft" setting is far more useful than the "hard" setting, although I do use the hard setting when soloing. (hit a note, let it ring for a bit, then switch on the pedal with the hard setting, a moderate rate and maximum depth. Nice action. I use it like this instead of vibrato sometimes.) For #30 you can't really go wrong with this. It's a cheap basic, unassuming pedal that does what it claims to, and does it pretty well. It's yellow too, which is cool. Go get one. <a href="http://www.masht.com">www.masht.com</a>

Speed, depth, hard/soft switch. Not rocket science lol.

How can you go wrong with a decent sounding $30 pedal? And this thing (out of all the dano minis) is probably the best sounding one. It can distort a tad under heavy attack. I wouldnt use active pickups on this. But otherwise it has a very warm cool sound.

It is plastic. It is also $30. But if you treat it nice it should be fine. I have had this thing for about a year with no problems.

Never dealth with em.

For 30$ this is a GREAT sounding Tremelo. As mentioned below, when it is on hard, you can still hear the guitar way back there, but I mainly use it on soft, so for my purposes it sounds great. Have used this in the studio and even there it did great. Just as good as any $150 pedal would. Like I said, it can clip a bit under heavy attack, but even then it is a musical clip. If it were lost I would replace it. Who can afford backups?

Although the knobs are clearly labeled and easy to understand, I've got big meaty fingers that have a hard time switching the toggle from Hard to Soft. I ran into this problem with the French Toast Octave pedal too, but it's not that big a deal.

Pretty good. It has a warmth and vibe to it that is very inspiring. Soft mode is more versatile, with a good amount of country and blues to it. It's not what I would consider super, but it is a very useable sound. It's great to add a slightly colored shimmer to your sound, and this mode just loves open chords. Hard mode is good for that stuttering, "Money" a la Pink Floyd sound, but it's not a true square wave sound. Between the oscillations, you can still hear your signal, although it is rather quiet. In a well-mixed studio track or in a live situation, it will sound like a square wave tremolo for all intensive purposes.

I'm leary. It hasn't screwed up yet, but I had a Chicken Salad Vibrato that died literally an hour out of the box. I can't help but mistrust a line of pedals that go from new to dead in under 60 minutes...

This pedal specifically seems to work fine. Still, I'm apprehensive...

Pfft. Like they give a rat's tail about these things brand-new, let alone after they've been bought and played through...

For the money, this pedal is a steal. I try not to let one bad apple ruin the bunch, but you've got to remember that paying $30 has its costs, and in the case of Dano Minis, it's not in the sound. You're playing Russian Roulette buying these things, so beware...

I truly do like the Mini series, though. I'm a studio musician and I like to experiment with very effects-heavy sounds. Being that I'm not a millionaire, when a track needs a good sounding tremolo I'm apt to find something good n' cheap rather than spring for the big daddies. If you're okay gambling with your money, the Dano Minis are everything you could hope for.

Its extemely easy to use. The knobs are very small so when setting the tempo on the trem its hard to get the sound you want. A tap tempo would improve it. Other than that though the sound is excellent. I love the pedal. I hate the Danelectro Minis to be honest but this one is worth more than what i paid for it

With this i am using - Fender Jazzmaster - Big Muff, BOSS MT2, BOSS PH3, de Milkshake Chorus, BOSS DD3, Line 6 Echo Park, de Reverb and a BOSS Ns2 noise gate through a line 6 Spider 150watt combo and the Tremolo makes no annoying noises at all. The power in the trem is massive and you can turn your guitar sound into something very ambient but just turning on this pedal.

I use this pedal as part of a giggin line up and although its plastic id say its reliable. Obv if you get carried away and batter the switch it will die on you but i could rely on it,

Have never needed to get in touch

You cant beat this pedal for value. Although its plastic you if have never come across a trem i trust more than this one. I try to make my guitar sound as little as a guitar as possible and this pedal helps to do the trick. Id defo replace this if it broke because i know i can depend on it.