Danelectro DO-1 Daddy-O Overdrive

you have to search your sound with 5 knobs. 3 of them are eq. so it's not so simple.

sounds not so bad, from little bluesy overdrive, through crunch to dist\fuzz. and eq allows you control your tone. but it sounds a little bit plastic.

hmmm, not sure, using it for a very short term only

using it for a very short term only

ok pedal for that money, though if stolen, i would rather buy something else.

Just wanted to drop a line about this Daddy 'O'. I pulled the back off and changed the clipping diodes to red LED's. It gave it more of a slightly fuzzy overdrive tone rather than the tight sound it normally has. I changed them back again and yep, I didn't like it as much. I think I swapped em back and forth about 3 times. So if you want to change the character of this pedal fairly easily and moreso reversably, give it a try.

I'm not the biggest fan of dirt pedals so I sold it but it's got some found memories of a really usefull tone with that mod.

Hey in case you didn't know either, the circuit is basically the same as the old Marshall Guvnor pedal with some buffering in front. The Daddy O is a really good pedal. The EQ can shape things to suit different amp and guitars also. Ok that's all folks!

In spite of having 5 knobs, this pedal is very easy to use. It has gain control and a volume control, as well as a 3-band EQ. If you can't find a good tone, read the manual (download it). Me? I don't need no instructions to know how to Rock! But if you can't find a good tone on this pedal then you simply don't know what you're doing with this pedal.

It's quiet--like all the old Dan-o pedals. I have a tube amp. I did an A/B comparison with this pedal's knobs set up the same as my Boost channel preamp. This pedal does a GREAT emulation of a tube preamp. This is NOT a distortion or a fuzz pedal. If you think it is, then you simply don't know what you're talking about--period. This pedal is NOT going to sound like a Marshall Plexi or a Mesa Rectifier. It doesn't emulate a monster amp head with 4 preamp tubes and 3 power tubes, but it does emulate a tube overdrive.

Understand what I'm saying:
This pedal accurately emulates a SINGLE 12ax7 tube being overdriven. Think of a lower wattage amp that might be used for Blues or small gigs. That's what this pedal sounds like. It's great for Jazz, Blues, Hard Rock, and Classic Rock. This pedal is NOT what you're looking for to play Nu-Metal or any Metal other than maybe some Classic Rock stuff.

I have not tried this pedal with a solid state amp so I'm not sure if that will drastically change the quality of the tone you get but with my Marshall amp, this sounds very good. If you had an all tube amp (like a smaller Fender amp) this might be just what you need for those smaller, low volume Jazz, Blues, and Classic Rock gigs.

The 3-band EQ is just amazing! I can't say enough about how much control you get over your sound by having that EQ on the pedal. You can get the mid-boost nasal growl (think Tube Screamer) or hollow it out a bit (like a Heavy Metal, Classic Rock tone) or boost the bass for a fat Jazz tone. Pump up the highs and mids just a touch for a punchy Blues tone. Like the song says "You can have whatever you like".

I've never had any trouble with any of my Danelectro pedals and I own 4 of them.

Never used them. The used to be non-existent about 3 years ago but now they have a Customer Service department with an actual human being there!

If you're looking for the tone of a small, low wattage tube amp then this pedal will deliver. If you are looking for a crunchy distortion box for Metal, don't use this one. This gives the vintage tone of a single 12ax7 tube being overdriven. For the price, I'm not sure you can beat it. The Boss Blues Driver is more expensive and it doesn't sound any better (to me). A Tube Works Tube Driver or Blue Tube has an actual 12ax7 tube in the pedal but it's MUCH more expensive than this little nugget. This is definitely worth the money.

Impossible to get a good sound out of it. Easy to use but can't do much with it.

Impossible to get a good sound out of it. This is a Fizz Machine not an Overdrive Pedal. The noises out of the pedal sound like a dead bird. It is also very noisy. The only thing this is good for is to Mod it for $24 using Monte Allums. Then it sounds like a Marshall. Otherwise, don't even look at this pedal.

Used with both a Fender Tube and a Solid State. I can't imagine any artist using this pedal.

The first big version was built like a tank. The new ones are very small and don't look like they would hold up if you dropped it.

No Clue.

I play all kinds of music from Blues to Metal. Been playing for 25 years. Own many very high end guitars, amps and pedals. I would pay someone to take this pedal. However, I did just spend $24 to Mod this pedal with a Monte Allums Kit and it actually sounds great now. The kit pretty much rebuilt the pedal so that tells you something...

Couldn't get much easier. Only the small knobs bother me, when I need to change the EQ settings playing through some other amp than mine. Not that bad of a prob though.

The Daddy-O has been kind of the cornerstone of my own sound for years and years. It was a beautiful warm-up for my previous long-time partner Laney TF-200 hybrid combo (actually solid state only, since I used only the clean channel), and seems to work great with my current 20W Laney LH20 all tube head + MesaBoogie Three-Quarter Back 1x12". Can get quite heavy old-school growling, or then just back off the drive a bit for nice crunch.

Since it's cheap, you can't expect it to be top notch, though. It's a bit noisy (even for an overdrive, I guess), and I remember noticing years ago that the noise is worse when used with an AC adapter. Haven't used it with battery for a long long time... But noise is something that doesn't bother me when it comes to drive pedals - as long as the sound is good, I'm fine with it. You don't have to keep the pedal on when not playing, do you?

The only thing I wish the Daddy-O had soundwise, is a little bit more transparency and dynamics. But hey, it's still the cornerstone of my sound (for now at least), so it can't be that bad... ;)

Unfortunately heavy gigging seems to do bad for it. :( The housing is sturdy, but there are few weak points:

1. The switch feels cheap
2. The pots feel cheap and when rotated they don't feel like I was dealing with high quality - could break anytime (haven't, though!)
3. The plastic, not-attached-on-the-box jacks are unreliable
4. The AC-adaptor jack is even more unreliable - mine has already broken a bit. It transmits the power, OK, but the plug needs to be at certain position; deep enough (too deep compared to when the pedal was new) and not straight. I'm still gigging with it anyway, because it hasn't failed in the middle of a set, only needs to be checked every time before the start.

I do use it kind of without a backup - don't have another one, but got a MEK Tubedrive 2, that can be tweaked quite close to Daddy-O's sound. Funny by the way that the MEK is not my main overdrive, but this cheap(ish) Dano!

Haven't dealt with them.

I play a wide range of styles, since I study it and do it for living. My own "thing" is old school, blues-based rock etc. and this pedal nails it (and many many many styles) great. My own sound is recognizable (so I've heard), and this OD makes much of it at least for now. I play mostly Strat, but the pedal works with humbuckers and P90s too.

Adjustable to sound good and produce quite the same sound with very different kinds of amps is the best thing about Daddy-O. Not forgetting the healthy basic sound it has through the drive knob's range. Transparency and dynamics are not boutique, but neither is the price. Quality is the weak point. Seen lot worse though.

Slight minus from the lack of true bypass has to be mentioned.

I would definetely buy another one if it was stolen or lost - my first one was stolen by the way...

This is a pretty easy pedal to get a good sound out of. It has a three band EQ which is very nice. A rareity with Overdrive pedals.

I am Currently runing a Epiphone Les Paul Ultra(With Gibson Burstbucker pickups) into a Slash Crybaby Wah - Rocktron Metal Planet - Danelectro Daddy-O Overdrive - Digitech RP350 - Into a Crate V16 All Tube Amp. This is a good setup to have if your tight on money. This unit can be a little noisy when cranked up, but that is to be expected from a cheaply priced unit. The overdrive is very good. It sounds fairly warm, not as warm as a tubescreamer but it suits my needs just fine.

I havent had any problums yet. And I have used it live, and will continue to. The battery life seems good.

This is a very good overdrive for the price. And dont forget that the EQ is a bonus. Get it, you wont be disapointed.

This pedal is a sturdy and inexpensive way to boost your volume from R to L

I use the TCOB setting just for this. It is one of the few pedals that keeps the tone as the lower volume. In the TCOB setting that is, As far as tthe other settings go, well, then you may have a problem

But, as I said and will say once again, in the TCOB setting it can't be beat.

Just twiddle the knobs and Let your ears be the judge

I use this pedal with my Peavey Classic 30 and DC Solid Metal. I use it for my lead breaks. I find its very organic and pretty much just boosts the signal. The bypass on it seems to be very good also. It has a very unique tone to it. For what I use it for it sounds great

Built like a tank.

Fairly average price pedal, sounds great, strong and versatile. If its its good enough for Mike Campbell(Tom Petty's Guitarist) then its sure good enough for me.

Simple. Use your ears

I use this with an Epiphone Valve Junior, Laney hybrid and also with my gnx3000 and boss me50. I love it has a variety of tones because of the 3 eq knobs. I find it adds alot of warmth to my ss/digital rigs also.

Had it 4 years, so far so good. Its a very heavy and well built pedal. Dont get this pedal confused with the tiny little new dano's.

Never dealt

A very nice pedal suits me down to the ground, I use it for a solo boost and it does the job great

has tone controls that work .. nice - (kind of small though - so what)

i held off on getting one of these for a while because i saw they were so cheap on ebay and i thought it must suck - NOT SO! I tried it and I LIKED IT! my chain (one side) is an ibanez compressor >> then MXR phase 100 >> and then Daddy O - into fender 6v6gt tube amp ... i like it a lot - please dont do what i did, and judge it based on how other people don't how to use effects properly in their chain or expect a single pedal will give them every sound in the book. this pedal ESPESCIALLY for the money is a great value - i liked it better than the boss blues driver (no disrespect)

solid build

please

i think this pedal is underrated - if used with the right setup could be just the ticket for VERY LITTLE money - big value IMHO

Very easy to use, just use your ears.

Im using this with a Laney Hybrid LV200 and Boss ME50mfx. I find that the ME50's ods/dist can be a little harsh and this pedal warms them up just great. This pedal is very good used as a boost I find.

Had it for 4 years now and no worries. This pedal is one of the older style Dano's and is built like a tank. Very dependable

This is a great pedal for what I use it for. A nice warm sounding overdrive, which can do crunch and fuzz if tweaked.

Its easy to get a ok sound out of this box, but the knobs are too small and too close to each other, so even if my fingers are thin its hard to fine tune. the box is kind of large, so i wander why they have to make the knobs the way they do. like that it has a 3-band eq, makes it more versitile. the manual is ok.

Loved the sound until i tried something else. TS9, vox v810 and fulldrive 2 are all pedals far greater than the dady-o, the first two are in the same pricerange. I sold it years ago. Just didn't like it anymore. the sound lacks quality. it dosen't sound like a cranked amp, a beautiful distortion or a strange noisy peace of crappy wander. Now I use a fender japan tele, TU-2, CS-2, V810, TS9, Muff, Maxon CS-550, DD-6, PN-2 throug a fender Princeton and a Hot Rod Deville 212.

The only thing that can break is the knobs, and they will break if you step on them. The box is so heavy that i almost belive it's made of ledd. nothing can penetrate that shield! Give it a 5 because of the knobs, which is an essential part of a stomp, but everything else seems relieble.

I play mainly british rock, but dont think that influenses my opinion. this pedal just isn't great. It's not even good. It's OK, and ok is not good enough. You can get better pedals for less. I would like to share some thoughts about the design. It's different, but not good different. It's f.... ugly. The size of it makes it difficult to make place on the pedal-board.

Knob (indicators) are hard to see. Tiny little close-spaced knobs are hard to turn. Volume/Gain/Tone labels are hard to read to see which knob does what. Making this pedal relatively difficult to adjust on stage on-the-fly. Most pedals don't need too much tweaking so maybe this is nit-picking. Especially considering that this pedal pretty much sucks regardless of where you turn the knobs to.

I've always liked the BIG 'ol push button though.

This has got to be one of the worst sounding overdrive / distortion / gain pedals, whatever.. that has ever been created. Thin, bad tone, unresponsive. If it were just a little worse it may be bad enough to be good in a unigue way. If you like good tone I would stay away from this one. If you have a bad guitar, bad amp, AND you are a bad guitar player, buy it!!! Because it won't matter. And it does look cool so if your into looks more than tone, this could be a good buy for you. Maybe it's just me.. but aren't all the good pedals just square boxes. And all the bad ones look like a stealth fighter or a '57 chevy?

100% reliable. Never a problem. I think it is well made, quiet and consistant. The case is cast aluminum or zinc and "built like a tank". Insides are cheap-o but they always work. And this thing has been beer soaked and danced on many, many times.

The pedal has been reliable. So N/A.

My guitar playing style as is a diverse variety of hard rock, roots, country twang, blues. This pedal is not a good match to my playing style. Probably because I LOVE GOOD TONE! I have been playing steady in working bands for over 30 years. I have many tube amps (5watts to 130watts) from Fender, Mesa, Vox, Harmony. And I play real & old Les Pauls, Teles, Strats, 335. All stock, no fancy added stuff. I have used the Daddy-O on and off (over 10 years) as a back up or for a "less gain" sound to my vintage ProCo RAT. I have to say this pedal is not a good buy at any cost. It may be better than nothing. So for $10 ok, if that's all you're willing to spend. But I have never been pleased or inspired to play better while using this pedal. The Daddy-O & I just don't get along. It has overall a thin and nasty tone. So much so that I hesitate to use the word "tone" in decribing this pedal. I would not recommend this pedal to anyone. Sounds funny but the reason I have used it lately is that the name of my band is The Daddy-O's. So it was more for a laugh. I have decided to bury this pedal at sea by flushing it down my toilet. So my musing here is it's epitaph.

Dislikes: Tone-sucker: overall sound quality is poor. Knobs are difficult to see and adjust on-stage.

Not so easy, there's gain to be equalized!

So volume, gain, plus a gain equalizer... It's a lot of options,
and not all of them sound good. Could've been done simpler, that's all.

Another point-eating thang is that the knobs are small and bunched
together, so no play-by adjustments.

Nice one - I use it for a little crunch 'cause I like it.
It's attached to my Bolt-60 amp, and I'm feeling versatile and good.

I find that it sounds exceptionally lo-fi on higher drive
settings; it's not rude or shrieking, just not so good.
Charming for me, maybe, but people will generally say it sucks.
No shame in playing it that way a little just for fun, though.
Better stuff is to be had for high distortion sounds.

The equalizer is worth it's weight in gold for me, because I can
iron out my P-90 equipped guitar's sound, 'nuff said.
A smidgeon of drive gives me the honk I need when I dig in,
and I feel that this little tin-can responds to playing dynamics.
Not in a grand way, like an overdriven tube amp, but still
it shows some feeling, and it's better than none.

Certainly no noise, hiss, volume drop or boost - it's quiet and
peaceful.

If it stayed true in higher gain settings, it woulda earned
a niner easy due to the super-useful equalizer. More expensive
things don't have it.

Sure!
No backup needed - this thing is durable and thick,
plus it's designed fabulously for all vintage freaks.
You don't have to like it, but the design really works
for people of a certain sensibility.

Speaking of sensibility, my Daddy-O has been kicked and
banged around quite a bit, but still works like a charm
and keeps batteries for months. Good one.

Never tried. Assessing from the looks of their webpage,
I don't think that would ever be a clever idea.

Works for me! Can get into that Scofield vibe a little,
can even try and push it up a notch and hammer-in a few riffs too.

If it were stolen, I would buy something better-sounding,
then forever regret the lack of 3-band drive equalization.
Unless...

Five knobs, fiddle around a bit and you got it.

On my strat it produces a nasty fizzy tone, very transistorish and plasticky. This was one of my first few OD's but I quickly sold it because it sounds plain nasty. I modded mine, changed the op-amp and other stuff, sounded a tad better but still sucked.

Low gain simply doesnt work on this one, you need dirt at at least 9-10 o'clock. Anything higher than 2 o'clock sounds like angry hornets in a tin can.

The only reason anyone would get this pedal is the cheap price.

Casing is solid metal but sockets are plastic. Why?

Ok cheap beginners OD, play with it a few weeks till you tire of the artificial sounding nasty raspy buzzy tones, and get a decent pedal. Even the digitech bad monkey is a great OD compared to this.

Pretty easy to use, if you start with everything at 12 o'clock and work from there making small adjustments you can't go wrong. Easy to put you foot on the switch and the led is big so you can see it easily. The color is very purty to, awwww how sweet lol

Wow, how cool is this thing!?! It is really pick responsive and has a slightly loose and fuzzy lower string sound when plucked softly, give a distortion type tone on the middle strings when you dig in, and has an overdrive sound on the higher strings. When you use a bit of delay and chorus/flanger higher up neck it gets a fusion type of overdrive of the typical 808/ts9-ish variety but totally in a different way, namely without the lack of bass or huge nasally mids but it's definately a crisp overdrive sound not a distortion. I guess I should point out that I am using it to 'overdrive' my valve amp which is by itself giving anything from a proper clean with guitar volumes low up to a pushed clean to a mild overdrive with volumes up. So that is the sort of amp situation I am using when I describe the sounds and response of this effect box. Comparing to a Boss Blues Driver it is miles ahead because it doesn't sound like a sterile processed overdrive and I'm talking even with the Monte Allums H2O mod. I did do one of the Indyguitarist mods to this DO-1 to make it smoother, as well as changing out the TL072 to an RC4558P ala the ts-808's other widely great sounding IC. BUT.... even stock I imediately liked the sound of the Daddy-O. I would like to give an 8.9 with mods and an 7.9 without.

Seems built well, but the plastic knobs mounted onto plastic shafted pots mounted on the pcb poking up through a plastic retaining section seems to be asking for failure. Don't kick the knobs off the unit and it would be fine. The push button is military strength, and the switch is also very big -- way bigger than boss.

I like it a lot. I have tried a few pedals for dirt to and I am liking this one.

Boss SD-1, DS-1, Zoom 2020, Fuzz Face, OS-2, MT-2, Zoom G2.1, BD-2 and Daddy-O. This list is pedal, not including amps, TSL etc.

Pretty straight foward stompbox. No bells or whistles here. Just adjust and go. Set and leave. Whatever. Controls are good and tight. LED included.

I bought this initially because Steve Howe uses one.

First some background on overdrive pedals. You are making a mistake if you think a pedal labeled "overdrive" should be a modern "distortion" box, for example a Boss DS-1. The ABC's here involve a little history about the development of the business, so just realize what it is exactly you have purchased. The microchip design of the Ibanez Tube Screamer and it's related cousins (vice earlier 60's-70's era transistor Muff styles), require at a minimum an all-tube amplifier. The basic function of the 80's style pedal, is to raise a buffered signal level, or active signal, or powered signal, however you want to define it, then hit your front end of the amp with that higher voltage. Raising your signal beyond a saturation sine wave for the power tubes, helps them clip into a soft edged square wave. Hence, the label --> overdrive. Ever wonder why the amp had a volume knob...AND a gain knob?! Raise the knob labeled volume first, then bring up the knob labeled overdrive secondly. (The pedal, not the amp.) The subtle characteristics of overdrive pedals is what separates them from boost pedals. The modern distortion circuits, "process" the waveform more directly, therefore I did find my Boss DS-1 into a tube amp, actually lacking when compared to my old practise Peavey Transtube solid state amp, for instance. The distortion pedal into a Randall is what separates the Pantera/Sevendust sound from the early Metallica/ACDC Mesa/Marshall sound. They both sound very close to each other, but not quite. It's just a preference. Warning! The Dunlop 535 Crybaby Wah works in a similar manner, unlike their 95 re-issue. Completely different circuit components.

Straight forward, yep, the big plus to the Daddy-O, all you Moon Dog big daddies out there...is that over the Tubescreamer...this has an equalizer! The Ibanez has a built-in circuit mid boost for large spaces at high decibels, but the Daddy-O gives you a little more control in the bottom end of that eq. I use it in small spaces for practice only. In my rig right now, it's a stand alone pedal chain buffer, vice a compressor pedal. Sustain should come from the thickness and weight of the guitar body/neck.

Maybe maestro Steve uses it alone, I have no idea. There are other ways to use it, don't get me wrong, and I probably paid too much for it, but just don't get too excited if it won't do an all-in-one digital thang on the cheap. Digital delay modulation and time effects should never be summed before power tubes, or intermodulation distortion will result in a decay/destruction. All-in-one devices need to go with solid state amps only, but some digital "distortion" clocks out fast enough up front with good software. Breaking up the signal can be done, but it WILL sound sonically maximized and flat, if not extremely loud at ALL times. I prefer the picking dynamics, impedance reactance of the tone/volume controls, and multi-harmonic orders of vacuum tubes, played clean. It's a cut and paste ProTools world though. I never said I liked what was popular, just what was available on my "crunch" palette. Don't even get me started on British punk pop. America's Mississippi Delta is where the blooz gets played.

Initially I was disappointed with my Tubescreamer purchase to tell you the truth, against the Danelectro, but now after reading the history of the business, I realize it was just an "application" issue. In other words, my living room prefered the versatility of my Daddy-O.

It now gets swapped back and forth with the TS-808 re-issue, depending on the decibels needed for my space.

The Ibanez has a more transparent sound than the Big-Daddy, so it's better for other uses on my pedalboard. It's all experiment, but I prefer to think logically about it, so it stays for now.

It doesn't sound anything like a fuzz face in my book.

No issues. Attractive design.

No failures.

Besides my Wah, it's the only pedal I'd sell.

But Gear Aquisition Strategy...is part of the fun anywayz.

My 4 Real blooZ.

GAS

It's an ok pedal for the money. I paid $20 for it, second hand, which is about as much as I'd consider paying for this pedal. The 5 controls take a short while to get adjusted to but it's easy to get a fairly decent tone out of it.

Is this an overdrive? A distortion? A fuzz? I just can't figure it out. It seems like a cross between all three. When the gain setting is all the way down, it's quite irritating to use, there's just a hint of the signal breaking up, but no way like a true tube amp, it's like a little transistor farting. Gain between 9 o'clock and 1 o'clock is ok, anything above that and the pedal sounds like a high pitched trebly farty fuzz.

Maybe it's ok for some zz-top or some old ac-dc, but useless for anything else.

Dunno. The sockets are plastic, but the body seems to be armor plated. I'm more worried about the sockets though. Why couldn't they have spent a little more money and given us steel sockets?

Never needed any.

Well it feels solid, but the sound leaves a lot to be desired. I would look elsewhere. The boss sd-1 is a great starting point.

Takes time to find the right setting's for your amp/amp's and the mid knob in the center should be left in the middle.

I have many distortion /overdrive pedals.But this pedal really supprized me.It has a great smooth sounding dist sound thats not over the top and great for chording.Black crow's style and Bad Company sound with just the right amount of buzz.Not powerfull enough for solo's but i beleive people should have two overdrive pedals in their chain anyway.Here is an example of my setting's

volume @ 2 o'clock
bass @ 3 o'clock
Mid @ 11 o'clock
treb @ 2 o'clock
o'drive @11:30 or knob position pointed right at the "o" in O.Drive.

This is not a death metal pedal or dimebag derryl sounding.

Insted it is smooth and can give you fuller bass response than allot of other more expensive models.Not noisy at all.

Solid built well and looks great!.

N/a.

I have about 10 diff dist pedals and out of the lot i only use two.
My Daddy o and an OCD fulltone for thicker drive and for solo's.

I use it with a Marshall 2204 and 4 12 marshall cab.
Fender strats,gibson SG and les paul pro 1976.

for the money this is a real value and should be part of anyone's arsenal.

I use a custom tele or washburn hb35>this beast>dano fish n chips>dt-10>music man 212-hd 130>ashdown 4x10 bass cab. Sound is amazing, especially with extra eq. Set treble to 10, bass to 10, mid to zero, gain to full and you're laughing. it's great for don caballero riffage (funnily enough). A very stylised distortion/overdrive hybrid. doesnt growl at all, it's very smooth but with a big bite to it.

solid as a rock

n/a

it's good enough for ian williams & it's good enough for me.

The small knobs aren't the easiest if you need to reach down and tweak them during a gig. If you get a sound you like, though, no big.

For a fairly inexpensive pedal, I've found it to be pretty quiet and quite stable. I've used it with a Marshall Vs100, Blues Junior, and Traynor YCV-50 with my Jazzmaster, Jagmaster, and Teles. It gets some pretty decent sounds, but I'd like to be able to use it to punch up the volume more and use the overdrive and tone settings to add a touch of overdrive and warmth. It just doesn't punch up the volume the way I'd like.

Nice rugged construction ... I don't worry about this thing falling apart. It has space for a second battery .... damn, is that a great idea or what?!

Decent sounding pedal ... just doesn't have an incredible amount of flexibility with the sounds it gets. Stageworthy rugged construction and stability.

great with 3 tone knobs a lot of flexibility . i set it to my taste and forget it. . . control of the mids is always important

I use it with various amplifiers fenders / roland whatever. I think it will as reported sound very different with diff amps, so Daddy-O> Boss CE-3>BossDD-3>BossRV-3> behringer GDI amp sim/driver. Im really happy now after trying a lots of distortion/OD pedals. in combination with the behringer on a clean boogie setting, my strat Rocks on any amp..with a lot of headroom with the volume pot. try it you'll like it. it has a kinda weak drive, but thats why it retains some real guitar tone. with the driver at the end of the chain though its screaming, with a "thwump". i want a crunchy jangle and i get it. other pedals are too metal, or like a ds-1 or rat, too little attack and dynamics for me.

well 2 of the knobs are a little loose, i think maybe if you stomp on the knobs you could damage it...doh
plastic input/output jacks i aint worried

n/a

I play punk/post punk/ grungey rock. its perfect i love a crushing sound but with definition. this box is special i think. in no way fake or prcessed sounding at lower drive levels.It can sound like early zeppelin w0w. I wish i had an awesome tube amp to try it with , but my fx setup with various (crappy) SS house-amps is really hot IMO. been playing 25 years so i get that its about the combination of gear in the chain and amplifier. daddy-o may match your amp or not.. try n buy.
oh its a little noisy cause i play single coil strats.

well reading the reviews here helped me find it, so i wanted to share my sucess. after many sleepless nights wondering what to do with my fx chain. now i can rest... its a solid box -o- Tone!(but not too much..)

it takes a while to get the tone you want out of it but thats only cos its so versatile

im not gonna give it shit for hissing cos its impossible to not have it without a noise gate which only really sound good if your playing really clean distortion metal. the gains pretty crap for anything smooth when turned up anymore then just over halfway, on full it does sound very good for really dirty punk. it does seem best suited to more mild distortion but not quite mild enough for blues in my opinion, depedns what you kinda thing is. the EQ is awesome on this pedal, the treble isnt too harsh when the drive isnt up loads, the bass makes it REALLY full sounding and the mids are proper hollow.

i think its best suited to rythm, based on the deep crunch you can get out of it, ive only tried it with single coil guitars so far but it doesnt really seem like the kind of thing that would suit gibsons and the like, very nice with fenders though and (surprisingly) danelectros

my rythm guitarist uses mine for my surf/punk band and i couldnt ask for a better sound to back tinny reverb heavy lead surf guitar

as everyone else said the amp ytou put it through REALLY makes a difference

the metals solid as fuck itself, mines 2nd hand and really chipped so it looks like its been through some nasty gigging (id presume so anyway it came with velcro on the bottom) my mate managed to break the battery cover though the first time he touched it but i dont think any pedal with that kind of design has one thats particuarly robust. never had a problem with the electrics

never delt with them in any serious way, was a right arse to find the number (its not on the site) but after looking at a review of the 56pro that was linked from their site i managed to find a distrabution number and they were very friendly and helpful

this is easily one of the best overdrives ive ever played on, really really good for punk, surf (dont try using it for lead though), rock and heavier kinda blues. absolute bargin if you find a second hand one. the distortion counterpart (fab tone) is also very nice although you cant change the level of distortion only the "fab" level which is like some sustain or dpeth or something, very nice for metal, heavy rock, grunge or anything under then sun that heavy and dirty

easy

this pedal sounds very very sweet. but just like any overdrive/distortion/fuzz stompbox, there are certain things that you should keep in mind as a general rule of thumb. for instance, i have an overdrive (this one, and i used to have a ts-9 dx turbo tube screamer which was sweet as well), a fuzz (sabine fuzzstortion) and a distortion (boss ds-1) pedal. you have to know first what you desire. as for this daddy-o overdrive, it is very dependent on the gear you have and the style that you play. if you are playing a classic rock style (i.e. tom petty and the heartbreakers, hendrix, the who style) this pedal is up that sort of alley (even though hendrix and townshend both used fuzz boxes, this pedal really covers a broad spectrum.) i'm using a very, very simple setup of either a 1968 Gibson SG Special (w/p-90's) or a 1972 Reissue Fender Telecaster Thinline (w/ '57 classic humbuckers). my amps are all old fender (or fender-style) tube amps, i.e. 1972 Fender Pro Reverb, 1974 Fender Dual Showman (one of the sweetest things i've ever heard) and a 1969 Alamo Paragan bass amp. Each of those amps and guitars are straight away sweet, simple sounding pieces of machinery. in that context this pedal sounds like a tube screamer but with the option of adding more bite (i.e. a proco rat). i've had a tube screamer and loved it, and this is right there with it. so, i said all that to say this, as with most danelectro pedals, if you're using them as they were intended and you have the right gear, this pedal will blow you away and has a pretty sweet price tag (i got it used by trading in an mxr dyna-comp). this is not for metal or punk, it is certainly for those who are wanted a classic overdrive with the option of more bite.

this provides some great tonal options if you want either a boost, an overdrive, or dirty rhythm. i'm pretty sure mike campbell from tom petty and the heartbreakers uses this and that's exactly what it's perfect for. you should definitely try it out with your gear before you make any decisions as it is very gear-dependent. with that said, if you know you want a sweet overdrive, then this is a good, inexpensive way to go. if you want a tube screamer, but would rather pocket an extra fifty dollars, then this is certainly a good call.

Easy to use!
You can dial it in very quick.

Good tone, works well for a solo pedal. Boost the Mid to 3/4, Bass at 1/2, Treble at 1/2, Volume on Full, Drive at 1/2 & you have yourself a nice pedal for solo's Live.
It is a bit noisy, but every distortion/overdrive ever made is noisy.

Sounds good & you can get the tone to cut through.
These are similar to the Marshall Governor pedals.

There isn't much that separates this pedal from any Boutique pedal I've ever owned. Don't waste your money on high $ priced crap.

The pots are plastic. Whatever, I paid $17 for this pedal.

I use it at rehearsal, I have another set-up for live shows.

?
No idea!

These are great pedals for the price, you'll find them on Ebay for about $25 w/shipping. It's nice to have EQ that works. Is it the best overdrive pedal on the planet, hell know. You can waste a bunch of money on a Tubescreamer, Blues Driver or Fulltone pedal, or you can pick up one of these for a solo/boost pedal, beat it to death & not worry about it. Anyone that says they have a Distortion/Overdrive pedal that isn't noisy has their head up their bum. It's the nature of what these pedals do, "Create Noise". The greatest overdrive pedal in ever made is the DOD 250 Preamp (even it is noisy). If this one bites the dust maybe I'll try one of the new Danelectro pedals, they go for about $20 new.
I hate to say it, but they sound good too!

The pedal has 5 controls, and it takes a little tweaking of the mid and high level controls at each gain setting to get the best possible od/distort sound, for example at low gain, you can set the treble quite high and it still sounds nice but when you crank up the gain it sounds like absolute shit with the treble high. On the whole it is ok not too difficult to get a good tone.

Well, like some others have mentioned earlier the bass, mid and treble controls need to be tweaked a lot at each gain setting to get a decent tone. With the gain on max, the treble needs to be near zero. I use this pedal with a standard MIM fender strat with single coil pups, the dano and maybe a couple of other pedals like a delay or a flanger (yucks, there are still some who use it :)!) through a laney lc15 tube amp (wonderful little amp, really)

It is pretty noisy when the gain goes high, this pedal is really a mix between a heavy overdrive and a super distortion, it's neither here nor there. I can't for the life of me get a clean smooth overdrive sound like the boss bd-2 or sd-1. It's best used with the gain below half way and the treble somewhere near 12 o'clock. Anything more and it sounds ugly and noisy, like ripping up metal sheets.

It's a half way decent distort but I'll have to give it a 5 because much of the range is unuseable unless you want screeching noise.

It seems pretty solid, the metal casing is fat and heavy, but I guess they spent all their money on the casing and forgot about everything else. I opened up the pedal to put in a battery and happened to look at the PCB. It intrigued me, so I opened up the whole pedal. The soldering on the PCB seems pretty amateur. There are solder streaks and marks all over the PCB, I've never seen anything as shoddy in a Boss pedal.

The sockets, potentiometers, controls, etc are all cheap plastic and god knows when they will decide to die on me in the middle of an important gig. I'd be much happier if they'd just spent that extra couple of bucks in getting metal connectors and pots. I'd gladly pay $10 more for that, though I'm sure it won't cost that much when these are mass produced.

Hmmm... I don't know. I really wouldn't gig without a backup. It hasn't died on me yet, but it really doesn't inspire confidence like my solid metal boss pedals.

Not used them yet.

I play jazz rock, and a little heavy rock, but this pedal doesn't cut it for the kind of music I play. For jazz rock, the pedal is just too noisy, it doesn't give me the smooth and clean overdrive tones like other real overdrive pedals, and for heavy rock, it is just too harsh at high gain settings. I think I made a mistake in buying this. I guess the only kinds of music it is good for are stuff like ZZ-top,kiss, etc. If this were stolen, I'd be a very happy man. In fact I'm probably going to replace this with two other pedals, a true overdrive and a distort or metal zone.

There are 5 controls so it takes a little bit of tweaking before you get the right tone to suit your guitar, amp and music style. The manual was practically useless, and the website is absolutely useless. It takes a bit of playing around to get familiar with it.

The sound quality is very good with the drive setting between min and 11 o'clock, and if I use a level booster or compressor before the daddy-o, I can get nice tones between min and 10 o'clock.

I have never been able to get a decent sounding distortion or overdrive tone with the gain set high. It sounds buzzy and harsh. It's not a fuzz, it's not an overdrive, it's not a metal unit, it's something like a distortion but with a bit more bite.

You *can* clean up and mellow down the tone a tad if you hook it up after a compressor and send it through a chorus, it doesn't sound so buzzy and harsh.

I am not sure why people have rated this pedal so highly. If I need a mild crunch or bluesy overdrive to rock distortion, the boss bd-2 and sd-1 beat this feller hands down, if I want shred metal or thrash the boss MT-2 is the king.

I've replaced the op-amp (a TL072) with a TLC272 and it sort of mellowed down and cleaned up the tone a tad, and I also replaced the clipping diodes with germaniums which make it sound a little better. Yet, the pedal is only useable with the distortion between min and 10 o'clock, anything higher and it's harsh and buzzy.

Not sure how reliable this is, compared to a boss. The pots are plastic, the input and output jacks are plastic. The body seems much more solid than a boss, but I'm more worried about the plastic components. It's never broken on me, but still, I'd be happier with a backup.

Never called them.

I got this second hand for 25 bux. I'd probably not buy one new, it's a nice pedal to play with for a while, but it lacks versatility. Yes you can drive the gain all the way to max but it is unplayable at those settings. The other pedals I've tried together with this are the boss SD-1, DS-1, BD-2 and the MT-2 metal zone. This is probably a decent first pedal for someone wanting an overdrive on the cheap.

It's plenty easy to get a good sound out of it once you stop thinking that it 'an overdrive' pedal. It isn't contrary to the name that Danelectro gave it. It's kind of in-between an OD and a distortion pedal.

Here's the chain it's run through. Fender USA Strat with prototype Lace Sensors -> Crybaby 535Q -> Daddy-O -> Phase 90 -> Marshall Supervibe -> Boss DD-5 delay -> Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10.
Leaving the overdrive setting low to try and impart a slightly overdriven tone to your amp won't happen. It just gives you a crappy buzzy tone. BUT... If you crank the OD knob up you get this cool slightly fuzzy distortion. Fiddling with the knobs I could get Steely Dan, Tom Petty (Breakdown, I Need to Know), Clapton (Crossroads), and others just changing the tone knobs on the pedal or changing pickup positions. I really think where Danelectro went wrong was giving this the wrong name. It gave everyone the wrong impression of what the pedal was supposed to do.

Built like a tank. Think Boss only cooler looking. Doesn't look like the 'same thing same place' kinda pedals they put out. If I gigged anymore I would gig without a backup.

Never dealt with the company.

I've been playing off and on for 30 years. Play mostly classic rock, jam band rock, and blues. I love this pedal. You will to if you can get past accepting the pedal for what it is and not what the name would imply.

Ease of use--It isn't as easy as a regular ol' TS9 or Boss DS1, but it's not complicated, either. The eq knobs are sensitive, but if you're not heavy-handed in your tweaking, it won't matter. Good manual (I played with their recommended settings just for fun and as a starting point, but ended up just relying on my ears in the end).

I play guitar/slide guitar/harp (harmonica to all you non-blues guys)/vocals in a Texas Roadhouse band called the SCREAMIN' ARMADILLOS. (Blues+Classic Rock+Outlaw Country=Texas Roadhouse). We play 75% original songs, but will occasionally attack an old favorite of ours. Someone described us as the Fabulous Thunderbirds and ZZ Top going on tour with Waylon Jennings.

Setup:
Harps: Various Lee Oskar and Hohners played through a vintage 1940's Astatic S200 microphone. (I run my harps through my effects.)
Guitars: 62RI Stratocaster, Vintage-styled Tele (converted into an Esquire), G&L F-100, Danelectro DC3.
Effects: 70's MXR Phase 90, Ibanez TS9, Crybaby Wah, Jim Dunlop Jimi Hendrix JH2S Classic Fuzz, Boss DS1, Daddy-O, DOD FX40B EQ, Rocktron Hush; all mounted on a Furman SPB8 pedalboard
Amps: 63RI Fender Vibroverb (Brownface w/2 10" speakers) and/or Line 6 Pod (plugged into the PA system).

I have a variety of overdrives and distortions because I play a large range of music within my band. I'm the fill-in-the-blanks guy who will put the finishing touches on the various songs, so I have to have versitility. I also like to mix-n-match effects for various textures within a song/performance.

The Daddy-O is great by itself or in use with other distortions/overdrives or modulation effects (Wah or Phase 90). I like the "more than an overdrive but not buzzy like a fuzz" grit and grind you can dial into this little box. It can be thick, thin, scooped or pumped on its tone--just start tweakin' 'til you're happy.
When I blend the Daddy-O with the Jimi Hendrix Classic Fuzz, there's a definite Billy Gibbons-like crank and squank, with some of those almost-out-of-control harmonics poppin' up here and there. (I see that as a good thing!)
There can be some SRV in there if you dial it right, but I don't do that--there are too many imitators of that great man; he needs to be left alone.

One thing I have noticed about this pedal is how it reacts very differently with various amps. My metal-head friend used it with his Les Paul/Mesa Boogie setup and it made some very good metal/rhythm tones. I played it through a friend's Hot Rod DeVille and I was not as impressed with the sound, and it sounded VERY different (not bad, just different) in use with another friend's 60-watt Marshall half-stack (I don't know which model), so try it out with your own rig before you judge too quickly.

It's not too noisy, but when if it starts getting hissy I just step on my Rocktron Hush.

I've gigged with this since my wife bought it (7 or 8 years ago?) for our wedding anniversary--never had a problem. I would use it without a backup, but with my rig, that's not a dangerous prospect.

It's built like a brick house. Be careful when you throw it at someone; just ask my first bass player's widow (just kidding).

I bought a second (used) one that was broken, but all that was needed to fix it was to replace the latching capacitor (if you push the on/off button, and it intermittently will or won't turn on, it's most likely that capacitor; this is a common problem with many kinds of pedals--not just the Danelectros. My Ibanez TS9(RI) and Soundtank TS and Phaser pedals all did the same thing). I sold the second one to a friend and he has used it constantly with no problem.

I called Danelectro about something entirely unrelated and they were very helpful; I would assume they would act the same way on all things.

See above for an explanation of my musical style.

I love this pedal.

If it were lost or stolen, I would get another one.

Fairly simple controls, considering the complex effect units available today. Five knobs. One switch.

I found it difficult to find a good, overdriven tube amp sound. The pedal seemd to color the guitars sound considerably, and I couldn't coax a subtle sound from it. It seemed more like a mild distortion than an overdrive.
I use a Strat into a Vox. Looking for a mild overdrive that could push my tone to the edge, I bought this, and it put me off all pedals for about four years (I just used my guitar's volume after that). Generic rock sounding pedal--no real character. (I have since discovered Tube Screamers, and a great, cheap alternative is DigiTech's Bad Monkey overdrive.) However, tone IS subjective, so test one.

The one good thing about these is that they are indestructible. You could destroy a Boss pedal by throwing this at it. Seriously folks, if you like this pedal--and it isn't terrible--I would recommend it for this strength.

I never dealt with Danelectro, but I bought this from Musician's Friend. When I realized that it wasn't going to cut the mustard, they took it back with no questions. I ordered a Snarling Dogs Very TOne Dog, which is like the Gibson Veri-tone circuit on ES-355s, with a boost thrown in. Not an overdrive per se, but yeilds brilliant tones nonetheless.

Not for me, but you might think it's the best (try it if you're interested). Been playing nine years. I own a workhorse strat that's been upgraded to death.

The one thing that stands out in my mind when thinking of the Daddy-O is the range of the EQ. By far it's the widest EQ covering a HUGE range of frequencies which can give you a lot of sonic possibilities, but it can also be frustrating if you've never used anything like it before. Make no mistake, it is worth the time learning how to use, so do it.

My lineup starts with an Ibanez SZ720 going directly into the input of my Trace Elliot SuperTramp Twin (100W 2x12 trans/tube combo). Any effects I use go into the effects loop of the amp, so from the output of the amp it goes to the Daddy-O to a Cry Baby wah wah to a Boss volume pedal and finally to an Alesis MicroVerb before going back into the amp. The amp currently has crap Silver series Celestions, but these will be replaced with Vintage 30s soon.

This is NOT a distortion pedal, you won't get metal tones out of this thing. If you try, it will just sound bad. When thinking of the sound of this pedal, think of a Fender DeVille or Hot Rod sound. It's that bluesy, warm garble and sparkle. You can crank up the overdrive to fuzz but I've never been a big fan of fuzz so I don't do that. As I said, the EQ is fantastic and frankly I don't think a Tube Screamer can hold a candle to this thing. Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's better. This pedal is warm warm warm.

Extremely reliable and well built, like an old Chevy. The knobs are solid and the casing is built like a brick house. The electronics seem simple and dependable.

Never had to deal with them, hasn't pooped out on me yet.

I play blues, rock, and some metal. I've been using the Daddy-O mostly for it's EQ since my amp has great distortion, but horrible EQ properties. This pedal can really add bottom end and great overdrive tones when not using my amp's distortion (tube 12AX7). On top of that I get some really interesting characteristics by layering the overdrive and distortion together. I really do believe that this pedal should be in any serious guitarist's line up. Is the Tube Screamer still a great pedal, yes, but I wouldn't settle for one anymore. Go with the Daddy-O, you won't go wrong.

Easy? It's a pedal, and if it's even if it's your first, the controls are exactly like an amp, so if it's puzzling you're already in trouble. Once you realize it's a distortion pedal and not an "overdrive" as it's billed, you're good to go.

Not all that easy to get great sounds out of, but works as advertised.

I was really taken with this big ole yeller thing at first. magically i dialed in a fuzz-like drive that had that certain awesome buzz i was looking for, and this was after about 20 minutes of playing with it.

Good to go, except it does little else all that mind blowing in my opinion. Good pedal, just much more limted than the 5 knobs would've had me believe. It does not clean up very well, and won't replace your blues driver or screamer. trust me, i tried every possible setting, really wanting to unlock more than just that one (with a little variation available) cool distortion, but no luck my friends. To my ears, it does a cool, unique distort, and that's it.

That one sound I found rocks though, to i'll definitely be keeping it. They're cheap, so buy one of your own and mabe you'll find your own cool sounds too, maybe? I don't know, my friend got a Nobels that sounds a lot better, very underrated and awesome. About the same price, so try both I guess. I like that the daddy O is unique, so if you like that idea go for it. If you're looking for utility, like most players want in an overdrive get a VooDoo Labs or TS or the others.

Or get a Nobels, they're good. I have a bunch of others, so the Daddy O is a welcome and rocking tone for my tool box.

lthe jacks are plastic. everything else is solid though. i actually don't really care, but i bet this would survive a tour.

a couple tours though? i'd have to see the insides, and i'm just not that worried about it.

don't know, don't really care.

It's a lot of fun. Has a tone of it's own, which appeals to me. It can sound pretty terrible on some settings, but some settings go places no other amp or processor I have can get, so I like it.

Lots of balls for 50 bucks, cool and blistering. Waaaay better than the old dods and crap that used to be available. For the price, it ain't perfection, but it'll be a great fit for players who like a good burning tone, like me. I'll give it an 8, fine piece of gear but room for improvement. The unique sound is basically what it's all about, so you'll know if it's for you.

Overdrive is not a complicated affair, no matter what pedal you use. A good overdrive takes care of all the complication for you, producing a good sound without having to over-tweak or program. In that sense, this pedal is great. The three-band EQ is really handy, and the stomp switch is easy to find with your foot. Stomp on, stomp off, Daniel San.

I'm using a Fender Strat with Lace Sensors (Blue/Silver/Gold). This pedal produces a pure, true sound that is clear and colorful. The pedal is very warm, but it sounds best with the OD knob right around 1:00. It's got grit and it's very responsive to the volume knob on your guitar. The three-band EQ allows you to dial in most manners of clear overdrive, which is handy.

This is my first overdrive since my Tube Screamer Turbo, which I got rid of about 7 years ago. This thing is a much more organic, useable pedal than the TST. The TST was incredibly brittle and gave a very nondescript sound to your playing. I can't speak for the TS808, or the Maxon OD808, or the Tube Screamer reissue, but the Tube Screamer Turbo was one of the defining reasons I disliked overdrive. I thought, it my young stupidity, that the TST was expensive and therefore good, and if that's what good sounds like that then "good" overdrive had no place in my chain. And that was my state of mind for the last 7 years.

Fortunately, upon trying the Daddy-O, I've found an overdrive that's warm, colorful, and full of life. It's very expressive, and I know there will be scoffers that balk at my preference of Dano over the Ibanez Tube Screamer Turbo, but I've got to go with my ears on this one.

I play psychedelic music, and I'm a pretty big fan of effects-heavy guitar. The Daddy-O a great, clean alternative to my Big Muff, French Toast, or Maestro Fuzz tone.

I've owned about 13 Dano pedals, and only one crapped out on me (Chicken Salad Vibrato). I guess they're a bit iffy, but the higher-end pedals are made quite a bit better than the Mini Dano's.

*shrugs*

I fell in love with this pedal, but perhaps that's because of my underexposure to Overdrive. Having never played through an OD pedal in literally 7 years, I guess I kind of lost touch with the effect. Upon plugging it in and and strumming a few, I thought to myself "Gee, this doesn't do much for my sound." Then, after fiddling with it for a while, I realized that this was the beauty of a good overdrive. I had been missing this crisp, transparent clarity in my effects, since all my others are thick modulators, synthesizers, or fuzz units. The Daddy-O is a very subtle effect, and I like how it lets your guitar do the talking. For the price I paid for it, I'm extremely happy. Also, this unit is quite replacable, should something go wrong.

I guess the reason I'm most happy with this pedal is because it put me back in touch with a long-gone period of time in my playing. I used to be huge into blues. I loved SRV, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, the Three Kings, etc. From there, I found myself averted by Hendrix, which started me on a long, beautiful psychedelic kick that to this day dominates the music I record. This pedal makes me feel like a 17-year-old kid playing along with "Pride and Joy" or "The Thrill is Gone" in his bedroom.

I don't regret my trip into psychedelia, but this pedal was a breath of fresh air.

I've used this pedal in a number of different set ups, it was first bought to provide a dirty channel because my amp overdrive was weak, now i use it in conjunction with other pedals. It has always been easy to get great sounds out of. The controls are straight forward, you can hear the results straight away and the EQ is a really useful feature.

I will however moan at the closeness of the knobs, can't be helped i guess but it is a bit irritating, i'm just glad i don't have fat fingers.

Like i said, i used it by itself at first and it provided a pretty nice sound, if a little "dry" maybe?

Now i used it in conjunction with a boss dual overdrive SD-2 and it sounds awesome. The boss is noisy and raucous and the daddy o quietens it down, fuzzes it up some more and gives it a rich creamy sound which is equally good for power chords, open chords or high squealing notes (think smashing pumpkins sound, but not quite as ball-scrapingly heavy, more shoegazery). Every note is clear.

My set up, by the way:

Fender Musicmaster/Jaguar -> Ibanez DDL delay -> Boss SD-2 Dual Overdrive -> Passive splitter (splits the signal into two paths)
1. Daddy-0
2. Marshall Guv'nor (though i'm looking to replace this with a second daddy-o)
these are both fed into an A-B box and the single output from the box goes into my Marshall JTM-60 Amp. I can then change whether the signal goes through the daddy-o or the guv'nor with the flick of an a-b switch. clever huh? and cheaper than an LS-2.

I've also used it for bass and whilst it can't match a dedicated bass overdrive pedal, it does a damn fine job.

The slight dryness when used by itself means i have to give it 8.

Nothing has ever gone wrong with this pedal, i've had it for nearly a year now and it's always been ace, either with batteries or psu.

The shell is solid, the battery compartment is solid, the button is solid, the knobs seem flimsy but to be honest nothing has gone wrong as yet.

n/a

Eesh! Looking back now, #60 seems a ridiculous price, i must explain that i bought it with credit after returning the godawful metal zone pedal from whence it came.

I'm actually about to trade my marshall guv'nor for a second daddy o, then i can have one at a higher volume and bassier setting for really heavy sections. It works so well with the boss SD-2 that there's no point trying any more pedals (i bought the guv'nor cause i didn't want two daddy-o's and it looked pretty similar, with EQ and all that jazz - it's just not fuzzy enough!). Plus they're so reasonably priced now that i'd be mad not to snap one up.

It's unfair to rave about this pedal too much, as it was only the coming together of SD-2 and Daddy-O that really made my sound complete. Every rig is different, but this pedal is so versatile that I think it can be applied to most things.

5 little knobs and your imagination!

Most versatile overdrive out there. From clean boost to either bassy or midrangy dirt. There are some really nice units like the expensive Klon Centaur that I've tried, but at under 100 dollars, the Daddy-O is a KILLER value. I play bar band rock n' roll with a loud Fender amp and Fender and Gibson guitars, as well as a Maestro fuzz and a Crybaby. This set-up has to be flexible to get a lot of rock tones, and the Daddy-O can do a lot for the price

This is from the first series of Dano FX, which are heavy duty and rugged, not like the 2nd series, which are tiny and plastic and cheap.

Kick Ass!

Well, it's not your typical overdrive pedal. It has five knobs; a Level, a Drive, and a Low, Mid, and High EQ. Knowing that, you've got to know that there is a wide range of tweakability and sounds to be found in this pedal.

It's a little bit difficult at first, but once you get the swing of it, you'll be rockin' and rollin' in no time flat. or sharp. I never noticed that you can use both terms like that and they're both musically adapt. Ha!

This pedal can churn out tones that range from just barely clipping to high-gain crunchy fuzz. In the middle rests a sweet spot; a milky, warm, unadultered warm-sounding overdrive.

The subtle settings (gain from 0-10 o'clock) on this pedal give you a crunchy tube amp tone. As warm as a Twin? Nah, not quite. But it gets you in the territory.

The mid-range settings (gain from 11-2 o'clock) give you the classic Led-Zep/ACDC tones that were so famous. Does it sound just like a Classic Marshall Stack? Nah...but it gets you in the ballpark.

The heavy full-on settings (gain from 3 o'clock and up) keep the straight overdrive character but it boosts itself with a fuzz circuit so you have a very good overdriven fuzztone. It sounds very similar to the gain circuit on a lot of Fender amps these days, mainly the little "Mini Twin". Very good Jimi-tone, I'd say.


I would not recommend this pedal as a booster, however...it colors your tone way too much and it's not transparent like a lot of boosters (SD-1, TS-9, BD-2, etc). It doesn't like to mix well with other distortions either.

It holds its own on my pedalboard pretty well though.

Well, it's about twice the size of a regular Boss pedal, and it is made out of solid metal. The footswitch is el-cheapo, not as bad as the mini's, but still seems really fragile. I've taken it out once before but there's something about it that I just can't rest easy with.

I think it's going to break someday when I least expect it to.

I like to play Alternative/Hard Rock. I like my subtle overdriven tones, but I also like to dink around with fuzzboxes and Mesa/Boogie modelers. I particularly favor the Marshall and Mesa/Boogie Hi-gain tones.

This pedal really didn't fit the bill for me. However it seems like a great pedal for those who really want to rock out and want a subtle overdrive to step on for high-boosted solos.

This pedal would work great for a clean channel overdrive. Let's say you're playing a sweet sounding song on your clean channel with the neck pickup of your ES-335. All of a sudden the break comes and you can step on this bad boy and solo 'till your cows come home.

THAT is what this pedal is made for. And THAT is what this pedal is best at. It's better than the Boss SD-1 and TS-9 for these types of things, in my opinion. The SD-1 and TS-9s are better as boosters. The Daddy-O was designed as an Overdrive pedal for solos, and that's what it does.

It has 3 knobs for treble, mid, bass boosting, 1 knob for the level of distortion, 1 knob for the volume. Very simple. Maybe the knobs are too close, and your fingers won?t enter the chinks easily (not too good for a fast regulation while playing).

A great overdrive for blues men, excellent for Texas blues. . Perfect with single coils. You can get the ?Texas Blues? setting from the user manual? I think it?s great for jamming on some SRV? stuff. I would not suggest it to ?crunchers?; the sound is smooth, fatty, vintage-style. I often enjoy this pedal alone, and it?s enough? can really give the right mood to riff! There?s another great setting in the manual for mellow jazz.

Solid rock.

Dunno.

Good design, warm sound, solid stuff.

Five knobs allow for a wide variety of sounds, but it is hard for me to find a setting I can stick with.

I play a mexican strat through a fender blues junior. The pedal isn't really noisy. Effect is pretty strong, but not quite a tube amp. This pedal sounds much better on my solid-state fender sidekick reverb 25. But on tube amps, at least in my opinion, the pedal comes up a little short, even for its price range.

Seems reliable, I don't go on tour or gig or anything. So I wouldn't know.

Not good for punk or metal. Better for blues, maybe some alternative rock, and even for some country. If it were lost, I'd look towards some more high-end pedals like Fulltone or Analogman or something.

It's hard to NOT get a good sound with this one, I think. One of the most usable distortion/overdrives I've tried.

I've got one pedal board with nothing but overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedals, and half of them are ones I've made myself. The Daddy-O got itself a spot on the main board within 5 minutes of unpacking it. It's capable of a wide range of od/dist flavors, and the 3 band eq is very nice. I find myself using it for medium dirt settings the most with my 335 clone. If I can find another cheap enough on eBay, I'll certainly snag it, too.

Metal, heavy. Don't use it as a hockey puck and it'll live.

No idea - bought it used

Awesome little unit for mild to moderate dirt. Cleans up well with the volume knob. Not as responsive to picking dynamics as my Rangemaster clone, but, that's why I have a whole board of dist. units. Nothing is going to be perfect every time. For blues to classic rock to rockabilly-esque stuff, this is one useful little box.

Regardless of the price, this is the best overall distortion pedal I've ever used. It has a 3 band eq, a volume and a distortion knob, and with that, you can get every distortion sound imaginable, except for some very heavy death metal sounds.

I play several different guitars on stage, mostly with after-market pickups, and mostly humbuckers, and a marshall half-stack. The Daddy-O has no noise, no unwanted feedback. I can easily get classic 70's and 80's metal sounds from this setup, from Boston to Megadeth. It's also easy to get stoner metal sounds, like Fu Manchu and Clutch... surprisingly, not with the knobs on the pedal, but on your guitar. My settings on the pedal are all three eq's on 10, the distortion on 10, and the volume straight up (12 oclock). Then, using the volumes and tone knobs on my guitar, I can get any sound imaginable (saves a lot of bending over on stage). For crunchy, mid-rangy classic metal, I use the bridge pickup and tone and volume knows all the way up. Switch to the neck pickup, and back the volume down halfway, you get the classic BB King blues sound. Neck volume up and tone knob down, you get a nice fuzz that sounds a lot like Fu Manchu. As mentioned, I don't think this would work well if all you play is super-distorted, floor rattling death metal, but for everything else, especially if you play a lot of covers and need a lot of different sounds, nothing beats the Daddy-O.

It's built from cast metal, weighs around 2 pounds, and has a very sticky, textured rubber bottom. The switch is also cast metal. Built like a rock, and stays put on stage. The input and output and power supply jacks are on the front of the pedal, making for much less clutter on stage. The battery fits in the bottom of the pedal. The knobs could be a little better if they'd gone less for style and more for reliability (they're too tall and flimsy, need to be more like the knobs on Boss pedals for more reliability). I actually have two of these... I use one and take the other with me on gigs in case something happens to the first one.

Never had to deal with them.

I play mostly metal, from the 70's through the 90's, along with originals and studio work. I've been playing for over 20 years. I have several distortions and overdrives, none of which I use anymore... a DOD Death Metal, a Boss Overdrive, a Boss Distortion, an MXR distortion, and an original Big Muff... other than the Death Metal, the Daddy-O gets all the sounds the other pedals do. I was just messing around today with some older Judas Priest songs, and dialed in the exact same sound using the Daddy-O, even using a smaller Marshall practice amp. If you buy one distortion, get this one... because it'll cover everything the others do. Though I don't play nu-metal, this pedal does scoop out the mids very nicely for that detuned, artifical sound as well (this setting works well for industrial music, too).

3 Band EQ
Volume
Drive
Easy.

Very nice sound quality once you dial in the correct eq. If the eq is off, it sounds like shizzlenitz. I like to use it for a sort of medium to low, classic rock over drive.

Use with tele/strat
Korg AX-1G
Daddy-O
Boss BF-3 Flanger
Danelectro Tuna Melt Tremolo
EH Delux Electric Mistress
Boss PS-3
Korg Delay
Peavy Amp

Good for tasteful, flavorful overdrive and distortion. Everything from CCR to Nirvana to Jimi to Radhiohead to whatever. A good all around overdrive. It can be used as a sort of pre-amp with the overdrive all the way off and everything else cranked to 10. It makes things bassier, though.

Nice sound quality.

This is a good match for me. I like to use it for rock, blues, surf, new wave, punk, classic rock, or whatever moves me. A nice pedal for milder to medium overdrive sounds. For heavier stuff I prefer fuzz.

I just want to add to my review (a few down the page) and say that, now that I have a power supply, the distortion is much stronger.

Very easy too get the sound you want out of it. With the 5 knobs, you can adjust your tone to exactly how you want it to sound. If your not familiar with how to adjust the equalizers, there are some presets that come in the manual, but if you have the ear you will want to adjust them yourself.

I mainly use my Epiphone Les Paul Standard(2003-4 w/grover tuners) and run it through an ibanez chorus pedal(for clean mainly, nice 12 string sound), the daddy-o, and into either my practice amp or my crate 12". Has an excelent sound if you want to play Led Zeppelin (my favorite band) and with the Les Paul it sounds just like Jimmy Page. You can dial the overdrive down, but I almost always keep it full blast. It can make a nice crunc also. IMHO it sounds kinda funky when used along with my amp distortion. Sounds good through my friends iron maiden Fender also, but not quite as awesome as it does through the LP. I gig with it every week, and sounds great.

"Like a Rock". As long as you have a AC adapter, you can gig all day without a backup.

never needed to deal with them, never will.

I have been playing for 3-4 years, and I own an older Squier Strat(before they were so sucky), an Epi LPS, and a couple other low budget axes(acoustic and bass). This pedal is perfect for the Led Zeppelin sound. Good rhythm sound, and leads sound nice also. Blows my korg ax-1g distortion out of the water. Gets a 9, cause there is probably something better out there.

The manuel with the Daddy-O was very helpful. It is very easy to use.

I have 2 multi-effects units and want to build a pedal board with individual stomp boxs, It is loaded with 5 knobs; yet very affordable,
strongly made,the better the amp the better the response. If through a solid state it "clips" roughly, if through a good tube amp it is more smooth and buttery.

The Daddy-O seems very dependable, I would use it without a backup.

I wish while sustaining a chord and pressing the button it wouldn't "pop". If no sound coming through and pressing it,it is silent switching. I wish it was a little more buttery. The cutting through problem some folks have is solved with the 3 eq knobs, Any more I use high overdrive instead of distortion for a more desireable sound. I like the middle of the fence setting too.

very easy to use, plenty of knobs vol, 3 eq, o drive. they are close together, but who cares, sound is more important.

rig SG riviera 70's and a 150w tube amp I built my self.
Y'know it's pretty hard to be picky about this pedal, I love the sound. it has a nice loose O'drive not too fuzzy and the range is great. can go from a little to full crunch. the sustain is just kick ass, puts my mates boss OD-2 to shame, infact out does it on all fronts.

yup can depend on it, stomp away, it'll never die, just watch the knobs they are a little fragile I think. They dont seem to be secured to the case, they poke through the case from the circuit board inside. but you should treat all of your kit with care. it loses 3 marks for the knobs.

not delt with em

I play Punk/Rockabilly sounds great for what I want. (playing bout 10 years)
yep I'd buy another, I don't know what makes these pedals so cheap they're worth nothing second hand, I'm kinda glad that the world hasn't cought on to how good these things are yet coz I got a total bargain. demo one in a shop then have a look on ebay. this pedal never gets in the way. wish I had a dano spring king, again cheap and kick ass. gave a rating of 9 beacuse 10 is to say something is perfect and cannot be improved apon, this is to my mind impossible for anything (but this pedal comes damn close to the perfect sound for me)

Not overly complicated, even if it does have more knobs than most pedals. The three-band EQ was wonderful, a delightful change from most pedals that just have a "Tone" Knob. I haven't had a problem with the knobs being too close together, but I suppose one might if one had big fingers.

I play my Fender 50's Strat through this, then into my Fender Frontman 25R. This pedal actually runs quieter than the clean channel on my amp, and makes the distortion channel less noisy as well. The overdrive is virtually non-existant until it's at 10 o'clock, unless you're playing full chords. After it hits 12 o'clock, the drive gets stronger, but is still not quite as powerful as it could be.

I mostly use this pedal for a Jimmy Eat World-type of sound, with the gain knobs on both the amp and the pedal at 12 o'clock, mids at full, treble about three-quarters and bass down low. This produces a very crunchy, thick sound very well-suited to rhythm work.

This thing is made of metal, and is without a doubt the sturdiest pedal I've ever seen. If you were to drop this thing down a flight of stairs, it would be none the worse. If I was gigging, I would definately use this without a backup AS LONG AS I HAD A POWER SOURCE.

This pedal consumes batteries like there's no tomorrow; it takes power whenever something is plugged into the input jack, regardless of weither or not it it in use. Since Christmas, when I bought it, I have already replaced the battery four times. Beware.

Never dealt with 'em. Don't see NEEDING to deal with them.

I play mostly alt-punk stuff, and this pedal is well-suited for use as a second guitarist's overdrive. It is NOT, however, very good for leads on its own, and should be used in conjunction with your amp's distortion for lead work.

If this pedal was stolen, I would probably not buy another immediately; I think I would rather invest in something a little more powerful like a VisualSound Jeckyll & Hyde or a Boss Mega Distortion. But I would eventually replace it, because the tone it gets is unlike any other pedal I have ever played.

Slightly more complicated than your typical stomp box, but not rocket science either!

Depends what you put into it and play it through... Garbage in = garbage out. Garbage is a great band, by the way. Anyway, I find it to be shrill and buzzy if I put the treble control past 9-10 o'clock. A good place to start dialing in tone is with the bass and mid at 12 o'clock and the treble all the way down.

Dialed in correctly, this pedal has some cool capabilities that none of my other overdrive-distortion pedals have... And I have quite a few:

Boss SD-1, DS-1, BD-2, Ibanez SM-9, SML, SS10, TS-9, TS-7, H&K Tubeman, and of course the Dano Daddy-O.

Never failed in the few years I've had it!

Picked it up at a pawn shop for $20. Not the holy grail, but not bad either. I rarely use it, but I like to keep it around just in case! If it were lost or stolen, I probably wouldn't buy it again unless I came across it at a pawn shop for $20.

I'm glad it has a three band EQ. Although technically it makes the pedal that little bit more tricky to get your sounds from, it increases the range of tone available. Other than that, my only gripe is the knobs are tightly packed in on the top panel. Pretty easy to use though.

Current rig: Gibson SG Standard -> Boss TU-2 -> Daddy O -> MXR Dist+ -> MXR Dist -> 7 Band EQ -> EH Big Muff USA -> Vox AC30 Normal Channel.

This pedal was a chance buy from eBay, it was only cheap and I didn't really expect too much from it, but I was collecting pedals from one of my favourite artists (Catherine Wheel) at the time. So when I spent a few minutes playing around getting basic sounds, I was impressed.

The key words I would use to describe this pedal are dirty, gritty, raunchy. I'd put it somewhere between the hard rock grit of Van Halen and the classic crunch of AC/DC. Having a 3 band EQ on the pedal is a Godsend, and its useful unlike the ones of my old OD-3 and SD-1, which this replaces.

This pedal is great for those punchy palm-muted riffs, and Metallica-style stuff where you use mutes and full strikes, think 'Enter Sandman' when the heavy guitars kick in - that combination of mutes and strums, this pedal nails that effect great because unlike my other gain boxes, it doesn't compress your tone much.

The tones I use this for are all within the rock genre, classic punk (The Damned, The Clash), more modern punk/pop (Green Day, Weezer), classic rock (AC/DC, Led Zep, Deep Purple) and some hard rock (The Darkness, Van Halen). This isn't a mellow overdrive, this is one that sounds best with anything past 12oclock dialled in on the O. Drive knob.

It loses marks a little for it's lack of versatility - lesser amounts of drive sound really brittle and messy. But I've got other pedals to do that.

I usually run this together with one of the Dist+ pedals to add a little mid boost, tidies the tone up a little. It's no noiser than any similar pedal, probably the favourite gain pedal of all the ones I've tried or owned (DOD Grind, Boss Metal Zone, Boss SD-1, Boss OD-3, MXR Dist+, USA & Russian Big Muff, ProCo Rat2, several multi FX).

Think classic Marshall with a hint more grit. I haven't really gigged this pedal more than once or twice, so I haven't got the ideal tone set at higher volumes, but for jam sessions or home playing it sounds great. If you want smoother overdrive I'd look elsewhere, because that's about the only thing it doesn't sound good for.

Unlike those crappy little mini Danos, this pedal is built pretty well. They've used plastic knobs but they look a little more sturdy than the minis, and the footswitch is very reliable. I've broken the switch on one of my Dist+ pedals before, but this one is still going strong.

Never needed to, pedal was s/h anyway.

I play mostly rock, power pop, punk, hard rock, that sort of thing. I own an SG and that's what its made for, so I'll be sticking with that until I get a more versatile guitar i.e. a Strat or Tele.

This pedal is the one I always come back to, all the controls are responsive and have a good sweep (unlike some Boss ones I've owned). Granted, it's not very versatile but I'd rather have one or two great sounds than a box of okay ones.

I can get a very good Marshall tone from my AC30, while still having pristine cleans when I need them, and it works well as a gain booster for all my other stomps. Great pedal.

It has a few more knobs than your usual pedal, but that means more versatility. I didn't really have problems with the knobs being too close together like others have commented on.

I'm playing with a Danelectro '56 U2 Reissue through a Fab Tone, then Daddy-O, into a Fender Frontman amp. The Fab Tone is off, so that's not really a big issue. It sounds lik ethere's some pretty sweet overdrive in there, but it's covered by a nasty, ugly-sounding fuzz that destroys the sound, no matter how much I fiddle with the knobs. However, played through a different setup in the store I bought it from, it sounded pretty good. I'm thinking it maybe just doesn't like the rest of my gear.

Built like a tank, all that stuff. I really can't see something like this being damaged through physical force alone. If it produced a sound that made me want to, I'd gig with it with no backup, easily.

Haven't dealt with them. Since I bought it from a pawn shop, I doubt very much they'll be of much help.

I play Rock, Punk, and Grunge types of music usually. I was looking for something that would dirty up the sound a bit, but not all-out distort it. In the store, this pedal achieved close to the sound I was aiming for, but in my rig it obviously does not. Because of this baffling (to me) difference in sound, I can't really give it an overall rating. If it were stolen, I'd cry that I didn't get a chance to sell or pawn it, and I'd probably look for something else or build my own pedal to replace it. It seems to be a great value, but exercise caution in making sure it sounds good with your rig.

Very easy to use. Some people complain that the knobs are too close together which I don't understand, its not like you need to alter them in a hurry and all things considered, they're not uncomfortably close together (unless you have enormous fingers, in which case you might have a job playing guitar at all). It has five dials (Treble,Bass,Middle,Volume and Overdrive) which is one more than a standard Danelectro pedal allowing you to mess around until you get the sound you're after. The dials are also quite stiff and so stay in place long after you've set them (unlike the BOSS ones which have a tendecy to move about a bit). The button is nice and big and the casing is perfectly angled for a clean, swift stomp when required. Oh and the red 'on/off' light is nice and big and bright, which is handy.

This pedal does deliver a suprising variety of sounds. I mainly use it for that White Stripes/Kings of Leon vintage 'cruch' distortion but if you dial OD up and Mid down then you can get good grunge/metal tones (and even a decent palm mute out of it). However if you're after full on fuzz or a Metallica style growl you should probably look elsewhere.

Its hard to convey just how unexpectedy heavy this pedal is, it weighs a bloody ton. This is a damn good thing as it is likely to withstand all the stomping you can give it. Also it is very sparing with battery power and the danelctro battery mine came with is still going strong after nearly three months use.

Had no need to deal with them. A slight problem for me was that the warranty (which comes in the box) is only valid in America so if anyting ever does go wrong then it might be a bit more hassle to get it fixed over here in England.

Excellent pedal, far better than the BOSS equivalents (eg. DS1) in sound, reliablilty and ease of use. I would recommend it to anyone unless you really are a bit metal orientated in which case this probably isn't what you're after. I paid just shy of 60 quid for mine so if you want one a bit cheaper, have a look on ebay where they go for about 30-40 quid.