Danelectro DSDSD-1 Shift Daddy

There's a one page "manual" and a how to diagram on the underside of the pedal. No knobs, just four buttons on each side, an on/off switch and a "bend direction" switch. Pretty easy to use, pretty hard to get a good sound out of it. Keep reading . . .

Some neat sounding effects, but nothing very "professional". I got it off the bay for real cheap and thought I'd try it out and if I didn't like it, I'd give it to my son. Well, after he tried it for 10 minutes, I decided that he could keep it. There's really no useable echo sound to be had. Other Dano effects have blown me away but this is too gimmicky. I listen to all different types of music and don't see where this could be used.

Seems pretty well build for plastic. I wouldn't worry about it breaking down.

Nice for a kid to mess around with but I wouldn't take up valuable pedal board space with this when there's so much better out there. I don't know what it sells for new, but there's no way I'd pay more than $30 for this.

Pretty straight-forward. You get four modes of mix and four modes of repeat, and you can calibrate the treadle to make the pitch ascend or descend in either direction.

My only gripe is *surprise!* a lack of knobs. If this thing had knobs, it would probably be my favorite delay. But, I takes what I can gets.

Super! It's a very ethereal, murky, spacey sound. If you don't do anything with the treadle, it's just a run-of-the-mill analog delay geared for a slap-back type sound. Once you get the rocker moving, you start getting subtle pitch shifts on your repeats. Everything dry comes out normal, but your repeats can do anything from gradually shifting pitch to synth-like warbles.

This thing is a blast on guitar, but I've recently started using it on my electric piano. You can get some very Syd Barrett sounds from this thing, especially if you put a honky-tonk piano through it.

I know it's been reiterated countless times, but it does bear mentioning that this thing is no Whammy. It works exactly like an an analog delay in all respects; the only difference is the repeat time is manipulated with a treadle instead of a knob. You'd get the exact same pitch shifting sounds out of tweaking the time knob on any analog delay.

Seems pretty reliable. People get hung up about plastic pedals, but if you treat it like something that you paid for, it'll last a long time.

*shrugs*

I found the Shift Daddy to be much less standoffish than the Whammy in getting it to meld with the other sounds in my songs. The Shift Daddy is cool because your dry sound is normal, and the shift effect can be very subtle if you let it. In my mind, the Shift Daddy is far more useful than the Whammy in pretty much all contexts but Metal and Prog Rock. Consider yourself warned, brethren of the Whammy. If you're looking for a cheap Whammmy knock-off, look elsewhere.

This pedal is suited to more than weird, spacey, psychedelic music, but that's pretty much the only context in which I use the Shift Daddy. I find it very enjoyable.

you have to use a "heel" position to off it when you're playing...not much "tweak" as there are no knobs, but the side "effect" and "mix" buttons can be quickly / easily adjusted.

there's 2 separate effects here: the echo and the pitch-shifting. the echos on the highest settings are just insane. definately some great "slap back" tones ( i found it similar to the slap back mini, but better).

as far as the pitch shifting, i use it somewhat sparingly, but the sound is what is expected.... i've had a whammy before, so i know what it is.

it's a unique pedal, and definately not for everyone. settings on effect/min, repeats/ max is a general setting for me. i'm just mainly using the echo here, but you can 100% nail the sound of "take the veil cerpin taxt" by the mars volta.

for some, they might hate this pedal(just it's not suitable / useable for every kind of sound): i find it quite interesting. great for echo/ ambience/etc.....

seems fair- it's huge and plastic. the front plastic piece broke in shipping(i got it used, but that was due to poor packing). otherwise, seems sturdy.

apparently dano is back on after a little hiatus....unknown.

these have been discontinued, so you can get them second hand for cheap.
if it broke/ was stolen/ etc... i'd get another one, but at the right price.
my only real gripe is that its somewhat inconvenient to shut on/ off in live situations.
beats paying hundreds for a pitch shifter that i might not use that much, and i think the echos are just great. you'd have to be a picky sob not to find some sound you didn't like in this- but, as mentioned, this probably wouldn't find a home with everyone.

I got mine used off of ebay, so no manual...but it's pretty easy to figure out, and has a layout printed on the bottom of the pedal. I'm still playing around with it, trying to find better applications, but it seems like kind of a one trick pony on it's own...but combined with other pedals is a different ballgame.

Alright, here comes the subjective. It's great, although limited, as a rockabilly delay..you get nice shorttime slapback echoes in various repeats, but the delay time is fixed, so not much versatility. However, if you feed it into a second delay (I use a Dan-Echo) you can get some real insanity going. The pitch shift is very subtle, however, I have not tried removing the rubber bushings yet, as some others have suggested. It is pretty quiet, though.

Seemes pretty reliable, but I'm not stompzilla on my pedals, either. I have a couple of other dano pedals and have not had an ounce of trouble out of them, although I have read horro stories from others. it seems to be a lack of QC, maybe I'm just lucky and have always gotten non-lemon units?

Never dealt with them...although a guy a went to high school with is a sales rep, so i guess I could probably get it taken care of is necessary.

Like I said, on it's own this is good for rockabilly, and probably wouldn't do bad for country either. I think the echo section far outshines the pitchbending feature. Do NOT buy one for full price, or if you're looking for a Whammy pedal. But if you want subtle, and have the time to ebay, pick one up and add some serious 50's vibe to your arsenal. Now, if you have a second delay to feed it into, you can get some seriously swirly pitch shifted weirdness happening, which is always cool for intros, bridges, etc. It also works pretty well following a flanger or phaser to add to the textural swooshes you can create.

At first this pedal seemed impossible to get a good sound out of it. But it took time to find it's true calling......F'd up noises and true insanity! The manual didn't help me much, cuz only playing with it made for good results. Once you find it, it very simple. THIS IS NOTHING LIKE A WHAMMY OR A WAH!

Like I said before, I thought this thing sucked ass at first! But I found a good setting for what I like, and now it's great. I use this for crazy trem bar type effects. Not very good for all song apps, but a great noise option instead. I've used this live and people were blown away by it's sound! And none of these "Cool Guitarists" have one of these. What seems like a joke to them, is bliss to me! I found a good setting and left it there, since it's not easy to find at first. And barely, I mean barely move the treadle at all. A little goes a long way with this!

Only had it for a few days. I wish it were made of better materials, but I got it cheap. I need to be a bit more gentle than usual with it, that's for sure.

Who knows. Never had to deal with them.

I play indie rock, metal and pop. Or all of that together, eh, imagine this. This is the weirdest pedal I ever bought, but I dig it! It's unique for sure! Others who rated this poor probably didn't spend enough time with or just expected something totally different. I recommend this to people who've tried about everything, but not just anything....If you get what I mean....I don't

Real Darned Easy. There is a diagram on the bottom. Opions are limited as to what this thing does. However, if you can get one CHEAP, get one. 8 buttons, no knobs. on/off - pitch bend up/down - mix level: pick one of four buttons, effect level - ditto, wah-like treadle.

My setup : I only do this as a hobby. No stage time or anything like that. I have a 'Squier Standard Strat' that I re-wired with a 1 meg vol pot, a Fender TBX tone pot, and the ceramic high-output humbucker that came with it. Don't Laugh. Replace that jizzy, crackly, soldered-on-in-a-sweatshop hardware that they put on these things and replace it with semi-quality components (new pots are like $5) and it's an above-average guitar. I use various pedals; most of them purchased used or on close-out. I use a Rolland Cube-15 amp.

Dunno.

N/A

My style can best be described as surfadelic funkabilly. This thing adds no noticable line noise and there are no on-off switch clicks or anything. Put it at the very end of your signal chain, if you didn't already know that. My volume doesn't change at all swithing this thing on/off. It is not a whammy. It's a very fat sounding reverb pedal though. The pitch shift comes from altering the delay time or something. That function IS kinda' weak but I don't use it for that. Reverb. That's all this thing is really good for, but my amp has no reverb tank and if you can find one of these things for less than $40 and are looking for reverb, get one. Solid. Cheap. Quiet. Easy.

Not that tricky to use if you just play around a bit. I don't have a lot of trouble pressing the switches, but I've got big feet. <g>

I only use this when doing looping, so getting a bit of gnarliness into the tone is a plus. I can't conceive of using it for anything really rhythmic as the delay is constant.

I do note that if the battery runs down, the unit will begin to emit continuous "feedback" tones. Keep your batteries fresh or use a wall-wart.

I have no idea how durable this is, but as I use it only in the studio it's not a big deal -- I'm very kind to my gear at home, it's on stage that I go a bit nuts.

My feeling when I bought the box was that, for the price, even if it failed or turned out to be useless, it would make a nifty paperweight (I got the black model with the racing flames).

Never deal with them.

Again, I use this mainly when doing atmospheric loops (with a Line6 EchoPro delay), where the pitch-bending aspect is very nifty indeed. The device is not part of my live setup, at least to date (haven't played anything which suits it live).

If I'd paid the original, full price, I think I would have been very disappointed. As it is, for $20, it's a lot of fun.

Bought new at Guitar Center as part of a clearance.

One page document. Buttons, pedal. ON/Off and Fwd/Rev is a bit hard to grab.

When I first got this pedal, I parked it, and played. Sounded like chinese ting, tong junk. THEN, I relaxed and took a minimalist approach. Slight movements on the front of the note or chord, Shift dn/up. Absolutely Beautiful! The problem with this pedal is it does go too far. So, people that don't take the time, or rush it, will get crap.
I do wish the echo could be disabled, and just used as a shifter. As far as the delay in pick vs. sound, the diagram on the back states that there is a mix. The buttons on the side select how much of the raw, and how much of the processed DELAYED, signal is in the mix. If you select 100% processed, 0% raw, you get the delay that is annoying. Personally, I don't think that Danelectro should have had this as one of the parameters on the pushbuttons.

Pedal had a pop, once, when I turned it on. Put it on a switcher box and left the thing on permanently. Just transfer signal from the switcher box.
The effects sound good. This is a good pedal if paying in the $35-$75 dollar range.

My setup: Fender Tele/Rio Grande Tallboy pickups->EH Big Muff PI->EH Small Stone->Boss Chorus->DOD Stereo Flanger->Swithcher/JD JH-1 Wah->Switcher/SHIFT DADDY->EH Holy Grail-> '66 Fender Bassman Head/ 2-2x12 Jenson Cabs.

I play Rock/Country, Texas Rock/Country, Alt, Prog, Folk, etc.. If the crowd is paying, i'm playing.

Yes, I can depend on it. It's drank about 10 beers, and been groped and mishandled. Ain't nothing wrong with the plastic. It holds the parts in and keeps the rest out. Holds up well.

I would/have/will continue to gig with it, without a backup. And i'd replace it if it was lost.

N/A

I'm giving it a 7 cause of the pop, and the extremes on the pedal that are useless. Other than that, it would get a 9. I like this pedal.

And for those that wouldn't be seen with it, because it's Danelectro. I've had more girls/club owners/and money boys ask me about this damned pedal than my Vintage amps, the tweaked Tele, the Paul Studio, or any of the other "Musician Approved" equipment I have. So, yea, your little playing buddy might laugh at you for having this "Dan" in the chain. But the hot blonde is gonna give you her phone number. You be the judge.

A bit confusing at first, but once you look at the instructions and play with it a few times its pretty easy.

Sounds great. I am actually using this primarily with a sax. It adds a great dimension to the sound and the echo sounds great although it could be a little longer.

No problems yet, seems durable although it is plastic. Make sure to unplug the input when not in use to preserve battery life. I would gig without a backup, but then again i cant afford a backup.

neverdealt with them, hope i wont have to.....

Good effect for playing sax (and probably guitar) in a dub (reggae) band. pitch bending adds an interesting twist to those long notes! I wish you could have more control over the delay but the factory settings sound pretty good.

Once again: This is not a whammy pedal, it?s an echo device!
I found this unit very easy to use. All of it?s functions are controlable by foot, as long as you don?t ware steel toed boots, so you don?t have to kneel down to change it?s stettings. The buttons on the left control the mix between wet and dry singal (30/100, 70/100, 100/100, 100/0). The right buttons control the amount of repeats. On the hood are the on/off button and a button switching between forward and reverse bend direction. The treadle controls the delay time ranging from approx. 100 to 500 ms. On the back you?ll find an on/off indicator and two indicators for forward and reverse bend. Cool ?40?s car design. One other thing: I customized this pedal a little bit. I removed the two big rubber pads under the treadle to increase it?s range (this also makes access to the hood buttons easier) and I put a lighter spring in the on/off switch so I can switch it on or off quicker without making the pedal bounce all over the place or changing the bend direction by accident.

I use this pedal mainly as a rockabilly slap echo and it does the job well. I bought it as a replacement for my Dano BLT slap echo, wich took a Guitar World Editors Pick Award. And yes, the BLT was a decent slap echo but it broke down on me when someone spilled fluid on it. The Shift Daddy works as a normal echo when you don?t move the treadle and does a way better job than the BLT. Repeats fade out like on a real tape echo. Very quiet too. Three things I don?t like about this pedal: Sometimes it pops when switched on, the sound is a bit too trebly and the delay time available is too limited. Getting the Shift Daddy into second gear is a different story. I?ll explain what happens. A tape echo has three heads (erase, record and play, in that order). A signal is fed in into the echo deck as it is being played. The deck records this sound via the record head. There is a delay as the tape makes it?s way towards the play head where it?s remixed with the original signal....you now have a single echo. Multiple echoes are created by adding a feedback loop from the playback to the record head. The delay time is regulated by moving the playback head closer or further from the record head. What the shift daddy simulates is the effect created by setting up a lot of repeats and then moving the playback head, thus changing the speed of the tape moving over the head wich creates a change in pitch. With the mix and repeat controls on max you can recreate the psychedelic middle section of Led Zeppelin?s ?Whole Lotta Love? and numerous other ?70?s space schip sounds. Using both 100% wet and 100% dry singal you can recreate the helicopter intro to Audioslave?s ?Cochise?. Palm mute and double pick on the rythm and slightly, gently move the treadle back and forward for the added Doppler effect. For these sounds you?ll heve to combine with distortion by the way. Conclusion: very realistic tape echo simulator! Off course not as good as an Echoplex, Copy Cat or even a Replex but deffinatly more affordable. Here?s the signal Chain: Fender Nashville Tele or DeArmond M77T --> Shift Daddy --> Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor --> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe --> 2 X 12 Fender Band Master speaker cabinet with Jensens.

Gigged with it rehearsed with it for over a year now and it hasn?t let me down ever. It eats batteries like hell so get youself a Dano Noisless adaptor (it really is noisless! Best damn effects adaptor in the world). Im giving it a 6 because it?s made of plastic and wouldn?t recomend standing on it with your full body weight and try not to drop it. They schould have made it out of metal.

Never dealt with them

I wrote this review because a lot of people don?t seem to understand what this pedal really is and what it does. I?m quite happy with it and I?m using it more than I expected. I?ve been playing for almost 10 years and play everything from rockabilly to metal. If it got lost, stolen or if it should break down, I?d probably save up for a Hughes & Kettner Replex. If you?re looking for a Whammy effect don?t buy it! And don?t hate it just because it looks good. Buy it if you want a reasonably good slap echo and/or if you want to recrate the sounds mentioned above. This is a good piece of equipment for the buck! This turned out to be a long story, but it just had to be said.