Danelectro DTE-1 Reel Echo

This is a darn confounding unit. The manual is pretty worthless (do they think they are Fulltone?) There are a lot of knobs and some day I may figure out how to get a good clean sound out of it. As for me, I wish I had saved the money and bought a Maxon 999 or Carl Martin Delaya.

PRS CE 24 and Am. Std. Strat-Keeley Comp.-Barber LTD-Keeley Modded TS-9-Reel Echo- RetroSonic Chorus Ensemble-Chicago BLues Box Kingston 18W.

I power this with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power and have not experience battery problems.

My biggest gripe with this unit is that even alone into the amp, I have yet to find a decent clean echo. I have been all over the controls and just don't get it.

I thought it was broken because the fidelity was so lo-fi, but my guitar shop says that's the way it is supposed to sound. We even tested against a second unit and I had to agree. To me it sounds like a low gain fuzz box is running upstream of this pedal. And forget about it if you do stomp on the box to get some distortion or drive. The sound quality degrades so fast that it goes to muck which doesn't cut in a live situation. I'll keep trying, but darn, I wish I hadn't bought this sucker. To add insult to injury, Danelectro has dropped the price $30 and now I not only hate it but feel ripped off.

No problem to date

No experience with this yet. I may call them to talk about the low fidelity. Perhaps they will offer to look at it. I will write back with an update.

I would not repurchase this unit and it may end up on Ebay. I just hope I get more than $70 for it, since I paid a buck-fifty.

I will give Danelectro props for trying to do a lot in one box, but for me, the low fidelity sound coming out of this unit makes it a sucker buy.

Pretty simple, given the spectrum of features this unit has. Everything is clearly marked and easily accessable. The only thing I found to be a bit difficult to adjust to is the time control, which is broken up into 375 ms blocks. Not a very comprehensive graduation, but if you let your ears tell you where it needs to be, it's kind of a non-issue.

I'm not sure why everyone on here seems to have a hard time with using sound-on-sound... I've had no trouble, but you have to remember to turn the Lo-Fi to off and the repeats on to max. Other than that, it's simple enough.

The sound quality on this unit is good, very good. It's hard to judge this by anything but a tape-echo machine, so don't make the mistake of looping this into the same category of a Boss Digital Delay or even the Dan-Echo. Essentially, this device is longer than the average echo, shorter than the average delay, and with more ambience features than either of them. Like I said, the only thing I can really compare it to is another tape-echo machine, like a Binson Echorec or an Echoplex

So how does a digital pedal measure up to the Real McCoy? Pretty darned well, to my ears. Of course, there are subtle nuances that are exclusive to actual tape, but overall this unit holds up respectably. The secret is the Lo-Fi knob. With that sucker cranked, the LPF cuts off the edge of the repeats, giving the unit a very analog sound. The solid state/tube switch lets you switch from a brighter sound to a warmer sound, which is cool. My only complaint is the warble, which was a mild chorus for the repeats only. The reason I complain is because the sound of the warble is so un-warbly and so disctinctly chorus-y that it sounds like a typical, modern chorus pedal hooked up to your wet output. Totally blows the vintage vibe. The fix to this is to get a genuine vibrato pedal (the kind that alters the pitch slightly), slow it waaaay down and hook it up to the wet output. Warlbe City, population you.

So far, so good...

Never dealt with them...

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this unit. Althouh it is digital, it has a very organic sound to it, and the life it brings to my playing is very well-received. Of late, I've been listening to a lot of Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett, not David Gilmour) and this thing fits right in.

One thing I've noticed about this pedal is it seems like an evolutionary link from regular echo to full-blown delay. It has sound-on-sound like some digital pedals, but it emulates the slapback sounds of the traditional echo quite well. The thing I like the most about it, however, is the level of control you have over the ambience of the unit, not just the repeats, lengths, and mix. You can make it sound clear and crisp as a morning breeze or as nebulous and ehtereal as murky water. It's a great unit.

You only need to be familiar do a delay. If you are not, just tweak the knobs and begin to suss it out and master the art.


Simple controls and spectacular layout. The only thing you need to get used to is the "mix" knob. The stompbox doesn't have a "volume" control, 'cause tweaking the mix control you can dose the influence of the delayed sound to the direct sound.

The sound quality is very high. I use it with a Fender Twin Amp and a Marshall JCM800. It has so much sound possibilities - just play some minutes with it and you'll discover the possibilities with this device seem endless. Whether you like long delays like, let's say Pink Floyd, or something that sounds more like an extra reverb, this will do it. You can also achieve very short echoes like that 50's rock sound (think of the Stray Cats). In the end, there are so many possibilities you will end up custumizing your own sound. But you have to be willing to test it massively.

These new Danelectro metal-made series pedals seem to follow the path that some other great manufacturers like Electro-harmonix took with the majority of their pedals. Very sturdy that is. The knobs are also firm and well built. I don't see how this pedal would break under normal circumstances.

Haven't needed to deal with them yet.

I play anything from jazz to funk, blues, classic and prog rock. I mainly bought this pedal because of the tape simulation (I really hate that Boss - Digitech - Ibanez digital sound). With it, all your problems about having to spend hundreds and hundres of dollars in a analog and vintage delay are literally dead. Instant Pink Floyd or Tool sounds. For the money this kicks the ass of any digital-delay pedal out there, no question about it.

This unit's controls make alot of sense.

I had an RV-3 Boss Echo Delay. It was ok, but not after I heard what a professional Echo/delay sounded like.
I finally found one that not only sounds realistic, is very customizable, but yet affordable. Enter the Danelectro Reel Echo. Got it for $114 plus s/h.
This is about as close to the old analog tape echo as you can get without having to fool with the tape and tape heads. I got it new on Ebay.

Gary

All I can say is ooohweeee...this in combination with my new Accutronics 3 spring long delay 17" reverb tank on my Jazz Chorus 90....is this side of Heaven!

This thing is built like a tank. Should last a long time! I would rate it a 10 but haven't had it long enough yet.

Haven't used them yet

This is better than the Boss Delay pedals and most others I have heard to date. Very close to the real deal with no fuss and muss of changing tapes and cleaning tape heads like on the old Analog Tape units.
I have to hand it to them....this baby ROCKS and is an excellent value. This is the best value in Echo's for those of us who cannot afford the high end stuff.

No effect will ever will sound great right out of the box with any guitar/pedal/amp combination. This does require a bit of tweaking to get it right for your desired sound. The cool thing is the versatility offered by this box. The Time slider does take a bit of getting used to and will not nail every Millisecond setting in its range. The mix option is a little unconventional for a youngster like me who hasn't played with a tape echo. Other than that, a little time spent can get you a good sounding delay for the type of music you are going for.

Sound quality does deteriorate rapidly if you are using a battery to power this creature. Definitely find a 300Ma adapter for the power side. Delay is a very subjective application to one's guitar playing. One person's gold can be another person's rotten cheese. I play surf to reggae to funk to space rock to classic rock to metal to avant gardey noise and it really covers a lot of ground within the techniques required for the genres. I dont find it all that noisy. Set for vintage slapback sounds, I found it inspiring. For Hank Marvin/Dave Gilmour 16th note cascades, I found it can be set for very warm tones. The only thing that gives it away that it is a digital delay is the stairstepping that occurs when you tweak the Time slider. The home-made PT-80 (See Generalguitargadgets.com -also a digital delay, for those of you who can build this stuff) doesn't do that, but doesnt get lo-fi or "tubey" There must be a low-pass-filter and a compander chip in there. Compared to other digital delays, this thing is ORGANIC and diverse in its applications.

I've used it for 2 years and no troubles. USE A 300Milliamp Adapter-it eats 9 volts like 4 'oclock crumpets. The screws around the switches and jacks have come loose on mine, but those fittings are bulletproof if you add lockwashers. Like any pedal, dont submerge it in the bathtub, or feed it too much current. Without blatant abuse, it should hold up fine. I've been gigging without backup with confidence. It has yet to do anything than sound just like it has always has.

N/A haven't needed squat

Very diverse echo unit, I like what it has to offer in the simulation of the units used on a lot of my favorite recordings. I've been playing quite a while and gig and record with a band. It has been mainly used in this combination: 1967 Fender Mustang>2002 Crybaby Boost/Wah>Harmonic Percolator clone>'80s Digitech Chorus/Flanger>Reel Echo>1974 Fender Twin Reverb. Does the trick for me!!
LIKES: I can go from the 50's-00's and beyond with these echoes.
FAVORITES: The SOS feature-Set your repeats for 100%, your echo time for LONG and record a little riff, hit SOS and jam out on top of it. Very good songwriting tool! You can tweak the time an really mess with your recorded riffs.
PETTY QUARRELS: Doesn't use tape! Is not analog!
It would be cool if it pitch shifted up or down if you tweaked the time. Smoother repeats at the faster time settings.
I wish it had its own light show! Maybe a shark with laser beams.
It has facilitated in the writing of a few of my songs-none of it's limitations get in the way of my playing.

It's not really too easy to get good sounds out of the unit. It has so much knobs, and you don't need more than 5 minutes to know that isn't difficult to get every kind of sounds out of it. So, you'll need some time to achieve THAT sound you always dreamed about.

The manual is really RIDICULOUS. I really don't know if I can call that piece of paper as a Manual. So, I don't know if there's a manual for it.

I don't like the "Mix" and "Repeats" knobs, because they're not so accurate. But it's not a problem that would obstruct you from buying it.

The delay time slider is fantastic, it's very easy and quick to change the configuration of delat time.

My current setup is: Cort MGM Signature w/ EMG-85 active pickups > Onerr Volume Pedal GV-1 > Beggiato AB Box > MXR DynaComp > Tube Screamer TS-9 > Marshall Shred Master > Roger Mayer Voodoo-1 Fuzz > Danelectro Chicken Salad > Ibanez DSC-10 Stereo Chorus > Electro Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger > Danelectro DTE-1 Reel Echo > Boss TU-12H.

The unit is hardly ever noisy. The only noise you can hear is the crackling sound when you turn of/off the unit (but it's not usual).

To get the delay sound you always wanted, you'll need a time studying the unit, but it's not a nightmare. Just spend some minutes trying different configurations, and you'll be in heaven. You can use it as a slight reverb, if you want. Just try it. The unit is really nice.

The unit is very reliable. It has nothing to do with that mini, plastic-made pedals by Danelectro. It's steel made, and looks really sturdy. I depend on it, and I haven't backup for it. Never needed.

I've never dealt with them, but I think if I need someday there will be no problem.

I have tried a big number of echo/delay units (BOSS, Dan-Echo, Ibanez, Onerr, Zoom, Digitech, Maxon, Danelectro PB&J) and this is my favourate so far. It is excellent value for money, because it proves to be reliable. We can't say it really does imitate theose old tape echo's. But the unit offers a great sound. Everybody gets shocked by its shape and design at first but soon gots used to that aspect. Overall I really like this pedal.

Important note - do not bother using batteries with this delay as it will sound awful unless they're brand new. Use a mains adapter.

So anyway it's a cheap and cheerful "fun" tape echo simulator, but actually - if you use it with a wall wart - has quality echoes and lots of fun features. Above all remember this is a FUN unit, if you want pro delay features, buy a pro rack unit.

Very easy to get good sounds from it, if you can't then you probably need help turning the tv on. There's probably a manual in the box but I didn't look at it. The only fiddly control is the delay time slider but even that's not so bad.

I use the Reel Echo with a THD BiValve, and Gibson guitars (ES-335, Les Paul Special, Blues Hawk). It's not noisy in front of the amp and the bypass is pretty good (not sure it's true bypass though). Not so happy in the fx loop but it's not meant to be afaik.

Effects are really outstanding for the money. The key control to this delay is the lo-fi control - turn it all the way anti-clockwise and you get good quality echoes that don't decay with each repeat. Turn the lo-fi control clockwise and you gradually dial in hf cut so your delay decays just like a tape delay. The more you dial in, the muddier the delay gets.

Sound on Sound - excellent for accompanying yourself. Turn lo-fi OFF then repeats to max, set time to suit, play a phrase, press the SOS button then solo over it to your heart's content. If you feel like adding to your loop, just turn SOS off and you can add what you want then press SOS to start soloing again. Hours of fun :-)

Solid State / Tube - SS gives a repeat which is pretty true to the original signal, Tube gives a thinner, crispier sound. Can't say I ever use the Tube setting, but some might like it.

Warble - adds chorus to the delay to simulate tape flutter and wow. Nice for an effects-ey delay, and if you select minimum delay time and repeats of course then you have a chorus unit of sorts.

When I gig it I don't take a backup, but then I don't feel I have to have a delay unit to play. It seems solid enough, but probably if I keep operating the delay time slider with my foot it'll break eventually...

I emailed them once and got no reply, probably personal support isn't their thing.

Overall the Reel Echo is a great delay unit, but firmly in the Dan Electro mode of not taking itself too seriously. What it claims to do, it does excellently. If it had a tap tempo facility it would be truly outstanding, and would walk all over most "boutique" makers' delays. It's not my only delay, but if I lost it I'd definitely get another one.

Its all pretty straight forward, mix, repeats, delay time, the usuals. Then there is the Solid State / Tube switch, the Warble On / Off switch, and the Lo-Fi knob.
Everything is explained in the manual. The manual has no presets in it though, but not that you really need it to be honest.
The only annoying thing is that the slider for the delay time has a stupid scale, 0 - 375 - 750 - 1125 -1500. It splits the 1500 max delay into 4 parts, granted, but its pretty useless when you're trying to get a 400ms delay time, you have guess it. The slider itself is a great idea, but the scale is useless. I've made my own out of a sticker, divided into 100ms intervals, works like a dream.
The two buttons on it are effect on and off, and Sound on Sound function. This is good, they suggest you use it for looping, but I like to use it to 'deaden' delays, meaning that the delays die away 'naturally' instead of completely cutting them out, then you can turn off the unit nice and easily.
All the knobs are nice and big, you can turn em with your foot, except for the lo-fi knob, but you won't need to change that often.
I give this a 8, because it does pretty much everything you could want, but like i said, the slider scale is stupid, and the lack of a tap tempo is also quite annoying.

My current setup is Strat > Small Stone > Marshall MG50 > (efx loop) Reel Echo > Boss TR-2 > (return)
The unit is hardly ever noisy, only occasionally you can hear the buttons popping when you switch on and off the unit, but rarely.

The effect itself sounds good. It is however easily overdriven, and you end up with a crappy drive to your repeats which is annoying. It is a Tape Echo Simulator, I dunno if its meant to do that, but it sure is annoying.
With too much gain, the repeats are weak. If used in an Effects Loop, turn down the Post Gain on your amp or dist. box you are using, and it should be ok.
The solid state and tube functions work well. The solid state is nice and clean, does what it says on the tin. The tube effect is occasionally weak, but it sounds cool in some applications, and has a nice "synth" sound to it.
The warble function: all it does is add chorus to your repeats, or summat very similar. It sounds ok, and can be used very nicely to create a desired effect, again, sounds "synth" like.
The Lo-Fi control I have found to be pretty useless. It really only has two setting, off or on. What it does is cut off the the treble frequencies. But in reality it also adds some bass to them, so you get a stupid pounding repeat. And the range isn't great either.
The Mix and Repeat knobs are good. The Repeat knob has a strange tendency to "jump" ie, you can turn it for quite a bit before there is an actual audible change in the number of repeats. This can be either useful or incredibly annoying; you can use it as a kinda "preset" idea, but otherwise it is just limiting.

sounds I like to get out of it:
Apart from all the obvious bog standard delay stuff, it can do a lot of ambient stuff too.
Reverb - set delay time really short, set repeats almost to infinite, set mix to taste, solid state for a good reverb. If you change it to tube, and maybe add the warble, you get a nice "synth strings" effect.
"Backwards" guitar - set the Mix control past halfway (about 3 o clok works well). This means that the repeats are louder than the dry signal, giving a swell effect, very nice.

It is very reliable, made very sturdily. But it eats batteries like there's no tmmrw.

n/a

I play many things, but concentrate mostly on stuff like Radiohead, Verve, U2, Coldplay, Doves, Interpol, all that jazz. It can certainly do all that, in fact it does Interpol very well.
There are a few annoyances I have with it, the lack of a tap tempo, the stupid scale, the jumping of the pots, the easily overdriven sound. But I like it all the same. I will be getting a new delay in the future, and keep this one along side it, to do some crazy dual delay stuff. I'll probably let this do the standard stuff and leave the crazy stuff to another, more versatile unit (Boss Delay, Line 6 DL-4, Digitech DigiDelay etc).
If it were stolen, I probably wouldn't buy another. I'd go for something that doesn't include all the annoying things this unit has. Don't get me wrong, this is a good delay, just it could be so much more for what it cost.

The pedal was pretty easy to use and I was able to get a nice slap-back echo right out of the box.

I was also able to get the SOS (sound on sound) function to work ... after reading the instruction sheet, which tells you to, turn the REPEATS knob to the maximum setting (100%) then step on the SOS button after you've played a sample up to 1.5 seconds.

I've never played a "real" tape echo unit before so I can't comment on how easier / harder one is from the other, etc.

I used this pedal through 2 different Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amps (one being made in the USA, the other made in Mexico) and played a Fender American Standard Stratocaster.

Through the USA amp I noticed no tone change when the pedal was on or off ... also I didn't notice any extra noise coming from the pedal.

Through the made in Mexico amp, I used other pedals along with the Reel Echo. The pedal setup was: guitar -> AB box -> Keeley Compressor -> Loooper -> Boss BD-2 (Keeley mod) -> Effector 13 Eye Of God -> Boss DM-2 -> Digitech Multi Chorus -> Danelectro Tuna Melt -> Danelectro Reel Echo -> amp. I noticed once again no tone change / extra noise when the pedal was on / off. Also the pedal works great with other effects (overdrive, delays, chorus, etc.).

I did notice a small tone change when I switch the tone switch from "tube" to "solid state" ... to me the solid state was a little more brighter sounding (which I liked). Also the warble switch was cool, it reminds me of the Flerb setting on the Electro-Harmomix Holy Grail reverb pedal (which I own, and will most likely be selling soon, since I've been keeping that pedal for that sound for awhile now).

The box is made out of steel (or aluminum) and looks pretty sturdy. I ahve other Danelectro pedals (6 minis and 2 big steel case pedals) and I've never had any problems with any of them (with the exception of one and it was a defect).

This pedals can use a battery or an A/C plug (which one came with mine) so you have 2 power options which is nice to have.

I've never delt with them, but they have a nice website with some info on their products.

Overall it's a good delay / echo pedal. I like the options of the solid state / tube tone switch, warble switch and the lo-fi knob ... with those options you're able to make the delay / echo suitable to the type of song you're playing. At $70 it's a great pedal, for anything over $90, I'd look into getting something else (I think $100 for any delay / echo is too high, IMHO).

The Dano REEL ECHO is a fairly simple echo unit to use. For those who remember the classic "Echoplex" tape machines this unit will be a breeze to use. Even if you never owned an old machine you'll be able to dial in a sound you'll like right away. The manual is vague in it's instructions, so my best advice is to play with it.

The REEL ECHO sounds best when run through the front of the amp- do not patch it through the effects loop! There is a noticeable loss of sound if the unit is run through the effects loop. The REEL ECHO has a very nice tube setting which gives some added vintage warmth to your sound. I use it with a Fender solid state amp (Princeton 65) and it creates a very life-like tube sound (I like that)!
The "sound-on-sound" effect is possible after you get used to setting it up a few times. Remember, you've only got 1.5 seconds of memory to work with- so you can't go on with unlimited "loops".

This unit is built to last with ultra-sturdy metal construction! Dano has gone to great lengths to get this thing right...unlike their light weight plastic mini-pedals. I like the mini's but man, you've got to be careful when using those little tykes!
I would use the REEL ECHO wothout a backup (I do now).

I have contacted Dano (via email) in the past and they will help you out. They may not be fast but they're fair...

Echo effects are great for giving your guitar sustain and presence. The "Lo-Fi" roll off control adds a little sparkle to the echo's tone. Cool. The unit reminds me of the sound that made Les Paul famous in the early 1950s. With a little delay your guitar gets a nice "doubling effect" which is vey natural sounding. The "Warble" control adds some tones that aren't always in tune, so I don't use very much. I do love the "Tube" tone the best (as I've already stated).
It's a damn good unit that is well made and seems like it will hold up over the long haul.
Dano has made a real valid attempt at creating value-priced yet high quality products for us guitar pickers.