Danelectro DW-1 Dan-O-Wah

This is a pretty self-explaintory unit - it's a wah pedal with six presets and a distortion with overdrive. Eight buttons. Pick one and play. The buttons are on the side and a little hard to change on the fly, but frankly I can't think of an occasion where I will want to change the settings in the middle of a song. Lights on the back make it easy to see what mode you are in.

Yamaha AES820 guitar (stock setup); JoeMeek VC6Q compressor/EQ; MesaBoogie amp; homemade preamp, distortion, octave divider, phaseshifter; Psychoflange. Sounds quiet, esp compared to the noise-floor of a Cry Baby. It gets noisier with the power supply I notice, but that could be another piece of gear in the same power strip messing with it - I didn't really check too closely 'cause I use batteries mostly.

The effects sound great - don't buy this expecting it to sound like a Vox or a Horsie - if you want that sound buy the real thing and stop whining. Judge this on its own merits and it's a terrific pedal with good sounds. Yeah, the distortion is WAY over the top, but again, if you want a Big Muff, buy one. Danelectro has always specialized in really extreme effects (psychoflange anyone?) and if you look at it like a new tool, not like a copy of something else, you'll be really happy.

It's pretty solid even though it's plastic. I'm not sure what other reviewers of this pedal do on gigs, but it's tough enough for anything I put my equipment through (progressive metal). It's been fine so far.

Never had to deal with them.

I like things that make interesting sounds - progressive metal is the name of the game here. I really have no interest in copying anyone else's sound, so this is my kind of unit. Ignore the punters who have been slagging this kit - they obviously wouldn't know a good creative tool if it bit them in the ass. If you judge this pedal for what it can do (not what you wish it would do), it's pretty terrific. Yes, the distortion is super saturated, but it has some great posibilities. I spent two hours wailing away on this pedal in octave distortion mode with an E-Bow creating the coolest sounds I've made in years.

EAsy to use; lots of buttons to play with. Don't have a manuel, bought it used.

Fender Strat Deluxe; 92 Tele American Standard; Gibson ES 355"the dot" Newburgh Steinberger; amps: Fender DeLuxe RVRI; Roland Jazz Chorus 120(made in Japan); old Peavy 4x10 Classic (no effects loop); Fender Blues Jr. Dan O Wah has too short a sweep; the octave effect is OK for single line leads in high register; the distortion is controllable if you back off on the volume of your guitar.

It is used and it works; I would use it without a back up.

Neo-classical, fork, country, rock, RnB, contemporary Christian, jazz, pop.

The selector buttons are to small, the side buttons are unreachable, the actual pedal is easy to get to.

i use a 1979 Gibson SG Standard> DW-1> Behringer V-Amp 2> Mid-70's Music Man 212 HD Amp.
The wah sounds ok for the price, the "distortion" is not really what the name implies, but a "bacon & pop rocks in a frying pan" simulator. It also has an "octave" effect that only works in "distortion" mode. It isn't an actual octave effect, it just makes that crappy "distortion" harder. And don't use the wah and the "distortion" at the same time because #1 it sounds like absolute crap, and #2 It doubles your volume, confusing and frightening those around you. But the wah is fine for $20.

Hasn't broken yet.

never used it.

I play rock of all kinds (except drop-d nu-metal, especially prog-rock. If it were stolen, I would sit in my room and wait for the theif to bring it back. The thing looks cool, and I would give the wah a 7 out of 10. I hate the pathetic, donkey-like excuse for distortion, and the "octave". I don't see how it got the Guitar Player Editor's Pick Award. I think it's half-good, half-bad, plus it looks cool.

The distortion, bank and on/off buttons are too small. The side buttons are out of the way on both sides, and you can't really tell what you're selecting without flipping it upside-down. There's also a lot of grinding in the pedal action.

Sometimes it's decent, but my Dano-Wah spends more time picking up AM radio signal than it does wahing. I've tried different brands of batteries, wall warts and other power sources, and the Dano pretty well sucks with them all. The distortion sounds like a swarm of drunken bees.

The Dano-Wah is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. Some days it will perform acceptably, other days it sounds like I have a live Mexican folk band in my cabinet.

I no longer use it for gigs. I borrow a friend's Vox instead, thank you very much.

Imagine a Web site with no contact information. Sounds strange, doesn't it? Not in Dano-World, apparently. I have no way to contact them and ask for some helpful tips in dealing with the fecal performance of this wah pedal. Actually, I take that back - it's an insult to feces everywhere.

Theoretically, a good wah pedal should be a great thing for me. I've been playing heavy metal and hard rock for abotu 15 years; my current set-up is a pair of Seymor Duncan-equipped Charvels through either a Laney AOR 100 or Tube Works head and a Celestion-loaded cabinet.

However, I would definitely prefer a barium enema to another Dano-Wank. When it comes to wahs, I'll stick with Vox, Morley or Dunlop.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd get a good laugh out of the thief foolish enough to abscond with it.

WAH footpedal is very easy to use. Would like an on/off switch thats a little taller and firmer so it's obvious you're pushing it down.
Distortion button hard to hit without having to slam the pedal forward and i usually accidentally turn the wah off.
Side buttons very hard to change on the fly. Set and forget.

If it were just a wah, I'd give it a 10. Since they have more features, I'm lowering the rating.

Guitars: Epi Casino, Epi Dot, and Strat. Amps: Roland MicroCube run into computer for recording and mixing.
I have no use for the distortion. I just get mud or squeels from it. I haven't really been able to hear the octave setting over the mud or noise.
The WAH however is what I'm going to use this thing for and I think it's great.

Dunno yet. Just bought it a couple of days ago.

II'l be using this for Frampton/Hendrix type of stuff.

Its a wah pedal with six different wah sounds and built in distortion. How hard can it be ?

It looks like a Cadillac. I use it wit a either a gibson les paul or a Strat thru a 130 watt Crate g130cxl 2 x 12 combo amp. Its not noisy at all. One of the 6 wah sounds is xlnt. Actually way better than a crybaby or a jimi hendrix wah. The other 5 wah sounds are kinda crappy. But the one that sounds good, sounds really good and if you just set it on that wah setting, its great. The built in distortion is over the top. It sounds like a metal zone pedal on steroids. Its actually kinda cool if you only kick it during a solo & maybe just use it once in a while (for maybe 20-30 seconds at a time) because it really creates a big wave of noise. I really like the 1 (of 6) wah sound this thing makes. Never run a wah pedal thru your effects loop. For best results run it in line between the amp and the guitar.

I've owned it over 6 months now and so far so good.
No problems whatsover. The housing is plastic so dont be too rough with it and it should be just fine. I use it to play live gigs and I think it sounds really good. Its reliable.

I play everything from reggae, blues, rock and heavy metal.
I've been playing 25 years and have owned numerous wah pedals including a crybaby, a jimi hendrix wah, a morley bad horsie 2
and I like this better than all of those. I dont understand why most people dont really like it that much. I think it sounds great.
I would buy another but they dont make em anymore. I dont like the placements of the buttons which kick the distortion on and to change the wah sounds. They are very close to the top edge of the wah pedal and if your not carefule its ez to kick on those buttons accidentally. It takes a little getting used to. I like this pedal alot. One Great wah sound. It sounds xlnt on either clean or with a heavy overdrive. The other 5 wah sounds are kinda wimpy.

Many buttons but a comprehensive manual, it's quite ok

It's a great idead as far as features goes but it was made by danelectro which usually does entry level stuff so the sound quality ain't the best. The distortion and octave are horrible and some presets don't sound much different. The sweep seems way too toyish and it doesn't insire much confidence (the caddy look doesn't help either). Though you can find some good sounds in it if you just look for a wah, and that's what i was looking for. The sound was good both on direct and Fx loop. If only the had done only two presets and less bells and whistles maybe the price would have been even better

doesn't inspire much, too much plastic and frail feeling pedal

never tried

Good entry level wah, but Dano could have removed all those weird stuff like octave and distortion that sound horrible and get in the way lowering so the price. As for those features...if only some other brands would have done the same, i'm sure dunlop would have made the ultimate wah. Dano is best for simple stuff

It's easy to step on the switches on top of the pedal when switching wah on/off - and you need to make sure the right buttons on the side are pressed in before you start playing.

Much better than a Dunlop Cry Baby - the middle wah button on the LHS is my favourite. The Dunlop I tried did not have enough depth to its 'Q' or enough treble on full wah.
The distortion is not suitable for general use, but as an occasional 'DESTROY!' option it is fun.

I have gigged for 15 months solid with mine and it's had its share of beer and fag ash, been stepped on by the audience and accidentally picked up by the singer's mic stand and dropped - no problems at all.

The first one I had was noisy - there was some dirt in the pot. The shop changed it straight away.

I play in a pub band, doing covers of recent rock chart hits - this pedal has done everything I need reliably, although I wish the buttons on top were recessed and labelled.

Easy enough to use unless you want to alter the settings on the side while playing. I don't want to change any of the setting during a gig. I don't tend to alter them anyway so for me the pedal is easy to use. The distortion on/off is a bit small and difficult to operate though.

my guitar - Gibson ES 335. Amp Marshall JCM 900 and Marshall 4x12 cab.
I love this pedal, what I specially like about it is the distortion. Might not be to everyones taste though, it's harsh, but that's what I want.
Playing it without distortion sounds good too, there are a lot of different settings on the side that alter the sound, it's not going to sound like your classic Vox wah pedal, but I didn't expect it to, if that's the sound you want, buy one.
Another thing I really like, (and again I can see that this would be a big negative for most people) is the massive jump in volume level when the pedals distortion is activated, it hits you hard and makes your ears bleed!!

I've used it live and would use it again, it's my only wah and I'd be lost without that awesome distortion.

Never had to call them

I've been playing for 14 years. The stuff my band plays is very loud - sort of Sonic Youth / My Bloody Valentine / Spiritualized. When the distorted wah kicks in it's so nasty it sounds like a chain saw, just the kind of thing I want for our sound. I can imagine the distortion is way too over the top for someone looking for a Hendrix type of thing. If you're looking for a real noisy, nasty, violent sound this is perfect. If I lost it I would get another one without a doubt.

It's not the easiest pedal to use as its very easy to get the buttons on the side mixed up. Definitely not a pedal I'd use for a live performance. For live work, better to use something that is very simple to use.

Overall I disagree with all those people that say it sucks. Perhaps they are either sound snobs or newbies that haven't spent alot of time with different effects. But to be fair, I'm fairly open minded when it comes to effects and I enjoy having different effects for different styles of music.
I've played through many different wah pedals over the years (my favorite was the DeArmond Thunderbolt Wah/Fuzz pedal) and in comparison this pedal I think ranks just as an average wah pedal. The sweep of the pedal is not as long as I prefer (although the sweep of most wah pedals suck). But I can still get a fairly wide variety of decent wah sounds out of it that work well in the studio. The octave effect while not the best, is still very useful for getting odd sounds for recordings and for doing some funky sounding leads with. The fuzz sound on it, is not the best, but I think for recording purposes it is still quite usable if you like super-distored Big Muff style fuzz sounds. However you do not get as rich of a sound as the Big Muff. In other words you don't get quite all the wierd harmonics, feedback and random cool sounds that you get with the Big Muff. But when I tried recording with it, I got a fairly ballsy sound with its overdrive by micing my half stack with it and double tracking the guitar part (manually recording the rhythm guitar part twice) and panning them about 20% left and right.

Well mine hasn't broke yet, but the quality of its workmanship and materials definitely does NOT inspire confidence. Switches and buttons are plastic and feel very loose while the whole thing is made of cheap low-quality plastic that feels like it would crack if it was really stomped on.
But I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the switches themselves don't give out on me anytime soon.
I wish they made a heavy duty version of this pedal. I'd pay $20 more if they made it a little more sturdy with heavy duty switches and a steel case/pedal.

Haven't needed it. Although I had to return a Danelectro phaser pedal before twice after none of the ones I bought. That's when I ended up forking over a few more bucks for the Wah pedal.

I forgot how much I paid for this pedal but I remember that it was relatively cheap so I can't complain. If I can make a few good recordings of some songs with it, then I'll be a happy camper. :)