Danelectro DW-1 Dan-O-Wah

There's a lot going on here for a wah pedal, but I'd say
that they did a pretty good job of arranging the controls
without resorting to an enlarged footprint for the housing.

I find myself forever confusing the "bank select" and
"distortion" buttons, but that's my fault. Besides,
even guessing, I have a 50/50 shot.

The LED's are a big help in keeping you informed about
which features are running at any given time.

My ancient Foxx Fuzz/Wah/Volume had approximately the same
feature set, but used a rotary knob to change wah settings,
and had side-mounted pots for controlling the distortion.
It was completely impossible to change settings on-the-fly.

The side-mounted in/out switches on the Dano can be
engaged with a careful poke of the toe (at least the
outermost ones can) so I guess the Dano's slightly more
workable. You're better off doing a "set and forget"
between songs, though.

Given the way the "octave" sounds, I'd rather they'd
scrapped it entirely, and used the extra space to spread
out the buttons controlling the wah settings. I
wouldn't encourage anyone to use their feet on these
light-duty switch buttons anyway -- except when it's
absolutely necessary.

Overall, though, a decent layout for a fairly complex pedal,
and a better manual than what you get with most boxes.

Depending on what guitar and amp settings I'm using,
all of the wah's are at least useable. A couple become
very harsh with single-coil pickups. I like the '60's
selections for lead, and the '70's settings for rhythm.
Since the Foxx went to heaven in 1983, I haven't used a
wah until I picked up an inexpensive Morley (pretty good)
and a Carvin (avoid that dog -- see my review.) I'm not
an expert, and I use effects sparingly, but for a $29
impulse item, I have to say that the Dano sounds pretty
good.

On the other hand:

The distortion is of limited usefulness. It reminds me
of a re-issue Fuzz Face (which is not a good thing from
where I stand.) No dynamics, ultra-cruddy, one size
fits all. I choose to ignore it. I suspect that some
will use it occasionally, but I can't imagine anyone using
it as their main fuzz. It's not hurting anyone to have
it available, though. For a kid on a budget, it's a
nice extra.

But: Add the "octave" and you will be summoning dogs.
I'd say that with the octave engaged, this fuzz sounds
like the Dano Grilled Cheese Distortion -- unbearably
harsh, and unmusical. Like a Fender Twin on full treble,
with the bright switch engaged, and a fuzz with the
distortion all the way up, gain almost all the way
down. Thin, brittle, ugly. Again, though, it's easy enough
to just leave it off.

The side switches are typically dano-crappy. It's
a good thing that they're hard to engage with the
feet, 'coz they're not built to last. Use your fingers
to push them in, then keep your fingers crossed that they
don't fail. Hopefully, it'll be the Octave switches
which crap out first, in the OFF position, so they don't
engage by accident.

More problematic is the fact that the (what is it called,
a treadle?) -- anyway, the part of the wah that rocks up
and down to create the "wah" frequency sweep -- rocks
slightly side-to-side as well, which it ain't supposed
to do. This $29 Guitar Center blowout may be from a batch
of second-quality units, but if they all do this, then I'd
say that basic build quality may be questionable. We'll
see down the road.

The rest of the unit seems to be built decently enough
for a budget item.

I'm guessing that a couple of the switches will end
up breaking, but that the basic unit will remain sound.
I'll pass on an actual rating, since I don't use the
pedal very demandingly.

No idea.

Not bad. I might be more critical if I'd paid the standard
$79 or however much, but it's a downright steal at $29.
Instant, versatile wah fun, for however long it lasts. A
lot cheaper that a Dunlop 535, and I'm leery of Dunlop
in general anyway after a couple of bad experiences. Dano
stuff is cheap and fun; I don't get attached to
any of it. Besides, cheap and flimsy as it all looks, I
can't honestly say I've had a problem with any Dano
product. I like my Dan-O-Wah.

Easy to used I guess but some of the buttons don't really seem to change the sound that much.

Pretty Noisy. The Distortion is pretty nasty. Most importantly there is no bypass switch like there is on a cry-baby, which makes it kinda worthless to use in an amp setup where you only use it for a few songs.

It seems ok but thats not part of my issue with it.

Not Sure. Just bought it. I might take it back to the store if I poses a problem with my live amp setup.

My main concern is the issue with it having no bypass switch. I'm not sure I care for the over all sweep, with there being a dead spot towards the middle of the footpedal.

Its pretty easy peadl to get to grips with.. You dont have to be a rocket sientist...

The clean sounds are great!! But as soon a you kick in the distortion!!!! All hell break lose.. its a shocking loud distortion with no way to control it... It would not be so bad if there was a knob.. The distortion is NASTY!

Its made of plastic.. but seem sterdy enough....

I would gig with it..

Hav enot had to use

To be honest i dont like this pedal.. i wish i keep't saving enough to get a cry baby.. but oh well..

TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!

Pretty easy to use. No problems. Can't edit patches. Manual? Do you need a manual? Read the labels on the switches/jacks and it's done quite logically, nothing unusual, I think. I don't give it a 10 because it needs a volume/gain control for when you kick in the distortion, which is mega dirty and loud. This is it's major drawback, but most wahs don't come with distortion, so I still rated it a nine because it's an innovative wah.

Setup I'm using with the Dan-O-wah: I have about 15 electric, acoustic/electric, classical/electric guitars, all Korean at this point -- to me, there's nothing magic about USA labor, all you Rocky holdovers. I get good sound with piezo pickup or single coil or hum pickups through the Dan-O-wah.

{Now, please skip down a few paragraphs if you don't want to hear a tirade about how much I think that the big name USA guitar distributors are price gouging poor musicians at this time...and here is especially a word to the USA labor Nazis, from someone born in the USA. Korea currently makes some great, playable guitars that are superior in craftsmanship, in some cases, to USA-made guitars, if you will please, try to put away the USA legends for a while, at least long enough to compare the neck joints and binding inlays, fret work, etc. between comparably-featured Korean and USA guitars.
I've owned a lot of guitars in 25 years of playing and I am a tiny dealer who now even imports Korean guitars. I compare them with USA guitars often. In fact, I call the Korean luthiers directly at probably the same factory as Ibanez and Epiphone or at least with the same national components, but I specify beautiful, deluxe stuff, and still sell them for less than $500. For instance, I specify nicer frets, tuning keys, etc., gold hardware, quilting, etc. The big USA distributors could specify deluxe features and give you awesome guitars with just a phone call, for $500 or less, but they won't, at least, not yet. Maybe when they lose still more market share...trying to sell expensive instruments to poor musicians for short term profit margins, while the Koreans, who already have the world's largest guitar factory (Samick), continue to encroach...not a wise market strategy, unless you only want to sell to collectors who make their money not playing music; and you'll only do it for a generation more or so, until the word gets out that the mystique is fluff and bygone legend; and the schmooze factor of buying prestige namebrands instead of objectively looking at the product.
Moreover, the deceitful thing is, allegedly USA-made guitars have lots of Korean components put in them, and some USA workers put some USA man hours into them, just enough so they can call them USA or made in USA by legal loophole. Call Fender or Gibson some time and ask them. If you get an honest phone consultant, he or she may tell you, at risk to the job. The big execs definitely don't want the complete truth to be known. Trade secrets at our expense, or more accurately, trade deceits at our expense.

Anyway, my money doesn't care where some parents delivered their baby. In a world market, you also help Americans when they get a lot of bang for their buck. Importers create American jobs, too, it's true. And with the money I save, not buying substandard, overpriced guitars, or effects, or whatever, I can help or even start my own USA company (ies) that beat(s )the world in other areas. Who knows, maybe even a new USA guitar maker will rise from the lethargy of ashes, and make a great guitar for cheaper than the Koreans. Wisdom is what makes a country great, not unbalanced loyalty, in my opinion, but there is a balance. I don't want to kick USA manufacturers when they are down...look at Chrysler, for example. They're back because of some timely mercy in the 1980s, and longterm, innovative wisdom. I also don't say to trade dollars for nukes, as in say, for example, I wouldn't recommend buying from Afghanistan right now, and I avoid buying from China as much as reasonably possible for that very nuclear reason; ditto North Viet Nam/North Korea. But South Korea is a friendly democracy with an exemplary culture in many ways.

Anyway, for all the blind American loyalists, probably me too in some unintentioanl areas, I promise you that the USA has its state department and foreign policy agendas that are less than 100 percent "for the good of the people," bu

It's fine. Yes, I would use it without a backup. I give it a 9 just because it's not studio quiet, like every other wah I've ever played.

I've dealt with them several times in trying to find some very recently discontinued Dan Electro guitars, and they were poor on several occasions, at helping me find a retailer that still had some new old stock. I've also talked to them about making some nice quality stuff. They seemed horribly ivory-tower and had a seeming business philosophy that was unaffected by the workaday musician...with the exception of Rock Klauser, who was personable, and helpful, and helped me to find a Guitar/Mandolin, for which I had searched for about two to three years, calling every where, including Dan Electro over a span of about two years, several times. Rock was professional and conscientious, in my estimate. Other Dan Electro management personnel seemed to be unable to care less. I also had the same experience when trying to locate a different color pickguard for my Mod 7. High rolling condescension was all I seemed to get, at least in my experience. I give a 10 to Mr. Klauser and a 1 to everyone else, so a 2 overall.

Style mentioned above,lots of diversity is required to do it. I've been playing studio and live about 25 years. Other gear is mentioned above when I talk about the setup I use in-line with the Dan-O-wah. Yeah, a wah, and particularly this wah, is good for almost any kind of music, except Vivaldi or muzak or something, maybe, but who knows...Bach-wah? I would maybe get another one, but maybe not, only because the general market keeps making better and better electric/electronic toys for less and less, with more and more features. I love the versatility of this wah, and if I didn't get another one, it would certainly NOT be because of ANYTHING that I regretted about buying this wah. I am glad to have bought this and think that the value is superb. I love the automobile design, cool cruiser style. I love the little red lights that light up. I love the range of tone from the pedal and the immense psychadelic and harmonic textures. I hate the lack of gain/volume for when you switch to the drive channel, but this can be overcome by setting a digital patch to compensate...we should not have to do that. They should build a gain/volume into the pedal. In general, though, it definitely very much helps me to make music. Anything else to share? Yeah, get one. I don't know why the other reviewers had problems. The thing won an editor's pick award in 2000, I think, from Guitar Player magaizine. They don't give those away. This is a superior product compared to the other wahs that were out only two years ago. Of course, with the lightning speed of the electronics age, it may be soon superceded, but I think that it's one of Danelectro's really decent effects pedals, and I can't say that about some of them.

Can it be hard to use any pedal?

I have a Fender guitar & a shitty amp, but I usually play direct to my mixer. When I use dan-o-wah, I run my signal trough compressor distortion & multiFX units and then the dan o wah's distortion isn't that bad. It just ads fuzz & some warmth to the sound.

Wah sounds are pretty good. Wouldn't say it's the best wah sound on earth but it's good enough and you can alter it a bit. AND the distortion is not supposed to be "normal" distortion, it's just an extra "special" effect just like the octaver included.

Yes I can depend on it.

Don't know.

I've playd guitar for about 10 years & keyboards about 15. I play mainly keyboards, but now and then guitar too. Rock, pop, 70's funk, jazzy stuff, electronica. Overall good wah pedal & looks great.

The diagram is screwed up, even though the pedal is easy to figure out. People who try to use this as if it were a morley or dunlop screwed themselvesd out of keeping a very good pedal.

Be careful not to kick in the distortion while using the wah unless you mean to , otherwise one would think it was a crappy pedal. The wah sounds are incredible once I got used to the treadle and settings choices. One guy put it perfectly from shaft to porn music to voodoo child. The only complaint is the octaver which if I can get to it will hot rod on my own. It's very faint. Its a very quiet pedal for switching. I would say for bassist it is one great pedal. I can see why guitar players might hate it if they are not very experienced. My guitar player now uses his VOX as backup only. The one setting uses for him is great for the Steve Vai tribute stuff. The distortion is great for bass annoying for guitar. I can also get a great psuedo talk box tone out of it.

I've never had a problem with Danoelectro gear and use it live 20 times a month in everything from grind core to country and jazz. Never needed to worry . My morley has let me down several time and is now just a volume pedal.

never had to use them

I've been playing everything from country to jazz to classical and death metal for almost 15 years. It is a good match for damn near every style I play. I use this through a hughes and kettner bass rig, swr henry 8x8 cabinet, digitech 2101, coolcat,morley volume-distortion-wah,zoom bass multieffects unit,fabtone,shiftdaddy,and bbe msonic maximizer. my guitars are 2 musicman 5's one strung to high c the other to low b, a status empathy 4 string, a hohner 6 string b bass strung to high F and a hodad bass 4. I would hunt the rat bastard down, disembowel him and screw his pooch if some one stole the dan o wah!the octave feature definitely is the weakest thing about the pedal, otherwise it would be a 10. I give it a 9 for value, price and usefulness. The people that hated it probably spent less than a day with this or are inexperienced with wah pedals

Incomprehensable thats all Ive got to say. They have this giant manual that makes no scence

Ahhhh it sounds like poohhpooh. The wah is lame, has a horrible sweep that distorts on at the toe when it's clean. And the distortion sound kinda like fingers being scratched on a blackboard, it squeals like a pig in a slaghter house. I tryed it out on my freinds guitar and amp befor I brought it home. We torned down the volume to 1 on his amp, turned off the volume on his guitat and it still fed back.

Its in a plastic chassis. How reliable do you think it will be? I did''nt wait to find out. I took it back within a day of buying

Well I never neaded to use this but I was pleased to find out that the Guitar shop I bought it from exchanged it for it's full value. THats good customer service

I guess in genral you get what you pay for. Canadian money is like make beilive money so I shouldent expect much for 115. Still It is not worth that. I would pay money to get rid of it. The only good thing about it is it's cool car shaped chassis ((made out of plastic). Some dano stuff like there mini pedles are kinda funky and genaraly sound half decent for a novelty, but this was a big dissapointment. Don't lett it's cutness fool you, it sounds like a car crashing into garbage cans.

let's see, 8 of those little buttons on the side and two on top plus the actual wah control, abit over the top. you'd have to be a bloody tap dancer to use this pedal, and the diagram on the back was pretty confusing being the wrong way round....and the suggested settings were ridiculous they merely told you what you already knew by pressing the buttons.

well i have a rubbish guitar, squier strat and a fender frontman reverb 15 watt ss amp, with the distortion on this pedal makes the most hideous noise ever, the hiss is unbearable at any volume, the wahs are too fake sounding, they don't give any depth nor any realism too the sound. but by far the worst thing about this pedal is the fact that with the distortion on and the wah open it picks up radio stations, sure this may be great at times when your bored and want to listen to something but when your playing it does tend to get a little, wait no VERY annoying.

im not sure about this, ive had this only for a week and nothings gone wrong with it (except the fact its utter rubbish), but the main body of the pedal is metal however the part on which you place your foot is plastic so it's life may be limited especially when under heavy use

don't know, all i know is the company warranty isn't valid in the uk

hmm lets put this simply, this pedal utterly pathetic in fact after using it for about one week im going tomorrow to the shop and returning it possibly to buy a crybaby for less money, whatever you do please please do not buy this pedal, and if you already have it i pray for you.
IT'S UTTER RUBBISH

Very easy. if you cant work out 10 buttons + a pedal than u r thick.
The manual was just what setting it sugests for different sounds.

I use a vintage sg h/h with a Marshal g50rcd. The distortion is terrible. i just use the distortion on my amp. The effects are not too great + i wish i had tried a few other wahs out because i got this as a present.
Im not that into songs with CrAzY effects, i would rather have good music on a clean channel. This pedal humms even on clean sound. The diferent styles are not that different either.

It has quite a good feel to it. ive had it over half a year + there hasnt been any problems.

N/A

This isnt perfect for the style of music i play. Its easy to use looks good + feels good to play but is let down by the differnt sounds.
It would be good if it had an on/off switcch because i can never be arsed to pull out leads etc.

very easy to use, comes with manual but i never used it cause its simple pedal.

i use a affinity squier strat and a fender 25r amp. all the wahs are great and work well and are not noisy, the distortion thru my 25r amp ( or any other half decent or good amp ) is horrible, its got real good fuzz on the squier amp that came with my guitar but on any other amp its way to loud and fuzzy. i like its wahs tho altho it is no good for bass wah.

seems fairly durable, id gig without a backup cause im too poor to have a backup and i never use wah in songs i write.

ive deal with dano support before and they were great

its great for the types of wah i play ( hendrix type stuff ). ive been playin guitar for about a year but have been involved with music for about 6-7 years. if it were stolen id hunt down the s.o.b. and kill him/her, then id buy a new one, or i might consider a dunlop q-wah that has that extra switch so you can get tons of different tones