Danelectro DW-1 Dan-O-Wah

I could have learned to live with the fussy array of buttons and switches (there are 10 not including the wah-treadle itself) had I not returned the pedal for a refund today. My minor complaint in this category is that I had to pay a LOT of attention to where my feet were going and remember which control does what, then carefully make sure I didn't bump the wrong buttons, which are very sensitive and sticking out all over the unit. At my tavern skill level, I concentrate more on what my hands are doing than hoping that the sole of my shoe hits the left button positioned cleverly one inch from the right one - out beyond the toe-end of the rocker pedal. The rocking wah part of the pedal was plastic, but had a good Dunlop/Vox feel to it, so no complaints there. Since I don't burn, smash, kick, barf or stomp on my gear, I think resonable care would allow it to last awhile. But nitpicky controls were not the flaws that made me return it...

I offer no numerical rating here since I both loved and hated the sounds this pedal made. Variety of equipment used: Strat, Tele & Les Paul plugged into various tube combos at 8, 20 & 50 watts. The three "60's wah" choices were positively juicy, emulating many pleasing sounds from that general era (Jimi, JJ Cale, Carlos, et al). The "70's" tones were thin, disco-flavored, and not satisfying to me. But that is more about musical taste than function. I was anxious to add some Hendrixy octave/fuzz flavors to my simple signal chain (guitar, wah, mild OD, and screamer) but was disappointed to find that Octave only engages WITH Distortion. This would be no problem if the built-in Dan-0-Distortion did not automatically double my volume and absolutely trash the tone, even with everything else on full-clean. It is just WAY too much, and might only serve in my classic rock/blues world to add fury to the final power chord of a really rowdy number here and there. Then there's the squawking and overdrive noise while my sneaker clumsily smacks every button on the pedal until the feedback stops. I suppose I could quickly adjust other things (like the volume of my guitar) to help a buzzy, overblown fuzz blend in with my other pedals. But that, to me, sort of defeats the purpose of pre-balanced multi-effects that I can simply tap in and out with a casual foot as I need them.

As "just a wah" I wouldn't hesitate to gig with it since I take reasonable care not to bash my gear, especially if it's plastic. Would I need my trusty cast iron Dunlop Cry Baby as a backup? Probably not, but I'd keep it nearby anyway.

No experience or comment in this block.

I really wanted this pedal to work for me, but it does nothing better than what I get from a custom modded Cry Baby I've used for decades. If I read next year that Danelectro has separated Octave from Distortion, or at least put a knob on the drive level, I will rush out and buy this pedal again - finicky controls and all. And I will buy another red one! Tone always comes before looks, and this one does make some killer wah sounds, but I also love any pedal that looks like a vintage V-8 fire truck with chrome side headers. R&D guys, do some Dan-O-Tweaking on this awkward prototype and I'll gladly give it another whirl.

Not hard to use, although they could've marked the input and output on the top. They're on the same side as nearly every other pedal besides the Russian made Bug Muff, so I guess it's no big deal.
Also you need to remeber which settings you like on the side switched because they get bumped and changed constantly.

I like the tone. On the 60's side it's more throaty than a Vox, way more than a Cry Baby.
The distortion would be a lot better with a level control.
I think they made a mistake calling it distortion. It's more of a fuzz tone. It's actually kinda cool sounding once you except that.
I can actually get a pretty good Ain't Superstitious Jeff Beck tone using the Dan-O-Wah with my Les Paul through my EL34 equipped 1966 Vibrolux Reverb!

The pot and switches are specific to this pedal. Not very servicable. I've had a Cry Baby and still own a Vox Wah. With heavy use, a switch or pot will eventually need to be replaced. I think by then the pivot for the pedal will be shot, so I suppose these pedals are disposable.

Mine was $80 at the GC and came with my choice of Dano min pedal. Not a bad deal.
If it was lost or stolen I would not replace it.

I don't know why folks had so much trouble figuring out the scheme of this pedal. I had it figured out in 5 minutes without the manual or the diagram on the bottom. It's really not too hard. I will admit that if I were wearing boots the distortion on/off switch and the bank A/B switch would be a little hard to work, but I think that most people will find one sound they really like and then just use the distortion/octave for color tones.

This is a great sounding pedal for the price. If you don't like the fuzz (although I did) or the octave (ditto) then the wah itself is quite nice. I owned a Vox reissue wah and thought that was the best overall wah that I had played. Then in a fit of madness and during a time when I was simplifying my rig I sold it. Since then I've been looking for a cool, yet quirky wah. This fills the bill. The Vox is still a little better than the Dan-O-Wah, but I liked the idea of having a cool looking pedal that had the fuzz/volume option.

The case seems a little light-duty, but I play in mostly Rock, oldies, and country bands and so there will be no pogoing or crowd surfing at one of my shows.

I've never dealt with the company. I have the little Dano compressor and never had any problems with it.

As I said, I play mostly rock/blues/country/folk so I can't see whether I'll have problems with the pedal. I can't wait till I can step on the fuzz/octave/wah combination the next time I play "All along the Watchtower at our local bar!

The only thing I'd change about this pedal would be to move the footswitches to a more ergonomic place, and to give the user knobs to control distortion amount and octave amount.

I was very surprised by how good this Dano wah sounds. I expected it to be poor to decent, but it's actually the best sounding current production wah I've tried. Much better sounding and more akin to the classic '60s wahs than the Vox and Dunlop reissues. You'll have to spend hundreds on a high-end Teese or Fulltone wah to do better than the basic tone of this Dano wah. I own several vintage Vox wahs (memo to you younger Harmony Centralites: "vintage wah" means a 60s Vox with a Fasel inductor, not an 80s Dunlop Crybaby, OK? Just because you're 20 doesn't mean that a wah that's older than you is "vintage"!), and a Teese, and I'd put this Dano up against any of them when it comes to nailing the classic 60s wah sound. Someone voiced this thing very carefully using modern circuity to mimic the old style wahs. And the fuzz and octavia circuits are also dead-on clones of the 60s style effects -- very good job in these depts. as well. Again, I was shocked when I first plugged this in. BUT, having said all that, the Dano has ONE FATAL FLAW...

Made of plastic -- seemingly sturdy plastic, but plastic nonetheless. Obviously Dano targeted home jammers with this wah, not road dogs. But if you're careful with your pedals and don't toss them around too much, it may survive heavy gigging.

...and the ONE FATAL FLAW is that Dano wired the fuzz/octavia circuit BEFORE the wah instead of AFTER! Hendrix had his guitar plugged into his wah and THEN his fuzz and octavia. So did Clapton, and every other 60s guitar god. Guitar - wah - fuzz/octave sounds like the classic 60s records, but guitar - fuzz/octave - wah sounds horribly cheezy and dated, like the solo in the Isleys' "Who's That Lady" and a host of other 70s songs (and 80s -- Prince also lacked common sense when it came to wah/fuzz order). If you want to sound like every bar band dumbass wah-pumping his way through the SRV version of Voodoo Chile on an Ibanez Steve Vai guitar into a Crate solid-state amp, then the Dano wah will give you that sound because every such dumbass has his guitar plugged into a fuzz and then a wah. But if you want the Hendrix/Cream/Beck/Zep sound, forget it unless you turn off the fuzz and just use a good 60s style fuzz AFTER the Dano wah like I do. It's such a pity, because if Dano wired the wah with the fuzz/octavia circuit AFTER the wah, they'd have a world beater. As it is, you're better off ignoring what would otherwise be a really excellent fuzz/octavia circuit, and just using wah part of the pedal.

WELL... This pedal is pretty straight-forward once you figure it out and the whole overall idea is pretty good. HOWEVER.... the actual finished product leaves a little to be desired. Switching between banks is the most awkward task of this pedal. It's a GREAT idea, but in order to pull it off, you have to pretty much stomp down so far that you turn off the wah in the process and have to step on the bank switch, then stomp on the wah again to turn it back on! What's up with that? Same goes for the distortion switch.

I ran this with (by the way, I've returned this pedal...)a number of Boss pedals with a Les Paul thru an '81 Marshall JCM800. I have a Dunlop CryBaby, but wanted to try the Danelectro because of it's features (bank switch, 60's, 70's setting, octave distortion..etc) but it just didn't even come close to the Crybaby. The tone of the Dan-O is very shrill and seems to have very little low-end at all. The distortion is completely unusable, very, very noisy! The octave is only accessible thru the distortion, which means that it's pretty much out of the question, too. The 6 different wah sound are so subtle in difference, that I couldn't decide what to use! All in all, my total experience with this thing just made me appreciate my Dunlop Crybaby SO MUCH MORE!!! Like I said, I've returned the Danelectro...

It seemed to work just fine and was pretty reliable, however, being made of plastic like it is, I didn't see it lasting two years! The footpedal area actually moved side-to-side right out of the box! The switches are ok, but I think they would be useless in a matter of time also. To tell you the truth, I was amazed how cheaply made this thing is made for something you're supposed to step on to use!! I was afraid I was gonna break it! I've NEVER felt that way about the Dunlop... I could park my car on it and not break a sweat over it.

Don't know about the company support, didn't own it long enough.

I play mostly metal, but I like to stray into other areas alot. I play some classic rock, also. This pedal just seemed like too many bells and whistles, but not enough sheer guts to back it up. Like I said before, it was a GREAT idea for a new product, that's what sucked me into buying it. I just wouldn't have released this thing without a few more tweeks to the mechanics and tone. Maybe the next generation Dan-O-Wah will be better.
Nice try, but try again.

the sound quality is decent a 7
its good but the distortion on the wah has no master control good manual explains differnt functions

decent better than any other wah pedals

yes yes i only own 1 wah pedal

the customer support was very helpful when a warrenty question came up

it came with a battery a cable and an adapter so it was a great deal it has 6 differnt wahs and an octavce feature and a distortion feature

A manual is included, but the diagrams are too involved for what should just be a simple wah-wah pedal.

The wah-wah sounds are excellent, but the fuzz-octaver really sucks the bag.

I bought mine 2 days ago and have since used it at a soundcheck and a gig. Other than the crappy-highend limitations of the fuzz, this is a good wah. The difference between the 60's side and 70's side is a nice variation. I will have to give my old standby-the original crybaby--- a higher mark, though... the dano looks like a cool lowrider car, but the dunlop is an absolute tank!

no dealings, yet...

the gig was r&b gospel, with solos that called for rock styles and sounds. The wah was great for the funk, but the fuzz was crap at the soundcheck, so I took my old fuzzface along for the gig... this pedal is not as cool as it looks. As a wah alone, it would be exceptional...

There is a diagram on the bottom of the pedal,but I found it confusing it seems backwards and it took 3 eople to try and figuire this stupid thing out. I eventually said forget it and found out which one was in and which one was out. I'd give it low rating due to the diagram.

I am truly sorry, most Dan pedals sound ok to great( the delay being great). This pedal sucks big time. It's very high endy and when I switched the buttons on the side it made no difference or very little.It's a very harsh pedal and when you kick in the fuzz (awful )

It's made of plastic,every thing on this pedal looks and feels CHEAP-I am sure if you play out it would break with no effort.

I have owned Morely's, Dunlops, Vox,s etc.. This is the worst wah ever

This one's pretty straight forward and easy to use. Although, with all the switches(10 total)for the two Wah banks, etc., it make take a while to remember where and what everything is.
I must say that I really don't like the position of the distortion on/off switch and Wah bank selector. They are both toward the front of the pedal, just in front of the Wah foot controller. They are a decent size, but there position is such that the foot controller has to be pressed foward all the way before you have access to them. To me this just seems a little awkward. I would have preferred to have those foot switches located at the rear of the pedal, closest to the operator.

The set-ups I use most are mainly Epiphone/Gibsons(all with high output humbuckers) or Strats(all with stock single-coils) through either a Laney 30 watt tube combo(GC-30?) or a Fender Hot Rod Deville 2-12(which has been modified slightly). I have every one of Dano's "large" pedals(I like all of them), and a variety of other efx and overdrives. The Dan-O-Wah sounds pretty good with almost every possible configuration that I have tried. I have only had the pedal for just over a week, but I have used it every day for about four to six hours/day. Overall, it sounds great with tube amps. I cannot detect any noise associated with this pedal, except when the distortion or octave distortion is selected. Even then, the noise is still almost non-existent. Muting the strings cuts the noise level significantly. The Wah sounds by themselves are very clean and pure. They are very good recreations of the classic Crybaby, Vox, and Morley sounds, without much variance, though. You can get your favorite Jimi/Stevie Wah sounds on one bank, and some real "spacey"(distorted)Morley sounds on the other bank.

Since I've only had the pedal for just over a week, it wouldn't be fair for me to comment on reliability. What I can say is that after about 50 hours of use, it still works!
The only piece of equipment that ever gets backed up at my gigs is the guitar. I prefer to leave everything else to chance(that's when I am most creative).
The casing does worry me. Unlike the rest of Dano's "large" pedal collection, this one seems to use mostly plastic for its housing material. A pedal this pretty deserves to travel in style. If you want to use it at a gig, put it in its own carrying case to avoid a fender-bender.

I e-mailed Danelectro about a week ago to ask their support team a tech. question. I have yet to receive an answer. That is the extent of my dealings with them. I have never had to get any of my Dano fx pedals repaired.

I play mostly guitar-oriented rock, drawing from every conceivable musical influence. I've been playing off-and-on for about fifteen years. I also own a couple of solid-state rigs, but rarely use them(they are good practice rigs). As of now, I definitely would replace this pedal if it were lost or stolen. It does have its niche, though. It is not for everyone, especially not a true purist(find yourself a tube-driven Wah!). It looks too much like a toy. If my son ever got his hands on it, he would surely add it to his Hot Wheels collection! I happen to like it. It is what it is and it does its job well. Another fine pedal from the boys at Danelectro(and I hate their guitars!). I only wish it had a true bypass to put my weary soul at ease.

Now this is a great deal, a very slick wah pedal with lots of preset buttons to vary the tone range, 2 buttons to switch between 2 wah settings, a fuzztone and octave function, and great looks.

Good tones, low noise, good pedal action, pretty heavy-duty case. A lot better than a whole slew of other wah pedals out now, including the vintage ones. Kicks butt on the Morley (old and new - the new Morley pedals create a ton of noise when you press the switches), and it is a keeper. I'm using with a stock Strat and various tube amps. Distortion/fuzz is passable but not adjustable - you won't use it much but the wah tones are quite good but don't expect radical shifts in tone. All the presets are rather subtle variations on a theme.

Appears to be pretty good but I would expect with overuse the push buttons might fail or get noisy, as all the switching appears to be mechanical rather than electronic.

??? I haven't contacted Danelectro.

All of the promo pictures show adjustable wheels on either side of the pedal to adjust the tones HOWEVER all of the dealers have the pedals without the wheels. When I inquired of Guitar Center (where I bought the pedal new) how come they gave me the non-wheel model, they checked with Danelectro (supposedly) and told me that the wheel model had been discontinued and all that was available was the non-wheel model. Now I wanted the pedal with the adjustable wheels so I've been checking around on Ebay and elsewhere and no vendor seems to have the wheels model. If you know of anyone that does, please email me at peter_silberg@email.com.