Danelectro Free Speech Talk Box

It's easy to use. Nothing more to say.

The sound quality is below average, due to the small built-in amp and driver. Not beefy enough when comparing to a Heil or Banshee (which are both more expensive).

The worst part is that the DTB-1 CANNOT be used in a band situation. It doesn't matter if you use the supplied mics or a quality vocal mic (I used an SM57, which is the ideal mic for a talkbox) and a professional PA. The DTB-1 simply does NOT produce enough volume to cut through the mix in a band situation. If you turn up the mic, the only thing you will hear is feedback. No limiter or gate can compensate for this.

You should be OK when you use the DTB-1 in a studio or home environment where there are no other sound sources to compete with.

It didn't break down on me, but I have been gigging for close to 30 years and I know what crap looks like. The housing is fine but the knobs and inputs/outputs are feeble.

The DTB-1 draws 300mA of current when engaged and that's a lot for batteries or even most adapters. Make sure you use an appropriate adapter or bring a lot of batteries.

don't know

Stay away from this product unless you are sure you will only use it in your bedroom.

If you really want a good and easy to use talkbox (and use it on stage), go for a Banshee. Or get a Heil if you don't mind bringing ean extra amp and an A/B switch.

I bought this used, mics, tube, box, not really knowing if it'd do anything useful for me, but the price was right, and I needed to buy something :?? That said, it plugged in, and worked like a charm. I had to tinker somewhat to avoid feedback, but after a few minutes I was mouth-wah-ing stuff I just can't manage with my feet on a normal wah pedal.

Okay so it doesn't sound like Frampton (Show Me the Way) or Joe Walsh (Rocky Mountain Way) - the only two songs I've ever heard use a talk box. I had no expectations, and opened my mind and ears to the possibilities of a completely new toy. The first thing I played using it was Steve Vai's For the Love of God, and it was the most unique, gratifying aural experience I've had in years. Of course, that might sound dreadful to anyone else here, so this is a case of YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

My board is set up with distortions before and after the wah pedal, so I tucked the talk box right next to the wah. Pre or post distortion gives distinctly different sounds, same as pre or post placement with a wah.

I've used it with a variety of guitars (Strat, RG, UV) and each has found its own voice with the talk box, it's amazing. A little difficult to control at times (evolution pickups through a Hughes and Kettner Switchblade) but manageable. And that's with the original mics. I haven't tried it yet using my Sennheisers.

Good or bad, I can't really say. But with this order - distortion, talk box, wah - using all three, I get almost the same sounds as those cats under my bedroom window make at three in the morning. Actually, since I got the talk box, it seems to have made the cats find another place for their trysts. No bad horsies, but lots of mad cats. I'm retired and I make interesting sounds for a hobby, and this pedal sure has helped.

I read other reviews saying it won't work in a performance situation. I've managed to do some interesting things live, and the aforementioned feedback concerns don't arise. The box certainly appears sturdy, however the switch and control knobs seem kind of cheap. I'd expect them to go after a few hours of heavy use. I would definitely gig it without a backup, while I enjoy it, it's certainly not the only club in the bag.

Danelectro's site defines "useless" as far as getting any real info. It's nothing but a "hey lookee here" for their stuff. I've never dealt with them, and I doubt I'd even try.

I play mostly hard rock, and experimental jazz fusion stuff, and this fits right in. I don't think I'd try very hard to replace it if it were stolen, but if I saw another one I'd get it. I'm a bit impulsive, when I see a pedal that someone's practically giving away, and as an added perk, the pedal looks like someone tossed a bag of Doritos onto my board, I pay and enjoy. :??

I'm 13 and have had my talk box for about half a year now. I do like danelectro effects and even their guitars! I am new at the world of talk boxs and for my buget the free speach realy gives the bang for your buck. Sure it's not the best, but for the price it is great! I found it easy to use and also it only has 2 nobs to simply make it easyer to use. If I can figure it out, so can you!

I got this today. It is very easy to use - if you use it correctly. The mics that come with it will feature in sound quality, but here, this i really easy to use. Shove the tube in the hole, set the volume, and add a touch, and only a touch, of grit. It works immediately throwing your guitar sound into your mouth. To use it right, it has a clip for a mic stand, and that makes it all much easier.

This is where all the people who give it 1 out of 10 are missing the point. It's not a guitar effect, it's a vocal effect, and you control the effect with your guitar. When I orderd it, I didn't know it had two little bat's balls attached near the mouth end of the tube to send the sound through to your amp, I assumed you used it like all other talk boxes where you mic up the tube by putting it with a mic in a stand. So I wasn't surprised that the mic's with it didn't work, especially when a good vocal mic costs more than this whole effect pedal. The sound that it made as I mouthed and played was what I expected, and now I'm inspired to sound like a robot in songs. It's essentially a vocal effect, and if anyone's ever tried putting any heavy effects on vocals in a live environment, you'll know they feedback like stink. Don't think of it as a guitar effect, think of it as a vocal effect where your guitar sings for you. It's good for practising on your own and writing cos the sound is straight in your head, and I'm gonna hook it up to the PA in my practise room and see how it fares at deafening volumes tomorrow. And don't put stupid amounts of gain through it, you can't do that with vocals without expensive gating equipment, so why would a cheap stomp box work better!

These big ole danelectro pedals are sturdier than most within this price bracket. My danecho is going strong after much abuse, so this should hopefully be alright.

Seriously, why are there so many dullards rating this so low? I'm rating it up to give a more reasonable and fairer score. It's a really cheap talk box, it does what it's meant to when you use it like all the other talk boxes available, and does it pretty well for the money. Forget the little attached mics, stick it to a proper mic, plug the proper mic into an amp or PA at your practise room / gig venue, keep the gain pretty low, and watch as your seemingly weak, useless talk box suddenly goes all Frampton on you. There are much better boxes available, but for a fraction of the cost this does the job WHEN YOU USE IT PROPERLY. Plus, it looks pretty cool too.

This is, as described on the box and on Danelectro's product description, a very straight forward, "in-line" and simple effects pedal. This product is really aimed at perhaps more 'budget-orientated' players, rather than those who can afford and have space for a separate PA system to run a Heil or Banshee Talk Box.

All you need to do is plug your guitar into the unit, then connect the unit into the amp (front of FX loop, whichever is preferable), fairly simple.

The only problem (other than those noise problems) with getting the sound from this pedal, is that the tube is a fair bit longer than the length of the microphone cable, so to get the best sound (withouth gagging!) is to either cut the tube to length (probably not advisable) or as I have done, simply pull the microphone cable to the end of the tube so the tube has some slack, and you actually have the mics in your mouth as it is used, which can create unpleasant remnants on the end of the tube and on the mics.

I've had this product for almost two years, and have only just submitted this review as I've really worked out how to use it correctly.

As most reviews state, this product will generate huge amounts of noise when used through an amp with relatively high gain, making the product unbearable and embarrassing for live situations.

I've read the reviews, and I've tried putting this pedal in the front of an amp (clean and overdrive channels) and into the FX loop.
I previously used an original Marshall Valvestate 8100 head, with which this pedal I found some problems (said noise and unbearable feedback) through the overdrive channel, and not enough signal through the FX loop.

Currently, I am using a Marshall JVM410H half stack, and have experimented with the clean, overdrive channels and FX loop, with similar problems encountered on the latter two setups.

I have found that the best way to use this pedal, without changing the provided microphones, modding the electronics etc, is to set the "growl" low (and the volume to whichever preffered) and plug it straight into the clean channel.

This gives a decent representation of the classic talkbox sounds ala Frampton, Walsh, Slash. As said before, this pedal cannot really be used through overdrive channels, and although the sound is inevitably inferior to those of Heil Talkboxes and Rocktron Banshees, the pedal is quite novelty-like but still does a reasonable job if set up correcty.

Now that I have found a decent set up with this pedal, I would be comfortable gigging with it. I have cranked my amp up pretty loud, and the pedal doesn't give that uncontrollable feedback through the clean channel like on overdrive channels.

The pedal chassis is sturdy and could handle some abuse on the road. Not sure how long the microphones would last, but you can get replacement tubes and mics online for reasonably cheap which is no problem really.

Haven't dealt with Danelectro, so no comment.

I play a variety of styles, anything from blues, flamenco to classic rock and right up to thrash metal. This pedal is really suited to classic/hard rock, and creates reasonable sounds for those Bon Jovi and Frampton Comes Alive moments.

Still, with the setup I have found, the pedal can be used effectively with no excessive noise problems. The bottom line is, don't use this pedal through a gain channel. The pedal provides additional distortion which works well in boosting the clean channel to get a gainy sound, and has a volume knob which can be used to cut or boost volume, although this 'ideal' setup is limited to those with facilities available.

This pedal is fun to use and creates cool sounds, but even more ideal would be to actually use a Heil or Banshee talkbox. As said before, this pedal is aimed at players who don't want the hassle of blowing up their amp head or having to find a PA to run original talkboxes through, but is still useful in certain situatons and if used correctly.

Easy to use straight out of the box. That said here's the qualifier to that...you can really only get rehearsal or bedroom levels out of it through the amp. I even used it through the effects send on my Marshall as one user suggested but could not get enough out of the box even with a 100% wet signal.

I pulled the dinky little microphones off and strapped it on my mic stand and ran it through a Sennheiser 835 vocal mic into the PA. Job Done!! I'm able to run it through the distortion channel on my amp with full volume and full growl on the talkbox. I found I needed a hotter mic signal to the PA to get the talk box effect to sit well in the mix but as long as you EQ the mic properly it's no drama.

I play PRS Custom 24s into a Marshall DSL401 and extension cab. On stage it gets miked with a Shure SM57 into the PA. I have a Boss GT6 for my other effects and this little talkbox.

Noise through the unit is a little high but disappears as soon as the band is at performance level. As I said earlier, you really have to run it through a proper mic into and amp or PA to get the effect level to sit really well in the mix. If you're just rehearsing in your bedroom the little mics will be enough.

I can't emphasise enough that you read all the reviews and get what you can from them as far as different setups people have used and methods that worked or didn't work.

I got this specifically for Livin' On a Prayer and after an hour of facial contortions I've pretty much got the Ritchie Sambora sound nailed. No problem using a gain channel as long as you use an external mic.

It looks like a pretty solid peice of equipment but I've only just got it so time will tell.

Not needed it yet but if the user manual is anything to go by... I hope I never have to!!

If it were stoled, yeah I'd get it again... I'm only using it on a couple of tracks, Livin'on a Prayer and Foo Fighters - Generator so I can't see why I'd spring the extra cash for a higher spec unit. I looked at the Rocktron unit but this functions exactly the same way but has the stand alone mics as a bonus so it's perfect for me.

got it to sound great in rehearsal & studio settings. live: beware - it didn't work at concert volumes

easy to get good sounds in rehearsal and to tape. not useable in live settings.

i wouldn't use it live, again, after being embarrassed by it onstage. another of Danelectro's pedals with a similar footprint, the reverse device, has failed, i think it's the switch. metal case is nice, plastic knobs will break off.

30-year-ish+ pro musician, tech, FOH engineer, etc. have many effects setups, and experiment. device was disappointing live, but brought smiles in rehearsal and in the studio. danelectro effects are the tinker toys of the rock world, fun and neat at home, but... won't weather the road, my friends.

ease of use is pretty simple two knobs and a button.Got it used so no manual.It's pretty much stock.

Here lies the problem with the free speech talk box.This thing is not usable with an amp.Upon reading previous reviews having to go through what you have to go through this thing is worthless.I don't have a PA so running this thing through my crate vintage club30 amp will not work with factory mike it just kicks out a high pitch squeel.Tried using it without the mike through garageband vocal mike and no dice.I have a fat strat configured guitar and tried all switch positions and to no avail crappy sound.

Would not dream of using this thing in a live situation.IN all fairness to danelectro this pedal was purchased with a box of other stuff at a pawn shop so I only paid a few dollars for it.It came without the mike and tube so I bought that for 13.00 bucks.I would say it's probably reliable because there's no reason to use it.I'm not much on the talkbox thing gave it a try and discovered I don't like it.

never dealt with em

Play jamband music.Been playing 15 years.Playing an old casio pg 380 midi electric guitar and a custom thinline tele copy with a humbucker on the neck and a hot rail on the bridge through a vintage club 30 all tube crate amp with a rc20xl loop station into a boss ns2 noise supressor,danelectro fish n chips eq,ibanez de 7 delay echo,small clone eh4600,bbe greenscreamer,boss ph2 phaser and a jimi hendrix crybaby.Wish this thing worked but the old saying rings true you get what you pay for.

The pedal setup is pretty straight forward and easy.

Well, the pedal is extremly prone to feedback!!! Have tried numerous things to get the feedback to stop and nothing has worked yet. This pedal is NOT usable in a live gig situation.

Typical Danelectro.....beat it, kick it...and it keeps working!!

Do not buy this effect. Nothing but alot of feedback. If your thinking of using this in a live situation, think again! It will not work!!! Buy a Heil talkbox, you will be glad you did!

Easy to use.

ok here's the deal, i just bought it, didn't get in the mail yet but i've seen it, i showed this guy how to use and set it up for him and now he is really happy and thats why im buying it.

#1 DO NOT USE THE MICs THAT COME WITH THE PEDAL.

#2 buy a stereo 1/8" plug and wire the ground and the hot together, in other words you need to kill the sound of the mics that way, why would you do this? so this way when you turn the pedal on it'll shut off the sound of the amp and you wont get any noise thru the amp

#3 use a mic for the pedal going to the PA

#4 use a Humbucking Pickup, this is not a HIGH END pedal or a HIGH END brand so the components on it are cheap, which means the distortion is gonna be noisy and if you use a single coil pick up you are in for trouble.

#5 keep the growl at a very low setting, the guy i set it up for plays les pauls with burstbuckers which are HOT pickups so he kept the Growl at 9 O'Clock so if you have HOT pickups keep it very low, your mouth will still overdrive the sound and give you a talking sound even at low distortions, frampton used the talkbox using his amps which at the time didn't have the amounts of distortion that new amps have or that the actual pedal has, soo keep the drive low!!!

#6 Use a Vocal Mic like a SM58 not a SM57 like others use, why? becuase this way you won't need to crack the volume on the talkbox to get a great sound, the 57 needs a loud sound to come into it to make it work good, so this will save you feedback and also a HEADACHE which is what happens when you use most talkboxes (yes i've own plenty of them and this is for experience)

#7 don't expect it to sound just like a high end talkbox! this is just a wah controlled by your mouth, you wont get the Living on a prayer sound right away.. you gotta learn how to use it and get used to it!

I Hope this helps, I just wanted to show you hows the best way to get a great tone out of that cheap piece of crap, sometimes the cheap pedals are the best.

strong pedal

nope

read above and you'll get the best sound out of it