Danelectro Dirty-Thirty

The amp that I have experience with was purchased, new, in 2001. It was my first band that I was in and practice amps were the only things any of us had, I recall being floored by how cool my friend's Danelectro amp looked and thought it sounded cool, but as we spent time with our guitars and amps in a setting with other musicians, the candy coating on our eyes made us realize that our gear sucked. The Dirty Thirty is a single channel amp with the, "dirty/sweet" gain knob, volume, tone and a headphone out. I don't recall the wattage, but it isn't the 30 that the name leads you to believe. For a first amp, it had plenty of power, and the tone was unique, but it just wasn't that good an amp for practical purposes.

The guitars that we ran through this were our first guitars. I distinctly recall 4 guitars being run through this thing and all of them sounding very strange compared to my bass amp and the other guitarist' amp. An Epiphone Special 2, a noname strat knock off, a Yamaha Pacifica and an Epiphone Strat... all of them sounded very stiff and hard through the Dano. Even the clean tone on this sounded far less lucid than my 80's Squier bass amp and the Crate 15watt amps the drummer and other guitarist had. The Dano did have a thicker tone than the other amps, but just didn't sound that great... luckily we were a "punk," band and just put a Moreley Just Distortion in front of the amp, cranked all the knobs and ran that thing to death. It had enough volume to be heard over the drums by most of us, but not the drummer. We did try to use it as shows and had to do a few tricks, I recall we once played a garage show and we just mic'ed the amp, I also remember using a folding chair as an amp stand when we played in someone's basement. It did it's job, but it's a joke of an amp when I look back on it.

We, honestly, never had a single problem with this amp. We dragged our gear everywhere... school, each other's homes, parties, shows... everywhere. The first of our amps to go was actually one of the Crate 15watt amps. I played a show with the guitarists new band almost a year back, and he still had the Dano, also had a Vox (the cambridge 2x10 I believe), but he also ran his guitar into the dano for a thicker sound. He mic'ed both amps. So, 6 years of abuse, and that thing's still going. I'd trust it.

Never had any issues, but Dano is the strangest company in the world... so I don't know what to tell you.

A lot of people on here have flat out said, "this amp sucks," or "this amp is the greatest amp in the world," and they're both wrong. This amp is exactly what you'd expect in the sub $100 practice amp range, but it has a lot more character to it. I personally don't like it's tone and thought it was too quiet of an amp, but it has it's place with some people. It's really an amp that you've gotta really try before you buy it (it isn't like a Fender or Marshall where you just know it's gonna be great). Since the first year of playing bass/guitar, we've come a long way, but the Dano still has a place in my heart as a quarky little amp that thought it could, but couldn't without some help. The worst thing about the amp, though, is the lack of versitility... it's pretty much a two trick pony. First, it tries, poorly, to replicate the 50's tube tone and then if you crank every knob on it and put a distortion in front of it, you can saturate it so much that it's just another distorted solid state amp.

Not too many...doesn't really need them.

To me this is a fun little amp to play. Simplicity is the name of the game here. I play slide blues on a Thinline Tele through this, and miced up, it sounds great, I can't complain too much considering I have paid more for a fast food dinner than I did for this little guy.

No problems yet (three years running)

Haven't had to deal with them

Pretty simple amp, it has volume, tone, and "dirty sweet" controls, I play garage rock/blues, played harmonica and guitar through this little amp.

I really liked the sounds I got out of this amp, it could do a decent clean tone, but fiddling with the dirty sweet could get some real nice variety. Playing harp through it gave a great sound, with a modern green bullet mic, and a few other vintage mics you could wrestle a great tone if you fiddled with it. As for guitar, using an silvertone with humbuckers, it was pretty weak on the low end, but again, it could be made to sound versatile. Not a bad little practice amp.

This is a pretty poorly put together amp, The box contruction seems solid, the materials are good, goes for the vintage look, but the guts seem cheap and poorly laid out. Broke the input jack because the cheap plastic threads stripped out, Knocked it over a couple of times and the pots broke, just cheap parts. I replaced the input, and some of the pots, but eventually it just seemed not worth it to hassle with, sitting in parts on my shelf case i need it for something later.

bought it used, never tried contacting them

I have been playing harp for 7 years, guitar for three. I am no sound snob, but I miss the sound of this little amp, I wish it was better built, if I found another for $30 I would buy it. treat it gentle and it might last

I got this amp free in 2000 from a music store that had sold a Taylor acoustic/electric guitar out from under me after I had already paid for it. To make up for their mistake they gave me a deal on another guitar and let me pick out a small practice amp. I was very fortunate this amp was there. This little amp is a practice amp and not designed to have a lot of features, but instead is designed for ease of use. It has volume, tone, and clean/dirty controls that work well. It puts out 30 watts of pretty mean, quality sound and a tweak of the "sweet/dirty" knob brings you from Elvis to Nirvana.

I use a Fernandes Nomad w/ built in effects and it sounds great in this amp. I leave it set to clean and let the guitar do the work. Every now and then I'll run my Ibanez through it and turn up the overdrive between 2 and 3 and it sounds great. This amp is fiarly loud and although there's not a lot of low end (small speaker) you will be amazed at the amount of punch this thing has. If it wasn't for the fact that the speaker is small (it is a practice amp though) I'd give this amp a 10.

I've owned this amp for about 5 years and it has always worked true until recently. Over all the quality of the amp is decent. It has a soft, suedo leather covering that I actually really like, but it's prone to tears. The look of the amp is pretty cool. I'm a drummer who fiddles w/ guitar, but I play guitar on 2 songs w/ my band. Last week while setting up for a gig I plugged in to set my levels and I blew the fuse, at least that's what I thought. Come to find out the fuse is okay, but the transfomer is shot. Up until that time it worked flawlessly.

This is the sad thing. There were a few variations of this amp from Danelectro: The "dirty thirty", the "nifty fifty", and I believe something like the "hefty seventy". Well, if you go to Danelectro's web site there are no amps whatsoever and no contact info. So if it breaks you're on your own. Pretty poor service for a company still putting their name on merchandise.

I have a whole house full of gear from PA systems, to drum sets, digital recording studio, guitars, bass, synths, and a hundred other little things. This little amp was definitely one of the gems in my home. If you can find one of these babys I highly recommend you get it. For the money you can't beat it and it's way better than anything in it's class. I have played Crate, Peavey, Fender, Behringer, Line 6, and Drive and this thing blows them all away. Just take care with it and it should do the job.

Not many features, but not many expected. You get what you pay for.

Not very reliable. The plastic input knob will strip, and when you put in a plug, you can rip the volume and "Dirty Sweet" knobs right off the circuit board, as I did. It is fixable however. Better if you re-inforce it before it happens though. Other than that, I haven't really had the chance to break it yet.

Danelecto doesn't even have the amp listed on their website any more.

For a cheap amp, I think it's great. Replacing the volume pots was a bit of a pain, but I still like the little guy.

Amp is from 1999. Versatile...not really (but it's not a bad thing). Well suited for classic rock sounds. No real "features" to speak of: volume, tone, and "dirty-sweet" controls. No line-out, headphone, or effects loops--no problem. Simple operation--plug in and hammer it. Solid-state, vintage looks. Rated "7" for ease of use and lcak of pointless features.

Have used this with single-coil Strats and a Washburn with a P-Bass style pickup. Nails 60s garage tones. Think The Kinks' "All Day And All of the Night." Reached guitar nirvana with my Danelectro U2! It's as if this thing was made for the lipstick-tube pickups. With the bass, it did thump, and was okay for practice, but obviously couldn't deal the bottom-end. However, we did use it for a very small gig, and it rose to the occasion just fine. Like its brothers, the Nifty Fifty and Nifty Seventy, this amp isn't exactly loud. It would be well suited to practice, recording, and very small live situations (small churches, etc.). The "dirty-sweet" knob takes you where you want to go. Clean is a little on the weak side, but if you turn the "dirty-sweet" knob just until it's about to break up, the tone is nice and warm. Still, the clean sound is much better than any solid-state Fender amp I've ever played.

Reliable...? Well, as far as practice amps go, it should be fine. The leatherette covering seems a bit soft, so you might guard it for tears. Otherwise, it seems pretty solid for a little guy.

Danelectro is defunct...no wait, back in business...no wait, defunct...etc. Don't count on them to fix this. Either take it to a reliable shop, or buy another one.

This would make a perfect recording amp for vintage rock tones. With the right guitar, Malcolm Young is in this little amp. The modern solid-state amps are far better than their vintage counterparts. This is a fine example of that.

Features are as described. Pretty basic: SS combo with overdrive in a small package. It is plenty loud for a late-night bedroom amp. I give it a 7 based on the premise that any amp with a decent volume and tone control deserves a 6 and the overdrive bumps it up one.

This little bugger LOVES my Aims Tele-style, from clean and chimey to full-on twang to gravelly. It could be a great little amp (mic'd) for recording roots rock, country, punk, ska, and da blues. It far exceeds expectations based on cost and appearance.

I got this from a stoned-out surfer-teen at a garage sale...made the deal by sweet-talking his trailer court mom (cig smoking, pot bellied, heavy moustache, lots of wrinkles and a few tats...probably 37-38 years old and 20 years past prime). The amp looks like it has seen plenty of neglect and misuse: leatherette is a little grimy with some scuffs at the edges, and the nameplate is missing. If the accompanying guitar (a plastic Dano w/ lipstick pup) was any indication, its face was smashed and the jack had been torn clean out of it.

I have no idea.
The price of shipping this (or even driving it someplace) for repairs would doubtlessly exceed what I paid for it, so I'll never know. When (if) it dies, its husk and speaker will live on as a cabinet for a small tube amp.

I love it! I'd even gig with it. The distortion is most useful in the low range 0-3 out of ten. The speaker is surprisingly good. I can always use this as an outboard cab for one of my Class A homebrew/hi-fi conversions, if need be. This is a typical garage sale treasure: not a diamond but (maybe) worth having anyway.

Features... Well, that's something it doesn't have. It's got a "level" knob, a "tone" knob, and a "dirty sweet" knob. It's 15W and has a headphone jack. Mine was made in 1999. I can't complain too much on the options since it wasn't too expensive and was pretty small.

I've played it with three different Les Pauls (an Epiphone, a Gibson, and another Gibson) and with a stratocaster. It's noiser than you'd think a 15 watter would be, but noisy in an annoying way. The clean channel used to get distorted at high volumes. Now it's just distorted all the time. And I hate the "dirty sweet" knob. Distortion shouldn't sound like that.

It's too small to use in a gig, not that I would want to even if it was big enough.

One day I was playing the amp. I had only been playing for an hour and the volume was only up to about 50% and suddenly the sound went to hell. From that day on, the amp has had buzzing and distortion no matter how the amp is set. And the amp still sounds like crap even if I turn the volume up all the time.

N/A

I've been playing guitar for almost 4 years. I own a Tech 21 30W amp, an Epiphone Les Paul Studio, an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, a somewhat crappy strat from 1969. Out of all the guitar related equipment I have, I like this amp the least. If someone stole it, they would actually be doing me a favor. The volume is good for the size, but the sound is crap. The only reason I don't give it a 1 is because it did work moderately "ok" for a period of time.

Not too damn much, but it's a practice amp.

OK, now for the main part of this little review. I do not own this amp, even though i've played on it plenty enough to know what it's all about(at least 100 hours). This was one of two trial amps in the music store where i work (sam goody). The other amp is a 15 watt marshall SS. Now, all of the kids who come in to try out guitars always get a hard-on for the marshall, and plug directly into that. When I first saw this little thing, i laughed my ass off, just because it was this brown, fake leather covered fake vintage wanna-be thing. haha. So, i plug into the marshall, and it blows (all non-hybrid SS marshall suck, btw). I was expecting more, because I own a marshall stack at home, ya know? So, i plug into the danelectro and start playing elvis tunes, just because it just seems right to be playing elvis tunes out of this thing, i guess. Suddenly, i notice that I sound pretty damn GOOD. "Wow", i thought, "this thing sure rocks for straight-up old timer's rock! but, how will it handle 70's classic rock?" So, i play some Zeppelin licks, some Floyd licks, hell, i even threw in some stones for good measure. Still sounded good with that mysterious dirty sweet knob on around 2. "damn", i thought, "classic rock sure does sound decent with this, but, how will it handle metal?" so, i threw down some metallica riffs, some slayer riffs, maybe a tool riff (or 8, i really like tool). crank that dirty sweetness up, you get some mean sounding shit out of this (stupid looking little thing) beast. "ok", i thought, "but, this isn't for a gigging person, i mean, the speaker is like 6"! but, beginners like easy punk and palm muted power chord stuff, so i decided to throw out some of that, just to see. Nirvana, got it. Green Day, got it. The Clash, got it. The Hives, got it.

Ok, now, you may be wondering what that whole schpiel was all about. Basically, don't expect a half-stack sound out of this, you won't get it. Don't expect a huge thumping bass sound, because the speaker is 6" small. This amp is light, small, cheap, loud, and has built in distortion capabilities. Shit, for $70, you can only get a distortion stomper that sounds about as good as the distortion built into this. The overdrive/distortion is the clincher here, because it's fairly decent sounding for 70 clams. If you have a child who wants to learn electric, buy this amp, it will cover their needs till next christmas(plus, it teaches them to coax distortion out of their amps without shitty pedals, thats right, you can eat your shit metal zones). if you want an amp that is really small and light, yet cheap, but still loud enough so you can be heard over drums, get this amp. Seriously, this amp is 20 times better than ANY other amp you will find for under $100. Then, take the money you saved by not buying a fender or a marshall SS practice amp and treat yourself to a new pedal or something. Go ahead, you deserve it, you frugal musician.

It survived in the store for two years with kids knocking it over and otherwise beating the shit out of it.

Who knows.

Remember, it's a practice amp, compare with other amps in this price range (<100 bucks), you won't find one thats better, i guarantee you. And the kids'll love it!

Bought one used & online. Arrived in non -working condition. Made like what it is - low priced junk. I don't understand a company that would have a high quality toggle switch for on/off and have plastic sheathed input & headphone jacks. Metal retaining nut + plastic covered jack = torn apart shit. Dont know how the sound, but if you buy one & actually have the audacity to plug & unplug your instrument into these jacks - don't count on much of a lifespan.

Amp has cutesy vintage look, but falls short in quality. I give it an extra point for looking cool.

30 watt practice amp at a great price. Also has headphone jack

For a cheap practice amp this is plenty loud and actually sounds pretty damn good.

I've only had it 2 months and haven't had any problems

70 bucks for a 30 watt amp. What more can you want for this price? You can get a variety of sounds out of it, the controls are very easy to use and it has a funky look to it. Looks different and pretty cool sitting with my other amps. Truly has the Danelectro style. For only 70 bucks you can't beat this. Awesome value.

Basic set up - level, gain (called Sweet/Dirty) and tone, headphones out. 20 w through a 6" speaker and it's LOUD. Cute retro looks including plaid grill cloth. Good feature set for a small practice amp.

OK, it's a $50 practice amp so it doesn't sound like a vintage Fender or a boutique amp. But, for what is is, it sounds GREAT. With the "sweet-dirty" control at 10 o'clock, you get a nice crunch; at 12 o'clock you get a good grainy overdrive; push it beyond that and you move into distortion (not too my taste, but there's plenty of it). Tone control is OK. Amp gets noisy when any of the controls are cranked much beyond the 2 o'clock position.

I played Teles, Reverend and an Alamo Tonemonger (Strat w/Rio Grandes) throught this, and they all sounded pretty good.

Too early to say, seems well made but, at the price point, they must have cut some corners somewhere.

No experience from which to judge.

Bought it from Musicians Friend for $49.95! Unbelievable value, good sound and lots of it. For anyone looking for a cheap practice amp, put this one your list to check out - it will blow away little Fenders, Crates and Peaveys costing 2-3 times as much.

I can make it clean or distorted with the controls. I'm into everything from Jazz to Beatles to Rockabilly to 70's Rock and 80's New wave. I wish it had a second input/channel for practicing with a friend or plugging in a mike. As a practice amp, this thing rocks! It even has enough power to jam with a small group if the drummer has some restraint.

My main ax is a '74 Strat with a Duncan humbucker in the bridge position (switchable between 1 & 2 coils), a Dimarzio vintage strat pickup in the middle position, and a flat strat pickup by the neck. It is a quiet amp without the hum my Vox AC-30 has. To moderate volumes you can keep the sound clean, but crank it up and the distortion is awesome!

The input jack broke and when I took it apart to replace it, I realized the jack is integral with the power amp and not easily replacable. In my opinion this is not a very good design. Other than this, overall construction is beefy for a little amp.

When the input jack broke, I brought it back to the dealer I bought it from. They sent it back to the manufacturer, who within about three weeks sent me a brand new amp, no charge what-so-ever.

I've played guitar and string bass for 29 years and electric bass a few years less. This amp is everything I wished my good old Pignose was. I can't imagine a better practice amp for the money. I chose it for the cool retro look and the sound when I plugged in at the store. For serious jamming and playing out, I fire up my 1962 Vox, but for everyday practice, this amp is the ticket!

What features? It has a distortin knob, a volume knob and a tone knob. I has a tiny little speaker. It's an excellent small practice amp.

For the size and the price this thing is great. Louder than it has to be and better sounding than it has any right to be. I has a good clean sound and if you fiddle with the distortion and tone you can get some pretty good rock sounds too. Put one of Danelectro's tremelo pedals (all of $39) in front and have some fun.

Brand new. Don't know. It seems simple enough to last.

No idea.

A wonderful little amp for practice or messing around when you don't want to go down to the basement and plug into the half stack...

Well there are no special features. Just Volume, Sweet2Dirty and Tone.

I use a DeArmond Starfire (2 Goldtone HBs). I mostly play Blues and Rock. It fits quite good. It is a small, very loud practise amp. Allright for the money. For distortion I prefer my BBII or JH (marshall). The only really ennoying thing is the background-sound of the amp, when turned down to a moderate volume.
Overall rating is ok - it is just a nice amp for home.

NA

NA

Just an ok sounding amp.

This amp is VERY BASIC. Controls include dirty sweet(gain), level, and tone. It does have a headphone jack, only used it a few times though because it sounds like crap. This amp is 20watts, which is amazing for its size. Weighs only 9 lbs. Its just a practice amp...nothing more.

Ok..., everyone else says that the dirty sweet if for gain/distortion, so obviously i got ripped off and didnt even know it at the time because the dirty sweet on my amp doesn't do jack except raise the volume. So i have no comment on the distortion. This amp doesnt really sound THAT BAD for what it is and for its size. If you put enough effects on it you can make it sound decent. Before i ever got any effects it sounded like complete crap. This amp doesnt have very much tone to it without effects. I used an ibanez rx-20 with this amp, so that could be the reason for the sucky tone. This amp can also be very loud(for its size), but of course coming out of the small ass speaker, the sound isnt very good at high volumes. Also, when turned up past 3-4o'clock, your start getting lots of feedback.

Personally, i think i got a deffective amp. The distortion doesnt work and the cord wont stay plugged into the back of the amp. Also, the headphone jack keeps coming loose and falls inside of the amp and i have to take it apart to fix it. I finally just stopped screwing with it. I've never had any problems with it not working though. Its held up pretty good except for that headphone jack. I wouldn't use it at a gig to start with, but if for some really strange reason i that i had too, i guess i would be using it without a backup because if i had another amp i would most likely be using it instead.

Never even bothered to deal with em. The amp didnt cost enough to even worry about getting it fixed.

Ive only been playing for about 2 years. I started on acoustic guitar and picked up electric after about 6 months. So ive had this amp for a year and a half. I just ordered a crate vc-50h all tube head and a crate 4x12 cab. It's not a bad practice amp for the money but it could be better. You can get a crate practice amp for cheaper than this one and it sounds better in my opinion. I never compared it to any other products because when i bought it i just wanted a cheap amp to start out on and this was the first one i found. I think i should have looked around a little though. Overall this amp has been a pretty good amp but i wish i had known sooner that the dirty sweet was supposed to be distortion so i could have returned it for another one. It may even be a better amp than what i think....(doubt it). If this is the only amp that you can find or afford, then buy it, but make sure you get some effects pedals later on, and start saving up for a better amp as soon as you can because your gonna want one REALLY BAD after about a month of having this one, or any practice amp for that matter. That's a big mistake i made.

This amp has got gain, level, and tone controls. For the money that it costs this is not bad. separate high, low, and mid controls would be nice but it is ok for the price. Mine was made in china in 1999. Some people say it is a 30 watt amp and others are saying that it is a 15 watt amp but the back of mine says that it is a 20 watt amp. VERY loud.

I have had mine for about a year and a half now playing with a dano 56 U2 reissue. I play with with a Dadyo distortion pedal. It sounds alright clean but not as much sustain as some amps. When I play at low volume in clean it kind of sounds fuzzy but for the money it is ok. Where this Baby really shines is playing through a pedal(theDaddio is very nice). This guy is so darn loud especially for its price. My dirty 30 plays much louder than my friends Fender amp that he payed 300+$ for but that is what it is best at,,,,,,,,loud distortion sounds. I really dont use the dirty sweet knob much cause it is kind of muddy and you lose your tone easily. but over all it has a prety darn good sound .especially for the price.

This thing is built like a freaken tank. I have had it for a year and a half now and played like almost every day and nothing has gone wrong with it. If I had to gig with it I woulnt use a backup. It is very snazzy looking and is very well built.

I have never dealt with them but they have a nice website

This thing was undr a 100 bucks and is very loud. I really like it . If it were lost or stolen i might look into a Nifty 50 or another bigger amp but not cause i dont like this one. It is a great begginer amp that will rock you alot more than you think.It is a great value.

practice amp, 6 inch speaker, on/off switch, volume, distortion, tone.
9 pounds, headphone jack, looks nifty.

it's a practice amp. used the "distortion" once, i won't subject myself to that again. the clean is all right (keeping in mind that it is a practice amp) sounds like a practice amp. i wouldn't use it without an e/q (dano fish & chips), and for distortion dano fab tone. some crackling on clean when the volume is up (might look into getting a better speaker). it's got a buzz thing going on too with and without anything plugged in. it's a loud little box though.
i'll give it a 8 only because i'm using the e/q and the fab tone distortion with it. without them i'd give it a 4.

i weigh about 200lbs. i'd sit on it and be confident that it won't collapse. the fake leather's pretty crappy so somecare should be taken. and if i were to ever gig with it, i'd probably go without a backup.

never dealt with them.

been playing for 4 years now. my real amp is a fender deluxe 112.
i got this amp second hand from a buddy that had it collecting dust on a shelf. i like the look of it, i really like the size and the volume. if i lost it i'd probably bitch about it for a long time but i wouldn't buy another one.

Just purchased this one.Dirty sweet distortion,volume,tone-pretty basic.A practice amp w/headphone jack and cool vintage- read 50's looks.Plenty of power- 30 watts rms-plenty loud and clean.Just use it at home for practice-has a good, clean sound and nice distortion.

Using it w/dano 56u2 w/lipstick p/u s.Suits my retro 50's mentality just fine.Bit of hiss and buzz at various levels but I have a single-coil guitar so its a given.Nice clean distortion, if thats not an oxymoron.Spkr. seems to handle distotion nicely at mid setting.

Seems sturdy enough altho I talked to somesone who said he's had a few in for repairs.Don't plan to abuse or neglect this one-its my pal.

1year warranty,good website,I DON'T EXPECT ANY PROBLEMS

Only been playing a month with just the u2 and the 30.I love the sound and the vintage aesthetic.Hate the price with rate (read rape of exchange)plus gissed and pissed(gst,pst taxes)-you folks are lucky to get this baby for as low as 59dollars u.s. let me tell ya!I hope to get better in future and feel confident that this relatively simple setup will see me thru any neural-synaptic/manual dexterity deficiencies on my part.

Got this new today at a small store that carried very little music
stuff. I got no bookelet with it but for $59 thats OK. Has distortion
volume and tone, toggle on off, pilot lite, headphone jack and about
a 6 inch speaker. Very retro looking. I would guess this is about
15 watts. it weighs only 9 lbs, about as much as a newborn baby.

I think this sounds pretty good myself. it sounds a LOT like my
tube Silvertone 1481 amp..but you can dial in the distortion at
any volume. It is a bit noisey with my guitar Peavey predator strat.
Your mileage may vary...it is plenty loud and you can get several
different kinds of distortion playing with the volume/dist knobs.
I have not tried to hook it to a larger speaker but I think it would
sound great. I may add a line out jack to mine.I tried it with some
old CD player headphones, could be useful...I wish I had this amp
when I started to learn 30 years ago, all I had was a solid state
PLASTIC amp of micro power that I hated. I would have continued to
play if I had this, get it for your kid to learn with.I like the
clean sounds also.

don't know yet

don't know yet

I have played thru gibson and silvertone small tube amps (like the
fender champ) and my Peavey Bandit transtube. I really like this
little thing! They had 2 more of these and a nifty fifty...I may
get one more, I don't need the bigger nifty fifty. These would sound
neat with a stereo chorus pedal I bet.

This amp is light on the features. One channel, 3 knobs: Distortion, Level (volume), and tone. As the name implies, its RMS is rated at 30 watts. It also has a headphone jack. The amp is real retro-slick looking, if you're looking for that vibe.

This amp has a gritty, nasty, gnarly distortion. A+++ for punk-rock. I use a Gibson SG Standard, and I love the bridge pick-up sound with the distortion pumped up. Thats about all the amp is good for tho, Its not too versatile. Clearly a one-trick pony.

It has survived my dorm room =)

Never had to deal with them.

This amp is great if you're looking for a combo with gritty, great sounding distortion. The amp is also pretty loud, as far as practice amps go. For 79$, its a great little amp.

Actually you can now everything about its feautures from the previous reviews.

I'm using it with my noiseless Yamaha SG 200 (No single pick-ups)
Sounds really cool with Zoom 505
Just a bit of punky noise, but I like it this way. Try playuing AC/DC on it.
The most exciting thing 'bout it -- unlike Frontman it soung clear and not blurry with really soft volume. Cool distortion!

It's hardly used. Looks like a tank, but who knows...

One disadvantage: when you turn distortion up, the volume turns up and vice versa.

Very simplistic - Dirty/Sweet (gain) control, Level (volume) control, headphone jack. All you need for a practice amp...

I'm using two HEAVILY modified Yamaha Pacifica 112's with this amp. Both guitars use EMG SAV-SAV-89 pickup sets, with EMG-SPC active mid-boost controls. I also use the amp in conjunction with a Dano Daddy-O distortion pedal. I love the way this amp sounds, especially at lower gain settings. I basically bought the amp on a whim (Green Tag Sale at the local Guitar Center), but I may end up keeping it for quite a while! The amp gets pretty nasty sounding when both gain and volume are cranked, but hey, you can't expect that great cranked-tube from a non-tube amp (unless you have a Line 6 AX2-212 - that's my other amp).

I'll never use it at a gig, and yes, I'll practice without a backup... :)

It hasn't broken down since I bought it several weeks ago, and it feels fairly solid, but I can't make a reasonably qualified judgment in this area...

Never dealt with Dano...

Cool-sounding - awesome-looking - great value. If you're looking for the be-all, end-all, ultimate touring amp, go buy a Boogie. If you're looking for a kick-ass, tiny, beautiful amp to practice with at 2:00 AM, this is it!

I bought it in 1999, and if you want to play it in your bedroom it is really cool. It is a good little practice amp don't take it on stage. Good sound for a tranny but they should make a valve version.

Quite versatile sound, good for most styles but preferably not for your most advanced extrem styles. When it cranked up it is not to hot, but what do you expect from a tranny. Should be a valve amp it would sound way better man.

Well, what can we say about this little trusty sidekick of mine? When i was playing at the Big Day Out in '99 it lasted the whole show just great. Nah, just kidding. THis amp is totally wicked... doesn't play up much, especially when you only paid like 200 Bucks!!!!!!!! And it looks cool too!!!

???????????????????this amp is reliable............................................remmber.....................oh no??????????????

I actually like the dirty thirty for a small amp. It is very loud and delivers good distortion, but when you play it clean it isn't great.

Watch out for the input places they will strip in no time if you are not extra careful.

Overall I think this amp is good for beginners, and practice, but i wouldn't try to take this out on a world tour.

My regular guitar amp is a Fender Champ 12 (valve) so I'm comfortable with simple amps. This one has volume, tone, distortion ("dirty sweet"), 6" speaker and headphones jack. Features is hardly the point here.

I recently mail ordered 2 of these on a super special to sell to my students, but with half an idea to keep one myself. I was torn between 2 preconceptions about what this amp might offer. On one hand I have read all the glowing reports about the Danelectro Nifty Fifty's "valve-like tone", but on the other hand knew that this one was just a cheap little tranny. Not daring to compare it to my Champ, I tried it out against a 10watt Samick tranny, and found it did not offer much that the Samick didn't, though there is quite a rich midrange sound on offer at low volume. The speaker is it's downfall. As it is quite incapable of handling even a moderate output from the amp, the suggested settings in the manual are quite fanciful. It is difficult to produce very musical distorted sounds, as there is the choice between either that nasty crackle which many amps have at very low volume, or the sound of the speaker being almost torn apart. Plugging it into a closed back 12" cabinet I began to hear more like the nice sounds I might have expected. But then the Samick's sound naturally also showed a dramatic improvement played through this cabinet. It does make a very groovy harmonica amp though! I'd give it a 7 if that's what it was marketed as.

I won't return these as I have the option to do - they are still cheaper for my skinflint students than a secondhand Samick, which many have. This amp produces pleasant clean sounds at low volume, but like other small amps, could be dramatically improved by using it through a larger speaker/cabinet. (I would have liked an external speaker jack, but the speaker cables have spade lug connections, making it easy to attatch these to a jack socket.) An old stereo speaker with the tweeter removed has been a reasonable solution for some of my students. Maybe I'll keep a Dirty Thirty just to look at......