Danelectro HoneyTone Mini Amp

Features are typical of a battery powered "toy" travel amp. Included are On/Volume, Tone, and O.Drive controls. I have a "mini amp fetich" so I had to buy it. The box stated that it is "louder than other battery amps," and it is. The choice of the engineers to place the 1/4" input on the top of the unit was foolish. The amp tends to fall over all too often. I think I will mod this and make the present input jack a "speaker out" jack and add a new input jack on the back toward the bottom of the unit.

This little amp sounds like a little plastic amp. Frankly, you can't be too critical, after all it is basically a toy or novelty.
The available clean volume is quite good compared to other 9 volt circuits. The overdrive is pretty awful and I avoid it. I play blues, soul, funk, and twang...so that nasty transistor distortion is pure evil.
The case or its contents tend to vibrate at certain frequencies. I suggest opening up the case and hot gluing the pc board and battery leads to avoid noise.

This thing is build pretty well but I wish it were made of more substantial materials. Maybe MDF or pressboard would improve it overall, but likely increase the cost. I have owned several portable battery amps including the $50. Fender Mini Twin which sounded awful....but looked great. It would be nice to take this circuit and put it in the Fender....Then you might have something!

No comment. Never dealt with them.

I would rate this pretty high considering what it is and what it is intended for. It's a great thing to have in your gig back or case...especially when traveling. If you need something on the road to get your "guit" fix, it is perfect. The volume is exceptional compared to other mini amps. If you are able, I suggest adding a speaker out jack. I hooked up a 8" Jensen Vintage and the amp sounded suprisingly robust. I also copied the circuit and I am planning to duplicate it on a breadboard, play with some mods, and build a custom version. (I know what you're thinking...."get a life") Hey, we all need a hobbie.

For what I want it for, it is sufficient.

For what I want it for it is sufficient.

I have found the Honeytone amp extremely unreliable.. and Danelectro also very unreliable. I have purchased two of these little amps and within two weeks both have stopped working. I have tried in vane to get anyone connected with Danelectro to commumicate with me about them and I got no responses what so ever... The few humans that I did talk to kept telling me to contact other people... and I never got any satisfaction what so ever. I am highly suspicious of the Danelectro company now. The amp was great for the price, the sound quality, and the size, but if it only works a few hours, it is not worth buying. I might change my opinion of them if Danelectro would send me one that works... and keeps working. I have know others who have had them work for them for years.. and have had other friends who said that they have had the same experience as I... with the Honeytone and with Danelectro. What gives with this company?

Danelectro is impossible to deal with, if you have a problem with one of their products... at least, I have tried unsuccessfully for quite a while to get some one in the company to stand behind the little Honeytone amp that I bought from them ...that stopped working within two weeks. The few humans that I did speak with shuttled me off to other humans... and no one could give me any real information. The outfit must be full of mentally challenged people.

If the Honeytone amp worked... I would give it a 10 for what it is and what it can do... but since in my experience they are extremely unreliable and the company is extremely unwilling to stand behind the product... I would give it a zero.

I really don't know when the amp was made, but I am guessing that it was manufactured in the mid-nineties. Anyway I like to play blues and some modern rock, and this amp seems okay with me. Its made of plastic, but I really dont mind because I know that I will never have an impulse to damage it. It has 3 nobs: tone, overdrive and of course the volume control. It doesn't have any built-in effects other than overdrive, but I have never known any other mini amps with other effects.It comes with a battery compartment (battery power supply), and an AC adapter. It also has a belt clip at the back. Very versatile indeed!

I have a silvertone guitar with normal pickups (the ones with the coiled pickups). It suits my type of music pretty well (which is blues and rock and Jazz ect.). I almost always use my headphones with the amp because I hate to diminish the battery power. I remember the first time I played my guitar through this amp and I remember being suprised at how loud this amp could go. On the box it says louder than most mini amps, well it is.

The tone works pretty well, it has a wide range.

The only thing bad about the amp is the distortion. Im not talking about how much distortion, Im talking about the quality of it.

When you have the gain up high and the volume down low, you have a very buzzy and rough sound. But if you turn the volume up, you will hear a more mettalic sound. In addition,it can distort esily

The amp still sounds great as it is, but I can't give it a 10.

I really wouldn't use it in a perfromance, because its just not loud enough for one, and it distorts too easily. I would use it for private purposes, or for travelling. I bought this so that I could travel with it.

I got a one year warranty. Not bad.

I am an advanced guitar player and I have been playing for 3 years.
I also own a Pearl River Classical guitar,a silevertone elctrical guitar, SmartIIIs Silvertone amp, and an Ibanez DE7 (delay echo pedal).

If this gadget were stolen or lost, I would definetly buy another one because of the low price and I need an amp for travelling.

What I like about the amp:

1 It is cheap and has a high enough quality.
2 It is loud and has plenty of distortion (quantity wise)
3 It has two different power supplies
4 It has a belt clip.
5 It has never broken down
6 It is perfect for travelling

What I dislike about it:
The overdrive and the fact that it buzzes at low volume levels.

I compared this to marshall mini amps. I bought this one because of the cost. (Its a lot cheaper than the Marshall amp).

I cant really wish it had more or better feature, but I would wish it had better distortion.

IF YOU NOTICE THAT THE AMP SOUNDS MORE FUZZY OVERTIME, ITS LIKELY BECUASE OF THE POWER SUPPLY. Not all amps sound exactly the same, some sound better than others.

Get the amp, its worth it!

Not sure when it was made, but I've had it for several years. I guess I'd be classified as a classic rock or maybe folk-rock kinda guy, and the HoneyTone is okay for that. I think it would work for "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)." It might even fly for "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" if nobody had paid big money to hear you play it. Fuzzzzzzzzz.
Its best feature might be its portability. Mine (in its original box) shares space in a small nylon bag with a metronome, Rocktek Flanger, 10' cable, Rogue toolkit, and a bunch of miscellaneous small stuff.
It has enough power for around the house (haven't tried it with headphones yet), probably enough to scare the dog and/or cat, but not enough to annoy our nearest neighbor, even with the windows open.

Okay for its size and price. I use it when I want something a little louder and/or grittier than the usual sound of my old Yamaha FG-230 twelve-string. (The Yamaha came with a DeArmond pickup across the sound hole.) I've also tried it with a Johnson JS-050-? "Mini Strat."
When cranked up, yeah, it does kinda sound "like a bee in a tin," but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've run the flanger through it, which was kinda fun. The Munchkins go to Woodstock. 8-D
Next scheduled experiment: PAiA Hot Lyx Sustain and the HoneyTone.

I don't think I'd gig with it. (I wouldn't want to have to try and make money as a busker, but it might work for that.) It's great for wearing around the house on the belt clip, though.
No electrical/mechanical problems noted, even though I let my younger stepson use it a couple of years ago. (He and his brother think all volume knobs should be set at pain threshold.)
I think it's still on the same battery I installed after the supplied one croaked.

Not needed yet, but then again, my inquiry to Danelectro about a Nifty Fifty amp on 02/28/05 received a "canned" reply that said "Currently our exciting product line up no longer includes guitars, amps or accessories at this time" and "We can't answer email questions at this time."
Alrighty, then.

I've had that Yamaha for close to thirty years now, and never had an amp until the Honeytone. I'm now getting into guitar (and bass) more and more, but don't think of myself as an "active musician" (yet). I did try a few open mic nights 12-15 years ago, and might do that again some day.

"Anything else you'd like to share?"
Thanks, Ham, for the tip on the line-out circuit. In rummaging through the parts drawer at RadShack, I noticed they had two types of switched ?" jacks. I went for the normally-open one, their 274-312B. I hope I guessed right. If it ends up sounding like a Howler monkey being beaten with a clown's *right* shoe (or more likely, like one that's asleep), I'll know I got it wrong.
Yeah, I'd probably get another if this one were lost or stolen.

mini practice amp, volume, tone gain control, headphone jack, that's it. what do i want for ? 29,-?
i use it at home.

i play fender mex telecaster, fat mex strat (stock pickups), ibanez pf 200 (old les paul copy) with gibson 498t in bridge and dimarzio the fred in neck position, ibanez artcore 75t semiaccoustic with (nice) "duncan designed" pickups.
i play a lot of styles. this thing has a lot of sounds from twangy clean to overdrive, surprisingly versatile.
considering size and prize the possibilities are amazing, therefore the 10

i have another mini amp from the eighties - it's CRAP. you just have to look at it sharply to make it fall to the floor and break
this one is much tighter. i wouldn't drop it though - it's plastic.

gigging with this thing? well, maybe for busking - it would certainly do the job but you'd need some replacement batteries!

no idea about danelectro

it's new, so no repair was necessary so far.

i have a warranty - but the ebay shop i bought it from is so chaotic i wouldn't want to deal with them again

i play for 32 years
my electric axes are listed above. i also have a classic yamaha, a hohner arbor precicion bass, a fender mandolin and a noname banjo.
i have a old accoustic 50w amp which is stored under my desk. i only play at home with my vox pathfinder.
other gear i use: pod II, behringer bass-vamp, boss 1180cd digi studio, boss dr.rhythm 676

if it were lost i'd buy this thing again, i love it! it has nice warm sounds, no 12" sound of course!
what should i hate about a 29 euro thingy that sounds sweet???! it's not a marshall but then it doesn't get me thrown out of my flat!

i can compare it to a crap mini amp by a company named "guide". it's like day and night though the guide was double the price of the honeytone ten years ago!
top buy, nice for playing a few licks now and then.
i'm happy with it as it is

sounds pretty buzzy if played trough the little speaker at too high a volume, but plugged through a bigger speaker with a discman to car cassette adapter plugged in the headphone outlet and played in a normal stereo system tape deck , or plain headphones, i was really impressed... especially for a thing this inexpensive...
but who cares... i dont think it was made to be all out on the sound with that little speaker anyways... and you can still get pretty good tone out of it also so....

didnt own it long it long enough... 3 weeks...

it seems to be a little fragile though... i wouldnt throw down the stairs it or drop it too often

BATTERY POWER: 9.6V REFILLABLE



this thing drains out 9V batteries within about 3 hours so if you dont want to spend a fortune on these and are not the type to play with it through the AC adapter, i suggest getting rechargeable 9.6V batteries that work just as regular duracells...
why 9.6V? cause regular rechargeable 9V only have 8.4V or somn` but the 9.6 works at 9, 9.1 ...

Features? Hah. Actually, what's there is very useful. Vol, Tone, Gain. Lacked an ext speaker output which I added. That would have been worth paying for. Uses up 9v batteries quick, works great on an ac adapter. I don't use it for a headphone amp but it's serviceable.

If you don't add an external speaker jack you won't know what sound this thing makes. It's raunchy as hell with the little 3" factory speaker buzzing away in that plastic case. I added an external speaker jack (cheap part at Radio Shack). I've driven PA cabs with this and it sounds amazingly good. I also have small speaker I made with a heavy duty fullrange car speaker and that's great for jams with your acoustic friends. Another suggestion - try this with your Tube Screamer... you will find a whole extra range of tones by backing the gain/dist down on the Honeytone and playing with the TS. With the stock speaker, this is a 4 or 5 (hate that tinny buzzing) but with an external speaker you can get 7 or 8.

Not a brick house. Occasionally used since 1998. the battery power connection stopped working, but should be easy to fix. Don't drop them, they're not made to take the shock. The battery compartment has a cheapy foam shim to hold the battery against the terminals... this is pretty poor design. But hey, for $30, whaddaya expect?

Who knows?

If you need a battery powered amp and don't need something crankin' like a Crate Taxi, this is surprisingly loud and satisfying through a decent speaker. Definitely add the external speaker jack. If anyone has a schematic that they'd like to share, email me.

Volume, tone, and overdrive. It's not like they're going to fit treble, bass, and midrange controls on an amp this size! The overdrive control is a nice touch not usually found on this size amps, and is useful for switching between clean and distorted sounds.

It varies a bit, but most of the time I get a really nice raw but warm distortion out of it. Sometimes it sounds cheap and spitty, but usually not. You're not going to get jazz tones, and the distortion's probably not intense enough for metal, but I play punk, blues/R&B-based stuff, and psychedelia, so it's just right for that.
I mainly use it with a Gibson SG or '62 Melody Maker, but also have a Tele and a Danelectro DC-59 reissue. A little bit of reverb or slapback echo does wonders.
I also play baritone guitar through it, but it can't really reproduce the lowest bass notes. It doesn't fry out with them, though. For baritone, it sounds a lot better with a cleaner sound.
I use it for practicing in my apartment, especially in the wee hours, and travel.

I've had a couple of these that died, either mysteriously or after being dropped a couple times. Amps in this class generally don't have much longevity.

N/A

I've owned several battery "baby amps" (Marshall, Fender, Rok-Bug) and this one is definitely the best. I'm on my third one now.

OK, this is really a follow up to Chippy the Monkey who gave some bad advice to that Victor guy. Sure you could just get a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter, however this would just create a bigger headphone socket and NOT a line out. If you want a line out, buy a $1 mono Sw Jack from Rat Shack, (they look like the normal mono jacks but have 3 solder tabs and a switch touching the tip) then do the following:
1.) Open the back of the amp, and solder a 2" wire from the black wire's (-ve) tab on the speaker to the sleeve tab on the jack. (leave the black wire connected)
2.) Unsolder the red wire (+ve) from the speaker and connect it to the tip's tab on the jack.
3.) Solder a 2" wire from the Switch's tab on the jack to the red wire's tab on the speaker
4.) Drill a hole (around 10mm) straight through the back of the amp where it says made in China CE, push the jack through and screw on the nut/washer.

Then you will have a proper 8 Ohm line out, capable of driving a 4x12 cabinet to volumes louder than a Howler monkey being beaten by a clown's left shoe.

It is a $30 excellent practice amp. You can get some fantastic tones from this baby, some are worth recording.

For $30, fuck me!

With the line out mod, well you have a much louder practice amp with some good tones, none really worth recording, but $30, fuck me!

Seems tough enough

>a?

I recommend every one do the line out mod, it is easy, doesn't alter the looks of the amp and gives it a bit more versitility.

This is the best $30 amp Ive seen.

Just a quick followup on my review below. My Honeytone had (apparently) blown out after a few years and a couple of falls. Last night I opened it up and saw a point where the circuit board trace was cracked, right next to the connector for external 9V DC power input. (I think it was left hanging from the external power supply once after a fall.) A touch of solder and it's back in operation! Looking at the circuit and knowing a little about these IC power amp chips, I think it should be hard to actually blow out.