Danelectro Nifty-Fifty

Nice controls, a reverb would be good.

Great wailing bluesy tone; I play blues with a Washburn BT-4, and iti can really wail, even at low volume. With the dirty/sweet thing all the way up ypu can get good fuzzy distorion, too.

This is where it falls- my amp has just completely self- destructed about a month after I got it. I am royally pissed off about it, so I decided to vent my spleen here. Nobody else seems to have had this problem, and Danelectro stuff is supposedly well-made. Maybe I just got a bad one, my bum luck.

I haven't dealt with them yet, since it broke so easily I am considering just chucking it rather than dealing with an unreliable p.o.s. like this thing turned out to be.

Well, I have to say that it sounded fantastic for the month that it worked.

Small. Light weight. Well made.

Great variety of sound. Great bottom. My my, what sound for the size. For the club work I like, it is just fine. Need more volume, mic it. I use it with a solid body.

Great so far.

Haven't had to go there.

Been playing 39 years. This amp is great. I plan to buy at least one more and store it, while they are available. I like to travel light and get around. Throw the guitar, amp, and goodies bag in the trunk and go. This amp allows that while providing quality sound. I played it against a Peavey and a Vox at the shop. Danelectro won hands down. Now, that is to my ears, which have been well taken care of. I know the 10's sound like hyperbole. However, I justify them by the amps I have had in the past, including a Fender Twin Reverb, and against the other amps currently available in the price range of the Nifty Fifty. Heck, for work at a club that already has a decent p.a. setup, anything else would be over-kill for me.

First a contextual admission: I have been playing since dinasaurs and tubes ruled the world. For me a "small transister amp" was for listening to the Safaries' "Pipeline" on the beach thru a radio with a 2 1/4 inch speaker. That being understood, here are my thoughts on the Danelectro "Nifty Fifty" amp...
The Nifty Fifty is a small (estimate about 15w,16t,9d) solid state amplifier that puts out (they say) 15 watts (Peak? RMS???) into an 8 inch speaker. It appearance is late `40s -- early `50s. Round speaker opening with patterned grill cloth, large chromed logo, rear/top controls. What is unusual in this day of "retro" everything is how well Danelectro pulled this off. The unit not only looks GOOD, it also looks FINE. Well constructed. Rare; especially in an amp that sell for a $110.
Being a 'tube guy' I was hesitant to purchase this amp, despite it's good looks and good reviews. My experience with a Danoelectro 59-DC (see review) changed my mind. This company is obviously into somthing.
The amp has basic controls. Input. Volume. Overdrive (marked "Dirty - Sweet"). Bass. Midrange. Treble. That, plus an earphone jack, is it. But WITH those controls an amazing variety of sounds can be created. What is more amazing is the accuracy and usefullness of the many suggested settings. "Plexy Crunch" (no, thats not a new flavor of ice cream), for example. Yup! Been there. Heard that. 60s British brought the opening riff of "Ticket to Ride" right to my finger tips. "90's Crunch"? Sorry, I wouldn't know... ;-)
The settings, however, are highly interactive. Great for fooling around; less so for quick changes on a gig. Change the Overdrive and you'd better plan on adjustying your Treble as well. (Volume too, of course.)
The Dano 59-DC sounded good thru this amp. My Gibson ES-Artist sounded GREAT!
This is one amazing little bugger.

As in the previous comments, this little amp puts out an amazing variety of sounds. How so much bottom can come out of an 8 inch speaker with an open back cabinet I do not know.
Sounds? Try: Jazz (mellow). 'Early 60s fuzz'. Mid `60s overdrive ("women tone"). You name it and it'll imatate it. Not perfectly, of course. The overdrive is only somewhat finger sensitive. (Better than many stomp boxes, though.) There is always a hint of "razz" in the overdrive vibes. Too, the overall quality of the sound is not equal to a full sized combo, much less a stack. Point is, for a 15 lb carry-along, it sounds good and is a hoot to play with. Yeah. I'm suprised and impressed.

To new to say. Looks and feels solid and well constructed inside and out.

Great users manual (though no schematic) Parts and service? Probably fine for now. I don't expect they'll be there in 10 yrs.

Playing 40 yrs.
Main axes: Gibson Es-Artist (rewired), Fender reissue Tele, Danolectro 59-DC
Main amps: Marshall 900 Dual Master Volume (2 12s) Fender "Silverface" Deluxe Reverb.
Music: Mostly original RnR, blues, eclectic. Occasional old Abstracts or Crystal Circus goody. ;-)
I like this little amp a lot. Wish it had in-out jacks (for compression) and a reverb. But, then it would have been bigger and more expensive, so I wouldn't have bought it. Dano got it about right.

This is simply a "little" amp with well considered parameters. No extra channel, switch, etc.....just the "clean/dirty" volume, bass, middle and treble. I would have liked a reverb. The range from "clean" to "dirty" is well sorted. I play from clean Fender to Old Cream and Eric sustain, Fenders and Les Pauls. It has a headphone jack. All solid state!

I think it does both clean and sustain very well for what it is (that is why I bought it). Take care to dial in some tones...the clean/dirty knob controls a good range of possibilities.
It has to be taken in context, of how much it costs!!! I think that the range of sounds is impressive. It lacks top end sparkle. Try it with pedals.
One strength which no-one seems to have noted is that it has very good bottom end for a little amp. Possibly the quality of the speaker and/or the semi-enclosed box.

Too new to tell...

No comments..

I have a ton of stuff, from a SFSR, to a Peavey Classic 50 and a heap of home made amps. Not that I am one to buy an amp for looks, but heck they did a great job of making this look cute!! But it is also well made (physically) for a little box. I have aspirations to turn up to my band gig and just mike it up. I think it would do justice to the tones, but bear in mind that you would have to dial tones in, not switch them!
As I said, needs reverb.
A very good effort for a baby box.

Small 15 watt solid state amp. volume. distortion (called "dirty/sweet"). 3 tone controls. Fabulously cool lookin cab, grill, and logo.

I'm gonna have to be the wet blanket here. I bought this amp on the good recommendation of Guitar Player magazine, backed by several positive reviews here at Harmony Central.
Mainly, I just wanted a decent practice amp for apartment playing. I already have a "gig amp" that I'm happy with.
But even with expectations that low, I was still disappointed by the Nifty Fifty. I played around with it for six solid hours, turning knobs back and forth, and was unable to produce a single pleasing tone with the thing. It was either too tinny or too thumpy, with an alarming lack of warmth all the way across the spectrum.
The "dirty/sweet" function was the most disappointing feature. It yeilded two different tones. All the way left was clean and remained so until the knob reached about 11 o'clock, then this sound that sort of resembled a torn speaker kicked in. It only got worse the farther right I turned.
Did I mention the constant speaker hiss? My Telecaster produces lots of noise to begin with, but this thing was buzzin with nothing plugged into it. With the super hot single coils, it was horrible! I took it back the next day.

Since I wouldn't ever use it for anything, I don't know how reliable it is.

N/A

Overall... hmm. Well, have you ever dated anybody who was drop dead beautiful, but in all other ways very lame? You know, selfish, mean, a bad tipper... Well, that's the Nifty Fifty in a nutshell. If this thing sounded even half as good as it looks, it would be a classic. Instead, it's a major dud. I've been playing seriously for about 4-5 years. I play a strange rock, country, experimental hybrid. I couldn't make anything sound good through the Nifty Fifty. Maybe it's because I'm used to tube sounds. But everything seemed to lack character through this thing.
I returned this thing to the shop without any reservations. I took the money and spent it plus about $75 on a used Fender Pro Jr. which has several flaws, but still sounds oceans better than the Danelectro.

This is the brand new retro-looking 15 watt solid state Dano amp made in China. For it's size it looks and sounds great. It has 3 tone controls that really work. I bought it because I play in a small coffee house, and I really can't play that loud. If I was playing bigger places, I would still use it and mike it.

By itself, the amp can get you great tones from clean to dirty-it's really versatile. I have run into a problem, however, and that is: I use a Boss ME-30 pedal so I can use preset sounds. Even with the overdrive knob all the way off and the clean channel on about 9:30, my clean settings on the Boss were coming out distorted. I had to go and lower all my master volume settings on the Boss from 50 down to 20-25, depending on what bank and # I was using. I thought that maybe the amp's sensitivity was too high, but I'm not sure. Without the Boss, the amp sounds just as clean or ballsy as I want. With the Boss in, I have to tweak more. I'm learning as I go on this one. If anyone else has similar experiences, please contact me.

So far, so good. I've used it for only a couple of weeks so time will tell. One thing that has impressed me is the quality of workmanship, and how quiet that thing was when I first turned it on. No hiss until you turn everthing way up. And the pots feel real smooth and of good quality.

It's too soon to tell.

I have a bunch of other small amps (Fender Champ, Supro, Vox), and this thing is definitely worth the bucks. It's loud, versatile, and cool looking. If I were to use this amp without effects, then I would wish it had reverb, but that's really a minor complaint. I would certainly buy another one if mine was stolen. My compliments to Danelectro on another fine product at a reasonable price.

Its got a gain knob (dirty-sweet), volume (level), bass, middle, and treble knobs as well. Its got a really cool 50's leather handle on top. Its got a on/off toggle switch, a removable grounded power cord, four pretty heavy rubber feet, and THE coolest blonde/brown tolex cabinet (really solid wood, by the way), and of course the ever present chrome"danelectro" logo with brown sub-logo. REALLY COOL!! Man, I wish it had tremelo.

I first saw the smaller portable "honey-tone" in a magazine, and went down to my local music superstore (Rhythym City at Guitar Center in Atlanta, Georgia) and bought it. I took it home and was completetly disapointed with it. So i took it back and paid the difference and special ordered a Nifty-Fifty (they are hard to find). I got the thing home, all the time thinking what a tremendous value this amp is. You know those Chinese must really work cheap (Have you all noticed how much stuff is made in China these days? This could eventually become a problem, but I digress (NOBODY expected the spanish inqusition!!)). Like I said I only paid $83 for this thing!! I've also got a teal 'burst Dano U-2 which I play through this amp (also I use a fuzzy leopard guiter strap and a gold lame' cord (just TOO cool...) I am telling you now THE best settings for THE coolest blues sounds possible out of the match-up. dirty-sweet at 10:30 (this knob has to be just in the right place, otherwise you'll get it too dirty), level at full up, bass at around 9:00 (here again small deviations will really make a big difference, too much-too muddy), middle at 8:00 (just a touch of middle for me), and treble up at about 1:00, just before it gets tinny). I like to put the U-2 in the neck pick-up with the volume and tone full up and play with it from there. The sound is UNBELIEVABLE!! I really love it!! This ONE sound is worth much more the $83.

Just got it.

I have had no contact.

unbelievably cool! See features and sounds above. danelectro is trully making the coolest stuff out there. How do they keep doing it? By the way dano, if your reading this, I really need for you to make me a longhorn doubleneck 12-string/6-string bass, preferably in day glow sunburst.

It's got 5 knobs that function as gain, volume, bass, mid, and treble. This is a solid state amp, but has a very warm sound unlike some of those other low budget amps. There is no reverb, but there's a headphone out jack. I'm not sure of the wattage, but it is perfect for playing around the bedroom. It is very well made.

I use an American Standard Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan JD bridge PU and a Rio Grande Tallboy on the neck. I play whatever styles fit my mood, so I require a good solid clean sound which I can build on with pedals. The amp seems noisy when the gain is up, but it sounds gross that way anyway (unless you're a shredder). The variety of clean tones is amazing. The manual has several suggestions that are superb. The overdrive settings leave a little to be desired. The clean distorts a little when turned all the way up. The 12 o'clock position is its max. If you go past that, it doesn't get louder, just a little distorted. The distortion is weird. It functions like a normal gain knob AND a volume knob (ie. turn up gain, you need to lower the level). To go from a good clean sound to a decent overdrive, all five knobs have to be adjusted.

This amp is well built. It's good looking, and is solid. The covering feels soft like suede. I'd say it's very reliable. It's not a gig amp unless you do clean solo work in coffee shops or something.

n/a

I've been playing for about six years and also own a Fender Hot Rod DeVille. If it were lost or stolen, I might get another or try to get a bargain on a silverface Fender champ or a Pro Junior. I like the clean tones a lot. But nothing beats tube overdrive, which this thing does not do. I wish it had reverb, but if it did, it probably wouldn't be that good, so maybe it's good it doesn't have 'verb.

Another amazing feat by Danelectro. A $99 practice amp that has great tone, looks great, etc. On the surface has the same features as others: bass ,treble,middle, volume, master: 8" speaker and , I think 15 watt output. On the basis of features it rates an 8 only because it has no reverb which some other small practice amps have.

Here comes the good part: this amp is simply amazing considering its size and power. Definitely useful tone and very loud. Another reviewer has said he could gig with this if miked and I agree. All three tone controls are interactive and are very effective in shaping your overall tone. Clean sound with a strat is tight and punchy and will hold a decent volume level before breaking up. Running the Les Paul through it with the gain maxed produces real useful rich distortion. Again, the tone controls on this amp do work. The more I experiment with this thing, the more interesting it gets. For $99 its worth it to have one , I'm sure you'll find some use for it. For a solid state amp it produces suprisingly rich tone at any volume level. This amp is definitely NOT to be confused with any other product in its' class.

Too early to tell. However the workmanship and overall fit and finish seems to be extraordinary considering how much it cost. All controls are smooth and evenly tapered, you have a removable power mains cord, the amp is covered in very cool burgundy and tan simulated leather which is padded. Similar to their effects pedals, it is difficult to see how they can sell this thing for the price.

The Evets Corp. , which markets the Dano product has no web site nor and 800 number to call for support. The owners manual is also vague. Maybe they will go on-line soon now that their product line is growing. The amp seems very well put together so maybe customer support won't be needed. In this case, for $99 I'd buy another one if this one blows up.

This amp is more than a practice amp. I have not tried recording it yet but have a feeling it will do well in this regard. Played a Rick 12 string through it last night and was again amazed at how much good useable clean headroom this amp has. In my opinion, even without reverb, Danelectro has produced the King of Practice Amps. No other small Fender, Crate, Peavey, DOD, etc etc. come close. Besides which, the thing looks so damn cool that even my wife ,who has endured my 30 years of playing and collecting, thinks its' "cute" (a high compliment indeed).

1998, Solid state amp. Master volume called Dirty Sweet with normal volume, bass, mids, treble. Headphone jack. 8 inch speaker. Controls are remarkably sensitive and the 2 volumes are pleasingly interactive. Very loud for the living room--and fine for recording. I would not rule out gigs with this if you put a mic in front you can gig with virtually anything. I am a believer in small amps anyway!

Of course it sounds good with the reissue Dano guitars--which I will soon have. For now, I liked it with my Gibson Les Paul '54 Custom reissue. It is surprisingly loud and the tone was much better than I expected in a solid state amp. I am not a fan of distortion in general (I play modern pop--Sundays, Ivy, Luna) and as one would expect the distortion sounds here can be thin and raspy, but I got it for the clean sounds which it delivers big time. Lots of jangle with my Hamer Eclipse 12 string and again bigger tone than you'd expect.

I've only had it 2 days---can't comment much but it looks reasonably built considering the low price!

Have not contacted company other than to ask about future products--and they didn't mention this was about to be released. They did a nice job giving sample settings that actually sound good but leave out any technical information about the wiring and schematics --I wish they just had one more page in the book for that. Also wish they had a Dano website!

This is a great find---I did not mention the cosmetics yet--it is very 50's two-tone vinyl with cool grillcloth. And an insanely low price. Plus it really sounds dead good! I may go as far to say that with its retro-cosmetics and high portability it could slay a few of the boutique amps out there that are now emphasizing smaller models. I plan to record with this soon--and I am a tube fanatic, but also a believer in "small is better" in amps. Hats off to Dano for a highly portable amp that gives actual "musical" tones that I can use immediately.