Danelectro Nifty-Fifty

Features are great on this amp in my opinion. I don't ask for much when it comes down to amps, Volume and Tone, Speakers can always be replaced.
It's a very basic amp. I play very basic music so this amp is great for me. I have had it for about 4 years now, with NO Downtime, Except for now, BUT!!! it's my fault, I dropped it and broke 3 Pots I have the new pots, and ready to replace them today.

I rated this at very versatile, because it is, but in this case 1 is the highest.
It's loud, it can be Mic'ed, It's got HP Out, all the settings "I" need for myself and it's very light weight

I have a Bottom Line Jackson with an upgraded Duncan Designed HB-103B Distortion Pickup. The Dirty Sweet is Great with my pickup, Nice Low Tones Great Mids, and Excellent Highs.

I can definitely depend on this amp, I can rely on it at a small gig, but it is always good to have a backup with you, but with this amp, i doubt you would ever need the backup.

My amp is broken down right know due to user error, it was dropped and i broke 3 pots. New parts are in hand and waiting to be installed.

I haven't ever dealt with the company. I work on electronics myself, so i have no reason to pay someone to do it for me, even though they have the parts on hand, i have to go searching for them. i may have to go to one source, or 5, but it's still more economical for me to do it myself.

I have been playing this amp for about 10 years,
If it were stolen i would steal it back, or buy a new one, I didn't buy mine in the first place, i found it next to a dumpster at my friends apartment complex.
I love everything about it.
I had a 15w Peavey Rage, It was alright, but i love this one

Very basic single channel 15 watts amp with a built in fuzztone. Very solid controls and looks great. No modelling or other gimmicks.

I play a Fender Jazzmaster, Epiphone SG with Seymour Duncan pickups, Burns Steer and Danelctro Dano Pro. The clean tone sounds great with all of these very different instruments - its quite clear and at the same time has a certain weight low down that many practice amps lack. A slightly dark, retro-sounding little amp, and that is not a bad thing to my ears.
Has enough volume for practicing, jamming with friends or even small gigs, but is not as loud as my Fender 15 , which is brighter sounding with less bottom. I use it frequently for recording when a warm, jazzy tone is needed. Some have complained about the hiss, I find it tolerable if the Dirty knob is right down to zero. Both my Fender solid state amps are about the same.
The tone controls are very responsive and musical for such a cheap amp - scooping out some mid frequencies and adding a bit of treble really helps to clean out a muddy sounding guitar.
The Dirty Sweet knob adds noise and brings up the high mids, canceling the bottom. Its a fuzztone sound a la Proco Ratt. Can be used occasionally, but most people would want to get a better and more versatile distortion stompbox.

Had it for four years, never an issue. Its solidly built and the finish stays on (sort of).

For what it is, you cant really ask for more. Most little amps are anonymous gray cubes, this one looks fantastic and has a distinctive, personal tone. To get a better sound from this kind of package you'd have to spend a lot more money and start looking at the Fender/ epiphone valve combos.

I am reviewing the amp based on the following criteria:

1. I am using an American Custom Jeff Beck Strat with hot (higher output) 'single coil' (noiseless) pickups
2. I primarily use this amp with a Modeling device (POD, ToneLab, etc)

For the purpose I have of this amp, nothing has done better so far. I have even used an Atomic 112-50 and various other (50 watts or less) amps (tube and solid state).

First. The 3 band EQ on this amp are the best working EQ I have found. The do exactly what they are supposed to: help shape the sound. The harder you push the input into this amp and the louder you play it, the better it sounds.

Plugging direct into it, using it as a CLEAN or slightly overdriven sound it where this 15-watter excels. The "dirty sweet" gives a vary obnoxious rat-fuzz if turned up too far, unless you back the Treble off entirely.

The only other major ding is that you cannot turn off the dirty sweet. It is in the signal path no matter what. It does help to get some extra volume when using a modeler.

The nice thing is, unlike a 74 Fender Champ amp, it will not "black out" at higher volume settings. I spent $80 having my Champ gone over with a microscopic inspection to be told "that's what happen when the input stage is pushed too hard". Not so with this little guy.

On an amp stand it is able to "run with the big dogs", including a 50-watt Atomic and hold its own.

This amp is IDEAL for using to monitor a modeling device. I have owned 2 and am on the hunt for a third (so I have 2 again).

If you take care of it, I will work great for you.
I gave one the best torture test possible.
I sold it to a beginner.
He literally drags it everywhere, and the covering shows it.
And it has held up quite nicely.

Speaking to reliability for me is consistency.
The amp I sold him 3 years ago is identical in every aspect to the one I bought used 2 months ago.

At the age of this amp, and the fact it is discontinued, support is not an issue.

IF you are looking for a great sounding amp to record with or play smaller gigs (I use it in a 5-piece where I stand next to a drum cage and a 600-watt sub) it will do the trick for you. I look forward to running 2 of these in stereo in the very near future.

Bought this little fellow in 1999 on holiday in Byron Bay. I saw it in the local musical instruments shop and was taken by the serious retro look. The salesman came up and said that he'd bet me that if I heard it, I would buy it. OK, plug it in, I said. Five minutes later he was swiping my bank card. It's been very good to me ever since and is probably the most used amp in my collection as it is ideal for jamming with mates and even doing smaller gigs.

Without reverb, the sound is a bit dry, but you will only notice it's solid state tone once you run it up against a Pro Junior or something like that. For a low wattage amp with just some no-name 8 inch speaker, it is pretty impressive. I manage to get very satisfying tones out of Telecasters, Les Paul Specials and particularly anything low-fi like a Danelectro U2 re-issue or an old Hondo copy of a Rickenbacker/ES335. I never use pedals, other than the occasional vibrato or tremolo unit, and turn the Dirty Sweet knob to about a quarter to get more volume and a fatter tone where it begins to get distorted the harder you play the strings. With the Gibsons it can get a full-on blues and hard rock wail if you push the Level knob all the way and keep the Dirty Sweet to about half. I was hearing strains of Kossoff as I dug in for sustain. I have also played acoustic guitars through it many times. The Australian-made AGA pick-up system on my Baby Taylor and Maton 808 guitars really works well. In fact I once played an impromptu electric Blues gig with nothing but the Baby Taylor and the Nifty Fifty - people were flabberghasted, including myself!

Mine has been very reliable, and has not given any of the problems that the other reviewers have mentioned. I have even played a Boss sampled drum machine through it for accompaniment whilst practicing at high volume in a studio and it never complained.

No need for it and by now seven years old and still doing its thing.

I bought it as a loungeroom amp, for its looks, size, weight and sound, but it has turned out to be quite a bit better than I imagined and has in the last seven years accumulated many road miles and gigging/jamming hours. I regularly recommend this baby to my friends, but they are hard to find in Australia these days. The Behringer Firebird, which can be gotten more readily, is very similar in design, but it has a much harsher tone and so the Dano easily kicks its butt.

Bought this at a garage sale for $40.00. Got it home and liked it right away. Immediately, I wished it had reverb, but hey... $40.00?! I read reviews on it in this forum and actually followed the suggestion of one of the reviewers; bought and added the low pass filter and grounded the (-) side of the speaker to a metal part of the chasis. The filter made a HUGE difference! It's very quiet, even at high volume (clean channel).
I have a Vox AC30 and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe that I gig with. This amp is preferred over them for home use. Travels well, too. It vintage styling looks great in our den, and is plenty loud for practice purposes. I use an old Boss SE 70 Super Effects Processor to give it reverb and other desired effects.

I Play an American Strat '62 reissue with EMG pickups, as well as an old Gibson ES 335 dot neck. This amp sounds great with both guitars, single coil and Humbuckers alike. The Drive channel is incredibly noisy and crappy (not musical), but the Boss SE 70 covers that nicely. I agree with an earlier reviewer- glue the drive channel to the "off" position. You can rock this little devil or make it sing sweetly. I really appreciate that I can get great tone without having to crank up the volume. That's a limitation with my other amps.

After reading other reviews in this forum and then inspecting its innerworkings closely, I'm very cautious with the input plug-in. I've only had it a week or two, but it's working well thus far.

N.A.

I'm very happy with it, seeing that it's a 15 watt practice amp that I bought used for 40 bucks. The things I wasn't happy with (noise, no reverb) I remedied. I've been playing for 35 years and am very picky about tone and noise. This is a great value and a lot of fun. I've become an incessant noodler (says my wife). I highly recommend it after applying the fixes mentioned above.

I dont know when this one was made.. prpobably one of the last one though!
One channel solid state amp, with 3 band EQ, "dirty-sweet knob" for distortion/overdrive. Has headphone jack for quiet practice.
Be nice if this amp had reverb, but thats the only thing I'd want extra. 15 watts output, but pleny loud enough for it. 8 inch speaker.great 50's retro styling. Looks really cool if you like that sort of thing..I do. Iuse it at home but I'd use it to gig if I mic'ed it up thru the PA.

I'm using this as a harmonica "harp" amp. Other people had suggested it was a good solid state amp for harp ( OK - heresy.. tubes are the way to go or so I'm told!)
This amp is somewhat noisy.. there is a background hiss that is worse than my 70's Linear T30/40 MOSFET amp until I re-capped it. That said it's liveable with. I tried installing the low pass crossover as suggested. It does remove the hiss, however the amp is far too bassy with this mod(at least for harp)so I removed it again. I might play around with the cap value and see if that makes a difference..
I'm using this with my Shaker dynamic mic. clean stays clean, I avoid using that "dirty sweet" knob beyond the first quarter of a turn or it's feedback central for me.

I've had it a few days. I've read previous reviews. I'll go easy on the input jack. I'm fairly confident in my ability to repair the pots if the problems mentioned earlier appear. That said this amp is secondhand, and in excellent condition.

Danelectro no longer list the amp on their site.
as it's secondhand I'd try to fix it myself if there were any problems.

I've been blowing harp 15 years on and off (about 7 years off!)
I own about 15 harps, a shaker mic,and a zoom 505II,
I love the 50's retro look, ideal for a chicago blues player. I tried the little Kustom amps, a vox valvetronix, and some acoustic & bass amps, but I liked the tone from this best. Price & looks helped clinch the deal..
If someone stole it I'd be pretty annoyed. I can't afford 300 pounds for a fender blues junior. This amp would be great if it had reverb. Danelectro produce some good pedals and they could have put reverb or slap echo in. Guess I'll just have to buy the pedals seperate. my Zoom 505II doesn't sound as good through this amp as my old MOSFET, but the Nifty Fifty tone is so good for a solid state amp I don't care.

Totally cool and one of the best amps ever, after you apply the fixes below.

I play Fender teles and strats, Epiphone hollow bodied guitars, Godin Acousticaster and even harmonica through a green bullet mic through this dream.

It was made in 1998 and handles Rockabilly, blues, rock'n'roll a la 60's/70's and acoustic sounds great.

Without fixes 1 and 2: noisy and hissing, even with the pots down to zero.

Fix1 : Ground the speaker with an additional lead from the metal chassis to the speakers (-) connection.

Fix2: Buy a cheap two way speaker filter (rated ~100watts RMS max) with a 12dB/octave suppression and a cut freq of 3500Hz. Install it in between the speaker and the amp itself (using the woofer side of the filter as opposed to the tweeter - of course).

Total cost: roughly $10

Result: Fabulous tone and less noise than in any other modern amp without affecting the effective frequencies of the guitar sounds.

Use it with an external delay - chorus - flanger - compressor - whatever effect box and you're rigged for practice, jamming, recording and travel playing.

If you break this amp by pressing the cable connector to hard into the input, try another hobby than music playing. Chances are you're gonna break that guitar neck too...

No need for support.

Playing gigs regularly at clubs, pubs, festivals and bigger parties since 1988.
Would replace it if lost - no doubt.
The looks are great and with the simple two fixes sound is awesome.
I use Behringer, Fender, Roland, Peavey and Vox amps. THis one is not replaced by any of them.
For this price you can't seriously ask for more features.

Keep rockin'!

The amp I worked on was from 1998.

So here's the deal. There is one MAJOR flaw in it's construction. The circuit board is not mounted to anything but the knobs you see. Also, the input jack is made of plastic and is a little bit flakey. Sometimes you have to push in hard to get the signal. This action breaks the pots off of the board. I've read about this happening to people and it happened to a friend of mine who gave me his nifty fifty to fix. To fix this, first take off all the screws. Cut the plastic tie around the power cables. Pry the circuit board from the bottom and pull towards you, removing the pots through their holes with minimal damage. Unattatch the input and power cables from the circuit board. Look to see which pots have been broken in any way. Unsoder their remaining parts from the circuit board. Repair or replace them (replace recommended). Resoder the three wires per pot in the circuit board. Put the ciruit board back together and this time use string, sticks, wires, gum, soder or whatever necessary to attatch the circuit board to something so that it won't move when you touch knobs. Enjoy once again the crappy tone this 'tonally awesome' device provides.

All other components seem solid.

Danelectro must be lazy because one more cheap screw on this thing would have saved many people a lot of frustration.

Danelectro does make some good products, and I definately like their style. But unless a better version of this is made, only get it if it comes free with something and make sure to take delicate care not to put ANY kind of pressure on the input jack.

Not many features, and this is my only fault w/this amp. I'm writing this review because I own one of these and I think it's great...for what it is. I read the other reviews and I think some of the people who wrote reviews think that this 99$ amp is going to have them sound like a 3000$ rig. Its great for what it is.

Sounds great. I love the Kinks, and Stones etc... this thing reminds you of that sounds much better than the little marshall mg, or any crate in this price range. And it gets very loud for its watts. the only problem I have is that it doesnt have a loud clean, to play loud its dirty (great for lead though) I must say that most amps in the price/watts range are not this loud

Mine works great

Seems to suck, I tried to send in my warrenty and it was sent back???????????

One of the best for a little amp to practice with. Some of these other reviewers need pay more money for a bigger amp, if thats what they want. It does what its supposed to do

This is a very basic practice amp, 15 watt output power and a 3 band eq. Has overdrive "Dirty Sweet". Headphone Jack, nice volume, nice feeling knobs (quality feel with some resistance when turning)

I am a begginer and is using a squire strat, the sound is nice, very versatile but the clean sounds like its muffeled.

I used this amp for about six months and then just like any hole that ever gets plugged, the input jack broke. I tried to fix it my self but it is impossible to fix becuase it is just integrated onto the ciricuit board with no wires or anything so that was out of the picture. Then I went to the dano website....

THEIR CUSTOMER SUPPORT SUCKS !!! Ah I went to their website, looked for a number and could not find one so i e-mailed them multiple times and with no avail i wrote them letters and i never heard anything back. I am disqusted with this company and would never even think of buying one of there products ever again.

Dont buy this P.O.S. I am currently looking at an Fender M-80 at my local pawn-shop.

Just a basic 15 watt, solid state practise amp. 1 channel, volume, gain and 3-band EQ. That's okay by me, I love simplicity.

Amp is nice because you can turn up the distortion for punk and rock, and down for playing blues or jazz. You dont need an extra distroter if youve got this amp. Also for loud for its size.

Had it for over a year now and Great so far.

Never dealt with the company. Year warranty. Pretty cool 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 good! Hats off to Dano for a highly portable
amp that gives actual "musical" tones that I can use immediately.

I was so impredded with its volume that I install and output jack to push 2 12 inch cab . and it worked fine . but it was a tempoary fix at the time , But it worked.

Solid state emulation of a fifties tube sound.

From other reviews, it sounds great. Mine is not working...yet.

From reading other reviews, this amp tends to break quickly. After taking apart a Nifty Fifty that I found *tossed* on the side of the road, I found what may be a common source of trouble. Apparently the jack is made of plastic, so the holding nut strips easily. When this happens, you need to push in harder and harder with the guitar cord each time you plug in. In the case of my particular unit, this had caused no less than three of the welded-in potentiometers to completely snap off. To the previous owner, a complete mystery -- no doubt. Now I am trying to find replacement jacks and pots, but this is proving difficult. Any advice, circuit diagrams, etc, would be helpful. Thanks.

Currently attempting repair on trashed amp.

It looks great. I can't wait to hear it...

bass, treble, mid, dirtysweet or something (i haven't used it in awhile, got a peavey 412, ultimate tweed!)

Kind of dry. I don't think I really ever got that great of a sound out of it on either my Squier or LP Studio. I think I paid $99 for it. If it was $50 I probably wouldn't mind. If I had to do it again I'd get a Kustom tube amp 12w ($70). It even has a Celestian speaker and a tube preamp.

I actually gigged with it once (almost), I ended up using a friends Fender that was about the same wattage. But then I was young, naieve, and playing Weezer (which doesn't necessarily demand that warm a sound).

Never contacted them.

Playing about 6 years on and off (more on now).

www.mp3.com/keane_li

I wouldn't buy it again if it was lost/stolen. Again, I'd get a tube amp.

I used a Danelectro Daddy-O pedal with it for awhile. It didn't really help that much. I spent so much time turning knobs to no avail. My peavey classic sounds good on anything and I spend more time playing (and sounding great!)

Very sturdy amp though, no tubes to break or change (good), but no tubes (bad) No reverb

I don't know how it compares to others in it's category, probably good because I heard it got a guitar something award when I bought it.

Yes, I'd like to share this: www.keane.zoson.net

Small practice amp with 8 inch speaker, dirty/sweet, level(volume), bass, middle, and treble knobs. You can dial in the amount of fuzz you want with the dirty/sweet knob. Attractive plaid speaker grill cover. It has the tan and dark brown fake leather covering on it. I have it sitting in my living room, and seems to blend right in. Even has a handy headphone jack for late night jam sessions, although the sound isn't nearly as good.

For it's size, it's surprisingly loud. With a little help from the suggested settings in the manual, you can dial in a lot of different tones. Definately not an amp for you shredders out there. This amp is aimed at blues and hard rock players. I bet running a harp through this baby would sound pretty good also. I'll probably use it just for home practice and for recording purposes, although I wouldn't exclude playing a gig with it entirely. I run a Danelectro 59DC w/lipstick tube pickups, in to it. This guitar/amp combination is perfect match for each other, as I'm sure Danelectro intended it that way. I can get some nice trashy blues tones from it. Really good clean tones as well. I can get a big jangley sound out of my Musicvox electric 12-string. The sounds suit me just fine. I don't seem to get the noise other reviewers were talking about(Knock on wood).

I bought this used, so I'm probaly on my own if craps out. It seems to be working fine right now. Time will tell I guess.

I've dealt with Danelectro's service department before with good results.

I've been playing for about 25 years. If this were lost or stolen, I would definately look for another. I don't think Danelectro makes these anymore. For $50.00 bucks I thought what the hell. I'm very pleased with this. Come on, they're cheap fun little practice amps. What do you want for this kinda money.

I bought one in 2000 for use as a bedroom practice amp. I play mostly surf, and classic rock, some blues. It covered those styles OK, for a practice amp, but only where a clean sound was called for. Forget overdriven sounds on this amp. Very basic solid state amp with a very cool retro look, which I've decided was its best feature.

Used it with a Dano guitar at first. Got a great surfy Dano tone with that combination, but that's about it. Later got a Reverend Rocco, and was able to coax some fatter blues tones out of it as well. It was my first amp so I was really stoked on it for a while, but after playing through some slightly higher end solid state amps, it began to suffer by comparison, but still OK for what it was. Then there is the "Dirty" setting:( I think it is misleading to use the term "distortion" or "overdriven" to discribe any sound this amp makes. Fuzz? Maybe. I tried to get something resembling distortion out of this box. Forget it! Not sure how to describe it, but the word "static" keeps coming to mind. In any case, the Dirty setting is not in anyway useful or musical.

Well, here is the real problem. After about a year of fairly light occasional use, the amp quit working. I tried to troubleshoot it myself but could not find the problem. For what the amp cost me
I decided it wasn't worth the time and money to take it to a shop, so I tossed it.

I've had good dealings with them in the past when a guitar pickup wasn't working properly. Quick response. In the case of the amp, the waranty had expired, so I didn't bother.

OK, let's face it. This is a $60-$70 solid-state amp. Bet you could even find one for $50 now. Putting aside for a moment its ultimate and complete failure, I was fairly satisfied with this amp and its sound. What's more, it really is very cool looking. My wife loved the look and even made a special place for it in the living room. I wish Marshall would put one of their little practice amps in such a tasteful box. I've been eyeing the MG15DFX. Tried one out the other, and whoa! For $80 more, the thing has impressive clean and distorted sound and built in effects. But I'll probably have to hide it under the bed.

Anyway, If the Dano were still working, I might recommend it to someone who likes the look and wants a cheap practice amp for clean sounds only. What the hell, if you have $50 to blow and you like the look, and the sound, go get one. Maybe you'll get lucky. On the other hand, if you value your $50 I recommend saving up a little more and getting something more reliable and versatile.

Just a basic 15 watt, solid state practise amp. 1 channel, volume, gain and 3-band EQ. That's okay by me, I love simplicity.

As an added bonus, the thing just looks damn cool. Really damn cool. You could probably justify the purchase price even if you used it as a piece of decorative furniture.

So, a 7 for basic features with nothing you don't need plus a bonus point for the cool factor and attention to visual design.

It sounds the way it looks.
What do I mean by that?

It looks like a vintage tube amp, but not really. You can tell that the leather's fake, that it's too small to be packing tubes, that it isn't showing the tell-tale wear and tear. But that's okay because that's the appeal.

Similarly, it doesn't really sound exactly like a tube amp. But the sound reminds you of the vintage tones and that's the appeal. You can't get a Fender sound out of it but you can get a Fender-ish sound that is good BECAUSE it's not dead on. It's that kitschy aesthetic that really appeals to me. It's not a modelling amp, but it's better then a modelling amp because it hgets you into the ballpark and then gets you to do all the work. You can actually crafyt a unique tone out of this thing.

A few points about the sound:
- Don't go nuts with the dirty-sweet knob. This thing can't do modern high-gain stuff. Thing vintage, light distortion with maybe a bit of fuzz and it'll sound good. Don't try hjardcore metal and punk stuff.
- The hiss that everyone talks about. You won't notice it when your playing. In a noisy bar or jam situation you'll find it very easy to ignore. It's not a huge problem, but if it really bothers you that much, don't get this amp.
- Don't be afraid to experiment with the sounds in the manual. The funk sound is also good for jazz and blues. The Aussie Rock (thing Angels, Rose Tattoo, AC/DC) is good for Ozzy-era sabbath.
- This thing rocks with a slide.
- I've had people ask me if the thing contained tubes. Consider that a vote of approval.

Had no problems so far.

The warranty doesn't apply to Aussies like me. But they did answer my e-mail in 24 hours, so I'll give them a 7

This amp isn't for everyone. Beginners who want to sound like Slipknot or Blink 182 should avoid this like the plague. But who should get this amp?
- Blues fans.
- Middle age guys who want to recreate the sounds of their youth.
- People who care about visual design.
- Recording artists who wnat an interesting tone (check the inside cover of Beck's Midnite Vultures).
- Beginners who hat the sound of the amp that came in their bundle-package.

Overall it's a great sounding, reliable amp. It won't last you forever but I bet that you'll be coming back to it even after you upgrade. It fills a niche, but it's not perfect for everyone. For the price, a damn respectable 8.

Basic amp -Volume, tone controls,knob for "dirty" distorted sound...that's all folks.Just a practice amp by most standard. Traded an old tube amp for this,my amp needed lots of work this was new and sounded pretty good for solid state(I play harp)though it is written that it is a motal sin to play harp through anything but tubes .Don't wish for any features why muck up a basic amp with some cheap sounding reverb. The 15watts goes a long way IT IS LOUD! Play it at small jams and have played it on stage but it needs to be mic'd.

It hisses it pops occasionally but all is forgiven because this lil amp has a hell of a screamin/cuttin/ raunchy sound.I also play some jazz and R&B with my band so I keep the tone controls about the same and just cut the dirty knob and I'm able to keep it cleaner.I am amazed how I get tone out of this thing. Dave Barrett a harp guru recommended this amp, I know why.

Like I said it makes noises but it has held together for two years of weekly playing(jams,gigs,practice).I always take a backup but that's with all amps I don't trust any of them I've learned from experience to trust the unexpected.

Never had to deal with Danelectro.

Been playing since the 70's been playing professionally since 95. Own a Fender Bassman RI,Vibroverb RI (set up for harp).Use an Ibenez delay with all my amps. Mics used are sm58 and a crystal ball, both work well with the Dano I use the crystal ball more often.I'm trying to buy another at the moment --for some reason they are tough to find on the net.I love the sound and some versitility for such a small amp.I also love not having to carry 50to60 pounds of unwieldy amp up and down stairs

Ok, I have never posted anything on internet. This is my first and last review for anything. So here it goes.
This lil amp is the best sounding practice amp ever built. The Dirty sweep has so much range, and clean sound will get the job done. I play my 71 LP standard and my Dearmond Goldtone through this lil gem. I have a DanElectro corned beef reverb stump box that I use with this amp only, they match perfectly. I have a Marshall, Mesa, and vintage club 2*12 all three amps are tube. So I am not just typing this thing up. My unit has no noize problems and it has been with me for a lil over two years with no problems. This is the best amp I have ever bought for the price. The amp is not for giging, but it is the best amp you can buy to carry around to friends house. 15 pounds and 15 watts of vintage sound through a soild-state amp and the amp has style. I wish they made a one with a 12" Speaker to get more bottom end. I give this amp a 10 for the price, sound, and reliability. Fantastic Valuve.

Nice overdrive/distortion. 3 tone controls. Retro-design. Solid construction. The power cord that originally came would not, "seat," properly, resulting in intermittent operation. I replaced with another I had on hand, and no problem whatsover from that point forward. I would bet this design flaw in the original power cord is responsible for so many of the problems that people have had. It is an easy fix for an otherwise stellar little amp.

This thing kicked the hell out of its competition in this wattage and price range. I can actually get an old tube sound out of it. Here's a tip that should not be ignored: USE A PRE-AMP WITH THIS AMP! It gets it over the solid state hiss and turns this little gem into a cranking, fire-breathing little monster. I use a multi-effects pedal with plenty of pre-amp zap.

With the power cord replacement, this thing has been reliability incarnate. I have gigged with it.

Excellent. You have to get the DanElectro number that a retailer would use to call them up, as the number that came with the paperwork was a bust. I have to give DanElectro a 10+.

Been playing since '62, which means, been around the block more than a few times. Last time I gigged out with this little cranker, more than one person came up to me and said they could not believe all the sound coming out of that small amp. I use a multi-effects pedal for reverb and other things, so the lack of reverb is a feature I actually prefer. Why? Well, it means, dirt simply, that DanElectro can and did put that money into a straight ahead little amp that renders its competition as paltry. I have another larger Fender amp. Whenever possible though, this is the one I prefer to use, because it sounds so good and is so easy to carry. Which means, as a professional, I have been well served by this amp.

I Got this little pig in December of 2000....lasted 2 weeks beyond the warranty lapsing and I'm out a practice amp. Features were what I'd expect for a $75 amp....basic + a feedback circuit (I really think that is what killed the amp chip).

Sounded fine when operable...."Dirty" was a little too dirty sounding for my taste, but ok.

Reliable until I left it on for 8 hours straight.....burned out the amp. Anyone out there have any details on what is a chronic problem with these amps? I know other people were having the same problems....just wonder if anyone knows the fix.

Took a few e-mails to get a minimal response....I think Danelectro is a front office for the Chinese junk they're importing. Do they even repair their stuff or do they just send out a replacement and dump your old one?

I've had Crates and others that are built to take a nuke......this disappointed me after it belly-upped.

I bought this amp brand new and got it yesterday (1/10/02). I really like the looks and size of this amp. The features are basic for a practice amp. It takes some adjusting to make it sound decent, but it can sound ok (WHEN IT WORKS! - Read below).

At first it sounded really bad. In my opinion, an amp shouldn't sound "really bad" at any setting. Of course you need to adjust everything to how you like yourself to sound. But I cringed at the first sound this thing made (not talking about volume either). But yeah, after adjustment it almost sounded "good". I had serious problems with mine though, and maybe those problems had some effect on the sound quality when it was actually working. The rating is based on how it sounded while it was functioning. If I should rate the loud buzz (see reliability section), I'd say "0".

The description for a "1" rating is "think it worked once". Well, I had just gotten mine set to where it sounded okay and WHOA - it let out a huge buzz/hum that was so loud it scared the crap out of me. I hit the power switch ASAP and prayed I hadn't fried my Epi LP Custom. I checked all my connections, plugged it into a different power outlet, used a different top-dollar cable (no effects in between) - and still the same. I can play just fine for 4 - 6 minutes and it does it again. It must have a wiring problem that is only an issue after it heats up. I'm sending it back today.

Haven't dealt with Dano directly. I was told by someone in the business that there have been problems with some of these amps (nifty 50, dirty 30, and nifty 70). But for the price ($60), I thought I'd give it a shot. Bad idea. But Musician's Friend seems to be good at taking stuff back without much hassle - If I have trouble, I'll update this.

I've only been playing for just under a year (teaching myself - so it's kinda slow). But any dope could tell ya that an amp should last for more than 5 minutes! I have always liked the look of this amp and bought it as a secondary to my Crate GFX15 (which I think sounds a lot better - of course mine was screwed up). To get the look of this amp in a better quality, the only thing I could find was a Fender Blues Junior with the blonde cover (and that still don't look as "nifty" in my opinion - sorry for that). But I'm not good enough yet to invest that much money in this.

Great practice amp, good amp for low-volume endeavors. 15 watts, one eight inch speaker. No reverb.

I've used it for jazz and country, and people have remarked on the great tone coming out of that little box. Remember though, we're talking low-volume, semi-acoustic stuff.

In general, single-coils probably sound better through this than humbuckers. I've also played a classical through it and it sounded great.

Good bottom end. Basically the Nifty-Fifty is Dano's Daddy-O overdrive/tube simulator pedal hooked up to a speaker. It has way more tone than your typical solid-state 15 watt amp.

It certainly doesn't have the headroom you get from a nice old Fender though.

Headphone jack fell into the back. I don't really care.

Also, leather covering looks cool, but tears oh so easily.

For $100, this thing rocks. A practice amp with tone. And sounds good for low volume jazz and semi-acoustic stuff. Definitely not for metal. And no, definitely not a threat to replace your Fender Twin. Nevertheless, a lot of value for the money.

I wish they made a bigger one!

My Nifty Fifty was made in China in 1998. The Dano factory is probably next door to a sneaker sweat shop too. Anyway, the Nifty Fifty is a cute tan & brown covered solid state practice amp that has 1 input; Dirty/Sweet; Level; Bass; Middle and Treble controls followed by an on/off switch and has a head phone jack. It's 15 solid state watts will not make you forget that vintage Fender Champ......... unless you have ears of stone.

OK now.... if you play this, you'll forget that Dumble you've been lusting after. Uh......wait a minute. The Nifty Fifty sounds as if a bumble bee was flying around inside your baggy pants near your crotch.
It screams but not in a pleasant way. Very solid state sounding...clean or overdriven. But hey, it's a cheap practice amp.
After hearing this amp, that crappy 5150 will sound like God.

As dependable as a cockaroach after a nuclear explosion.
It only stays at home.
I think I tourtured my last lead singer with this at a song writing session.

Dano is very dependable. They replaced my dead Danecho pedal without question and I received the new one in a week.
Some of the big companies should take note....customer service is important especially to musicians.

It's a practice amp. I actually bought it for my wife who is perpetually learning how to play guitar.
In my opinion, the only solid state amp that can be used as a practice or gigging amp is a Gallien Krueger 250ML. The Nifty Fifty is a far cry from the 250ML.

Standard one channel amp package. Reverb would have helped. Headphone jack is nice.

I tried a '60 Strat with .012 strings and Bill Lawrance stacked Humbuckers and the thing smoked. Turn all the knobs to 10 and there's enough creamy, SRV blues tone to fill a room. The knobs do more than you'd think, so twisting bass, mid or treble really does something, but flat out is best. I also tried a PRS with .010s and the bottom dropped out. Couldn't really get a Satch/Vai shredder tone.

Either way it covers it's bases and does an impressive job for such a small, light amp. Beautiful for practice and parties but I wouldn't gig with it.

It's more about looks. The previous owner had to get service by just kicking over a 12" tall amp. The board separated from the knobs, but Dano stood behind him and fixed it.
You see alot of old Dano stuff so I have high hopes for reliability. But it's not built for the road like a Roland or something.

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Love the look, dig the tone, easy to carry, wouldn't care if I lost it. I traded a Roland DAC-15X, that I paid $40, for mine.

I love this vintage amp with its dirty-sweet knob. The other knowbs are standard: level, bass, middle, trebble. Its also very light weight
so its easy to carry around.

Amp is nice because you can turn up the distortion for punk and rock, and down for playing blues or jazz. You dont need an extra distroter if youve got this amp. Also for loud for its size. Twice as loud as my 15 watt bass amp.

Only owned it for a month so no problems yet. But looks stable enough and probably wont break for a while.

I play bass in a punk band, but we only have one guitar player so we needed another one for recording. Its one of the best amps for playing punk that ive heard. A lot better than my guitarist's fender amp. This amp works best with humbucker pickups also.