player opinions

Danelectro DD-1 Fab Tone Distortion

Danelectro DD-1 Fab Tone Distortion

  1. Name: Dan

  2. Band: Darkfield IlluminatoR

  3. Model Year: 2000

  4. Price Paid: $40

  5. Performance

  6. It absolutely kicks butt if you know how to tweak the knobs! The “fab” knob is not a gain control! It increases the sustain. At high volumes (concert level) you will most likely have it turned way down, but at bedroom volumes, you turn it up until it just starts to give you some feed back that you can then control with fret hand muting. As far as the distortion level goes, it’s on 11 all the time! You control the amount of distortion with the volume control on your guitar. With your volume (guitar) knob almost off, you get a pretty good gritty, grainy amp sound and the insanity increases from there! It is an insanely high gain unit that works good for guitar and bass, but you have to realize that it’s not subtle!

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. I love the tonal ability of this guy! The bass knob goes from way too thin to way too fat and the treble goes from muddy to rip your ears off shrill! The good tones are in between the extremes. It is not a scooped mid sound though. But another 30 bucks and a Danelectro “fish and chips” 7 band graphic eq later, you have the most insanely scooped mid thrash sound going! (put the eq AFTER the Fab Tone!) When the unit is turned off, your guitar’s tone is very clean, it does not color your tone like a lot of other virtual bypass units do. And even though it is a huge distortion monster, you can still hear individual strings... it is not a mushy bunch of undistinguishable notes. It retains very good chord definition. This unit is at its best when used on your amp’s clean channel.

    My signal chain is this ---> Carvin 7 string guitar, tuner, Big Muff pie, Octave pedal (octave down), *FAB TONE*, 7 band graphic eq, lo-fi filter pedal, into a Yamaha DG Stomp pre-amp/effects unit (like a POD that has really GOOD tone), stereo out into a Carvin 150 watt stereo power amp that feeds an eminence V-12 loaded oversize, dual ported 212 cabinet of my own design and tuned especially for 7 string guitar. Our music is very “gothic, vibey, groove oriented” stuff with industrial and hardcore/grind influences (think Violet Burning mixed with Circle of Dust, and Living sacrifice). I use the Fab Tone through the “Clean 1” setting of the DG Stomp for the Hardcore/Grind section of the equation. It does a really good job of maintaining note definition while using delay and reverb processing and when you slam an already distorted channel with it, it gives you a very unique, satisfying square wave “fuzz unit about to explode” type of sound that I find very usable for the music we do.

    I also have a couple of songs where I use the Big Muff and the Fab Tone together for some single note riffs and it sounds HUGE! If you like extreme sounds and huge grinding supa-chunk riffing, this baby is da’ bomb! If your looking for “Smooth and Creamy” overdrive sounds, stay far away from this pedal! You will hate it! I happen to love it because it’s very heavy but it doesn’t sound like a Boss Metal Zone (affectionately known as the “McMetal-tone” pedal by a select few).

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. This thing could survive a nuclear blast and still survive! (well, the housing would, but the EMP from the blast would destroy the IC chip in it!). It’s heavy and has stood up to lots of abuse so far! It also eats batteries like you would not believe! So get yourself a good power adapter! And if you do use batteries, remember to unplug your guitar cord from the input when not using it so you don’t eat the battery for no good reason. I have used my Fab Tone for bass and guitar and it sounds great for the stuff I do. The Fab Tone is is not really “versatile” in the normal sense (in that it has a variety of sounds). It has a few variations of one very heavy, over the top turn it up to 11 to push it over the cliff sound. It fits what I do great! I have never had a problem with it and if I lost it or it got stolen, I would beg, borrow and steal to get another one! It is so much a part of my sound at this point that it is indispensable to me. (You may be interested to know that Creed used one for quite a few of the guitar tracks on the Human Clay CD too!)

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Myles Long

  2. Band: Pestrip

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $29

  5. Performance

  6. It works. It’s a distortion box. Nothing difficult about it. Controls for gain, level, bass, treble.

  7. Performance Rating: 8

  8. Sound Quality

  9. Sound quality? You start at high gain and it goes to insane gain. I really don’t care for this pedal’s sounds. I play everything from new wave to speed metal and I don’t think there’s a sound I can use with this thing. Can you say “buzzsaw”?

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 3

  11. Construction

  12. Built like a tank. You could split someone’s head open with this thing!

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Joshua Heilman

  2. Band: PI Eating Contest

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $60

  5. Performance

  6. It works great. It’s pretty easy to use. It might take a little time to tweak the sound to get exactly what you want because of a pretty wide range of tonal options. I’m not sure that it’s much of a “vintage” distortion sound but that’s not why I got it.

  7. Performance Rating: 8

  8. Sound Quality

  9. Well, here’s the deal... it sounds freakin’ sweet through a solid state. I played it on my Crate GX-65 for about 8 months and I’ve been playing with it through my Peavey TNT 150 bass amp for a couple more. Tube amps, however, are another story. The only tube amp I own is a ‘65 Fender Band-Master. Talk about a sweet amp. But, it’s not made for distortion, so I can’t just flip a switch and get my sound. I plugged in the Fab Tone and was pretty disappointed. It was way too bright for my taste. That was probably partly the fault of my vintage amp’s less than extensive EQ (Bass, Treb and a Bright switch). I DID get the sound I wanted eventually, but I had to crank the bass and drop the treb way down on both the amp and the pedal. Not sure how it would fare on other amps. But once I found that sweet spot on mine I started enjoying it again.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 8

  11. Construction

  12. Built like a friggin’ rock. I play probably an average of 4-5 hours a day so it gets a lot of use. Funny, it looks just as good as it did when I bought it. The knobs are kinda flimsy, but it would take a lot of work to break them. Steel casing, vintage looks. The knobs are a little close together, which might pose a problem for people with big fingers. But overall it’s not a big deal.

  13. Construction Rating: 9

  1. Name: James Thurston

  2. Band: Idlepuss

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: £59

  5. Performance

  6. I love this pedal, it has to be the raunchiest distortion pedal ever! I have the Danelectro Daddy-O as well, which I use for my standard sound, but I find myself using this one more and more. It has to be the easiest pedal to use — four controls give you a whole host of sounds, but I would recommend playing around with it for a couple of days or so in order to get the sound you really want.

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. The sound is great, but you need large speakers (10" minimum) otherwise it can over distort, I mean rattle — you lose any great tone. This is a powerful pedal, and you need to have an amp that can deal with it (I use a 1979 H+H Studio 100 - 2 x 15" spk.)

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. This pedal will last for years! I reckon my one will become a family heirloom within a couple of generations!

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Xaphan

  2. Band: -----

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $40 used

  5. Performance

  6. As far as performance, I step on the switch and it distorts, I step again and it’s clean. All the knobs move, hey that’s all the performance I can ask for.

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. I’m into heavy metal. I don’t care about tube amps or fuzz or any of that. I’ve never even played through a tube amp. I went to the guitar store and said “I’m sick of my Boss DS-1, I’m into metal!” the guy told me “Well the heaviest thing we’ve got is the Fab Tone.” It may not be the heaviest around but I love it. I’m planning on buying a Boss MT-2 though, I’ve heard it’s the best for metal.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 8

  11. Construction

  12. It’s made of metal. The only thing is my battery door had fallen off before I bought it. I remedied that with duct tape. I think Boss has the best battery scheme available. Other than that I don’t plan on switching it with a sledge hammer or any power tools of any sort (unless I have a really wild gig), but until then I’d say it’s solid as it gets.

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Brandon

  2. Band: Pariah

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: -----

  5. Performance

  6. Ah... I’d say this is a mediocre pedal. It doesn’t really sound too much like a tube amp, but still sounds very decent. Nice knobs, easy to find a sweet spot that you fit into.

  7. Performance Rating: 6

  8. Sound Quality

  9. Well, it’s good and bad. Overall, it’s a nice distortion. Not one of the best, but it beats most of them. It’s loaded with that demanding high gain, which is a huge plus. If you are a true vintage/tube kinda guy this might not be your best bet. It is a good blend of modern low end distortion models and classic high gain stuff. Expect some fuzz.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 8

  11. Construction

  12. Well constructed. Made to be beat up the way a pedal should be. Nice knobs and sleek retro look make it attractive and easy to use.

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Ben

  2. Band: The Jericohst

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $50

  5. Performance

  6. It’s a mediocre, high gain distortion pedal. It is easy to use, but the sounds are not that great.

  7. Performance Rating: 6

  8. Sound Quality

  9. Has kind of a brittle, unwarm sound to it. Very high gain, but the sound quality is just not great. Definitely not tube-like. I brought it home, played with it for a while, and then took it back and exchanged it for the Danelectro Daddy-O. I’m very happy with the Daddy-O.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 6

  11. Construction

  12. Very solid. If I had kept it, I would have probably used it for a paperweight or a doorstop. I think this is Danelectro’s only dud, their other pedals are great. It’s not that I don’t like its huge amounts of gain, but the sound quality just kind of sucks.

  13. Construction Rating: 10

  1. Name: Rory Hubbell

  2. Band: New Wine

  3. Model Year: -----

  4. Price Paid: $60

  5. Performance

  6. When I saw the old retro style, I loved the way it looked. Once I played it I loved the way it sounded. It is very easy to use with; vol, bass, treb, fab controls.

  7. Performance Rating: 10

  8. Sound Quality

  9. This pedal is really truly amazing, because you can change all the settings to get an old classic rock blues sound to a present day metallic thrash sound, and all the points in the middle. With the bass and treble controls you can adjust the sound to a clear bell, or a deep sound. Through any amp, the Fab-Tone sounds great.

  10. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  11. Construction

  12. The pedal, of course, is solid steel, so it wont break and is very sturdy on slick floors with its rubber bottom. I’ve had no problems with the pedal so far. And don’t expect any.

  13. Construction Rating: 10

links

  1. Average Ratings
  2. Performance: 8.4
  3. Sound Quality: 7.8
  4. Construction: 9.8
  5. Ratings Key
  6. 10: Excellent
  7. 0: Useless
  8. Available At Guitar Center
  9. Danelectro DD-1 Fab Tone Distortion Pedal Standard
  10. Company
  11. Danelectro

Player Opinion review form

Player Opinion effects index

Site Information

Info Links