Danelectro Fab Tone DD-1

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With the Danelectro Fab Tone DD-1, you can dial in virtually any distortion sound. Great EQ section with two tone controls. This has very massive sounding low end. Very compressed and buzzy. Tremendously Loud.

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User Reviews of the Danelectro Fab Tone DD-1

Submitted by Cam from Sydney (4 points) on Jan 7, 2011
I just got one of these beauties via eBay. I'm finding it to be a

pretty study item and quite like the punch it can pull. Here in

Australia there are people trying to sell these at $150 and there

are people buying them at that price. Its loud for sure so you

need to be careful but playing through a strong amp, this will

give you some good tone! Mix it with the Daddy O overdrive

and it's absolutely insane!!!
Good Points: Good bang for the buck
Bad Points: Shortish battery life, heavy construction
Price Paid: US$25.00
Purchased At: Ebay
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Submitted by Danny from Brooklyn, NY (4 points) on Apr 11, 2010
HUGE wall of sound. This pedal pretty much has no use other than noise, but what a noise pedal it is! When the volume knob is turned all the way up especially, it really sounds like nothing else. Makes pretty much anything (guitar, drum machine, bent kid's toy) sound like electric death. Highly recommended. You can get a pretty intense low end and high end from my experience.
Good Points: Makes a kazoo sound like Merzbow.
Bad Points: Good luck trying to get a guitar tone that sounds reasonable at all. Also, it's really god damned loud, so you may need to adjust to an unusually low amp volume and fiddle with your other gear to compensate.
Price Paid: US$30.00
Purchased At: Online
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Submitted by JLK from Canada (4 points) on Jan 21, 2008
I hit this pedal if I want a completely off the wall BLAST of distortion haha not sure what else you do with this thing.
Good Points: For some reason it calms down the ground loop noise in my setup. so i leave it there. I hit it when I want to make peoples ears bleed.
Bad Points: You can't turn down the distortion.. it goes from more to completely nuts!!
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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Submitted by Jon from New Haven, CT (80 points) on Dec 27, 2007
Just got it a week ago second hand, and I was kind of baffled by both the sound and the construction; it really sticks out from the bunch. A good buy most setups!
Good Points: It deals really really well with heavy bass sounds and the eq is tremendously tweakable. The distortion is very warm and upfront. Construction is heavy but I donŽ´t know how much of a beating it can take. I own a bunch of distortions from before and this one will be part of my permanent few from now on.
Bad Points: the drive/fab/sustain knob is not as responsive as it could be, but this is a very small minus on a great pedal. The highs get too sharp in a bad way at the highest setting, but again, this is not really a big deal.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At:
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Submitted by provera from Waterloo, IA (172 points) on Jan 12, 2007
This was an impulse buy as I saw it cheap, and I'm glad I did. "Buzzy" is definitely the right term, and while I wish the Fab knob did a bit more it's definitely good for gain and the EQ is always a plus. This is a full size pedal, not a mini, and it's built a lot better (still plastic knobs tho). It's definitely a pedal that seems to react differently to different amp/pa setups, so you might wanna borrow one if you can before buying, but then again for how cheap they are it's worth picking up if you're looking for either a different-sounding distortion in your loop or a good pedal to follow a volume-suck pedal (I usually keep this after my octave pedal, and I like it after the Blue Box more than the standard Grunge). Danelectro gets a bad rap, but I gotta say I've had nothing but good luck with these pedals...
Good Points: Great buzzy tone with high gain Handy EQ with good range Dirt cheap
Bad Points: None, really (a balance knob might be nice, but whatever)
Price Paid: US$10.00
Purchased At: broadway pawn
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Submitted by Michael from christchurch (60 points) on Apr 24, 2006
Personally I think this is a great pedal.I also have a Rat and a Boss Metal zone and this one kicks both of those in the butt bigtime...however that can be a bit of a problem somtimes, as it can sound like it is gonna kill my amps!
Good Points: The FAB control is pretty good to get killer distortion sounds.
Bad Points: Not many, if any...
Price Paid: US$65.00
Purchased At: pawnshop
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Submitted by Nicholas from Upland, CA (2 points) on Jan 23, 2006
For the longest time this pedal had been sitting around our practice space, assumed to be unoperational by myself and a friend. However, with a fresh battery installed this pedal "worked" (eg made sound), albeit the sounds produced were anything but anticipated/orthodox. Maybe a ground came loose somewhere inside the chassis. Whatever the case, this pedal now makes random squeals, fucking painful high frequency shrieks, self oscillations, weird cavernous , half- muddled reverbs, you name it. Really amazing. My suggestion? Try bending the circuit...this thing is an unbelievably random harsh noise instrument.
Good Points: As mentioned above... -VERY abrasive distortion -Squeals, buzzes, rapid drones -Unpredictable nature
Bad Points: I've yet to play an ordinary Fab Tone in the prescribed musical contexts. Mine is a noise machine and, although certainly not intended by the manufacturer, the hidden potential of this pedal is definetly worth looking into if you can purchase one for cheap.
Price Paid: US$0.00
Purchased At: owned by a friend
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Submitted by Marco from Brescia (138 points) on May 18, 2005
An high gain distortion with a good eq: the sound can be very compressed or very buzzy'n'fuzzy. You can create an impressive wall of noise if using the fab knob over the 12.
Good Points: -very loud -doesn't kill low frequency sounds -cheap
Bad Points: -none really (big? a little less buzzy?)
Price Paid: US$35.00
Purchased At: e-bay
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Submitted by luke from Iowa City, IA (32 points) on Feb 20, 2004
i do not like it at all. too much feedback for the application i chose. maybe it would work for somebody else but not my set-up. i had better luck with the black coffee, a big muff, mill hill landmine, boss metal zone, pretty much every distortion i used.
Good Points: it is very noise related.
Bad Points: see review.
Price Paid: US$45.00
Purchased At: local used store
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Submitted by nkondi from Portland, OR (610 points) on May 27, 2003
well they got the wrong pedal pictured (thats the dan echo). the fabtone is in a luscious dark red, which was part of its original apeal, as well as a suggestion from a friend. well this is a great overdrive/distortion with a nice eq section that has a great range, i.e. one can boost or cut out the highs and lows. the distortion itself is very warm, and not very harsh by itself, but of course coupled correctly it will shine. deffinately holds its own on the table and worth the money.
Good Points: better built than the minis...a very heavy pedal, with solid plastic construction. nice and warm, with a great eq.
Bad Points: none really...
Price Paid: US$35.00
Purchased At: ebay
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Submitted by Beavis from Afghanistan (258 points) on Feb 15, 2003
I love this thing!!!The previous review is nonsense, this this has very massive sounding low end. Very compressed and buzzy. Tremendously Loud. I play in a noise band, and at a gig the metal band playing before us wanted to swap his metal zone for this. I was getting a fatter sound with a tele and this, than he was getting with a jackson and metal zone!!!
Good Points: Great bass, can be very trebly, very loud. Almost like a big muff on 12
Bad Points: Very compressed. Potential to damage amp/speakers
Price Paid: US$69.00
Purchased At: A Pikey Shop in Brighton
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Submitted by Ryan from Hamilton (4 points) on Sep 1, 2002
Nice distortion, but in small doses. Even with the bass control cranked, it still sounds too treble-y. Sucks unless the "Fab" control is all the way up. Great for vocals, gives you that whiny, crying baby, masonna-with-no-bass sound. Otherwise, best used as a volume booster, or for extra feedback. Power-electronics outfits would do well to get this pedal for vocals or drony keyboards. If you want brutal harshness though, look elsewhere.
Good Points: Great high end. Almost piercing.
Bad Points: Severe lack of bass.
Price Paid: US$95.00
Purchased At: Steve's Music
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