Danelectro FAB pedals

ManualsBrandsDanelectro ManualsDistortion PedalsMetal-Distortion Effect UnitDanelectro has been known for years in the effect unit scene for cheap and original ideas, both in design and sound. With the FAB series, there are several interesting pedals (after the mini-series) at outrageously low prices

To gain access to the battery

compartment you must ﬁ rst remove the

rubber-coated metal bottom plate,

which is held in place with a single

screw that can be turned with the edge

of a coin. Beneath the plate we can see

a clever little arrangement

incorporating a pivoted plastic

framework that transfers your

stomping action to the PCB’s micro

switch for function on/off. It’s all very

neat and tidy indeed.

The control layout is the same for

each pedal with the overall level of the

effect to the left, the tone control in the

middle and the gain control on the

right. The gain knob is named either

Overdrive, Gain or Distortion

depending on which particular FAB

incarnation you happen to be treading

on. And when you do tread on one, the

FAB pedal will let you know you have

done so with a groovy neon blue LED.

SOUN D S: Kicking off with the metallic

grey FAB Overdrive, we weren’t really

expecting too much. Can a £20 pedal be

capable of anything worth hearing?

With our pride still causing indigestion

after a large slice of humble pie we have

to confess that – yes – a £20 pedal can

knock your bloomin’ socks off. The tone

on offer here is fully developed and rich

with the sort of singing overtones and

ripe juicy drive that makes it impossible

to put your guitar down. It covers

hollow, chunky, honky and smooth gain

with ease via a very usable range on the

tone control.

The FAB Distortion takes things up

a gear and moves us away from the

bluesy classic rock of the Overdrive and

into Foo Fighters and QOTSA territory.

With ample gain, ballsy, stack-like guts

and tones ranging from AC/DC to the

Manics, this is probably the most

versatile of the trio.

Finally, the FAB Metal pedal takes us

deep down into the depths of

distortion, through forbidden gardens

of gain and right up to Satan’s

doorknocker. If your bag is Pantera,

Slayer, Black Label Society or basically

anything that would make your parents

cry, the FAB Metal does the lot. Filthy

distortion with bags of thick, fat chunky

tone is the order of the day here and, as

the name implies, a lot of metal!

Verdict

The look and price of these pedals is

very enticing before you even plug

them in, but unless a pedal’s got it going

on in the sound department there’d be

little point in it looking pretty, right? We

were simply blown away with these

three FAB pedals. The quality of

distortion and overdrive tones on offer,

together with the overall simplicity of

the design, make for a wonderfully

appealing package. With the controls

out of harm’s way round back, they’re

solid enough to be included on your

pedal board and, with three distinct

characters to choose from, there’s

a FAB drive pedal here to suit every

player. At this price you could even buy

all three and guarantee that you’ll have

a drive sound for every occasion. If

Danelectro introduces other pedals in

this price range that sound this good it

might make the whole process of sonic

exploration a lot less painful on the

pocket. For the time being though,

we’re very happy these FAB pedals live

up to their name: they are indeed

absolutely fabulous.

SUMMER 2005 137

Danelectro FAB Metal

RATING

DigiTech Distortion

Series £39-£49

Marshall Jackhammer

JH-1 £45

BOSS DS-1 £39

You’ll have to search

pretty damn hard to ﬁ nd

any pedals as cheap as

these Danos, but in

terms of choice and

tone then DigiTech’s

new batch of distortion

pedals ﬁ t the bill as an

alternative. There are

ﬁ ve pedals to choose

from ranging from the

Hot Head to Grunge,

Bad Monkey, Screamin’

Blues and Death Metal.

As well as sounding

impressive, each pedal

also features a speaker-

emulated line-out for

recording. Marshall’s

Jackhammer JH-1 is a

bomb-proof gain factory

with a parametric mid-

range with dual

concentric pots for tone

shaping and both

overdrive and distortion

modes. Last, but by no

means least, BOSS’s

DS-1 distortion is the

industry standard

classic distortion as

used by Steve Vai

The rivals

DANELECTRO FAB PEDALS £19.99 EACH

EFFECTS GUITARIST INTERACTIVE

Danelectro FAB Overdrive

RATING

Danelectro FAB Distortion

RATING

DANO FAB PEDALS TEST RESULTS

Build quality

Features

Sound

Value for money

■ WE LIKED Fantastic sounds; simplicity;

cool blue LEDs; price

■ WE DISLIKED Battery access – a ﬂ ip-top

cover would have been better

The control layout

is the same on each

of the three pedals

and a blue LED

indicates operation

GIT266.rev_danelectro 137GIT266.rev_danelectro 137 24/6/05 1:22:57 pm24/6/05 1:22:57 pm