Danelectro DJ16 Bacon N Eggs Reviews 5

Mine was a gift, but these regularly sell for $20 - $30 online and in stores. I figured I would try out a few of these cheap Dano mini-effects, so I gave my wife about 7 choices, to have some element of surprise. This is the one she picked - I've since picked up several other minis.

It works as both a mini-amp and a rudimentary overdrive pedal. It's stock sound with your guitar wide open is an overdriven sound, so you don't need any additional effects if you normally play with some crunch. And just back off your guitar's volume control if you don't.

Small quibbles, really. 1) when used as an inline pedal, no way to reduce the big jump in level. That's OK for recording but makes it pretty much useless as a live pedal. 2) the input/output jacks are placed differently than the other minis, making it very hard to use this in the Dano mini-case. 3) the sound is just as tinny as you'd expect from a 1.5" speaker. Oh well.

A pro player *could* use a Dano mini, but only with care. They don't have a metal footswitch or jacks, everything is soldered right to the circuit board and the knobs are small and flimsy. But home or light studio use is what these are built for - they wouldn't be cheap otherwise.

It does what it says it will do and more, because you can get some limited use from it as an inline distortion pedal. In that regard, it actually has a pretty nice crunch sound for recording, and the (unadjustable) boost in level makes it possible to use as a "dirty" direct interface to your board or computer. I'm mostly using it now as a bench amp, to test things I'm repairing. For the money, probably anyone could find a use for it.

Horsehair rated this unit 4 on 2005-07-08.

Purchased at Guitar Center in Eugene, OR. Was $30 but on sale for $20. I suppose this is really a "guitar amplifier" but it's usually listed with the other effects, as it is in the same product line as all the other mini pedals tha are all effects.

Portability. The unit is small enough to fit in a pants pocket, and still packs some punch. Runs for about 2 weeks on a single 9V battery.

Nothing. Oh wait it doesn't have a headphone out, but then I wasn't looking for a headphone amp now was I?

Little orange box with a small (2-3") speaker and a pushbutton on-off footswitch. Seems pretty durable. I havent moshed on it but I've stepped on it pretty hard and it's still holding up. 1 input and 1 output, it apparently works as a straight distortion box when connected to another amplifier, but I haven't had the opportunity to test that yet, as I have another amp, but only 1 cable so if I connect the pedal to the amp I can't connect the axe to the pedal *doh!* :)

Great unit! If you need a portable practice amp this is the one to get. Simple construction (input/output/on-off switch) it doesn't have any tone/trem/reverb to drive up the price like on some other "mini" amps. Why spend $50 on a miniature cabinet amp when you can get a real one for $70?

Metal Fish rated this unit 5 on 2001-12-15.

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