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Danelectro Fab Tone Distortion SOUNDCLIPS

How do these clips sound?

  • SWEET

    Votes: 13 81.3%

  • Oh so terrible...

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • I have the musical ear of a gnat and therefore everything sounds "eh" to me.

    Votes: 2 12.5%
  • Total voters
    16
M

Mark Olson

Inactive
Mar 19, 2008
3,080
19
Michigan
soundcloud.com
#1
These are soundclips of the Danelectro Fab Tone Distortion pedal, the big metal one that costs only $50. It has long been on of my favorite secret weapons (as used by Rhonda Smith and Prince, notably). These soundclips are not for the faint of heart, and some of you won't understand why anyone would want to sound like this... those few of you are just jealous you don't sound this SWEET, if you know what I mean. You probably don't. Ok anyway here we go Danelectro Fab Tone SG Bass both pickups:

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That's just a warmup. Listen in this next clip for when the powerchords hit:

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Ugh. Doesn't that just make you want to drink some gasoline? Or punch a hole in a wall? Probably not. Ok those last two clips were played with a pick, but the Dano Fab Tone can also make you fingerstyle players sound SWEET. Check it:

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WHOA. There's virtually no difference between that and the pickstyle clip. The Fab Tone doesn't care what you play, it can make anything sound SWEET. Let's try some tapping!

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Oh man! That was just beautiful! How many nps?

And just in case putfile isn't working for you, I've uploaded all of these clips here:

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So YOU TOO! can enjoy the amazingness of my 5k nps tapping wizardry!
 
#3
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Actually it's that one. Still only fifty bucks though. Dano's old series of metal pedals had some good deals in it, the Cool Cat Chorus is cool, and I know some people like the Dano Daddy-O Overdrive. But I mean, fifty bucks, and it's actually used by Rhonda Smith and Prince. How sweet is that? I mean, it sounds like what it sounds like, but it does a pretty good job at it I think. Has a two band EQ with Bass and Treble and if you max out the Bass knob it actually has a pretty beefy sound, if that's not evidenced by my clips. Has a lot of amp-like dimensions to it too, even though it's mostly a high gain amp kind of sound, it sounds a lot more amplike than some pedals I've owned that cost four times as much.

But yeah, I do have a facebook, but I don't really use it much at all. I should be on a Northern Michigan University or Michigan Technological University networks, or some such.
 
#8
Yes it is a Gibson SG Bass, and I would again like to note that I am using both pickups on that bass (those of you familiar with my clips will know I often like to use only the bridge pickup). Well, to be more precise, the neck pickup was rolled off just a little bit for the first clip. Big deal.

Anyways, I didn't ask for opinions because I'm pretty decided in my opinions about this pedal, but, really, this isn't one of those pedals you just say "eh, ok" about. Either you think it's awesome or you think it's terrible. So please, speak up! I'd be really happy if I could get one person to say it sounds awesome AND one person to say it sounds terrible!

Me? I think it's awesome enough that I want to take it to a gig, but it's so terrible that I won't. But I guess it really depends on the audience whether bringing it would be a good idea or not.
 
#9
Ok I made it easy for you, you don't even have to respond to the thread, just vote in the poll, just make a little click with your mouse. The poll by the way is private so no one will know how you voted. I also made it possible to vote for multiple options in case any of you are torn, as I am.

And one more thing... THERE WILL BE NO CARROTS OPTION. Thank you.

For me, I vote oh so terrible. So you can vote that way and not feel bad about it, seriously. It would seem to me at the juncture that not a lot of people understood the musical joke I was trying to make, either that, or they thought it was lame, and I can't blame anybody for not having such a refined sense of humor as one such as me... ;)
 
#10
Thanks to those of you who've voted, I appreciate the feedback. I'd really like to hear from some more people, I mean, seriously, what's the deal?

And, in all seriousness, is there anyone who thinks this pedal is worth using in my live rig? Or anyone with an opinion on, say, how these clips compare to the Fulltone OCD clips I did? Obviously I have my tastes but does anyone actually prefer these sounds to the Fulltone OCD clips?
 
#11
Mark Olson said:
Thanks to those of you who've voted, I appreciate the feedback. I'd really like to hear from some more people, I mean, seriously, what's the deal?

And, in all seriousness, is there anyone who thinks this pedal is worth using in my live rig? Or anyone with an opinion on, say, how these clips compare to the Fulltone OCD clips I did? Obviously I have my tastes but does anyone actually prefer these sounds to the Fulltone OCD clips?
Click to expand...

It's certainly a nasty (in a good way) tone, with lots of rich harmonics and such, but I like my distortion crunchy, gritty, and grainy, like a marshall plexi for bass. I much prefer the OCD clips, but that's me. To me, the OCD sounded less compressed (depends on what you like in heavy dirt, but I like less compression) and more open sounding, as well as dynamic.
 
#12
I like the OCD way better because it doesn't make me sound like Mick Mars. Sorry Mötley Crüe fans. Truth is I just don't have the chops to do that kind of stuff for real.

So I guess I'd ask, I know I feel this way, but don't you think the OCD has a more appropriate vibe for what I do? Or do you think anything can work, really? I'm not actually too sure...
 
#14
Mark Olson said:
I like the OCD way better because it doesn't make me sound like Mick Mars. Sorry Mötley Crüe fans. Truth is I just don't have the chops to do that kind of stuff for real.

So I guess I'd ask, I know I feel this way, but don't you think the OCD has a more appropriate vibe for what I do? Or do you think anything can work, really? I'm not actually too sure...
Click to expand...

Yes I absolutely think the OCD has a more appropriate vibe for what you do.
 
#15
Ok, thanks, then I'm not the only one! Good. It's just difficult, I mean I've played with a lot of different people and most of the people I've played with would probably think of it as a funny joke if I took out the Fab Tone and started tapping away, but then there's some people I've played with that would probably mess their pants upon hearing that because they would think it's so awesome. I just wonder how many people there are out there like that that don't comprehend the musical aesthetic I try to work towards, if that makes any sense.
 
#17
Yeah, it's definitely a sweet deal for a pedal. And I mean, I've kept my Fab Tone for several years... I've had very few effects that have lasted as long in my collection. I even got rid of my Boss TU-2's because I needed some money, but I've never really thought of selling the Fab Tone... it's a great secret weapon.
 
#18
In case you'd be curious to hear it and you didn't notice I've got another wah clip up on here with the Fab Tone:

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That one with the Wilson 12 Position Bass Q Wah.

Also thanks for the new votes on here, it seems that people like the sounds I get with this pedal. So I'm inclined to write some pieces of music that incorporate it and if I get anything cool I put it up so you can listen.
 
#20
Unfortunately I didn't think to try this pedal with the Xotic X-Blender I had (which is an amazing pedal), but I can only imagine that you could get some pretty cool tones using the Fab Tone with a clean blend. I'll have to pick up another X-Blender sometime or something and try that out.
 

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