My favorite thing is when you shootout two pedals that are the same circuit and the sound doesn’t change at all. Maybe it’s the piss poor and angry punk kid still deep inside me but I love when something super cheap is just as good as the more expensive version.
After 40 years of playing, I'll be honest: Josh, I never really know what you're talking about half the time, nor can I tell the difference between all the different fuzz/overdrive/distortion pedals, I just really enjoy the way you tell the story. I'd probably tune in to listen to you read a Mackie manual.
Hi Corey, I do both synth and guitar and do a little electronic work on each and I concur that I seem to be turning into a Josh fanboy and that feels somewhat disturbing 🤣
*Josh when he knows the pedal’s history:* “I want to share this with all of you because it’s interesting to learn about and know what this pedal really is” *Josh when he doesn’t know the pedal’s history:* “If I’m going down, I’m taking you all with me”
WHAT ABOUT FUZZLORD? ARIS EFFECTS from Canada, Catalainbread? Thank you for all you do, I have been in recovery over a decade and this is the first hobby I have had since that brings me Joy, LOVE PEDALS!
Me watching josh budget pedal video Josh : "it's just $25. You have $25 right?" Me : yes i do and let me order 1 right away" Goes online shopping "The pedal is $90" My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined
The FAB Fuzz was my first fuzz pedal. A few years ago I went to a music store to get some new strings and was looking at the pedals they had and noticed that they had this Danelectro fuzz for $15.00 new and it was a cool purple color. Before that I’d never played a fuzz pedal before and thought this would be a good way to see if I’d like fuzz or not especially at 15 bucks. Got it and thought it sounded cool and stopped getting overdrive/ts style pedals and fell in love with fuzz! About a year after having the FAB fuzz I got a Big Muff and last week I got a Fuzzface all because of the FAB Fuzz
I always thought the grunge bands were a mix of metal, and punk. Alice in Chains was more on the metal side(they even opened on the Clash of the Titans Tour in '90 with Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. Thrash metal itself had more punk in it than traditional metal) , and Nirvana more on the punk side.
17:26 the distortion pedal was maybe an Amdek . Got it 1980..sounds eerily similar. They were sold as kits. Hence the tiny company moniker. They sold full products range later years and quit when boss pedals first came out.
I just traced the circuit of mine. It's a copy of a Maxon DS-830. Not quite a clone, but nearly part-for-part. I think the later Cool Cat Distortion, with its bass boost control is an even closer copy of the Maxon.
@@RobMods Shame, my guess was the Bixonic Expandora based on the reissue part of the description but I couldn't tell you whether they were around in the 70s or not.
It was my first pedal too!!! Loved it. Then I buyed a cool cat drive, still have It. Back then their price was by far the most accesible. I wouldnt had buyed pedals when i was a teen
My 2nd one! I think all of us were like “ok I want to play the verse of smells like teens spirit just like Kurt” but a small clone was too much for us at 12
Had mine on my board with no plans to replace it at all until I got an original CE-2 in a trade like a week ago. I love them. I remember sneaking into my grandma's closet in the 8th grade and seeing five FAB pedals and a really cheap board I was getting for Christmas and I've been chasing that high ever since.
The "Butcher Cover" was the Beatles' protest against how Capital "butchered" their albums and repackaged songs or changed tracklisting for the US market.
That's good to know. With some of the recent "Celebrities drink blood and eat babies to stay looking young" videos I've seen lately I was beginning to fear that the cover was some kind of signaling and that Paul was a Satanist.
Capitol did butcher the albums for the US market. This of course wasn't unique to the Beatles, but the difference is that even after their first two albums, the Beatles were as conscious about the LPs as they were about their singles. Capitol USA only cared about singles, so they reconfigured the British albums in hopes of increasing the charting of singles in the US. That did away with tracking and even album mastering. To be fair, though, Yesterday...and Today is a great album.
Years ago, I actually emailed Danelectro directly to ask what this mom & pop store was and what the FAB Overdrive pedal was based on. They replied- "Hi [Capt. PostModern] Actually I don’t know the exact pedal that this is referring to. I believe it could be one of the pedals that the president of our company made in his early days. There is an article in June issue of the Music Trades magazine about his career. The article mentions some of the pedals and products that he developed early on. This is the title of the article: The Amazing Snark Story: How Steve Ridinger Took Lessons Learned as a Teenage Entrepreneur, a Failed Songwriter, and a Pastor to Create a String of Top-Selling Products thanks for your interest."
I don’t use chorus much so I went cheap when I needed one. I’ve had the FAB Chorus on my board for about 5 years. It’s great for the 80’s ballad sound. Feel free to judge me. 😁
The FAB distortion was my first pedal. I plugged my Sebring strat copy into that and a Peavey bandit. Tourtued my parents with punk rock in the basement good times.
Danelectro will always be a near an dear brand to my heart. When I was just starting to play guitar their CoolCat line was the only thing that I could afford. Still have my CoolCat Drive too. That thing sounds sick.
I bought a FAB Distortion a few years ago at a chain pawn shop for $15 Australian (which is about eight bucks in current US money) and never thought much of it, pretty much confined it to a drawer. However, I'd only ever used it with my Fender Strat. So after watching this video I decided to drag it out and 'cos I've got my Les Paul (copy) hooked up at the moment, I used that, it sounded well.... absolutely FAB! Really chunky and growly. I then tried it with my Strat for comparison and ahh, no thanks. But yes to the guitar with the humbucker. Now I've totally reconsidered that pedal and I'm definitely gonna use it on a recording. Thanks JHS Pedals!
Also, wasn’t going to spend any more on pedals for a while and due to this video searched for a Fab Metal and found one available in my area. You’re a bad man Josh.
This pedal line was my introduction into guitar pedals. My first pedalboard consisted of about seven or eight of these. I have a deep regard for these in my heart, despite their low quality in certain models
Now that I have gone back and watched essentially every single episode on this channel.. I've never been more happy to see yet another one. Josh is an awesome human
I love chorus pedals. I've played probably upwards of 50 different units. The FAB chorus is tied with my Strymon for my favourite chorus ever. I own 3 of them because I worry about breaking one and having to be without it.
I really enjoyed this episode, like many others. If I was a history grad student , you'd be my external thesis advisor. I do love your delivery style, too. As for Dano pedals, could you do a similar episode on the 'FOOD Pedals'? And maybe the Dano pedal boards? You've given my metal pedal a new lease. Thanks, man!
I sold all my FAB pedals in the last few months as I got back into playing more regularly. Well, all except the Distortion, which I took apart and ripped some piece of foil that was a grounding bit. If I'd known you were doing this, I'd have waited :)
I used to have the whole set but I've been trying to scale back my collection to what I actually use. The Overdrive and Chorus are definitely the most usable, Distortion is okay for what it is. I truly despised the flanger though, never had a pedal made me feel so stupid for not being able to dial in a usable sound - and I like weird flangers.
The FAB Distortion is one of my favourite pedals ever, such a good sound for so little money. Always nice to have choices validated, thank you Josh. \m/
I literally purchased the Fab Distortion from my local music store for $16 after watching this video. That thing is wicked. A friend of mine had a Danelectro Sitar Swami. It was one of the big metal enclosed pedals. That was another cool ass pedal. Made the strangest sounds.
Love your videos Josh! You should do a video on the Catalinbread "foundation overdrives" and maybe some other Catalinbread stuff like the belle epoch. Ive tried quite a few of the foundation overdrives and I love them. The real key to me is that they are able to react like a real amp would in instances where say you put fuzz or an echoplex, or your unicorn which I use, in front of the drive.
Interesting. The Pigtronix Fat Drive is CMOS & I believe the Way Huge Red Llama maybe also (possibly the old EHX Hot Tubes as well IIRC), but they are both more in the overdrive camp.
I bought a fab fuzz last week after seeing the video "who is Danelectro?" and I'm so happy with this line that now I want the delay and the flanger haha. THIS VIDEO FELL FROM THE SKY, YOU ARE READING MY MIND. what would be the best pedal of this line to replace a uni vibe?
@@Merlincat007 I had one - it's great. But they've gotten expensive. I love and collect the food mini-pedals, but I only buy when they're cheap. I have not come across a cheap Chicken Salad.
@@Merlincat007 Cheapest Chicken Salad I could find online in Australia is $260.00 I lucked out on a Cool Cat for $100.00. What a beast! I could barely lift it out of the box.
Brings me back to my old fab chorus days. Crazy bass bump, thick as sh*t and hummed like an aeroplane but I adored that chorus .. Until I got a boss ch1 and realised that chorus could sound clean and sparkly 😅 but could never get that thick rich chorus tone from anything else.. Has its place 😍
Oh Josh. The Distortion reminds me of my friend with whom I've started my first band ever. It was his very first pedal. We were just 15-16, I wish he would still be here...
The FAB overdrive was my first pedal. Used it to push the crunch channel of my Marshall MG100DFX, which was also my first real amp. I cherish Danelectro, somehow.
The FAB pedals have a futuristic galaxy kind of look to me which I love. I got the FAB Metal & I love the way it sounds. I hope to add more FAB pedals to my collection. Thank you Josh for sharing info about these pedals & really cool review 🎸🎛🌌⭐️
I recently decided to switch out my DS-1 for my FAB Distortion. This video got me interested, but the Rob Mods video about it is what really made me decide. Cool seeing the original pedal it’s probably based on. This channel has gotten me very interested in pedals tho. Been having a lot of fun mixing up my board. There are still a handful of pedals I want to try out tho. Some for just messing around with, but others for potential permanent additions to my board.
You can never go wrong with The White Album. "Everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey" is still my favorite name of a song ever. And the riff's pretty catchy too
I think I might still have one of their t-shirts. My late-wife's name was Nadine and I got it for her. I went to the store to get it but I don't remember it.
FAB distortion is easily in my top 2 favourite distortion pedals and I was really hoping you were going to uncover the mystery of its origins, but no dice.
I have the fab chorus and love it! It stacks up really well to my Line6 m9 choruses and even my MXR analog chorus. Great buy and another awesome vid from JHS! Happy Friday all!
I would love for you to show the Dano Cool Cat pedals. They too have so many great stories about their borrowed designs. The best being their short lived Fuzz that was a rip of the Frantone Peach Fuzz. Ol' Fran would have none of it ...she successfully sued.Yes there was a v.2 ...but it was a different circuit. The Cool Cat 'Peach' v.1 is total killer!!! I have one ...in mint condition too. Fran is retired a show on her pedals would be great. She even designed the current Big Muff referred to as the NYC Muff.
@@binky777 I have collected pedals for about 8 years now. I was buying about 3 or 4 every month. Many between two and three hundred. I keep the very best then sell the others. I got up to about 130 pedals and stared to really cherry pick. I am now down to 66 keepers. The Dano is still one of them. I have 2 boards linked so I gig with all of them lol. But I use everyone at every gig.
The FAB Delay was the first pedal I ever got, it arrived just in time for our high school battle of the bands (which we won!). I have had many other delays since then which have all the bells and whistles, but nothing beats the 3 control simplicity and reliability of my FAB delay. It's still on my board.
One budget pedal brand that I love is donner pedals. I have the chorus, tremolo and delay and their all great and very compact. Could do a whole gif on mini pedals
I regret selling my FAB distortion, but I still have my FAB chorus. I use the chorus every so often. They were my first two pedals - like many guitarists it all started there.
I am in a 3 piece Metal band and I modded a Airline Stratotone H88 Doublet with a HB at the bridge and it sustains longer than my reissue 59 LP Special ...and thru my Plexi can remove the back wall in a club ..LOL
This blew my mind. I remember the FAB series just from the Chorus.. which sounded a lot better in this video than it did when my friend plugged his in. I'm amazed at the slap delay. It's the exact right setting of the Ampex tape machine slap effect that everyone got from letting the record head be silent and the play back head sound... and then mix it in with the original. 110ms? I'm all about Sun Records slap... and so is Brian Setzer. That one is really special. That overdrive did sound fantastic ( I almost applied at Nadine's when I was probably too young to handle the job) but that Distortion reminds me of a TIM pedal really gained up... maybe a Sean Michael OD Eleven. That fuzz is going to haunt me too. That sounded so ... I dunno 90s but also 70s at the same time. Maybe buy Josh's "Haunting Mids" to give it various characters? This was a great video ending with the Beatles. Here's the deal on Yesterday and Today (Y&T) it was a Capitol Records USA slap in the fact (one of many) to the Beatles who wanted only the records they made in the UK to be their records worldwide. Capitol capitalized on their enormous popularity by splitting up their albums which usually had 14 tracks to 10 track albums with a followup album made of what was held back and other Beatles singles. The FABS were pissed and took a rebellious "art" cover in protest. The photo you see with Paul in a packing crate was them having to go back and "do it right"... look at those F-U expressions on their faces and un retouched pimples. Help is as different from Revolver as St. Vincent is from Taylor Swift. Help is from 65, Rubber Soul is from 65, Revolver is 66... This record butchers or chops up those 3 records into one collection that the FABS protested.
Josh Scott, destroyer of used the effects market. Lol. He should do a history of all the versions of big muff. I’d be interested in what he could dig up.
I think he pretty much did... he, fur sure, made a video of his Muffalatto: which IS a hisStory of The Big Muff. Would like to hear the new EHX Rams Head against the Maffalata. And whatever other versions (Wren and Cuff ?
I have a Danelectro FAB Distortion and FAB Chorus that I’ve had since I first started playing guitar and I still use them to this day (mainly the chorus cuz my distortion sound is a BOSS Blues Driver)
I genuinely appreciate you making me feel a little better about keeping my collection of old, metal cased Danelectros around. haha I was thinking I was the only one who still kinda liked them.
I started playing guitar in 2005 and the FAB flange and chorus were two of the earlier pedals I owned! This was cool to see and cooler to hear. Always love the great info in these videos
Jack's suck. Sounds great. Jack's break and pedal is now a door stop. My chorus is barely holding on. Breathe on the jack and wham o! Disconnected guitar plug sound!
TheDmonet Have owned mine for years and never had an issue. The knobs suck, however, otherwise they’ve been bulletproof. Meanwhile some newer boutique’ stuff has gone back to the shop, or been replaced. Go figure.
@@LorSTApunk07 The jack issue on the original Dano line is very common and well known. I would rather have a plastic case and metal jacks like boss vs metal case and surface mounted Jack's. unless you jump up and down in the case like a baboon you should be fine.
The Danelectro episode with Steve Ridinger does cover some of this briefly. There’s a story about EVH trying the (bread-boarded?) prototype for the Dan Echo.
WHHYYYY did you start playing the “Record Time” music while still talking about pedals?!?! I forgot what time zone I was in and now I’m late for work! #NotCool #StillKindaCool
Josh - thanks for this! I got a fab chorus, overdrive and distortion when they were all I could afford. I still have them but replaced the OD with a TS and the chorus with an Electric Mistress (chorus+flange) but the distortion remains on my board. I use it before the other dirt pedals as a "treble-booster" with the tone dimed and the distortion zero to one... boost (level) to taste - sounds great and makes the other pedals sound AWESOME! Thanks again for the lowdown on this great (and STILL affordable) series of pedals!
I have a few Fab Distortions scattered through guitar cases as a backup should my pedalboard ever take a dump on me. It's a really versatile - and yeah, really cheap - dirt pedal.
Josh- you should talk more about circuit topology. Like with that mystery distortion at the end. You shoulda showed us the circuit and why you didn't think it was the ones you mentioned. Cater to us, EE nerds.
@@josephmartin8169 listen i am totally okay with people not caring about certain genres of music. i just think if you reference something that you arent super educated about there is a chance you come off the wrong way. totally cool to not like carly or pop but she is definitely an indie pop icon and her music is important to that scene. i would also so please dont put off "pop" music as a whole if you have never delved into the indie scene. but all in all, i agree with you.
Josh, please keep bringing more unknown pedals as a comparison to the ones you focus on the video! That Earth Sound Research Graphic Fuzz is K I L L E R loved it!!
we all know that when jhs does a video, the prices of the pedals featured in the video immediately sky rocket. i have a solution i think everyone will be pleased with. jhs must keep doing videos until all the pedals in existence have been featured. you're welcome
Grunge was anti- 80s hairmetal. So that's not a conundrum, but i found something that is about this pedal. It's made of plastic and yet it says metal, is plastic metal? Or is metal plastic? Lol.
I've had Danelectro pedals on my board for 25 years, never knew the FAB series was part of that company. Thank you so much for the demo I'm loving the Echo (slapback)and the red distortion.
I only ever owned one of these...the fab distortion. I plugged it in for a larf at the first shop where I taught and was actually kind of shocked that it sounded like something. So there it was. A fab distortion driving my crate v30 head into a blue voodoo cab (yes...I was quite poor back in 2006). But it sounded pretty decent, if memory serves me correctly. This line is kind of an earlier iteration of the joyo business model: cloning classic circuits and selling them DIRT cheap.
My favorite thing is when you shootout two pedals that are the same circuit and the sound doesn’t change at all. Maybe it’s the piss poor and angry punk kid still deep inside me but I love when something super cheap is just as good as the more expensive version.
*agrees in aging punk*
I have lots of cheap pedals that work just fine. To me, if it sounds good it is good. Doesn’t Josh say that?
That's why I really like Behringer products. Affordable gear and very decent quality.
@@keithhampton9700The SF300 super fuzz and the TM300 Tube amp modeller are both absolutely terrific pedals.
After 40 years of playing, I'll be honest: Josh, I never really know what you're talking about half the time, nor can I tell the difference between all the different fuzz/overdrive/distortion pedals, I just really enjoy the way you tell the story. I'd probably tune in to listen to you read a Mackie manual.
Samsies. Josh is just a rad dude.
The sad truth is that "feel" is the largest difference between most overdrive pedals.
I'm a synth head that found Josh accidentally and can't quit him. I don't even own a guitar lmao.
I do all my effects through a Line 6 pedalboard, lol, I don't use boxes at all anymore.
Hi Corey, I do both synth and guitar and do a little electronic work on each and I concur that I seem to be turning into a Josh fanboy and that feels somewhat disturbing 🤣
*Josh when he knows the pedal’s history:* “I want to share this with all of you because it’s interesting to learn about and know what this pedal really is”
*Josh when he doesn’t know the pedal’s history:* “If I’m going down, I’m taking you all with me”
I was shocked by the Hitchcock twist at the ending. I sure hope that there is an adequate resolution, and we have not heard the end of this. 🔎
WHAT ABOUT FUZZLORD? ARIS EFFECTS from Canada, Catalainbread? Thank you for all you do, I have been in recovery over a decade and this is the first hobby I have had since that brings me Joy, LOVE PEDALS!
This is why I come here.
@@H82BUagain Jason @ Fuzzlord makes great pedals and he's pretty cool dude. I love my Void Master.
HEY IF YOU'RE GOING DOWN , TAKE SOME WITH YOU. ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT DESERVE TO GO DOWN AS WELL 😜
Josh: "You know, I'm not really a fan of pedals that have 'Metal' in the name"
Also Josh: "anyway here's my board that's just ten Metal Zones"
So, are these going to be a hundred bucks on reverb now?
Yes
But still also be $20 on Amazon. That's how economics works, right?
These are still in production.
99
*laughs in 18v DC-1*
" I saw one of these used for $7"
Goes to Reverb.
$43.
This is called the "Josh Scott Effect"
Me watching josh budget pedal video
Josh : "it's just $25. You have $25 right?"
Me : yes i do and let me order 1 right away"
Goes online shopping
"The pedal is $90"
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined
Reverb tends to be mad overpriced - check Guitar Center or Sam Ash's used stuff online - these are going for $20 or less.
ebay $20-30
+$45 shipping
The FAB Flanger is the first pedal I bought, back in like 2010. Had some stupid fun running cassette players through it at settings all the way up
Wow Very interesting usage.
In regards to Paul on the album cover "he has the box". Lol. Missed it
"Paul had the box"
Perfect!!!
It’s incredibly rare finding a McCartney with its original packaging like that
@@Apophis392 of course it is.
The FAB Fuzz was my first fuzz pedal. A few years ago I went to a music store to get some new strings and was looking at the pedals they had and noticed that they had this Danelectro fuzz for $15.00 new and it was a cool purple color. Before that I’d never played a fuzz pedal before and thought this would be a good way to see if I’d like fuzz or not especially at 15 bucks. Got it and thought it sounded cool and stopped getting overdrive/ts style pedals and fell in love with fuzz! About a year after having the FAB fuzz I got a Big Muff and last week I got a Fuzzface all because of the FAB Fuzz
Gateway Fuzz.
Danelectro pedals are the gateway-pedals!
Love some fuzz buzz
Bro I went through a similar thing with the exact same pedal. Blew 16 year old me away
Grunge tried to kill the metal. THEY FAILED because the metal was actually grunge.
I love how jack sings about grunge with dave grohl playing drums on the track
@@Ottophil Absolutely didn't know Dave played drums on that. Thank you
The Chad Pad hes the devil , didnt you ever see the video?
Big bad metal robot enters dancing
I always thought the grunge bands were a mix of metal, and punk. Alice in Chains was more on the metal side(they even opened on the Clash of the Titans Tour in '90 with Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. Thrash metal itself had more punk in it than traditional metal) , and Nirvana more on the punk side.
Have you not asked the owner of Danelectro? You guys seem friendly.
It was 15 years ago, maybe there's no one left in the company who knows all the details about these?!
17:26 the distortion pedal was maybe an Amdek . Got it 1980..sounds eerily similar. They were sold as kits. Hence the tiny company moniker. They sold full products range later years and quit when boss pedals first came out.
I just traced the circuit of mine. It's a copy of a Maxon DS-830. Not quite a clone, but nearly part-for-part. I think the later Cool Cat Distortion, with its bass boost control is an even closer copy of the Maxon.
@@RobMods Shame, my guess was the Bixonic Expandora based on the reissue part of the description but I couldn't tell you whether they were around in the 70s or not.
@moo4983 There is a video on my channel where I mod and rehouse one of these it is called "What is the Danelectro Fab Distortion Based On?".
The FAB Chorus was my first ever pedal, and I really enjoyed it.
Mine too still use it from time to time!!!
It was my first pedal too!!! Loved it. Then I buyed a cool cat drive, still have It. Back then their price was by far the most accesible. I wouldnt had buyed pedals when i was a teen
My 2nd one! I think all of us were like “ok I want to play the verse of smells like teens spirit just like Kurt” but a small clone was too much for us at 12
Had mine on my board with no plans to replace it at all until I got an original CE-2 in a trade like a week ago. I love them. I remember sneaking into my grandma's closet in the 8th grade and seeing five FAB pedals and a really cheap board I was getting for Christmas and I've been chasing that high ever since.
I just got one for the fun of it. It’s fun.
The "Butcher Cover" was the Beatles' protest against how Capital "butchered" their albums and repackaged songs or changed tracklisting for the US market.
That's good to know. With some of the recent "Celebrities drink blood and eat babies to stay looking young" videos I've seen lately I was beginning to fear that the cover was some kind of signaling and that Paul was a Satanist.
And it's sitting right in his hands under the sticker on top of the album!
Capitol did butcher the albums for the US market. This of course wasn't unique to the Beatles, but the difference is that even after their first two albums, the Beatles were as conscious about the LPs as they were about their singles. Capitol USA only cared about singles, so they reconfigured the British albums in hopes of increasing the charting of singles in the US. That did away with tracking and even album mastering. To be fair, though, Yesterday...and Today is a great album.
Isn't this also referred to as the white album?
I thought they covered the butcher cover with a white sheet.
@@Mark70609 No. The White Album, or "The Beatles" was a British and American release several years later.
Years ago, I actually emailed Danelectro directly to ask what this mom & pop store was and what the FAB Overdrive pedal was based on. They replied-
"Hi [Capt. PostModern]
Actually I don’t know the exact pedal that this is referring to. I believe it could be one of the pedals that the president of our company made in his early days.
There is an article in June issue of the Music Trades magazine about his career. The article mentions some of the pedals and products that he developed early on.
This is the title of the article:
The Amazing Snark Story: How Steve Ridinger Took Lessons Learned as a Teenage Entrepreneur, a Failed Songwriter, and a Pastor to Create a String of Top-Selling Products
thanks for your interest."
I don’t use chorus much so I went cheap when I needed one. I’ve had the FAB Chorus on my board for about 5 years. It’s great for the 80’s ballad sound. Feel free to judge me. 😁
No judgement here dude... I almost always play with chorus, all of my favorite guitarists came from the 80s. I think my friends hate it.
Here before the price skyrockets bc of Josh
Those overdrives might jump up to $25!
@@wyssmaster if we're lucky.
Must say this is one of my favorite episodes, can totally see how much Josh cares for pedals
The FAB distortion was my first pedal. I plugged my Sebring strat copy into that and a Peavey bandit. Tourtued my parents with punk rock in the basement good times.
Danelectro will always be a near an dear brand to my heart. When I was just starting to play guitar their CoolCat line was the only thing that I could afford. Still have my CoolCat Drive too. That thing sounds sick.
it's essentially an OCD clone
I bought a FAB Distortion a few years ago at a chain pawn shop for $15 Australian (which is about eight bucks in current US money) and never thought much of it, pretty much confined it to a drawer. However, I'd only ever used it with my Fender Strat. So after watching this video I decided to drag it out and 'cos I've got my Les Paul (copy) hooked up at the moment, I used that, it sounded well.... absolutely FAB! Really chunky and growly. I then tried it with my Strat for comparison and ahh, no thanks. But yes to the guitar with the humbucker. Now I've totally reconsidered that pedal and I'm definitely gonna use it on a recording. Thanks JHS Pedals!
Also, wasn’t going to spend any more on pedals for a while and due to this video searched for a Fab Metal and found one available in my area. You’re a bad man Josh.
you can buy all of them new from Sweetwater
This pedal line was my introduction into guitar pedals. My first pedalboard consisted of about seven or eight of these. I have a deep regard for these in my heart, despite their low quality in certain models
Now that I have gone back and watched essentially every single episode on this channel.. I've never been more happy to see yet another one. Josh is an awesome human
I love chorus pedals. I've played probably upwards of 50 different units. The FAB chorus is tied with my Strymon for my favourite chorus ever. I own 3 of them because I worry about breaking one and having to be without it.
Is the FAB Chorus analog or digital? Seems to be conflicting information when I've googled it....
It blows my mind how good these pedals sound.
Also, I live for my Fab Chorus
Your honesty is refreshing. Did you determine what circuit the first OD pedal was similar to or is an original design?
I really enjoyed this episode, like many others. If I was a history grad student , you'd be my external thesis advisor. I do love your delivery style, too. As for Dano pedals, could you do a similar episode on the 'FOOD Pedals'? And maybe the Dano pedal boards? You've given my metal pedal a new lease. Thanks, man!
I sold all my FAB pedals in the last few months as I got back into playing more regularly. Well, all except the Distortion, which I took apart and ripped some piece of foil that was a grounding bit. If I'd known you were doing this, I'd have waited :)
I used to have the whole set but I've been trying to scale back my collection to what I actually use. The Overdrive and Chorus are definitely the most usable, Distortion is okay for what it is. I truly despised the flanger though, never had a pedal made me feel so stupid for not being able to dial in a usable sound - and I like weird flangers.
The Fab Flanger is basically a Rubber Band in a box
The FAB Distortion is one of my favourite pedals ever, such a good sound for so little money. Always nice to have choices validated, thank you Josh. \m/
nope its a maxon distortion master
I literally purchased the Fab Distortion from my local music store for $16 after watching this video. That thing is wicked.
A friend of mine had a Danelectro Sitar Swami. It was one of the big metal enclosed pedals. That was another cool ass pedal. Made the strangest sounds.
Love your videos Josh! You should do a video on the Catalinbread "foundation overdrives" and maybe some other Catalinbread stuff like the belle epoch. Ive tried quite a few of the foundation overdrives and I love them. The real key to me is that they are able to react like a real amp would in instances where say you put fuzz or an echoplex, or your unicorn which I use, in front of the drive.
The FAB fuzz is such an interesting circuit. I've never seen a fuzz run off CMOS instead of transistors.
Interesting. The Pigtronix Fat Drive is CMOS & I believe the Way Huge Red Llama maybe also (possibly the old EHX Hot Tubes as well IIRC), but they are both more in the overdrive camp.
This is the craziest most controversial episode yet!!! Favorite Fab 4 album: Revolver.
I bought a fab fuzz last week after seeing the video "who is Danelectro?" and I'm so happy with this line that now I want the delay and the flanger haha. THIS VIDEO FELL FROM THE SKY, YOU ARE READING MY MIND. what would be the best pedal of this line to replace a uni vibe?
I don't know about this line, but the Chicken Salad is a great optical univibe!
@@Merlincat007 yes for the money it is ... but not easy to find - look for shakey jimi
@@Merlincat007 I had one - it's great. But they've gotten expensive. I love and collect the food mini-pedals, but I only buy when they're cheap. I have not come across a cheap Chicken Salad.
@@Merlincat007 Cheapest Chicken Salad I could find online in Australia is $260.00
I lucked out on a Cool Cat for $100.00. What a beast! I could barely lift it out of the box.
@@jonathandranoff1721 Yep. None around atm.
Brings me back to my old fab chorus days. Crazy bass bump, thick as sh*t and hummed like an aeroplane but I adored that chorus .. Until I got a boss ch1 and realised that chorus could sound clean and sparkly 😅 but could never get that thick rich chorus tone from anything else.. Has its place 😍
Somehow that Fab chorus is one of the best sounding choruses
Oh Josh. The Distortion reminds me of my friend with whom I've started my first band ever. It was his very first pedal. We were just 15-16, I wish he would still be here...
The FAB overdrive was my first pedal. Used it to push the crunch channel of my Marshall MG100DFX, which was also my first real amp. I cherish Danelectro, somehow.
The FAB pedals have a futuristic galaxy kind of look to me which I love. I got the FAB Metal & I love the way it sounds. I hope to add more FAB pedals to my collection. Thank you Josh for sharing info about these pedals & really cool review 🎸🎛🌌⭐️
I feel like we heard a lot of "When I Come Around" variations today.
I recently decided to switch out my DS-1 for my FAB Distortion. This video got me interested, but the Rob Mods video about it is what really made me decide. Cool seeing the original pedal it’s probably based on.
This channel has gotten me very interested in pedals tho. Been having a lot of fun mixing up my board. There are still a handful of pedals I want to try out tho. Some for just messing around with, but others for potential permanent additions to my board.
You can never go wrong with The White Album. "Everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey" is still my favorite name of a song ever. And the riff's pretty catchy too
Really? I always thought of that as the worst Beatles song. But what do I know. I'll give it another go.
Sold a lot of these when I worked in a store back in 07 08. Sound wise, they were there for sure.
The Fab Distortion is a semi faithful Maxon Distortion Master DS830
Nadine's!!!! An LA icon, sorely missed... spent many hours there, wishing I could by this or that...thanks for the memory!
I think I might still have one of their t-shirts. My late-wife's name was Nadine and I got it for her. I went to the store to get it but I don't remember it.
FAB distortion is easily in my top 2 favourite distortion pedals and I was really hoping you were going to uncover the mystery of its origins, but no dice.
it's most likely the boss ds-1
It's not
I have the fab chorus and love it! It stacks up really well to my Line6 m9 choruses and even my MXR analog chorus. Great buy and another awesome vid from JHS! Happy Friday all!
I would love for you to show the Dano Cool Cat pedals. They too have so many great stories about their borrowed designs. The best being their short lived Fuzz that was a rip of the Frantone Peach Fuzz. Ol' Fran would have none of it ...she successfully sued.Yes there was a v.2 ...but it was a different circuit. The Cool Cat 'Peach' v.1 is total killer!!! I have one ...in mint condition too.
Fran is retired a show on her pedals would be great. She even designed the current Big Muff referred to as the NYC Muff.
I think Frantone is not getting the recognition that it deserves.
I sold my peach and keept the cool cat fuzz v.1. Such a cool pedal that i got for around 20$.
@@binky777 I have collected pedals for about 8 years now. I was buying about 3 or 4 every month. Many between two and three hundred. I keep the very best then sell the others. I got up to about 130 pedals and stared to really cherry pick. I am now down to 66 keepers. The Dano is still one of them. I have 2 boards linked so I gig with all of them lol. But I use everyone at every gig.
Wish I bought a few of these when they were around. I'd rather own those than Monoprice or Ali express pedals
The FAB Delay was the first pedal I ever got, it arrived just in time for our high school battle of the bands (which we won!).
I have had many other delays since then which have all the bells and whistles, but nothing beats the 3 control simplicity and reliability of my FAB delay.
It's still on my board.
One budget pedal brand that I love is donner pedals. I have the chorus, tremolo and delay and their all great and very compact. Could do a whole gif on mini pedals
I regret selling my FAB distortion, but I still have my FAB chorus. I use the chorus every so often. They were my first two pedals - like many guitarists it all started there.
danelectro revels in its affordability. cheap plastic with a specific, iconic sound. like the airline guitars of guitar pedals. and also guitars.
I am in a 3 piece Metal band and I modded a Airline Stratotone H88 Doublet with a HB at the bridge and it sustains longer than my reissue 59 LP Special ...and thru my Plexi can remove the back wall in a club ..LOL
This blew my mind. I remember the FAB series just from the Chorus.. which sounded a lot better in this video than it did when my friend plugged his in. I'm amazed at the slap delay. It's the exact right setting of the Ampex tape machine slap effect that everyone got from letting the record head be silent and the play back head sound... and then mix it in with the original. 110ms? I'm all about Sun Records slap... and so is Brian Setzer. That one is really special. That overdrive did sound fantastic ( I almost applied at Nadine's when I was probably too young to handle the job) but that Distortion reminds me of a TIM pedal really gained up... maybe a Sean Michael OD Eleven. That fuzz is going to haunt me too. That sounded so ... I dunno 90s but also 70s at the same time. Maybe buy Josh's "Haunting Mids" to give it various characters? This was a great video ending with the Beatles. Here's the deal on Yesterday and Today (Y&T) it was a Capitol Records USA slap in the fact (one of many) to the Beatles who wanted only the records they made in the UK to be their records worldwide. Capitol capitalized on their enormous popularity by splitting up their albums which usually had 14 tracks to 10 track albums with a followup album made of what was held back and other Beatles singles. The FABS were pissed and took a rebellious "art" cover in protest. The photo you see with Paul in a packing crate was them having to go back and "do it right"... look at those F-U expressions on their faces and un retouched pimples. Help is as different from Revolver as St. Vincent is from Taylor Swift. Help is from 65, Rubber Soul is from 65, Revolver is 66... This record butchers or chops up those 3 records into one collection that the FABS protested.
The Fab series is NO JOKE
This was the first pedal i ever had, FAB METAL and i never knew it was based on the grunge, thank you so much! Learned again with you. Love your work.
Josh Scott, destroyer of used the effects market. Lol.
He should do a history of all the versions of big muff. I’d be interested in what he could dig up.
I think he pretty much did... he, fur sure, made a video of his Muffalatto: which IS a hisStory of The Big Muff. Would like to hear the new EHX Rams Head against the Maffalata. And whatever other versions (Wren and Cuff ?
I have a Danelectro FAB Distortion and FAB Chorus that I’ve had since I first started playing guitar and I still use them to this day (mainly the chorus cuz my distortion sound is a BOSS Blues Driver)
Paul Mc Cartney.... HE's IN THE BOX
Ive had a fab chorus for 8 years now and I love that pedal
wait there was totally another clue there was a 300 dollar boutique pedal made recently around the release of the fab version
Yeah, who sold a $300 distortion pedal?
Vemuram?
smashallpots Vemuram is way too new of a company I think. The Fab Distortion is at least 13 years old at this point.
I genuinely appreciate you making me feel a little better about keeping my collection of old, metal cased Danelectros around. haha I was thinking I was the only one who still kinda liked them.
I'm in the process of replacing my Fab Distortion with a JHS Moonshine. Rubber Soul
This is some of your best work since January.
*i am a big fan of them, i just got the chorus a few days ago, it is surreal sounding!*
🕯🎃🕯
Probably one of the most entertaining videos yet! Great job.
As a professional copywriter, I hafta tip my hat to whoever at Danelectro wrote this stuff.
I started playing guitar in 2005 and the FAB flange and chorus were two of the earlier pedals I owned! This was cool to see and cooler to hear. Always love the great info in these videos
I literally just purchased the 600ms delay after the playing demo. Mesmerizing
Get another one and run them together!
I hear these are perfect for rehousing projects.
I tried the 600ms delay and its meh, at least usable but if u are short on money try the echo machine from behringer is really great
The FAB chorus is my favorite pedal from this line. It sits on my pedal board and it’s staying there.
I’d love to see the original Dano line on the show. Still have a Cool Cat, Fab Tone, and Dan Echo.
Jack's suck. Sounds great. Jack's break and pedal is now a door stop. My chorus is barely holding on. Breathe on the jack and wham o! Disconnected guitar plug sound!
TheDmonet Have owned mine for years and never had an issue. The knobs suck, however, otherwise they’ve been bulletproof. Meanwhile some newer boutique’ stuff has gone back to the shop, or been replaced. Go figure.
@@LorSTApunk07 The jack issue on the original Dano line is very common and well known. I would rather have a plastic case and metal jacks like boss vs metal case and surface mounted Jack's. unless you jump up and down in the case like a baboon you should be fine.
The Danelectro episode with Steve Ridinger does cover some of this briefly. There’s a story about EVH trying the (bread-boarded?) prototype for the Dan Echo.
Proud owner of a FAB Distortion, mi first ever distortion pedal, always loved it!
"On today's episode, I am sitting on my microphone."
Oh cool! I just caught up to the new video! Really awesome videos, bro.
WHHYYYY did you start playing the “Record Time” music while still talking about pedals?!?! I forgot what time zone I was in and now I’m late for work!
#NotCool #StillKindaCool
Josh - thanks for this! I got a fab chorus, overdrive and distortion when they were all I could afford. I still have them but replaced the OD with a TS and the chorus with an Electric Mistress (chorus+flange) but the distortion remains on my board. I use it before the other dirt pedals as a "treble-booster" with the tone dimed and the distortion zero to one... boost (level) to taste - sounds great and makes the other pedals sound AWESOME! Thanks again for the lowdown on this great (and STILL affordable) series of pedals!
I have a few Fab Distortions scattered through guitar cases as a backup should my pedalboard ever take a dump on me. It's a really versatile - and yeah, really cheap - dirt pedal.
Josh- you should talk more about circuit topology. Like with that mystery distortion at the end. You shoulda showed us the circuit and why you didn't think it was the ones you mentioned.
Cater to us, EE nerds.
Everyone knows that Liverpool's real fab 4 is called Carcass \m/
Always great Demo/Info, thanks.
Well, time for me to sell my FAB Flange off of the JHS Reverb Wave.
The FAB overdrive was my second pedal after the food series slapback (I went through two of them!). My first ever OD and now I have sooo many!
first off Josh, or should i call you Joshua, Carly Rae makes some of the best pop music out rn so please dont hate. Loved your vid tho
EMOTION IS A GREAT FUCKING ALBUM HERE HERE
@@josephmartin8169 listen i am totally okay with people not caring about certain genres of music. i just think if you reference something that you arent super educated about there is a chance you come off the wrong way. totally cool to not like carly or pop but she is definitely an indie pop icon and her music is important to that scene. i would also so please dont put off "pop" music as a whole if you have never delved into the indie scene. but all in all, i agree with you.
Josh, please keep bringing more unknown pedals as a comparison to the ones you focus on the video! That Earth Sound Research Graphic Fuzz is K I L L E R loved it!!
we all know that when jhs does a video, the prices of the pedals featured in the video immediately sky rocket. i have a solution i think everyone will be pleased with. jhs must keep doing videos until all the pedals in existence have been featured. you're welcome
Hey Josh ! great episode , is the boutique pedal the Fab distortion based on the Vertex Dynamic distortion?
Most of the copies sound actually a little bit better than the originals, or is that me?
My first ever pedals were the Chorus and the Overdrive from this lineup, the OD leaves something to be desired, but the chorus is absolutey great!
According to Tenacious D, "Grunge tried to kill the Metal.. they failed.."
Therefore, Grunge is not Metal.
Thanks for the video. 1 question, what is the song you're playing for the demo of the "Fab Fuzz" aka the Joker Pedal??
Grunge was anti- 80s hairmetal. So that's not a conundrum, but i found something that is about this pedal. It's made of plastic and yet it says metal, is plastic metal? Or is metal plastic? Lol.
I've had Danelectro pedals on my board for 25 years, never knew the FAB series was part of that company. Thank you so much for the demo I'm loving the Echo (slapback)and the red distortion.
It's like you'll do ANYTHING to avoid talking about the Sitar Swami!!
I only ever owned one of these...the fab distortion. I plugged it in for a larf at the first shop where I taught and was actually kind of shocked that it sounded like something. So there it was. A fab distortion driving my crate v30 head into a blue voodoo cab (yes...I was quite poor back in 2006). But it sounded pretty decent, if memory serves me correctly.
This line is kind of an earlier iteration of the joyo business model: cloning classic circuits and selling them DIRT cheap.
The FAB Distortion is a Boss DS-1. The references to a small company is tongue in cheek.
here's an interesting question: Danelectro Fab Vs. Behringer. Who does it better?
also: your playing during the delay was beautiful
Should do one on the Cool Cat Fuzz V1.
True: the cool cat v1 is a clone of the Frantone Peach fuzz....and pretty close at that....V2 ...not so much
Nice research done on the Nadine's story. cool stuff! Thanks for the great content