what do you get when you cross a mt2 w/ a joe d. pedal

[Paul Marossy]

So I think there will always be a place for quality gear, commercial or diy.

Good points Doug.  

[Doug_H]

i've tried a danelectro pedal once, i think it was "fab tone" or something, it really rocks, delievers great distortion sound, tons of gain, really sonic...

[...}

yeah, i totally agree with paying for the patent, labor, and stuff, sure, it's 10$ of parts, but someone had to came up with that!

Well in the case of the fab tone, everyone who bought a new marshall guvnor basically paid for the development. The fab tone is basically a guvnor. In fact, from what we've been able to ascertain, at least some if not all of the dano stuff is based on something that has already been out there for a while. I believe one of their pedals is based on a fox tone machine, for example.

So I would guess their "development costs" are not very high, relatively speaking. Sonically speaking they are probably not developing anything new, rather taking a known circuit and repackaging it in SMT, making it work with their switch, etc. I would guess they have more invested in developing their funny looking boxes than in anything electronic.

I'm not raining on Tom's parade though, in fact he has my curiousity a little piqued. Just commenting on some of the comments...

Doug

[vanhansen]

All good and valid points here.  I have listened to the sound samples of the FAB line and they do sound impressive.  I don't know if I'd buy one or not though but I'd probably try them out just to get a good listen while playing.  My 2 year-old loves stompswitches.  I bet she'd break one.  

[wampcat1]

All good and valid points here.  I have listened to the sound samples of the FAB line and they do sound impressive.  I don't know if I'd buy one or not though but I'd probably try them out just to get a good listen while playing.  My 2 year-old loves stompswitches.  I bet she'd break one.  

I know what you mean -- I bought my 4 year old a dano pedal (the one that has a little speaker) so he could have 'his own' guitar pedal....too funny!!

:lol:

[troubledtom]

I suspect the biggest issue with a dano pedal is the same as it is with my arion chorus: after 3-4 gigs it will be toast (generally speaking) (*not* 'french toast':wink:) . Of course at $15 a pop maybe you just buy a new one then. Cheap plastic box with a battery door that won't stay on, pcb mounted plastic pots, friction mounted knobs falling off,  cheap switch... Sooner or later you find out you got what you paid for.

I believe the boss manufacturing is heavily automated too. Yet they put out a solid reliable product at a decent price.  Not a cutthroat price, but a decent price.

But automated or not, cheap labor or not, plastic pedals have been around for a long time. They have carved out a niche with the 14 yr old beginner bedroom guitarist crowd for the most part. They are a fun and interesting novelty but most musicians will move on to something real, eventually.  Sooner or later you realize reliability is a major issue, unless you are stuck in the bedroom playing along with your kiss records (:wink:  :wink: ) in which case it's not.

But I don't believe there is a free lunch. So I think there will always be a place for quality gear, commercial or diy.

Doug

funny , i bought it as a back up pedal. not as a main front line device. but a will rehouse it and true bybass it too. but to be honest it's not a tone sucker and may not need it.
       peace,
              - tom

[Doug_H]

funny , i bought it as a back up pedal. not as a main front line device. but a will rehouse it and true bybass it too. but to be honest it's not a tone sucker and may not need it.
       peace,
              - tom

Yeah, I want to rehouse my arion chorus too, it is really falling apart. One of these days, when I get a round tuit...

The fab tube screamer sounded decent in the clips to me. I never had any interest in a tube screamer, but I was thinking, "okay- 15 bucks- I got a tube screamer- now I can see what all the hoopla's about..." :lol:  :lol:

The metal pedal does sound pretty good. Lots of nice harmonics in that clip.

Doug

[LoudGreg]

I would imagine some of it is automated, Paul.  But if it was ALL automated, don't you think it could be made here just as cheaply?

Not true. I work in the international shipping industry and imports from China/India in general are closing our factories. Our standard of living is ........um....different. And the Chinese Government has been known to also lend a hand with their manufacturers by giving them money, which is illegal, but it happens. They can bring a ready made items for less then it costs the US to get the parts for the same product. I'm not knocking China, it's just the facts.

Get ready for more easy to make items, to come out of China at a great price. It is not at all surprising that these China effects are made well, and are inexpensive.

If they sound good, people will buy them. (I just ordered mine )

[puretube]

if s.o. has moral problems with buying D*n*l*ctr*,
he can always alternatively buy B*hr*ng*r...
:evil:    :twisted:

[LoKi6922]

congrats on the pedal purchase. i have never heard a dan pedal that i liked, but i'll definately try out the new fabtones!

as for the social discussion... not to be off topic here... but i grew up POOR. heck, i'm still poor.

in my hometown, people are still poor there. we are part of a great nation *Canada* and we were the industries, and workers that were exploited by the 'richer' parts of Canada, and now we are struggling to catch up to the rest of the world, and we no longer have any resources to do it with.

i had to leave my home just to find a job that could pay enough for me to survive.

there is hardly anybody left in Atlantic Canada because there is simply not enough of anything to go around.

how does this relate to exploiting cheap labour in other countries? well, simply put, its cheaper to live in Atlantic Canada, than anywhere else in Canada. if somebody offered me a job, making HALF of what i'd make somewhere else in this nation, i'd be ok with it because it costs me less to live there.

will we ever catch up to the rest of Canada, at that rate? no. but at least we'd be surviving.

just my couple of pennies. if those people are able to survive on the 2 dollars a day they get paid to make those pedals, GREAT. because they wouldn't be surviving otherwise. if they can't stand on their own, at least they have something.

that may not be the case in all countries in the world, but in China, and other labour cheap countries where we get electronics, it is.

[troubledtom]

i totaly understand how everyone feels about the economic reprecusions of
labor in china, more then you'd think. i'd  hate for someone to copy my ideas and sell'm for 50 bucks.
    i just saw a cheap new toy to play w/ and it does kick ass.
               peace out,
                 - tt

[ExpAnonColin]

My chilli dog is all SMT

As are probably all of their pedals...

Not true.  I know at least Tuna melt, pastrami, and surf and turf, and almost all of the switching boards are through-hole, because they are all sitting in front of me.

These pedals are as slave-labor as the computer monitor you're looking at.

-Colin

[ExpAnonColin]

Re: Reliability

The main problem are the external components (boards are made as well as any company's)... so the answer:


Currently rehousing 6 of them for various folks...  The circuits are just as good as their BOSS or, in many cases, boutique counterparts.

-Colin

[jimbob]

it looks like those foot switches have nipples! wish mine had those!
(right! like no one else thought the same thing)

[ExpAnonColin]

it looks like those foot switches have nipples! wish mine had those!
(right! like no one else thought the same thing)

Hahaha, the guy I sold it to and I refer to them as boob switches.

-Colin