Tone Achieved, In The Face Of Setbacks

When we last left my search for Tone in all its ubiquitous glory, I was about to try out my new Danelectro D-1 FAB Distortion box. The actual trying out of the box took a while, since a myriad of different things got in the way that kept me from having time to fiddle with my guitar and amp, but a couple of weeks ago I finally got my chance. As it turns out, the D-1 is, in my opinion, the REAPER of stompboxes, reflective of its unparalleled bang for your buck. The tone I was looking for was right there in that little red $15 package. It wasn’t too metal-y or fuzz-y, it didn’t sound grungy or hiss, it just gave me that pure edge I knew I needed when much of my guitar playing in the Big Show will be power chords and such on the top frets. The Blues Jr. amp has a beautiful tube overdrive, but power chords and other rhythm-guitar stuff kind of sounds a bit hollow and flat, even when I put it through the Route 66’s Overdrive side.  The D-1 was a nugget of gold in a crowded sea of effects pedals, including a lot of other cheap alternatives.

The only problem was that it quit working completely last week. I was merrily stomping away, rocking out while I practiced, when all of a sudden it quit responding to my stomps. The blue light quit turning on, and the tone quit being distorted. I was mystified, but I was in luck, because Musician’s Friend has a 45-day return policy, and this happened 31 days after I had bought it. So I packed the non-functioning unit in its box, put the FedEx label on it, and sent it back. In the meantime, I bought a new pedal, which arrived in perfect working order. And Musician’s Friend, being the friendly folks they are, will wipe the charges off of my card once the dead pedal gets to them. Sweet.

So, it looks like things are about ready to go for the Big Show. Travel plans are in place, everyone has practiced in earnest, and we’re ready to get together and do some rocking. Practice day is the day after tomorrow, and it should be a pretty sweet ride. I’ll try to post a post-show update to let everyone know how it turns out.