[Harp-L] Review: Danelectro FAB Echo pedal

["Rick Davis" <bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx>]

First of all, this pedal sells for $14.99, about a tenth what you would
expect to pay for a decent delay pedal. That, and a smattering of positive
reviews from guitar players got my attention.

The Fab Echo is not long on features, of course. But it does one thing
rather well… it has a nice warm slap-back that works well for harp.

Harp players argue constantly about which delay pedal is best: Analog or
digital? Maxxon, Ibanez, Boss, or Digitech? If you are a Chicago-style blues
player – if you lust after Little Walter's tone – all those delay pedals
have way more features than you will ever need. What sounds good for
traditional amped blues harp is a touch of greasy slap-back echo. That's
all.

And that's where the Danelectro Fab Echo comes in. It has two controls,
Repeat and Mix. The repeat knob controls the number of echos, with a single
echo at the minimum position. That is what we want for harp. The other knob
controls the output mix of dry and wet signals, from all clean to all echo.
Essentially, this is s a one-knob pedal for harp players.

What you pay all the extra money for in other delay pedals is the Delay Time
control, which is conspicuously missing from the Dano Fab Echo. But if you
only use one echo – a "slap-back" – then the lack of a Delay Time control is
pretty much meaningless.

I posted sound clips, photos, and more at the Blues Harp Amps Blog:
http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-danelectro-fab-echo-pedal.html

-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/