Tell me about my Daddy O

[John Mellor]

Hi-
I picked up a Danelectro Daddy O used at a local shop for $25 which seemed to good to pass up. I have been looking for a budget OD pedal for a while and this seemed like a good place to start given the reviews I have read in the past hour or so.

The box says 1996 on it but I don't know if that tells me anything or not. How do you tell what year these were built? Any years/ranges better than others?

I saw some basic setting threads but would be interested in advice. When I saw Mike Campbell/Tom Petty have used these I was psyched since I have play my tele mostly into a clean fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Any advice appreciated. Attached a couple of photos including the SN. But that ones a little fuzzy based on the camera/phone quality.

Looking forward to playing around with it this afternoon!

Thanks.

 

[WhoShotSam]

The Daddy-O was the first overdrive pedal I bought, and from what I remember it was pretty cool, although that was probably 10 years ago. One thing about that first line of Danelectro pedals was they have plastic input and output jacks, which can break rather easily. I had to re-solder the jacks on my Dan-Echo at least 3 times. And the on/off switch is really sensitive, since it doesn't actually click! That's all I really remember about that pedal, but $25 seems like a really good deal, and the pedal looks to be in good shape. Enjoy!

 

[1955]

I had one in the mid 90's. Like WhoShotSam said, the plastic jacks are a huge problem.

 

[11 Gauge]

The box says 1996 on it but I don't know if that tells me anything or not. How do you tell what year these were built? Any years/ranges better than others?

The earlier ones were built with standard construction - the components are fed through holes on the circuitboard and soldered on the other side.

The newer ones use tiny surface mound devices. If you've ever seen a sound card or motherboard in a computer, this is the construction technique with them.

Both circuits are identical - the Daddy-O is a Marshall Guv'nor copy. Before you get worried that you bought a shredder box instead of an OD, the Guv isn't really what I would call a distortion pedal.

The big advantage of the older ones is that they can be modified. While it is not impossible with the newer ones, it is much more difficult. If you like the way the pedal sounds stock, I wouldn't even worry about it.

...Lots of pedals are now SMD construction - all of the new Danos, the Digitech pedals. Even Lovepedal, Red Witch, and T-Rex started using it (not cheap stuff!). And Tech 21 has been using it for the longest time.

Regarding the jacks - yes they can be a weak point. But I have about a dozen of the older Danos, and none of mine have jack issues. I would say that I've been moderately gentle with handling them.

...IMO, the issue with the plastic parts at the backside of the pedal can be greatly reduced if you reinforce where the rear plastic part of the pedal connects to the metal part. Removal of the pair of circuitboards is pretty easy. Then run a thin bead of Permatex or similar silicone where the two surfaces mate (leave them connected - don't "glue" them together). And before you pop back in the circuitboard with the jacks on it, put a small bead of Permatex around the part of the jacks that touches the backside (interior) of the pedal enclosure.

...You could probably just put some Permatex on the jacks after they are installed - a 360° bead is probably not necessary. But you must run a bead where the plastic and metal enclosure parts meet up, to stop them from vibrating or moving around. In essence, you are making the enclosure "1 piece."

It sounds complicated, but it's easy and straightforward. And only necessary if the jacks ever give you trouble.

 

[tele salivas]

I have had one for the last 6 years or so, and I had to clean it up a bit after it sat in a pawn shop for who knows how long...the jacks were shakey, until I took it apart and cleaned it,,,tightened a couple things and put it back together,,I haven't had any problems since with lots of travel, gigs and practices(and I'm a stomper, who wears cowboy boots, sometimes I have to use my heel)...that is my experience as far as durability goes...for settings, I like a lot of treble out of this sucker and then a lot of midrange and then aabout 25% bass level,,,but that is matched through an EQ that i put a lot of bass and midrange on, so there is a balance thing going on there...I put the volume up pretty high and have the distortion low,,,through a tele into a FenderTwin, Peavey or Laney amp, I get a great sound with a lot of variance through my volume knob on the guitar..I am basically going for a hard country sound like a James Burton/Roy Nichols sound from the 60's(I usually have my guitar volume at about 8, so I have a litttle space when I need to go to 11!)) All in all I love this Daddy-o and I think you will too...I've read in several places, that these are Marshall Gov'nr clones, but never followed up on that... Mike Campbell is a pretty good endorsement...as I like to play pretty clean, this gives me a good sharp edge that doesn't alter my core sound in an adverse way...as you know, playing around with this sucker will give you some pretty good results...and heavy distortion can be fun too!

 

[tele salivas]

Thanks for the info .11 Gauge! I respect your knowledge and experience..so this is a Gov'nr copy...well, as stated above, that is what I had read and suspected...but yeah, this thing doesn't really remind me of a shredder pedal...thanks for the silicone bead tip, I have a couple small 'food chain' Dano pedals that could use a little help!

 

[11 Gauge]

thanks for the silicone bead tip, I have a couple small 'food chain' Dano pedals that could use a little help!

No problem - I have a few of these pedals that are probably going to get some more intensive modifications, so I'll try and keep everyone posted on any revelations that I have.

I'd like to get the jacks off of the "daughterboard" and go with a different type. But there are a few problems with that:

- probably is insufficient room

- jack relocation is a bit out of the question for folks who don't work on pedals

- will make disassembly/reassembly more difficult

- value of the old Danos is low, unless it's a subjective preference for them - i.e. modding a cheapo pedal is labor/cost prohibitive for the average target Dano customer

...I mainly want to do it so that I can get the jacks on the sides of the metal portion of the pedal. Either way, I should be "stepping up" my efforts shortly, for the following reasons:

- I want to convert my Dan Echo to true bypass. Might as well re-do the jacks while I'm at it. (I also like side jacks).

- I have a Daddy-O that I rebuilt (trashed circuitboard), and modified for a single tone control. It will be a good host for conversion into a Fuzz Face with a nice "retro" look to it. While it works well as is, I don't have a need for it any more, and I can't give it away!

...The simple Fuzz Face circuit will fit in the stock Dano enclosure with room to spare. A nice metal plate hiding the original controls should work well. I can then powdercoat the metal portion to a more "Fuzz Facey" color while I'm at it.

The street value of the Danos is too low to really do anything else. And the shipping due to the weight of the big ones makes it expensive, as well.

 

[tele salivas]

They do look really cool,,that is the reason I picked one up,,the way I use most overdrive types is just to goose the sound a bit,as a bit of eq with bites, so most anything will usually do me, but coupled with a DOD classic Fuzz(orange sparkle box) I get a real great fuzz tone too,,,converting one of these into a fuzz face would be very cool..and I look forward to your mod job posts, if you so choose to share...pedals are just a fun concept and tool to work withj, like a never ending line of toys' and aside from amp shopping, pedals are one of my favorite things to look at and hear at the pawnshops...

 

[John Mellor]

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the info. I am really not sure if it is pre-SMD or not. It looks to me like it is based on the description by 11 Gauge below. But I attached another couple lousy iphone shots for reference. Maybe someone can decipher them. I didn't take the circuit boards out to explore any deeper because it looks like the screws have a drop of solder on them. Didn't want to mess with that today.

Had a bit of time today to test her out at various volumes. No complaints for what I paid and I am sure it will keep me happy for a while. Certainly opened my ears to what an honest overdrive type pedal can do. I also have an MXR Dist+ and my amp has never reacted to the MXR the way it did to the Daddy O. So I was quite pleased with the sounds I was able to access with the combination. At lower volumes the difference was less discernible but anything past 2-3 was a different world. I have a Fender HRD which can get loud fast but has a sweet spot just under 3 that is not too loud for the neighbors but still lets the amp give out some good energy. This pedal will work quite well with that.

Thanks again for the comments back-

 

[11 Gauge]

I am really not sure if it is pre-SMD or not.

It's definitely pre-SMD. The dead giveaway is all of the traces and solder connections on the side without the components, as SMD (surface mount devices) don't require them.

...When you look at the "bottom" of a SMD based board, it looks almost empty in comparison typically - very little (if any) solder, and traces that look like they connect to nothing at all.

But if it sounds good, that's all that matters. And if down the road it doesn't and it's not too much trouble to have it finessed a bit, it's a nice option to have.

 

[John Mellor]

Great. Thank you 11 Gauge!

 

[11 Gauge]

converting one of these into a fuzz face would be very cool..and I look forward to your mod job posts, if you so choose to share...

Well...round one with it today just sizing it up for modding it into a FF, and I'm in a holding pattern.

The biggest problem is the plastic rear portion. To get a medium sized pair of knobs on it would require some nutty surgery to the interior where the stock pots are. Big knobs could be mounted where the stock jacks are, but that's just a little goofy, IMO. I hate where the knobs are on the Cool Cats.

Second biggest problem is modification of the the stock footswitch. The plunger action is too deep to use with a miniature DPDT switch (for true bypass). And the stock assembly can't be cleanly machined to insert a 3PDT switch in it, without it poking out of the bottom. I'm going to have to hunt for something that will require the least amount of machining, and will still look clean.

I'll be able to get a pair of jacks on the sides, but it required removing the vertical "guides" that hold the battery. The good news is that plain pliers and a big flat bladed screwdriver will knock them off with a little elbow grease.

I could always mount the pots/knobs in the upper top "corners" of the metal portion of the enclosure, but it looks a bit goofy to me. Possibly a 3 knob project with two in those corners and one centered in the plastic portion would look nice. But then it wouldn't really be a Fuzz Face, would it? I'm hooked on the two knob format, for certain...

I could always make it into a combination Rangemaster/Self Defense Appliance.

...When I get the footswitch issue sorted, I'll post a follow up.

Oh yeah - just a FYI for anyone who really hates the stock jacks - there should be room to drop in a pair of the enclosed style Switchcrafts, but it would require relocating the smaller pcb into the area used for the battery. A bit of a challenge, but not impossible.