January 2009 \ Reviews \ Effects \ Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz, Transparent Overdrive and Vibe Reviews

Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz, Transparent Overdrive and Vibe Reviews

Adam Moore

Danelectro Cool Cat pedals offer tone on a budget. We look at the Fuzz, Transparent Overdrive and Vibe.
Premier Guitar January 2009
(2 of 3)



Download Example 1
Gain at 1:00, Volume at 12:30, Bass on 1:00, Treble at noon

Cool Cat Transparent Overdrive
Fresh off the high of the Cool Cat Fuzz, I plugged in Danelectro’s Transparent Overdrive for a little more traditional crunch. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about the company’s decision to include the word “transparent” in the name of the effect – it has become such an lazy buzzword that I cringe hearing it these days – but thankfully it seems that Danelectro has some tone to back up that name. The Cool Cat Transparent OD is surprisingly clean and clear for such an inexpensive design; in lower to medium gain situations, the pedal retained my guitars’ fundamental (a Telecaster and LP) without smothering my tone or noticeably compressing the signal. At higher gain levels, the sound squishes more and the signal loses some of that original clarity, but at all points you can tell the Transparent OD is doing its best job at adding gain and little else. If you’re not particularly concerned about coloration or compression you’ll be wowed by the sheer amount of crunch on tap – try out the “Woman Tone” setting in the manual if you have a sturdy amp and a stout disposition. The Treble and Bass knobs – set up in that infernal “stacked” configuration – give you some minor tone shaping options (cut and boost), but this pedal really excels at taking your existing signal/tone and beefing it up. Of course, if you were to put this box up against a high-end boutique OD, the Danelectro probably wouldn’t be the smoothest or most invisible of effects, but that’s missing the point entirely. This pedal provides a lot of gain and a lot of clarity for very little. The fact that it can function effectively in a variety of roles, from a barely-there boost for lead lines to a bludgeon for the front end of your amp, is even more impressive. If you’re looking at overdrives twice or even three times the cost of the Cool Cat Transparent OD, make sure to give this one a try – you just might save some serious cash.
Buy if...
you want a great sounding OD at a fraction of the price
Skip if...
your fingers can’t handle the stacked knobs
Rating...
4.0 
MSRP $49 - Danelectro - danelectro.com

Hit Page 3 for the Cool Cat Vibe...

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Comments

 (12 comments) display by
UsernameComment
SpiroGiro
on 06/06/2012 		I got the V1 - Drive, Trans Drive and Vibe just before stocks went and Dano were forced to redesign the OCD/Timmy/Uni Vibe clone circuits. I am not a pedal geek but am a Guitar and Amp geek and have top quality and vintage gear so it wouldn't make sense having any of these in front. Well, they make great sounds and feel 'just right' under my foot and fingers and my ears appreciate this fact too! I also use them in conjunction with a PROEL DS10 and that is a true Transparent pedal and the results are stunning... and the whole lot came to less than £100 !
ToneSage
on 12/11/2009 		leave your thumped-to-relic-bible signature on your Pat Robertson forum posts, bud!
ToneSage
on 12/11/2009 		it will do an adequate job at goosing the front end of a tube amp as a semi-clean boost. but i get the "un-altered sound at about 80% wide open treble/40% w-o bass/ wide open volume/ 20% w-o gain. this sound should be achieved at wide open volume, minimum gain and 12 oclock bass/treb. as soon as you start upping the gain the compression and fabbiness starts coming in and there is not enough treble on tap to counteract this. so this to me is an entry level od. save your money for another week and get a boss blue driver. save it another week and send it off to keeley for a mod.
ToneSage
on 12/11/2009 		just bought the Transparent D(O)H!verdrive at the behest of a friend who I would consider in the top 5% of guitarists. I am taken aback, honestly, because this guy is a full time professional guitarist with more chops than you and I combined will ever have. Tasty chops. but this pedal falls short of true transparency-which isn't so bad if you can crack it open and modify it with a few personal quirks one might have. but, alas, this pedal uses sub-miniature, cheap-o computer grade parts mounted on its board. so the best you can do is either take it back to your local shop or be resigned to the fact you spent $40.00 on a box for you put your favorite clone into.
Manny
on 09/23/2009 		just got the TOD - very nice, clean, brings out more chime in my neck pu and even at apt dweller volume levels it makes a noticeable improvement (for ....cheap) - Danoelectric rocks!
Hiei
on 09/03/2009 		I bought a Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz Pedal in late June this year, and now it has stopped working.?
Yesterday, the pedal was working just fine. But tonight, only the the bypass would work. Its so strange! I didn't do anything to it! I never banged it up, spilled anything, or any sort of thing like that! I put back in the box when im done with it! What could possibly be wrong? Please be detailed! Im not afraid to open it up and modify anything.
Joe C.
on 07/15/2009 		I just got the Transparent Overdrive and I gotta say I love it. The audio and video demos I have heard just don't do it justice when it comes to its ability to give you a very nice clean boost with just a little hair/good sutain if that's what you want. It gives my Strat and Deluxe Reverb a very "Derek and the Dominoes" glassy grind- very sweet and dynamic IMHO- Like my Boss Blues Driver (which I love!) with better Tone control
Jon Merlin
on 04/18/2009 		"Because modulation wave forms by nature give me the illusion that they are a tad weaker than your original guitar signal."
-Green Beaver

Yeah, the doubling of the sound is always going to sound weaker than a single original signal XD

(no kids I'm joking)
Doubled signals are 3db louder.
Green Beaver
on 01/01/2009 		Yes I agree with Richard (below) the initial signal boost is a little in your face but once the modulation signal engages it is hardly noticable (in a band situation).Because modulation wave forms by nature give me the illusion that they are a tad weaker than your original guitar signal.Therefore I for one think that it is a good thing that I can hear a nice strong vibe effect through the mix.
Richard
on 12/30/2008 		After seeing the online demo of the Cool Cat Vibe, I had to get one!

I agree with the previous post that it's a great unit for the price. But...the volume boost is the thing that I really disliked. Hopefully someone will come up with a mod (Like the mod for the Rocky Road) that will fix the volume boost issue.

I would strongly suggest a power supply for it.



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