Customer Reviews

Danelectro DH1 Hodad Mini Amp

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK.....I am an adult. But I have serious "Gadget Fetish." Few things make me smile like little electronic trinkets and senseless battery powered "stuff." Being a lifelong musician, this only adds to the addiction. I own several battery powered mini amps and couldn't resist the temptation to buy the new Danelectro Hodad!
The box came today and I quickly unleashed it from the package. The box is attractive and whimsical, using a lot of "retro" fonts to highlight the features, such as *Powerful Mini Amp for Practice or Back Stage Tune Up*....*Twin Speakers*...*Cool Echo Effect*...Vintage Tremolo with Adjustable Speed*...*Cool 60's Styling.
The Hodad is really small....really small! Probably 4 inches tall by maybe 4 1/2 inches wide. It is a bit smaller than the popular Danelectro Honeytone battery amp, which I also have.
The little unit shipped with a battery and small, comical instruction booklet. I inserted the battery and grabbed my Strat and held my breath as I turned the power on......Then, I kinda laughed!
The ridiculously small twin speakers, which appear to be 2 inch little drivers, produce the volume of a pair of headphones. In fact, I think the drivers in my Sony headphones are about the same size....but then again....they are Headphones!
Trying the effects, I was pleased that they do work. The tremolo is accurate and it's speed can be adjusted by turning a pot screw on the back. The depth of the tremolo is a bit too much, but cool.
The echo is a very primitive bridge bucket brigade circuit that produces a pronounced "boing" kind of echo. It's really just a short delay, but effective for this device. Works well for retro country, twang, and rockabilly. Genuine digital reverb circuits are costly and difficult to engineer, so I have to give Danelectro credit for even trying.
The Hodad features a headphone out jack which I tested and was pleased with the sound well beyond the tiny twin speakers.
So, the bottom line is this is a TOY amp and not much more.....or is it?
I'll let you in on the secret.....This amp ROCKS....IF....you do the following mod:
1. Take the battery out and leave the battery cover off.
2. Remove the four Phillips head screws in the back.
3. Carefully pull the back off and feed the battery snap through the hole it sticks out of so you can completely remove the whole back.
4. Locate the Red and Black wires that come off the circuit board and go to the first speaker.
5. Cut these two wires about half the length and strip off some insulation on each wire from the circuit board side.
6. Fire up you soldering iron and solder the red wire to the "tip" lug on a 1/8" (tip/sleeve) jack. (You could try a 1/4" jack, but it's tight)
7. Solder the black wire to the "sleeve" lug on the jack.
8. Drill a small hole on the side of the cabinet to accommodate the jack.
9. Feed the jack in the hole and secure with it's ring washer.
10. Whew! That was hard! Take a break. Now the moment of truth!
11. Use a 1/8" to (?) whatever your "real" speaker cabinet jack will accept.
12. Plug your guitar into the Hodad with it's volume at 3 o'clock, gain at 12 o'clock and tone at 3 o'clock.
13. Strike your favorite chord.
14. PICK YOUR CHIN OFF THE FLOOR!
This is the hidden potential of the Hodad (and the Honeytone as well)!!!
These amps produce somewhere in the 1.5 to 2 watt rms range. That is more than enough to rattle your bedroom window with the right speaker! I run mine through my Epiphone Valve Junior cabinet, which has an 8" Weber speaker and it sounds fantastic. Far louder than you would think!
And, surprisingly, the amp has TONE! The big advantage is the ability to jam in locations where power is not available. I play along with some acoustic musicians with this rig on a friends porch. The first time I brought this rig they couldn't believe it.
Get out your debit card...buy the Hodad....break out your soldering iron..and plug this kit into some real guitar speakers. It is swell!

I've read reviews where people say that it doesn't sound great, and they are half correct. When you DON'T use headphones, the 2.5" speakers sound like, well, 2.5" speakers.

Using headphones is where this amp shines.
I'm using it with a power adapter, my Danelectro '63 re-issue, and the tone in this little thing is amazing!
I live in an apartment, and this amp is perfect for early morning/late night practicing. I really like the echo effect, it gives a real slap back rockabilly sound.

People who are expecting this amp to be a real "practice amp" for use with other musicians have got it all wrong.
If you need something to plug into where you can practice without disturbing others, then this amp is for you!

Spent many months looking at mini amps here and there. I didn't really need one, so it had to have something else to grab me. I saw Amazon has this amp for almost half the price of other common vendors so I got it.

All right, there are 2" speakers. This isn't a good practice amp if you play doom metal on a baritone guitar. None of these little battery powered amps are going to get you where you want for that, you need to step up to a regular practice amp at least. For styles of music that don't need immense low end or gain this fits the bill. It will do the trick for small jams with another person or two (a pianist and harmonica player in my case). I don't note any difference in sound between using the battery and the AC adaptor, but apparently plugging in gives it more power (and is recommended as the effects can kill batteries in a heartbeat). The sound itself is great for a mini or even a practice amp, it cleans up well even when maxed out, and the tone control provides lots of useable sounds.

The effects are nice to have. The delay's really short but it adds a lot. The tremolo sucks your volume, but it makes up for this by being adjustable.

I've got only two gripes about the Hodad, neither of which are really any reflection on Danelectro. First is the lack of a belt clip or something similar. The necessary placement of the battery door means I've got to make my own. The other is the input jack. It's located on top so I've got to get creative with cord placement to keep the weight of my cable from pulling the amp down from wherever it is. I finally just connected it to my mixer.

Great amp, though, and this is the cheapest place to get it. I feel much better about owning this amp having bought it here. Recommended...

Buying this amp for me was a gamble. There aren't really any good video demos out there that I liked, but thanks to a few amazon reviews, I decided to take the chance. Its a good thing I did!

The thing to keep in mind is that this is simply a small practice amp. It doesn't have the best tone in the world, nor does it get that loud, but it is great for what it is.

Pros:
Small size
Clean tone
over all good feature set

Cons:
cheap plastic
goes through 9 volts pretty quick

I got this to take on plane trips hoping the small size would be a plus. It is, it's the sound that's a problem. Very hard to get a clean tone from this little devil. It also "rattles" a lot. The small 2" dual speakers just don't cut it. I bought it after returning a Honeytone mini-amp from the same company. I always liked Danelectro stuff and I think they have good value for the money. I was surprised at the low quality. I also tried using a small tube pre-amp with the gain turned very low.no dice. I got this because I read a good review online. If anyone knows of a mini-amp that has a really good clean tone please email me at djangodaddy@yahoo.com

This little critter Rocks! I would get the ac power wart if you plan on using it very much (and you will). I got mine to graft over to larger speakers (10"-12" cab).

Outstanding amp to travel with.