Father Christmas has been, and left me something very purple indeed 🙂
What do I think of it? Read on to find out.
What Did You Get?
I got The Dane mk2 Overdrive / Boost pedal, by ThorpyFX. This was a combined Christmas and birthday present from Kristi.
This is the second version of “Danish” Pete Honore’s signature drive pedal. If you’re not familiar with him, Danish Pete is a professional session guitarist, best known for his long association with Andertons Music after the Mesa-Boogie CabClone fiasco.
It’s an overdrive and boost pedal. The boost has two modes – ‘HC’ (taken from ThorpyFX’s Heavy Water pedal) and ‘DP’ (the original Danish Pete boost mode) – and the boost is before the overdrive section.
The overdrive section features both a Tone control and a separate Lows control. I’m hoping that will come in very handy with some of my more challenging guitars. [Spoiler – that Lows control isn’t part of the overdrive section – Ed]
Why Did You Get It?
A good friend of mine has The Dane mk1, and he swears by it – especially into his Cornell Romany 12 amp. Doesn’t necessarily mean that the pedal is tweedy on its own, but anything that pairs nicely with a tweed amp interests me a lot.
I’ve seen plenty of the mk1 pedals turn up on the second-hand market this year. I decided to hold out for a mk2 version because of the smaller form factor and the switchable boost circuit.
Regular readers might be wondering: why was this on my Christmas wish list, rather than the Origin Effects Deluxe55? The answer’s pretty simple: we’d already done our Christmas shopping by the time the Deluxe55 was announced.
I have no regrets 😁
My Rig Today
Today, I’m playing:
- a couple of Fender Telecasters,
- into the Axe-FX 3 (for the tuner and EQ toys)
- out to my pedalboard
- back into the Axe-FX 3 (for amp, cab, delay and reverb)
- out to my audio interface
- and into my DAW.
I’ve gone with the Telecasters partly because that’s what Danish Pete is known for, and mostly because I’m starting to prefer to use Telecasters with tweedy tones. I will come back and report on how The Dane pairs with my Les Paul another time.
I’m running my 57 Vintage pedal platform preset on the Axe-FX 3. I’ve built this preset specifically for tweed-tone pedals. Towards the end of this blog post, I’ll probably switch over to my 65 Nashville preset.
On the pedalboard, I have the Ceriatone Centura and The Dane mk2 in separate loops of my trusty Gigrig G2. This way, when I’m not using the Centura, it’s completely out of the signal chain, and its buffer cannot colour the tone in any way.
All the delay and reverb that you’ll hear is from the Axe-FX 3. I’m not doing any post-processing in my DAW, but I will have level-matched the audio demos before publishing them.
How Does It Sound?
Tweedy Tones Through A Tweedy Rig
Let’s start with the obvious use case: a classic tweedy overdrive tone.
Here, I’m playing Jessie (my 52RI Telecaster) on the bridge pickup (with a small amount of neck pickup blended in). That’s going into The Dane mk2. On the pedal, I’ve got Tone and Low set roughly 2 o’clock and 10 o’clock, with Gain around 12 noon. The pedal is running into my 57 Vintage preset.
And here’s how it sounds:
To my ears, that signal chain is giving me a classic vintage overdrive tone. It’s got that upper-mids emphasis that I want from a pre-blackface drive tone. The note attack isn’t as round as I would want for a true tweed-tone pedal, but that could be the Telecaster as much as the pedal. (I’m still getting used to this Telecaster!)
The Lows Control Only Affects The Boost Circuit (I Didn’t Know That!)
One thing I always look for in my tweedy tones is a solid low-mids foundation. So let’s turn the Lows control on The Dane mk2 up to the max, and see if I can get that.
I don’t hear a meaningful difference. Hrm. Why not? Let’s go and read the manual.
Ah – the Lows control isn’t part of the overdrive circuit at all. It’s for adding low-end to the boost side of the pedal. I wasn’t aware of that 🤦♂️
So we only have the Tone control to affect both top-end and low-end for the overdrive. Let’s have a play with that, then.
Turning Down The Tone Control Drastically Cuts Volume Too
I’ve turned the Tone control down on The Dane mk2 to around 10:30. Here’s how that sounds:
To my ears, this has had a drastic effect on the character of the tone, the character of the overdrive, and the overall volume level.
The guitar tone now sounds dull / muffled and muddy as heck. Not my thing (to put it mildly!). And this is with the bridge pickup of my Telecaster?!? Maybe it would work with the bridge pickup of a Strat? I’ll try that another time.
Turning down the tone has rounded out the note attack (which is something that I want). I’m going to come back throw some toys at it in a moment to see if I can build on that to get the tone I’m seeking.
You can’t hear this because I’ve level-matched all of the audio demos, but take my word for it: turning down the Tone control has also drastically cut the pedal’s output volume. Instead of the signal peaking at -15 db, it’s now peaking below -21 db. That’s a hell of a volume cut.
Off the top of my head, I can’t think of another pedal that I’ve tried where turning the tone down cuts the volume so much. I’ll have to experiment with that on other pedals, and see how it compares.
Can I Shape The Tone With EQ Toys?
Using A Klon Klone To Brighten Up The Dull Tone Brings A Surprise
My usual first-go-to solution to tone issues is to throw a Klon klone in front of a pedal.
I’ve left The Dane’s tone control at around 10:30, and turned up the Level control to compensate. I’ve also added my Ceriatone Centura in front of The Dane, set up in the classic clean boost mode.
Here’s how that sounds:
That’s interesting. To my ears, the Centura has added back all of the mid-range and top-end that turning down The Dane’s Tone control removed. I can almost match the tone from my first demo simply by adding some EQ in post to sort out the low-end. (Almost, but not quite. I’ll come back to that point shortly.)
Huh. That’s a real surprise.
Have I ever tried a pedal before where boosting with a Klon klone ended up sounding like the un-boosted overdrive pedal? I can’t think of one.
I’m also surprised by how much low-end got through to the recorded tone. The Centura doesn’t cut low-end as aggressively as most Klon klones (which is why I like it so much), but it does cut some.
Maybe The Dane mk2 would be best paired with Wampler’s powerful Tumnus Deluxe instead? I need to come back and try that soon!
Adding More EQ Effects To Carve Out That Low-End Thud
I don’t like the character of the low-end captured in the last audio demo. It doesn’t feel good to me, and it’s certainly distracting to listen to. I think it’s because there’s too much low-end reaching the delays and reverbs? Whatever’s going on, I don’t like it.
There’s a few options to try:
- Turn down the Bass on my amp.
- Add an EQ in post to tame the low-end.
- Use a Tilt EQ between the pedal and the amp to tame the low-end.
- Use an EQ between the guitar and pedal to tame the low-end.
- Adjust the Tone control on the pedal.
After some experimenting, I really struggled to “fix” the low-end with any EQ after the pedal. The closest I got was adding some EQ in post. Everything else I tried just ended up sounding a little too honky for my tastes.
So I’ve gone with using an EQ between the guitar and the pedal and turning up the Tone control on the pedal to around 11 o’clock. I found that turning up the Tone control worked the best – but I wanted to turn it up as little as possible to avoid losing the low-end that I do want to keep. I’ve put a slight EQ dip at around 200 Hz between the guitar and pedal just to take the edge off the remaining low-end.
And here’s how all that sounds. For comparison, I’ve also thrown in the first audio demo again for you.
Once again, another first: have I ever cut the low-end from a Telecaster bridge pickup before?!?
I think this revised signal chain has fattened up the overall tone quite nicely. If I was being critical, I think I’ve ended up with a little bit too much top-end and gain. With more time, I’d probably start by turning down the Treble control on the Centura and seeing where that got me.
Excels For A Pushed Clean Tone
It’s time to swap guitars and virtual amps for something a bit different.
Now, I’m on my other Fender Telecaster – the 63 Postmodern with the neck humbucker (aka Mirage). I’m playing in the middle pickup position, with the guitar’s volume control backed off just enough to take out the worst of the massive low-end that Mirage has.
On The Dane, I’ve backed off the Gain control to just above 9 o’clock. Any lower, and this pedal loses its magic. I’ve turn the Tone control all the way up to 3 o’clock to add top-end snap to this clean tone.
I’ve switched my Axe-FX 3 over to my 65 Nashville pedal platform preset. This preset combines a Deluxe Reverb amp model with V-Type speaker IRs from Celestion. I’m on Scene 6 (65VTM Vibrato Mod), which uses the amp’s vibrato channel with the bright switch off (a common Deluxe Reverb mod).
I’m also two virtual Tilt EQs (one between the guitar and the pedal, and one between the pedal and the amp) to roll off the low-end of the signal.
Here’s how all that sounds:
Hmm. I was really happy with that tone while recording the demo. It felt nice to play, and sounded great in the room. Definitely a tone that I wanted to dial up again in the future.
Listening back (without the distraction of trying to play at the same time), I’m a little more critical about what I dialled in. The low-end’s still not quite right for me. I’m hearing too much low lows, and a dip that feels out of place.
Next time, I’ll try a different approach: remove all the EQ toys, and instead add a virtual mic pre after the virtual mics with a low cut / high pass filter somewhere around 120 Hz or maybe even 150 Hz.
Let’s Discuss Online Negatives About This Pedal
I did some background reading about The Dane mk2 for this blog post, and several concerns / complaints kept coming up about this pedal. It helps me form my own opinion if I talk them through with you.
Yes, It’s Expensive – But I Think It’s Worth It
The asking price for The Dane mk2 was the most common complaint about this pedal. There were folks on forums, or who left reviews at retailers, who felt the pedal was too expensive for what it is.
Price-wise, it’s definitely towards the top-end of the market. (For example, if you sort all the dirt pedals that Andertons sells by highest price, The Dane mk2 is on the very first page.)
Why is it expensive? Here are my thoughts:
- It’s a proper boutique pedal. All boutique pedals are expensive, especially handmade ones.
- It’s made in the UK. We’re currently the world champion for high costs 🙁.
- It’s a signature pedal. Artist endorsements normally bump up the price of a pedal.
- It’s a two-in-one pedal. That bumps up the price too.
Perhaps it’s more useful to see this as a £199 drive pedal, just one that’s handmade, with two additional boost circuits and an artist endorsement all on top.
If we think about it in those terms, I can see why some folks don’t like the price. They probably don’t care about the handmade aspect, nor have a use for the boost side of the pedal.
Would they be happy if the pedal was priced at £199? Would they then be complaining that it isn’t priced at £169? (That’s the kind of asking price for boutique pedals back 2015, not 2025, alas. Many folks are still struggling to adapt to the consequences of several years of runaway inflation.) Or do they think that anything priced higher than a mass-produced budget clone is a rip-off?
Personally, I think the cost is worth it.
- It’s the kind of sound that I’d have on my pedalboard all the time.
- It’s very quick to dial in and then just use.
- It doesn’t need boosting with a Klon klone to sound its best (arguably, there’s no benefit to doing so).
- The boost gives me two new options (and I like having options).
- And I’m happy to support the artist too.
At this price point, I believe that a drive pedal has to one that you would keep on your pedalboard (at the very least) – and (for us home hobbyists) it should really be vying for the #1 spot. I think it delivers on that.
I love the drive tone that I got in the first audio demo. That was very easy to find and dial in. That’s a big plus for me. I put a lot of value on pedals that are almost plug-and-play.
There’s something to be said for a drive pedal that sounds at its best without being stacked with another pedal (like a Klon klone). The unneeded boost pedal can be replaced with something else, or simply left at home if you’re out gigging. One less thing to carry, and one less thing to break / have beer poured on / have stolen.
At the risk of getting ahead of myself, the boost side of this pedal is unlike any integrated boost that I can recall using before. I can also hear a clear difference between the two settings too. That gives me new options to explore.
And I’m a big fan of Danish Pete. He comes across as a great guy as well as a monster player. I’ve no idea how much he earns from each pedal sold, but whatever the amount, I don’t begrudge that at all.
No, It Isn’t A Klon Klone In Disguise … It’s Something Else
Remember earlier, when I was surprised at how The Dane mk2 reacted when boosted by the Ceriatone Centura? I’ve done a bit of digging into that, and there’s speculation online that The Dane is based on / is a re-voiced ThorpyFX Peacekeeper. (The Peacekeeper is sometimes described as ThorpyFX’s take on the Klon.)
I’ve never tried a Peacekeeper, so I can’t comment on that.
If I compare The Dane mk2 to my Ceriatone Centura, I can hear clear differences between the two. The Dane doesn’t have the mid-push that the Centura does, and the overdrive has a very different character.
In my opinion, the Dane mk2 isn’t a Klon klone. But it might be a bluesbreaker-style pedal.
To demonstrate that, I’m using the Axe-FX 3’s King of Tone virtual drive pedal. This is with the brand new v27.03 firmware, where Fractal Audio overhauled all of the virtual drive pedals.
Here are the settings that I used:
and here’s how it sounds.
Definitely not an exact match, but if you told me that both recordings were made with different examples of the same pedal, I’d believe you. I will explore this in more depth in a future blog post.
(Interestingly, Thorpy himself says that The Dane is a new circuit.)
The Boost-Into-Overdrive Has Limited Utility
Even if the boost level is turned down to its minimum, when I add The Dane’s boost section to the overdrive section, the pedal gets a lot louder. (I’ve seen people claim that it’s a 6 dB boost!) The top end also gets a bit fizzy.
That definitely limits its usefulness to me.
If I run a boost into a drive pedal, I’m either using it as an EQ tool (to shape the tone), and/or I’m trying to increase the amount of saturation that I get from the drive pedal. I’m not looking for an overall volume boost. I’d rather put a boost after the overdrive to get that.
I’m going to speculate here, and guess that the boost section is bumping up the volume because the overdrive section has a lot of extra input headroom. Instead of saturating and compressing, I’m guessing that the overdrive section is letting at least some of the additional input level make it all the way through to the output.
That has positive implications for using guitars with hotter pickups, something that I can’t explore today.
I’m having some success at treating The Dane as a single overdrive pedal when both sides are on. I’m able to dial back the Tone control without the pedal getting dull, and then using the Lows control to stop the pedal getting muddy. I also dial back the overdrive section’s Gain control to balance the gain coming from the boost section.
The end result is a pedal that definitely sounds different to just the overdrive side of The Dane. I’m intrigued, and plan on spending more time with it to explore the possibilities further.
The Footswitches Are Too Close Together
One of the changes for The Dane mk2 is that it now comes in a much smaller enclosure. It’s maybe 25% wider than a typical Boss pedal. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for the pedal’s two foot switches; one for the overdrive section, and one for the boost section.
When I was doing my background reading, I did come across folks who found it difficult to stomp on just one of the foot switches at a time.
I can see how easy that is to do.
When I go to stomp on a pedal, I find myself subconsciously aiming to hit any pedal’s foot switch with the centre of my foot. It’s just muscle memory: I line my foot up with the centre of the pedal. That’s what I’m used to doing after all these years.
If I try that with The Dane, I do catch the other foot switch at the same time.
In practice, it isn’t a problem for me. I’m not using the pedal live, so I don’t need to stomp on it while playing. If I was using it live, I’d be using a pedal switcher like my Gigrig G2; I wouldn’t be stomping on the pedal itself at all.
But it might be something you need to consider, depending on how you plan to use it.
No Time Today To Use It To Drive My Tweed Deluxe Amp
My amps live in my home office (aka our spare bedroom). I’ve recently redecorated it, and I haven’t got my amps wired up again yet.
When everything’s back and setup, I’ll do a follow-up blog post to explore what it’s like to use The Dane mk2 to boost my Tweed Deluxe amp.
Final Thoughts
What a great Christmas present!
I hope I’ve managed to do it justice here. It pairs so beautifully with a Telecaster on the bridge pickup, and is even more intriguing with Mirage’s middle position.
It’s not perfect by any means. The boost seems to have very limited utility when used into the overdrive section, and I wish we had separate Treble and Bass EQ controls instead of the one Tone control.
But, find that sweet spot and pair it with the right signal chain, and this pedal is something special.
This is one the cleanest-sounding overdrives that I can recall trying. I don’t mean ‘clean’ as-in lack of overdrive; I mean ‘clean’ as-in there’s a crispness, a clarity – a high fidelity if you like – to the sound that The Dane mk2 produces. It’s a very revealing pedal to play through.
In that respect, it reminds me of the times when I’ve played through a PRS Private Stock guitar. I found those guitars to be the same: immense clarity to the tone, but you the player had to bring the tone (“tone is in your fingers” if you like). Last time I played a Private Stock guitar (back in 2019), there was no tone to be found in any of my fingers at all!
And I think that brings me nicely to my possibly-far-too-early conclusion:
I don’t think this is one of those pedals that helps you sound better; I think this is one of those pedals that helps you hear exactly what kind of player you are (just like PRS Private Stock guitars do).
In a blog post seemingly full of firsts for me, that’s another one. I don’t recall ever writing that about a pedal before. Huh. Maybe that’s my real Christmas present: challenging my own preconceptions!