Fulltone Fulldrive 2

[Spudman***]

Just got a used Fulldrive 2. I've been playing it with a variety of guitars from Strats to humbucking Ibanezes and here is what I've found:

From the moment I first turned it on I've liked it. It gave more body to the guitar and improved the overall touch of the instrument. I played for hours initially and kept doing so after everyone had gone to bed. I got no complaints just "nice" from the spousal/trekking partner (wife).

The unit is about the same size as the Radial Tonebone and is a light sky blue in color. The casing is heavy duty steel and there are 2 chrome foot buttons and 4 adjustment knobs.
From L to R: Volume - overall volume of the unit
Tone - subtle change in tone
Drive - that crunch that we buy overdrive pedals for
Boost - this is for the second foot switch. It brings the level
and gain up to wherever you set the knob

This is considered by some to be a boutique pedal. They aren't cheap, but already I feel it was worth it. Many artists I've seen recently were getting great tone and I would check out their stuff only to find one of these on the board or in their gear list. It's not a high gain distortion effect but an overdrive so it is not too crunchy or gritty. Just great drive.

It is somewhat similar in sound to the Bad Monkey, but the Fulldrive is better in the fact that the drive is much smoother. On the Monkey you can kind of hear the squareness of the wave, but with the Fulldrive those edges are rounded off and much more pleasant to the ear. The Monkey also has a bit of a mid hump that the Fulldrive doesn't have. With the Fulldrive you hear more body when you turn it on and your guitar doesn't appear to get colored at all. Just better.

The volume knob on mine allows you to pull it up and disengage the compressor. Whoa nelly! Volume up the wazoo. The compressor effect is subtle and not that noticeable in the first place, but with the circuit disengaged you get balls to the walls volume. It's hotter than anything I've ever tried for just sheer output volume, and...there is still the Boost button for more whompin'.

The Tone is a single knob that basically adds some highs or rolls them off I think. That is the way it sounds to me. The sound out of the unit has a bit of sparkle to it without a trace of harshness. Now the cool part...when you roll off your guitar volume it retains some of that sparkle. Sort of like when you put a capacitor in your guitar's volume circuit. It doesn't get brittle it just stays clear.

The Drive doesn't get buzzy when maxed it just sounds more warmly overdriven tubelike with grit.

The Boost when engaged gives a smoother singing lead tone without the square wave buzz. The volume increase is noticeable but not so dramatically different that your band mates or sound man will give you grief over it.

I'm thrilled that I discovered this pedal, and all the artists using it that may not so openly admit to using one for fear of the rest of us knowing their secret. It's a pedal, that because of the way I play, may just be left on all the time.

[Cranium]

On the picture it has anther switch in the middle of the knobs, what are the setting there and what sounds can you get with it? I been looking for a new overdrive pedal for a while, I'm trying to get Hendrix kind of sound(s), does this pedal sound anything like Hendrix or similar vintage tones? Do you know anything about their other pedals, the 69' seems like a very cool pedal.

Edit: Never mind my first question, also have you tried any of their other pedals, like the Distortion Pro?

[Spudman***]

This would NOT be a pedal for Hendrix type tones. What you want there is a Roger Mayer Fuzz or an Arbiter Fuzz Face I think.

The little switch that you see is a different version of the dual function volume knob that I have. Same function different switch. It defeats the compressor. I'm not sure which version came first.

Edit: The pull knob came first. The micro switch was a later revision to keep players from accidently pushing the knob back down while playing.

[Cranium]

Actualy I really like the Distortion Pro pedal, the sound clip on the site sounds very cool. Anyway do you think you can make sound clips of the FD2 in the future?

[SuperSwede]

Wow Spuds, Fulltone pedals are really sweet! I havent tried the Fulldrive 2, but the Soul Bender was awesome! Congrats

[Cranium]

SS you own/played the Soul-Bender? Could you tell me some more about it I really need a new OD pedal and there is so many to choose from, considering that Fulltone pedals are also quite expensive.

[SuperSwede]

Cranium, they had one in a music store nearby so I tried it out. It has a very fat sound, it can go from a very smooth sound to a harsh fuzz tone. It has a lot of that Santana "hang" if you are looking for that.
Check out Fulltone´s website for more info.

[Cranium]

I’m looking for vintage late 60's to 70's tone (Hendrix, Clapton and maybe even some smooth David Gilmour sounds) does the pedal sound anything like the early vintage tones? The sound clip on the website sound very cool but I also like a few other pedals but if this pedal sounds anything like I described I might get it, currently I’m using the Ibanez TS-9 and it just doesn't give me enough drive unless I also put the volume on my amp real high so I need something more powerful and hopefully a little fuzzy and maybe even a little character, thanks .

[SuperSwede]

Yup, sounds like something for you. Only one way to find out

[Cranium]

Just one more question SS, does the pedal also provide good overdrive because I need something a little more distorting then the TS-9.

[Spudman***]

Cranium
A Rat pedal will do most of what you are after and they can be had used pretty cheaply. There are plenty of mods available for them as well. If you don't like it stock then with a few easy to do tweaks you can have more of a boutique pedal that will do bluesy grit to full on fuzz.

The Fulldrive 2 makes your guitar sound fuller and can drive the front end of your amp really hard if you want it to. If you have a tube amp then you can end up with some pretty ballsy drive sounds, but not fuzz or heavy distortion.

Check out a Rat. The originals are pricey, the newer dual pedals are cool but the best value is the Rat 2. Even just changing the color of the diode will change how the pedal sounds and that is an easy to do operation. It's very welcoming to being modded so I'm sure you can find 'your' sound easily.

[SuperSwede]

Yeah, a Rat would work great. I havent tried it myself but apparently Proco has a "new" rat named "You Dirty Rat!" which has all the sound benefits of the original rat + a couple of notches of extra gain if you needed. As I said, I havent played with one so this is info from a friend only. The original rat sounds really good, and comes with a truckload of sustaaaaaaaaain.

[Spudman***]

Here is a link to the Pro Co Rat products. http://www.procosound.com/ratindex.htm

I use mine in my office with the Epi Valve Jr. and it sounds pretty great. The Rat 2 also is true bypass so no tone/volume suck.

If you have an amp with plenty of bottom end then you can get more out of a Rat 2. Otherwise, for my tastes a simple mod to fatten up the bottom end is the way to go.

[Cranium]

Darn it, I can't get the sound clips to work for the Rat 2

[Spudman***]

I can't get the clips for the Rat 2 to work either. However, it sounds pretty much the same as all the other pedals clips.