Fulltone '69 Pedal

It does a LOT. 4 knobs plus internal pots-- hey, leave everything alone, its totally easy. But here you have CHOICE as well.
All sounds were quite good.

The 69 blows away every other Fulltone fuzz pedal I tried, as well as the Seymour Duncan Tweak.

Well, I REVISITED the SD Tweak today, after first impressions at home, with nothing to compare it to.

I took it to the guitar shop, and compared it right next to all the Fulltone fuzz pedals-- primarily the 69 pedal, but also sould bender, and 70 pedal.

The 69 blows them all away. The SD Tweak sounded one dimentional next to it- the fuzz "sat on top of the guitar tone" rather than being an integral part of the tone like on the 69. The 69 was MUSICAL and enjoyable to listen to. The Tweak just added fuzz buzz. No way could I use the Tweak after doing this comparison. Its a no brainer.

I've listened to many vintage clips, and I remember how my vintage Univox Superfuzz sounded. The 69 is a fully dimensional MUSICAL sound-- totally nasty if you want, but it has DEPTH, full range, character, you here GUITAR-- not just buzz. Plenty of sustain- okay, its NOT a Rat pedal or a muff-- it has depth to it in contrast. DYNAMICS.

The Univox was a comparitively compressed, buzzy tone with, if I remember correctly, a ton of noise. The 69-- I don't remember hearing ANY noise (neither did the Tweak)

I tried the Fulltone 70, and the Soul Bender, as well as the Octavefuzz. None of these pedals came close to the fullness of tone, the huge variety of tones available on the 69. I give the 69 a 10-- the others, no more than a 5 or 6. The Octavefuzz- oh DONT EVEN BOTHER. How did Fulltone come to offer that piece of crap anyway. The Octavefuzz is horrible, doesn't do what it should.

I bought a 69 pedal immediately after the test.

Probably you could run over it with a tank.

Don't know.

This is what a guitar pedal should be all about- versatility, great tone, well built. What else is there?

Why crap up your tone at any price?

Fairly easy to use. Internal trim pots are very useful.

This pedal has not found a permanent place in my rig which is typically as follows, usually a PRS soapbar, Fulldrive 2, FD Choralflange, FT TTE delay, Divided by 13 Switchazel AB/Tuner split into a Badcat Blackcat, Dr. Z Z28 or Matchless Chieftain. Tuner used is a Peterson Strobe.

This pedal sounds very bright to me and it has a cutting quality to it that I don't love. The way it responds to the vol pot on the guitar is not linear with a change in tone and volume boost at the end of the rotation.

So this pedal doesn't seem to bring out the best in my rig so it's more of a novelty that I might use for jams with another guitar player to get different tones. I have a seven piece band and am the only guitar player. I've got many other pedals and use what complements the amp I'm using the best. I have an old Superfuzz pedal that sounds a lot better excpet for the tone loss and flakey switch. It actually sounds like a tube amp whereas this box doesn't.

I've not had any problems although this doesn't go to gigs. I never use a backup for anything except guitars for string breakage.

I obviously like Fulltone products and I guess I'm not a fan of Fuzz in general.

I've never had a problem with any Fulltone pedal and don't expect any although the switches may fail over time.

I play loads of latin rock, funk, blues and jazz. I even play several Hendrix covers but never use this pedal. An FD 2 through a Badcat amp is a tough tone to improve on.

I'm not saying this is a bad pedal, it's just not for me. The tone I go for is not in the same universe as this box. I did not compare it to anything although I own many other ODs including, Tube screamers, FD OCD and a Barber DSS.

Anything on my pedalboard that doesn't add gets removed as I like my signal chain simple and as short as possible.

Nice pedal but not for me. I could futz with the pots more and maybe get it acceptable but think the general character will still be lacking. I go for natural tube OD and this Fuzz just sounds weird, ok bad to me. I'm a little surpised everyone loves this so much which is what prompted me to write this review. Putting this in front of a top quality amp seems like a sin. I know Eric Johnson and many other greats may use these but I'm missing the whole deal on this unit.

I'm finding all of these posts to be a little to positive. Most of the reviews I read things are getting 9s and tens. Those reviews are not helpful for artists folks. I do my best not to be influenced by what others write although these glowing reviews have gotten me to by stuff that doesn't help me make music. I'm learning to take all reviews lightly. I do play out about 90% of the time so I go with what works in a live setting.

The Fulltone `69 is very easy to use if you are familiar with "Fuzzology" but not otherwise i.e. you`ve got to know where to place it in the signal chain and how to set it.TIP - NEVER put your Fuzz BEFORE your wah, it does`nt work!! The manual is great, giving you two basic settings which do what they say spot on.It would be good if tips were given about altering of the internal trimmer and what Amp settings to use tips.

I use a pair of Carvin Legacy heads with my `69 Fuzz and a load of other pedals.I use this pedal with a Dunlop 535Q and MXR Phase 90 most of the time ( at the moment ) with a recently aquired Eric Johnson Strat`and the result is superb.Think Hendrix,SRV,Trower in tone terms.The`69 works very well with the Wah,but you do have to keep the Bias control turned down ( as it says in the manual ) to avoid the pedal being "overdriven" by the Wah.The `69 is not noisy at all,just the best "Fuzz Face" type Fuzz I`ve ever owned.I owned a real `60`s "Blue" Fuzzface when I was a teenager, and the Fulltone `69 is WAY better than that ever was!!!

I am sure I can totaly rely on it,it is me that I need to work on with remebering to play in tune etc.I`m sure this pedal will last longer than me.I would use this on a gig without a backup,but then I always have 3 overdrives of some kind on my pedalboard!!

Fulltone are a great company.I own three Fulltone pedals now ( Ultimate Octave,Dejavibe & `69 Fuzz which are all amazing )and shortly intend to ( hopefully )be the "very proud" owner of three more.These are to be `70 Fuzz,Distortion Pro`or OCD, and the ChoralFlange.I have never had any problems,and I`m not expecting to have any antime soon.But it`s obvious that customer service is a priority anyway...Long may they continue as I want to own them all!!

I play a wildley varied mix of stuff from Satch`/Vai type(ish) instrumental stuff,classic rock,SRV type Blues and good old `60`s Psychodelic hippy/hendrix stuff.The `69 is there for when I want to go to the wild strat man zone ie SRV/Hendrix/Trower etc.Step on the `69 and the Dunlop Wah and away you go!!...lovley!!! I have been gigging since 1976 and playing since `69 ( but i`m only 42!!).I use various other pedals ( Keeley Ultra DS1,Wammy,Morley Power wah,TS9DX,Boss T-Wah,etc etc etc).If the `69 were lost I`d get another and it helps me make my music.I chose the `69 `cos I loved it the moment I plugged it in ( as happens to me with all Fulltone stuff !! ).If all pedals were this good,we would ALL sound a lot better!!.........

I?ve been wanting one of these forever. I finally got it 2 months ago. Right out of the box this thing sounds great. It has a volume, Bias (essentially Bass), Contour (Mids and Highs), and Fuzz. There is more to the bias and contour controls than just highs, mids, and bass, but that?s a good starting point for what they do. To be honest, on stage I haven?t strayed too far from the Hendrix setting that the instruction suggest. In regards to pull back your guitar volume, the ?69 is just like everyone says. I cleans up beautifully and never looses the character of your guitar?s sound. I?m finding that just a small tweak hear and there and I can go from Jimmy Page to The Black Keys.

The sound is exactly what I was looking for. All my life I?ve hated fuzzes. That was b/c I wanted them to sound like overdrives. They won?t. They?re fuzzes? and they sound great. I wanted to get the late sixties sound of Hendrix, Cream, Zeppelin, Duane Allman Fame Studio work, and middle period Pink Floyd (Meddle, Ummagumma), but was frustrated with trying to coax it from the TS9. I had no problem finding the first three. I haven?t zeroed in on the Pink Floyd or the Duane Allman sound, but am getting close.

Guitars:
1991 Custom Strat Plus, 1980 Aria Pro II PE 1000, 1949 Gibson BR 9 Lap Steel

Amps:
1969 Fender Super Reverb

Effects Chain:

Ernie Ball Volume  standard Jim Dunlop Wah  Ibanez TS9  ?69  Boss DD 3

As to the internal trim pod, I haven?t messed with it yet. I?m still figuring out cool sounds with the way it is now.

No problems yet. The germanium transistors are notorious for changing sounds in the heat. I just got it ion November so, no heat problem yet.

I originally had the ?69 before the wah. When I tried to put it after the wah it made a horrible feedback noise. I emailed Fulltone?s customer support. They wrote me back that day and suggested I put it after the TS9. They said it was b/c of an impedance mismatch thing between the fuzz and the wah. They suggested that I needed to put a pedal with a built-in buffer (like the TS9 or the Boss). Fulltone was very quick and friendly to work with.

LOVE IT!

Maybe I'm not the brightest bulb in the vibe pedal but this took me a long time to get a "good" sound out of. I messed with placement in the effects chain, tweaked the knobs, and tweaked the internal trimmer for days and days but I finally found what I was looking for.

The guitars that I use with this:
Japanese Strats(2) into Vox Wah into Fulltone Full Drive into '69 into Big Muff or Dunlop Double shot distortion (sometimes) into Visual Sound chorus/delay into Morley splitter into Peavey Delta Blues (2x10) and Early '70's (71/72 they think) Twin Reverb (no master volume)
I don't think it's really noisy at all other than the noise one gets from fuzz. After finding what I liked, it always sounds rockin'.
I can kind of "get the sound of my favorite artists'" (Ala Hendrix) when I want to but I think to sound like Jimi you'd need the equipment he used and to be able to play like him. Which I don't have nor can I do.
I found that after I messed around with the pedal, I ended up with a sound that I like very much. Here's the thing though, I had expectations of what I thought the pedal should sound like and the pedal sounds like it sounds. There really isn't a huge amount of gain (get the '70 for that but there is a price to pay in overloading the signal and that IS a noisy pedal in my exp)but if one listens to early Hendrix, he really didn't have huge amounts of gain on the first couple of records. I went back and really listened and this was my experience. Anyway, if I want more out of this pedal I'll stomp on the Full drive (not the boosted side) and have them running simultaneously. Especially with some chorus and it's a really good sound. I give it a ten when I want FUZZ. THIS IS NOT A DISTORTION PEDAL. It's an AWESOME fuzz pedal.

So far so good, I've had it for a year and a half. I've never had a problem with it. I also live in a cool/cold climate in the mountains so I don't know about the heat thing that others have sited. I've had my Fulldrive for three or four years now and it's pretty much on if the amp is and it's never given me a problem. Hell I change batteries like once a year. I say that to say that my experience has been really good quality wise.

I've not had to deal with them too much, I emailed them a question about my fulldrive and never got an answer but I did get one on a question that I emailed regarding my '70 pedal.

Style of music: Lots of stuff, blues, really like spacey slow stuff, would love to play rockabilly if I had a faster picking hand, heavy and slow. This is a good match as I love to rip off Hendrix sometimes with my old band but it's more than that. I like to record with it as well because it cuts through a lot of my bassier distortions. Would I get another? Probably. If I didn't it would be because I'd want to try another Fulltone pedal. I compared it to the Dunlop fuzz, a rack mount, and some other stuff but I bought it sight unseen due to my affinity for Fulltone.
I'd just like to say: If you are looking for fuzz, I think this is your dog. Don't buy this looking for thrash or gobs of gain. It's a shot of good Italian espresso and not a crappy cup of Denny's coffee. If you're used to Denny's, you may hate this at first. I say if you buy it and don't like it, keep it for a couple of weeks and mess with it. Give it a chance. I'm really glad that I did.

Easy to get a good sound right out of the box. To get great and unique sounds however, one will need to spend some time with it

I'm an old fart thats been playing since the Beatles hit the shore in the 60's. My first pedal ( it actually plugged straight into the guitar ) was a Sunn Buzz.....a little black box that nailed the Inngadadavida and Satisfaction tone, but not much else. Second was a Maestro Fuzz.....not the triangle one, but the big ol hunk of plastic with the wheels for vol and fuzz you turned with your feet.

I had pretty much forgot about fuzz pedals over the years and relyed on various overdrives for my dirt wankings. When a freind sent me his 69 pedal to use, a whole new world of cool tones I had forgotten about emerged.

While not everyones cup of tea, this 69 is one of the finest sounding, most tweakable fuzz's I've had the pleasure to use. From adding a nice fat texture to your tone, to aping Norman Greenbaums "Spirit in the Sky", various Trower and Hendrix tones, to all out aural sonic blitz, the 69 covers it all and covers it well.

One of the things I really dig is running the 69 into a tube screamer type pedal or an already cooking amp. Lordy! Throw away your pick man.......legatto staccato here we come! I ran it in to the crappy overdrive channel on an old solid state amp the other night and I'll be damned if I didn't channel Allan Holdsworth! OF course, it was Allan Holdsworth with a broken hand and on a dose of slow pills...... but I digress....the fluid, cello like lines that emerged would make an ebow blush!

I've yet to delve into the trim pots on this thing as I'm still exploring the tonal possibilites with the top mounted knobs. Bias and contour add much to the sonic delights of this pedal.

Is it the best fuzz out there? I don't know. I've tried the Soul Bender, McFuzz, FabFuzz and a few others. I'd love to try the Sun Face, Fuzz Head, London Fuzz, Peach Fuzz, Cats Eye Fuzz and 36 other germanium loaded boxes, but alas, that will never ( unless some nice botique builder would like to take pity on an old, broke guitar playing fool! ) happen. Suffice to say, the 69 is a toneful, versitile fuzz.

If you are not familiar with what a good fuzz pedal can do for you, I would highly suggest spending some time with one. I mean, really spending some time with one. While good tones can happen right out of the box, the deeper you delve into these antiquated noise makers, the more you will be rewarded with new/old inspiring tones.

I really thought I had no need for a fuzz and my dirty tone lust could be satiated with various overdrives and distortions. HAH! How wrong I was!

Not only do they add much to your sonic pallet, they are fun ( FUN I tell you! ) to use. I love kicking it in during and overdriven solo and surprising the crap out of unsuspecting listeners! They are like..."What in the hell was that??!!" Get one and you too can laugh to yourself while nodding knowinly to the gear heads in the audience......that, my friends......is THE 69!!

OK, I usually don't give out 10's, but for the tone this pedal has and it's vesitility.....it gets a big fat 10 from me.

This is one sturdy, studly pedal my friends! I understand that germanium equipped fuzz pedals can be somewhat tempermental, so if I was gigging again, I would probably have a silicone stuffed backup...but as it is, I've never had a lick of problems with this one. The owner of the pedal keeps in the box when not in use and I do the same. It's probably 5-7 years old and looks brand new. I do not forsee any problems with it down the road.

Never dealt with Mr Fuller, but I understand he stands 100% behind his products. I'm sure if there were a problem, it would be taken care of in a prompt, helpful manner.

I play a variety of music. Blues, classic rock, country, worship, jazz, reggae, altered tunnings....whatever. I like most music. Well, good music. Some of the crap that passes for music these days I would just as soon not hear....but who am I to judge!

While I will never be a world class guitar player, I made my living for many years playing professionally. There are many players ( big time and locally ) I admire and I try to learn something from everyone I come in contact with. I still do some gigs once in a while along with helping people on recording projects. I've got good ears and some nice new and vintage gear. I know tone. So, believe me when I tell you this is a fantastic piece of gear.

Is it for everyone...well, no. Also, it's not something you're going to leave on all the time or use even 50% of the time.....well, I guess you could if you were in the right situation.....but for the most part, it's a nice pedal that will add depth and substance to your tonal tool box.

Very easy to use. Just dial the knobs or start dialing from the suggested settings in the manual. I got great sounds right away when I was testing this fuzz in the store. After hearing all kinds of mediocre fuzzez which were hard to get a good fuzz sound with, this one sounded great no matter how I turned to knobs.

I haven't heard everything out there, but I compared this fuzz with the keeley fuzz-head and some of the pedals of electro harmonix, MJM, diamond pedals, and this pedal was still my favorite. I think it's the bias, contour and internal knobs which give the pedal so much range in sound. The sound is always full of character, defenately not lifeless as some people say, raw, authentic and because you can tweak it so good; surprisingly heavy or chiming if you want.

Have it half a year now, and it still looks like new. Very solid and precise build.

not needed

The perfect fuzz for me so far, I couldn't recommend a better fuzz; it's a very basic design yet very broad in range, and it sounds terrific.

one experience from me;
If you are new with fuzzez; don't buy the fuzzfactory first like I did, but buy the fulltone 69 instead, you won't regret it.

Mine is a new pedal (July 2005). Lots of options for tone shaping including internal trimmer. Manual is brief but tells you all you need to know plus gives some useful hints and tips and a couple of sample settings.

I was glad for the warning about the positive centre pin requirement and I decided to follow Mike's advice and stick with the battery option. It would be difficult to change it mid-gig but there you go.

Two guitars and two amps - a Fender Custom Shop Clapton Strat and a PRS 20th Anniversary Standard 24; Cornford Hurricane and Cornford Harlequin run clean/wet and dirty/dry respectively; Fulltone OCD, Dejavibe and Tube Tape Echo; Keeley TS9; Dunlop 535Q wah (true bypass) and an MXR Noise Gate.

The fuzz does what it says on the tin and gives me what I want: a late 60's fuzz a la Hendrix. Very quiet for a fuzz; the bias control enables it to work well with the wah. Best fuzz I've had for my setup and needs.

All the Fulltone effects I've had/have are excellent, solid and dependable. I would use it without a backup and my sound is not so dependant on the fuzz that if the battery went during a gig I couldn't carry on (although I might need to change the set list a little).

No experience at all - I haven't needed it (so far...)

I've been playing 20 years and play mainly rock from the 60s to present day, some blues, classic metal (NWOBHM), Beck, Vai, Satch, Gatton etc. etc.

If you want that Hendrix-type fuzz sound, the 69 is as good as it gets and it will do a lot more if you want to fiddle with it. I've had a Zvex fuzz Factory (wacky, excellent, cute, but too noisy, unpredictable and not easy to mess around with on stage - unless you're Matt Bellamy and have it built into your guitar), Homebrew Electronics UFO (great sound but broke down too frequently sadly). The best fuzz I've ever used.

It ain't exactly cheap but you do get what you pay for; there is a good five year warranty so I'm happy.

4 knobs
volume and fuzz are easy (all the way up)
bias and contour are completly different animals..but fun to tweek & have lots of variable sounds

running first in line, or a true bypass wah in front
It has typical germanium transistor noises...isn't that why we bought it?
brings grit, tr3ble, and stank to my otherwise midrangy carvin xv112
I'm pretty darn satisfied
I use it for hendrix, led zepplin, and wilco covers W/ my band
(www.thehermans.com)

looks good, and i baby it. yet i could see myself breaking it at a drunken throughdown.........and i scared for the day i have to play it outside in the 100+ montana sunshine

picked it up in near mint condition @ a pawn shop..super score
emailed mr. fuller & he said he'd fix it if i ever needed it
good enough for me

best fuzz i have ever used, but i am interested in trying more

Depending on your definition of a "good sound", which is an absolutely personal pursuit, the '69 delivers any number of top-shelf variations. I immediately fell in love with the tone. My amp/guitar combination is rather unusual and, at times, a little stubborn. The '69, however, has offered a new universe of texture that I have been aiming for most of my career, and has done so without compromise. It's as easy to use as any pedal requiring your attention for several hours to understand what your going to get from it. I've never, repeat: never, aquired a pedal that didn't require some serious study be given to "mining" its potential. Nor have I ever purchased a pedal that, before buying, was completely familiar to me. Where is the fun, not to mention the buzz, in that? Any pedal worth a purchase should demand some time be invested in learning the nuances and subtlies of its design. Mike Fuller of Fulltone is definately one of those builders and he knows he's on to something good. Take the time to get inside the new tone, regardless of the purchase you make.

My '69 is in front of a '59 Tremolux. It sounds as natural to this vintage amp as anything I can conjur up without the pedal. When it's off, it's absolutely off. When it's engaged, it runs with a fairly low noise floor (depending on your gain setting, of course). I'm after a percussive, spanking, but mild overdrive and that's what I get... even upon first plugging it in. Now with that said, I've spent days and several gigs with this pedal, hours of tweaking and listening to get my stubborn setup to deliver what I'm after. I am willing to spend the time to do so. I believe, as Santana once said, that your tone (whether it's guitar, horn, voice, etc.) is linked to your soul. Your playing is that direct channel so why not take the time to get all aspects of it in shape. The '69 is very versatile, very "vocal", making it a highly detailed and personal tool in my guitar rig. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND WORKING WITH THE INTERNAL TRIMMER TO DIAL IN A VERY SPECIFIC TONE. In my estimation and experimentation I have found that the internal trimmer seems to operate quite simply as follows: Fully counter-clockwise delivers a more mid scooped EQ. Fully clockwise delivers a flatter, perhaps rolling off the top end, thus smoothing out the overdrive/fuzz - sounding more like my Sparkle Drive. Settings throughout the range are subtle but quite varied. The level of Bias, Contour and Fuzz naturally effect the tone differently depending on the internal trimmer setting. Again, invest the time in understanding these tonal options that Fulltone has made available in the "69. It is a very "musical" pedal.

I do depend on it and would use it without backup. Though switches in both this and my Fulldrive 2 have been replaced. Hey, mechanical things break down eventually, no exceptions.

I immediately dealt with Michael Fuller at Fulltone because I had ordered the FPS-2 adapter and had some problems. The problem seems to be related to the wiring in my home and, thus my studio. I cannot use the pedal with the adapter because of some very, very funky noise that occurs when the pedal is engaged. However, battery operation is fine and so far it seems to operate normally at gigs. I suspect a grounding issue in my home. The adapter is a positive tip, which means you cannot use typical Boss style adapters for this pedal or Voodoo Labs earlier power brick. Seems to be a trend with some high end builders; specifically regarding fuzz and overdrive pedals. I'm not certain if it has to do with the Germanium transistors or what. Michael Fuller, at first was almost resistent to the idea that I was having significant problems with the adapter. However, he soon warmed to the idea upon letting him know that I had done my research and troubleshooting BEFORE contacting him. DO NOT CONTACT FULLTONE WITHOUT FULLY INVESTIGATING YOUR ISSUE FIRST. He can be a little "off-putting" at first simply because, as he told me, 85% of what he gets back in his shop for repairs is simply not the pedal but some other link in your setup ( non "True Bypass" pedal such as Boss and Ibanez will cause noise issues, bad cables - he specifically does not care for poorly "built" George L's, etc.)He clearly stated that he does not have the time to trouble-shoot poorly cared for or designed pedalboards, amps and so on. In my case I prepared a list of my troubleshooting scenarios that I went through, which were thorough, and eventually an MP3 of the noise problem. I documented and closely followed his suggested trouble-shooting tactics, as well. At that point he was thankful for the thorough follow thru on my end and we are still both puzzled by the issue. It is my opinion that Michael Fuller is confident in his design and manufacturing process. In my previous experience regarding the switches he was most cooperative and quickly service the pedals, returning them immediately. It should also be noted that his order placement and fullfillment was very, very quick. Top notch business practice for professional musicians. Period.

It is my opinion that the '69 is a perfect match for vintage amps and vintage fuzz tones, as well as some more extremes. It cleans up nicely without a dramatic loss in volume when rolling the guitar volume back slightly. It reacts to your attack like a tube amp in many respects. It should be noted that I'm not after vintage tones exclusively. What I want is clean, defined grit without sacrificing the low end. I've not heard any pedal, other than Fulltone products, leave the low end of the signal fairly untouched. The '69, specifically, does a great job of allowing the bottom end to pass through. I am after and I've dialed in a big, round sound and a subtle bluesy breakup. I have or have had several overdrive type pedals including Ibanez Tube Screamers, Chandler Tube Drivers, Sparkle Drive, Fulldrive 2 and others. I would replace the '69 in a heartbeat. Nothing has done the subltle fuzz, "breakup" tone better than the '69. I own various high end amps including Rivera, GT and vintage Fenders and this pedal into my '59 tweed is the favorite tone of my career. The tonal control of the '69 is it's most enduring feature. Learning to balance the internal trimmer against the external controls is highly recommended. In fact, I might go so far as to say it's critical in fine tuning the pedal for your personal taste. The '69 has many, many variations and the tone is "musical" and defined. If your in to plug and play pedals, it's a Fulltone afterall - so it's capable right out of the box. But if you are a player looking to define your "fuzz" and overall tone, this pedal can deliver on many levels.