Fulltone 67 Pedal

This is a resubmission of a review of the Fulltone '67 Pedal that was mistakenly lumped into the '69 Pedal category. Sorry for any repetition.

The Fulltone '67 Pedal is ultra rare and is no longer made. Only a handful of this two-knob version were made by Mike Fuller. They are the precursor to the popular '69 Pedal. In other words, this is Mike Fuller's very first Arbiter Fuzz Face style fuzz pedal. This particular unit is serial number 0005. Mike told me that he only made a handful. The '67 Pedal comes in an unpainted aluminum box with clear stick-on lettering. The pedal has two black chicken head knobs for Volume and Fuzz. There's a single Carling DPDT switch and no LED indicator. You simply turn the Fuzz knob up all the way and dial in the right volume. You can then control the degree of fuzz with your guitar volume. The pedal cleans up pretty well with decreased guitar volume, but perhaps not quite as well as the newer '69 Pedal or a Diaz Square Face Fuzz.

The '67 Pedal was made at a time when Mike Fuller had made very few pedals. The pedal is dated 11/95. The transistors are the classic "top hat" style Germanium PNP. They are marked by Mike Fuller as having gain ratings of 80 and 91, respectively. Thus, they have the "sweet spot" gain ratings and are mismatched to produce more assymetrical clipping for sweeter tones.

The pots are full sized and the switch is a bullet proof Carling model. There's a resistor in line with the Germaniums that Mike installed as a midrange control. I presume that it helps give the pedal its smooth, fat tone. Basically, the pedal is much fatter and smoother sounding than Arbiter Fuzz Face pedals that I've tried.

The pedal couldn't be easier to use. The trick is to use your guitar volume to control the dynamics and fuzz.

Like most Germanium fuzz pedals, the '67 Pedal is very picky about what's before and after it in the pedal chain. You must use true bypass pedals with this pedal. It does not like to see buffered input pedals like Boss or Ibanez before or after it. The tone of the fuzz changes to a much louder, harsher sound. However, you can use a true bypass booster pedal before the '67 Pedal to really take you into ultra fuzz land.

The '67 Pedal is a one or two trick pony, like most fuzz pedals, but it does its one trick flawlessly. The '67 Pedal sounds exactly like Jimi at Monterey. And I mean *exactly*. I got this tone effortlessly with a stock American Strat, the '67 Pedal, a 1973 Marshall Lead and Bass 20 head, plugged into 2 25 watt reissue Celestion Greenback speakers. You can also hear this tone on bootlegs of Jimi from 1967, before he switched to silicon transistor fuzz faces and Roger Mayer modded fuzzes.

If you have the BBC Sessions Hendrix CD or album, listen to the lead solo on Hey Joe. That's the sound of this pedal. This pedal also is great for getting the fuzz tones on Third Stone From the Sun. Now, if only I had Jimi's talent!!!

There's lots of volume boost available and the Fuzz knob is nicely tuned so that you can get a fuzzy overdrive type tone if you don't want the insanity of full bore fuzz.

Very cool pedal. It's really a very well executed vintage Arbiter Fuzz Face, and the tones are endlessly cool. I especially like the lead tones on the neck pickup above the tenth fret -- very fat and fluid.

As a final note, I'm rating this pedal a "10" for Sound quality because it is an outstanding version of the old Arbiter Fuzz Face. If you don't like that particular sound, you won't like this pedal. In other words, I'm judging this pedal for what it is: a classic style fuzz. I am not comparing it to the many boutique overdrive pedals, which are obviously more versatile than any true fuzz pedal.

The pedal is built with rock solid engineering and the switch is very heavy duty. One cautionary note is that PNP Germanium transistors can be temperature sensitive. I have had no problems with this pedal.

Although others have had run ins with Mike Fuller, he has been exceptionally nice with me and we've had extended conversations about pedals and tone. He has done minor mods on one of my other Fulltone pedals and was very prompt with his service. Compared to large pedal manufacturers and other boutique makers, Fuller's support is outstanding.

I play the typical Hendrix, Cream, Trower stuff -- like most people reading this site ;^)

This pedal is a lot of fun to play due to its ability to nail the Jimi at Monterey tone (the early Hendrix tone).

For reference, I've owned or currently own lots of fuzz pedals. This is the coolest early Hendrix pedal I've ever used.

If you find one, buy it if the price is right! They're extremely rare -- only a handful were made and they will never be made again since they were replaced by the '69 Pedal. It is only a fantastic value if the dealer doesn't know that it is collectible. Otherwise, they'll probably charge a small fortune.