Fulltone 70's Pedal

Very simple vintage style pedal. Easy to tweak, but varies widely in sound between different amps, guitars and other pedals. You have spend time with it to find the right combination of guitar, amp and pedals (if you are using it with other pedals).

This pedal sounds very good with my Malmsteen Stratocaster. Actually, when I first purchased it I thought something was wrong, it sounded very "tame" for a silicon fuzz and did not sound at all like the clips I had listened to. Finally I realized that my ultra-low output Dimarzio pickups were responsible for this. I love the tone with the Malmsteen Strat, it has bite and snarl, but sounds smooth as well.

I am using the 70 with a vintage Deluxe Reverb, a Boogie Studio Caliber combo and a Boogie Mark I head with Thiele cabinet. The tone is consistent between the Boogie amps, but is very different with the Deluxe Reverb. With the Deluxe Reverb the 70 sounds fuzzier and more scooped in the midrange. Overall, the pedal sounds good with all amps, but I prefer it with the Boogies. I tried using the 70 with my OCD and a Mojo Hand Nebula phaser (awesome phaser!). The 70 sounds good as long as it is first in the signal chain. I tried switching things around by placing the OCD first with the 70 second in the chain. To my ears, the 70 sounds best when it is first in the signal chain, or used by itself.

I typically turn the fuzz and mid knobs all the way up, and use my volume control to vary the amount of fuzz. With the Strat, the fuzz knob provides zero fuzz until the knob is turned nearly all the way up. As mentioned earlier, I contribute this to the low-output pickups in the Malmsteen Strat. The lack of range on the fuzz knob does not bother me, the tone is very good with the knob maxed and I can vary the amount of fuzz with the volume knob. At times I find the pedal to be a bit bright and wish I had a proper tone control, but overall I am very pleased with the sound.

I also own a Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean, and just for fun I plugged it into the 70. The resulting sound was chaotic, noisy, and on the verge of total feedback. The difference was drastic, and I can see why so many fuzz users are Strat players. I like the 70 with my Strat, and have no trouble getting Hendrix style tones and other sounds. If I want to make noise and annoy the neighbors and my wife, I plug the 70 into the Gretsch! For my uses and gear, a good pedal. I do wish it had a proper tone control, but then it would not have that vintage vibe, would it?

I am a devoted Fulltone user and have several Fulltone pedals. I love all of them and they have never failed me.

The 70 is my first "real" fuzz pedal (I owned some cheaper fuzz pedals several years ago, I don't consider them real) and I have been enjoying it very much. I actually have two fuzz pedals right now, the 70 and a SubDecay Flying Tomato Fuzz. I wanted one vintage fuzz (70), and one modern fuzz (Flying Tomato). Each fuzz is different, and I enjoy both of them. I chose the 70 because I wanted to avoid the more temperamental germanium based units. I like the snarl of the silicon based fuzzes, and the added reliability is a plus. As mentioned earlier, I do sometimes wish it had a proper tone control, but if I need more control I pull out the Flying Tomato. I have been playing for 13 years (started at age 19) and think the 70 is a very musical product. I enjoy all of my Fulltone effects and this pedal is the one I consider the most "fun" to use. It inspires me to be creative, and gives me the vintage tones I love as well.

Dummy proof

I didn't like it. I owned it for all of 1 day!!

It's a shame....because I LOVE Fulltone's stuff...but this was just CRAP!! I bought it on E-bay and turned around and flipped it for a $60.00 profit after just 1 day!!

It's not easy to get a good sound out of any transistor based fuzz. The Fuzz amount has to be high but you have to find the sweet spot. Same with guitar level (Humbuckers sometimes tend to have to be backed down a bit or it can be muddy) Amp settings open a whole world of possibilities or problems depending on how you look at it.

I give it a 1 not because its bad but because its "Very difficult to use"

Yes you can get early clapton, hendrix, srv type tones. depending on your guitar and amp.
The fuzz itself is buzzy and not anything like an overdrive or distortion pedal.
I use it with a 64 Bassman Head and Fargen mod'd 70's 50 watt Marshall.
Its a little noisy and weird when cranked but not as noisy as a tube screamer.
if you want a synthetic wierd distortion; direct or clean amp is cool.
if you want a ballsy bluesy sound; you need to have your amp distortion as well.
the amp will transform the hair from the fuzz into that vintage sound.

Its not very rugged, its been broken twice just from normal travel. not fragile

Well, It's a typical LA company.
"I sell pedals to stars! but I'd like to thank all the little people who helped me become so great"
Doesn't bother me. I live in LA so I am used to dealing with it and getting through.
After a liitle effort they were, in the end, very helpful.
but no, they are not Analog Mike.

I do Studio Work so it's good when the client asks for a 60's style thing, its also cool for electronica stuff. if it was lost i would buy the NOS Sunface. I would also give the sunface a 1 for ease of use. these things are tricky

Three knobs: volume, mids, and fuzz. I've never had a big problem getting good sound out of it. You can turn up the mids for more clarity, something the old silicon fuzzfaces did not offer.

it is a bit beefier sounding than the germanium fuzzes. I think I might prefer this type of fuzz to the germ fuzzes. I also own a Soulbender pedal, another great pedal, but this '70 silicon fuzz seems to have more mids and lows mixed in overall. It has beautiful clarity too. Also, it is more saturated and aggressive than the germ fuzzes i believe. They both have their beauty. At bedroom level I push it with a TS-808 although it does work well as a stand alone dirt box. When I get out of an apartment setting I imagine it will sound massive just pushing a cranked tube amp. I really love this thing. If you use a wah before it, use one ith a buffer like the Foxrox kit. Silicon fuzes, or fuzzes in general?, will cause your wah to scream and compress. My Teese wah with built in Foxrox buffer sounds and works great with the '70. This modern development is surely a plus.

Looks to be built with very sturdy construction. Inside looks clean and the braided wire for one tells me care went into the production.

Never dealt with Fulltone. Nice website. You have to admit, the fact that Mike Fuller stopped making germanium fuzzes for lack of quality components says a good deal about his ethics. He could probably continue selling germanium fuzzes and make more money. Yet, he chooses to sell quality only to people.

Definite 10. It's a very meticulous take on the silicon fuzz face from what I gather. Mike Fuller knows tone from what I can tell. Beside the two fuzzes I own, I tried a Deja-vibe in a music store, which sounded gorgeous. Before I bought it, I tried this '70 pedal next to a Duncan Tweak Fuzz and the Fulltone was much more toneful with greater sustain. Great pedals period. I would buy again if lost or stolen.

easy to use..but to dial in what you want , really hard

the quality of the sound is okay.. the quality of the materials used makes for very little interferences and not much noise background

it's okay in front of my phase, to enhance the phasing effect..

i do want to note that i don't know if mine is a lemon, i can't get NOTHING for it to sound like a fuzz face..not even close..and not close to a big muff either.. it's far from an even harmonics fuzz..terrible..and useless ..

built like a tank, will never break..maybe the switch if you stomp like a camel all day..but otherwise excellent quality materials

non-existant.. forget emailing to their tech dept..i received no answers about this unit after 3 attempts..they just don't like people to send them problems and nevative commentaries..i'm sure he enjoys when people send praise though..

i play classic rock and jazz fusion. been playing for 32 years. if it were stolen, i'd buy myself a cheaper fuzz face . i love the appearance and it looks pro in my pedal board..i can't get rid of it because it was a gift..

to be really honest , to my ears , IT SOUNDS LIKE CRAP.. yukeepoo.. and i do know how fuzz sounds like and to get close to jimi's sound during the band of gypsies, it's a lot easier to use my good ol' fuzz face which i changed a resistor in it....oh..don't put any pedals in front of it like a wah or chorus or anything..

Easy to use.

good tonal range

Man.. the sound is just not right for me.

I have 14 fuzz pedals.(Colorsound, Ashbass, Mosrite, Roger Mayers etc)
But this one is not my type.
I have played everway in my pedal chain and 4 different amps but it just couldnt get the job done..!

Maybe I'm ver picky but fulltone dont deliever FULL TONE!

Its not really a 70s vintage fuzz pedal, just a pathetic clon..
just like the 69fuzz that I have owned for 4days.

If I were you I would just go and buy the Boss FZ-3 much better.

Really disappointed in Fulltone..
Sorry guys you dont make the reall full tone.

or just me that Im arguing for 60s freaky tone.

I miss the good-ol-buzz tone.

Maybe I should get a Fuzzrite from Ebay.

It depends how you use the pedal. It sounds good into a clean amp and also sounds good into a slightly broken up amp. THere is an internal switch to change sounds which is a great idea. But apart from that it's just 3 knobs, simple and the way i like it!

Again you have to know what you're buying into here. It is nothing like a distortion pedal. THis is old school and has the same pros and cons as the old pedals. If you use it in the front of the chain on its own it sounds brilliant! This thing cleans up like you wouldn't believe! If you like to use your guitar volume to change from heavy to clean, you leave this on all the time! I drive a slightly broken up amp and I would describe the sound as "Brutal"!

Now the down side....and it was a big downer for me. If you try and use a wah wah in front of the pedal it sounds awful. But to be fair it does say this on the Fulltone site. So my best Hendrix impressions (!) weren't quite happening when I stepping on a wah.

No issues so far, Fulltone gear is brilliantly made and worth every penny.

N/A.

In this modern day world of millions of effects pedals doing numerous functions, this baby is seriously old school. But if you dig that and can put up with the fews quirks it has then you have an amazing sounding pedal here. If you understand what you are buying then this will give you years of enjoyment. I only give it a 7 because of the quirks.
I play through a Soldano Hot Rod 100w and Cornford 2x12 cab using Fender Strats and Gibson LEs Pauls.
In comparisons with other fuzzes, I would say this is one of my favourites. I prefer it over the Cornell Fuzz Face I have as it is a bit more aggressive,has an LED and battery access is better.

This pedal is in my opinion quite a fussy beast.I have owned many fuzz`s and distortions over the years and the Fulltone `70 is one of the hardest get to know that I have come across.Having said that,my `70 is on my main pedalboard and is now a integral part of my sound!! When I want it to get fat n wild I go to my `70 Fuzz everytime!!! The manual is simple as at the end of the day there are only three controls!!

The `70 Fuzz sounds to me very much like Eric Johnsons Blue Fuzz Face and does sound very much like the origional `60`s Blue Fuzz face I owned as a kid in the `70`s.Also very Hendrixy too in tone terms.It is not noisy at all.I use Fender Twins and a 4x10 Blues Deville and no matter which amp I use and what ever channel ( clean or dirty ) this pedal does not hum or buzz at all.The `70 is a very wild fuzz...not for the faint hearted.You have to like your fuzz n boost thick n wild to go for this one...( I love it ).This pedal can make any amp sound great.When I go out and jam,if there is going to be a amp there I don`t bother taking one as I know my Fulltone(s) will give me good tone...and they always do!!

It is built like a tank ( as all Fulltone pedals are - I know as I own every one they make!! ),and when I gig with the pedalboard this is on,the last thing on my mind is if the `70 fuzz will let me down as I can`t see it ever happening.I don`t have a backup but I do have a Fulltone `69 Fuzz on the same board anyway....

I have been in touch with the company and some of the replies you get on e-mail can be a bit er "strange",but I put that down to "artistic temperament as Mr Fuller is definitley of that persuasion,but clearly has amazing ears!! Can`t see ever getting my `70 "upgraded" as it is a old style anologue Fuzz NOT a computer (haha)

I play EJ style rock n blues with a bit of Hendrix and SRV thrown in for good measure.I`ve been playing for 35yrs this year ( since I was 7yrs old ) and if I lost my `70 Fuzz I`d order another the same day.

To get the best from a Fulltone `70 Fuzz set all the controls at 2 O`clock and do NOT touch the trimmer inside the pedal as where Mike F has set it ( marked and signed by the man inside ) is where your pedal will sound it`s best....

With a little work tweeking the internal trimmer, you can acheive some fine, furry fizz. The mid knob also adds more cut and a tad more gain.

This pedal works well for a variety of fuzz styles from Hendrix to Gibbons. Most fuzz pedals work best when used through an overdriving tube amp (Fender or Marshall style). The 70's pedal has enough gain to be used as a stand alone distortion unit through a clean amp. I use it with a 4X10 Fender Deville.

Mine was made in 2003 and keeps on ticking.

E-mail the company and you'll usually get a response from Mike Fuller himself.

I've owned a Dunlop Fuzz Face reissue and a Big Muff. This pedal beats them both. If you like the sound of your Fuzz Face but wish it had more balls and more personality, go and buy this pedal.

physically it's very easy to use. spiritually not so easy....

Amazing tone. I'm new to the fuzz scene so I've been trying a bunch out for a long time. I wanted that wolf like growl on the first position slow bends. Yup, nails it--voodoo baby!!! I agree with most reviews here it cleans up real nice, however it's easy to sound really bad if you suck... regardless, it's fun to play with. I'm a freak about my tone, I play a customized strat and I have a 82-62 reissue, and two tylers. I do studio session and live work. I cant wait to roar wih this live. I think Mike's audio clip on the site does a good job of representing the tone and whats possible--You need to spend time with this one though. The key to this is your guitars volume knob. You have to let the fuzz wake up slowly ease it into your mood. Like fulltone says it can snarl and spit-you can control it just takes some time. dont be turned off from the low end. this pedal is touchy... Extreamly responsive to dynamics. the more you play with emotion and feel the more this pedal will respond the way you want it to-thats fuzz in a nutshell. and by the way it works well with others. wah's and overdrives can be interesting.

yup no worries

so so, I hate that you cant call them. Customer service in my book should be # 1. I would have all his stuff if I could actually speak with someone who know the product.

I do mainly 60's-modern rock. I've been playing for 15 years( I should be much beter then I am) I'd buy it again if stolen. It's a fuzz so I love it and hate it all at the same time... I wish it had to gain stages. I think you could have more fun that way. It's too bad he dosent add a switch... so you can choose.

other then that I really love it.