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.

Possessed 3 knob version of hardcore fuzz. I turn the knobs & they turn back to where ever they were before because it thinks it sounded better that way, it doesn?t listen to me even though I?m supposed to be it?s master & in a little way I get frightened of what it?s thinking behind my back.

Fulltone?s site says that this fuzz ?snarls & spits? which I can vouch for. When I opened the box it was very angry from being confined to such a small space & seemed to think I was the one who put it there. It sprayed a loogie right on my head. I did the usual tricks trying to get in the good books (You know like talk nice & offer to go down on it) but it stayed in the same mood for days, but I must admit that it has lightened up recently.

I would definitely trust this device, it gets very cross when people annoy me and throws itself at their heads. People think I was throwing it and wouldn?t listen to me trying to warn them of its possessiveness.

They knew this one was trouble, but didn?t inform me of its spiratic behavior. When I sleep at night I can?t help but keep an eye on it as it sits on the floor near my Marshall. I think it?s trying to turn the other effects against me too, but I might just be a bit paranoid

It asked me for chicken drumsticks last night after midnight and now theres a big cocoon on the floor in my room. I?m going to have to clean some shit up I guess but I'm curious whats going on in there.

Very Easy To Get A Good Sound. 3 Knobs: Volume, Mids, Fuzz.

I Play Gibson and Fender Guitars With This Pedal, All Sound Fantastic. For A Fuzz Pedal, It's Really Quiet! There Are So Many Sweet Spots On This Pedal...Mids Turned Back To 0 and Fuzz Cranked...That is THE Blue Fuzz Face Sound! I Like To Keep The Fuzz Cranked and Turn Up The Mids To About 11 o'clock. This Pedal Is THE BEST Sounding Silicon Fuzz ( For Me ). I've Tried Many Fuzz Pedals and Chose This One For It's Tube-Like Tone, Fullness, Sustain, And Fuzziness. This Pedal Is NOT Harsh At All...Like So Many Fuzzes Are.

Built Like A Tank. Fulltone Pedals Are Quite Possibly The Best Quality Money Can Buy. I've Owned / Own Other Fulltone Products and NEVER Had Any Problems.

Instead of Spending $40 - $99 For A Piece Of Shit Dime-A-Dozen Fuzz That Is Unreliable and Sounds Like Complete Shit...Do Yourself A Favor And Fork Out About 50 Extra Bones And Get This If You Want A Great Silicon Fuzz!

It's not that easy to use if one doesn't know how to modulate with the guitar's volume knob. I have not used the internal trimmer yet, which appears to add versatility.

Here's where we get to show who is the the most afflicted among those submitting posts: I play a lefty Am Std Strat (it happens to be Olympic White) strung right handed-->Fulltone'70-->Vox V846 wah (needs DPDT switch)-->Voodoo lab Proctavia-->Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe Jr-->Hughes&Kettner Replex-->Marshall 1987X RI plexi 50W. I even have an Ace strap, but no coiled cords. Even my insanity has limts. You can't help but get a certain sound reliably. The other sound you can get is EJ when he "influences" off of JH, especially with the Delay on the Replex. The '70 replaces a BK Butler Blues Driver/Apollo Fuzz (same thing as Shin-Ei Companion Fuzz)combo. While I'm sill learning how to fully use the pedal, it is working like I want it to.

Seems built reliably. I'd gig without backup.

no opinion, although from what's reported, I expect I could get a hold of Mike if I had to.

Like anything worth doing it takes a little work to get the sound out of the pedal. Having tried to get JH/EJ sounds out of Bixonic Expandora, original TS-808, ProCo Rat, Russian Big Muff Pi, Tube Driver, Blues Driver, Apollo Fuzz--didn't think much about the distinction between overdrive and fuzz until now. If you're looking for fuzz, this is a good place to start. Wish I had had this when I started the search for the sound.

it's a fuzz pedal w/ a few cool extra features, but easy enough to plug in and just play.

this pedal sounds great with my matchless clubman and my 18watter, and it sounds good w/ my princetons, but just doesn't do it with my bigger fenders. i guess it was just made to drive that british sound for me.
it's general sound is raunchy and abrassive, just the way a fuzz pedal should be. when i step on a pedal like this i want to know it and everybody in the parking lot too as well.
i do have a major problem with it though. it was always a little testy with me, but would eventually come around. i have had the thing for 5 years, it has seen the world with me. i took it off my board about a year ago, put it back on a month ago, and now it works whenever it wants to. i'm having a problem with this, because i love the sound of this pedal, and i own a few of his other pedals (for several years all w/o any glitches at all.

after 4 years and one year off it died on me at a session. i looked like a dick cause i didn't have a backup. never again. on the other hand it went on and off planes and suffered through horrible ac in lame clubs for years w/o a backup.

i emailed my problem to them several weeks ago, and have heard not a peep. i'm pissed. i have done nothing but talk them up, loan out their pedals to friends and colegues to check out, and played them on countless sessions and gigs. and they can't even email me back. busy is one week at best to not get back to someone. unacceptable.

i am torn. i want this pedal back in working order, because i love it, but i'm pissed at how i have been treated in this matter. if they correct this problem i'll be the first to retract that cs rating and rant, but untill then they lost at least one customer for life. the pedal is great, but i guess it turned out like everyother vintage fuzz ever made. unbelievable sounding, and unreliable. it's silicon, it shouldn't act like this.

um, on/off and 3 knobs so its easy , whats not easy is finding and deciding what you want , but thats a matter of preference


mine has white knobs, easy to see in low light.

The type of fuzz tone Im fond of is found somewhere between Cream's "Sleepytime" and the guitar solo in Steve Miller's "Space cowboy". How to describe it? blown out, fried, psycedelic, mushy, sizzly , blappy, farty, (these are all attributes), almost like a saxophone. If you are a fuzz fan , this thing is ear candy!!


I play a es 355 through a delux reverb, and was a little worried after reading some of the other reviews that I wouldnt get good fuzz results with my Fender amp, but I found the 70 to be fantastic with my rig even at lower volumes. The sound I found is warm, and sustains beautifuly. When I roll the volume on the guitar back, you would never know its on, very nice.

It took me a while to figure out how the 70's controls affect my sound. I ended up tweaking the internal trimpot and found that near CCW is what I like. I also found myself adjusting my pickup height, It has a great effect on how the fuzz acts as well.

built VERY solid.

Fuzztone is a matter of taste , for me I love it and find it inspiring. Its a very crude effect , but can sound very beautiful with just the right mixture of volume , reverb , (string) vibrato, especialy in the context of psycedelic blues. On the same note , fuzz at the wrong setting (and in the wrongs hands) can sound horrible , steril and harsh.

I would remind you to not "falsely expect" fuzz to be distortion, it is not. If you want distortion buy a Tubescreamer or something like that.

But, if you like the fuzz of Townsend, Hendrix, and Page,and Clapton, the Fulltone 70 is pure magic!

Pretty easy, but you should really tweak the knobs. There's a clipping pot inside the pedal that opens up or closes the fuzz too. Haven't messed with it, but will when I'm confident I need to. Stock, it sounds pretty darn amazing.

Not noisy, except that when I turn it on it picks up a Mexican radio station! LOL!

My signal is: A Squier strat (maple neck alder body) with YJM and HS-3 pickups, through theFulltone 70, into a Carvin Bel-Air with Celestion Greenback 25w. Other gear is MXR Phase 90 and Flanger, Vox Wah and FullDrive2.

This is my first real fuzz pedal, and at first play I was like, "Whoa." I played it through the dirty channel with gain at 4 and volume at 4. The pedal cuts through, and really responds to the bridge and neck pickups. i got a pretty fat, chimey tone, when I rolled back the volume a little. I played some Hendrix, poorly imitated some Eric Johnson licks, and sat back and mused on the sound. This is a great pedal, and I'm glad I chose it over the Fuzz Face reissue.

Again, try playing with the pots for awhile and get your sound. This is a fun pedal. Mike Fuller knows what he's doing, that's for sure.

solid. I've had a fulldrive2 for two years and no problems.

haven't had to yet

I just got it, but I really am impressed. It's the last piece of gear I'll need for awhile. I play rock, but mostly bluesy stuff. I like to play ala Blackmore/Hendrix.

I think it's cool that boutique pedals like Fulltone are out there for anyone to buy. It's worth the money for pedals you know you'll use, and you will use the Fulltone pedals, trust me. They're pricey, and hurt the pocket, but I am well satisfied. I can't wait to use it in a gig! If I had the money, I'd buy the choralflange, choral flange and deja vibe. Scary thing is, I'd be afraid of gearheads walking off with them while having a beer.

Bottom-line: Spend the extra bucks and get this pedal. Treat yourself well.

To easy way to easy (well when no booklet is included that makes me happy) I like this one a lot AMEN......

I use an American Tele wired like a 53 Tele with real paper caps (find those) Peavey Delta Blues 15" Speaker.... Very little noise but if some noise was not there than its not a Fuzz Face (Thats how everyone messes them up by taking out the noise)......This is the best pedal Mike makes I have had them all at one point....... I get a real Hendrix to eary Led Zeppelin type sound and maybe Cream (Eric Clapton) so thats cool.....I would like to put my BSM treble booster in front of it and watch it melt YES hahahahahahhahah...........

Mike makes everything to last so no problem....... Very German like with a long lasting forever concept...........You dont need a back up just extra batteries or wall wart hhahahahahahah........

Mike is cool he still answers the phone himself (wow head of company answers the phone still) Mike is there for you and will help you with everything you need......My passed experince is that he kept me from wasting time and helped me get my sound...........

Metal to the Pedal thats all I say here..........

3 knobs, couldnt be much easier.
does take some time experimenting though

using a vintage carlsbro 50 combo (1x12) with a japan fender strat with custom shop fat 50's pickups and also a boss sd-1 overdrive (but not at the same time as the fuzz, tried this, tis mush city)
The fuzz is great for hendrix style stuff, like everyone else said.
I also managed to get some chili peppers type stuff out of it with the guitar tone off (their guitarist uses a big muff)
You can get massive sounds out of it if you experiment with the controlls throught your whole set up, its very dependant on how you set up your amp and guitar.
I'm sure it could be very noisy with some setups but mine is virtually silent, alot of people complain about radio interference, i dont seem to get this, i did for a while through other amps (it sounded rubish through my brother's old marshall jmp 50 half stack)but it's dead quiet with my carlsbroeven with the fuzz controll all the way up, step on it and you cant tell it's on.

this has been covered quite fully in other reviews, virtually indestructable

Mike Fuller really seems to care about his products. i think my brother e-mailed him and got a quite quick reply. that was to do with the distortion pro which didn't seem to work very well with his old martshall

great pedal, sounds great
I got it from my brother, cant remember where he got it. he didnt want it cos he didnt want fuzz. you can get other fuzzes that would sound similar, but unless you get something custom-built and insanely expensive, you'll find it hard to better this.

I give it a 5 only because this is a fuzzbox, which is more difficult to find that "sweet spot" than it is with an overdrive. There are only three controls, so other than the time it takes to dial in your ideal sound that compliments your rig, it is a pretty simple device.

My main ax is a modified Fender MIM Strat. I'm playing it through a solid-state amp because I'm poor (champagne dreams on a beer salary). But let me tell you, this is the finest distortion device I've ever owned. The grit cleans up when you roll back your guitar volume, just like with any good pedal. The tone is warm and organic, and the individual tone characteristics of your guitar and amp remain true. Again, a quality that any good pedal should possess. As far as overall sound goes, if you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix's live album Band of Gypsys, then look no further than this pedal. One caveat- you have to play LOUD to really hear this thing in all its glory (at least turn your amp past 5). Take it from me- bedroom volume does this pedal no justice whatsoever.

It's built like a tank- it's housed in friggin' steel after all! I haven't gigged with it just yet but I wouldn't worry about it dying on me.

I haven't had to contact Mike yet, but the salesman at the guitar shop told me that he is extremely accomodating and more than willing to help you get the most out of all of his Fulltone products.

I don't know that there are better-built, better-sounding pedals out there. The '70 Fuzz has not disappointed. I hope to add more Fulltone effects to my rig, but they are on the pricier side so I have to buy in moderation. However, you get what you pay for as far as I'm concerned. Why would you not want to spend the extra 50 or 60 bucks to get a genuine American hand-built tone machine? Everything else pales in comparison.

Before I begin my review proper, I would like to call attention to the error HC's list regarding the pedal's name. This Fuzz is called "The '70 Pedal," named for the Year 1970-- the last year of Hendrix's life and his "tone circa Band of Gypsies" as Fulltone's website informs. It is not "The 70's Pedal," indicating the whole decade and thus losing sight of the manufacturer's intention... I'm sure it isn't that big of a deal and I'm probably the only person who is irked by this, but I wanted to voice it on the off chance the web master would make what I feel to be a not insignificant change.

On with the actual review--

I've owned this pedal for over a year now and have waited to do this review until I was sure I knew exactly what I wanted to say here. I have given it a '5' in this category because it is NOT easy to use. This says absolutely nothing about how well I like the pedal. If you know how to use a fuzz please skip to the sound and overall sections(if I haven't put you off with my cranky introduction. If you think you're buying an upgrade for a DS-1, READ ON.

The '70 is an update of a vintage fuzz-face type pedal and is inherently quirky. If you don't know how to use a fuzz, getting a good sound can be next to impossible-- or at the very least you won't be tapping into the 70's (singular possessive there, folks!!) full potential. Myadvice to those new to the fuzz game is (as some previous reviews state in part or as a whole): 1) Placement. It likes to be near the beginning of your signal chain, 2)Remember, this pedal has 2 knobs in addition to the ones on its face-- the internal trimmer and your instrument's volume control(s), 3) The type of gear you are running it with will alter the sound radically. It is certainly not impossible, but can be frustrating and feel like a waste of $150+ if you don't know how to play it.

This is one of the most sweet and colorful fuzz tones I have had the honor of having at my feet in over 16 years of playing. It is most certainly a Silicon based circuit, and has a different character from a Germanium-based fuzz, but I don't think Ge-philes will necessarily be disappointed: it isn't harsh or buzzy after the manner of some Si's.

What impresses me most is the sheer range of tones it has to offer. With the pedal's Fuzz set around 4:30, subtle twists of the volume knob yield an array of textures from a little hair on the fringes to bass-induced sustain at higher fuzz setttings. The knobs are very interactive; be careful when arranging more than one at one time. My current favorite setting (I have gone through several 'phases' in the year I've played with it) is Volume just below half, Mids just below 3/4, and Fuzz just past 3/4 with the internal trimmer broken slightly counter-clockwise... with the right settings I've been able to get everything from a pseudo-clean boost (lots of volume on tap in this little box) to a blown-out sputtering Fuzz and most stops in between.

The instrument you use with it will vary your sound tremendously. I can't really say that it 'favors' strat-style pickups the way many fuzzes do, but humbuckers retain their distinctness through it. It sounds absoultely astonishing with a bass, as well. The type of amplifier also makes a dramatic difference, so please be sure your amp is friendly towards it. Modelling amps are quite friendly to it, particularly "older, four-input Marshall" (cf. fulltone.com) patches. Clean and dirty amp tone make a big difference, and I've found it to be at its best through a just-on-the-edge of breakup type tone as opposed to full-on saturation where it tends to just blend in. It sounds a litle the rougher side through a solid-state or solid-state model vs. any tube (or tube emulating) rig. Not bad, just a bit fizzier.

This pedal is also incredibly chord friendly as far as fuzzes go-- both in terms of tone and clarity. Along these lines, it is also extremely transparent. You hear your gear with Fuzz added, it does not mask or overwhelm your basic tone ala a Muff-style fuzz. It is a tricked-out Fuzz Face, and if you need Big Muff tones you may be disappointed. It can definitely sustain, but it always works with the sound of your other gear (okay, AGAINST your gear if you put it second in line--even after a Vox V847 Wah with Mr. Fuller's own 'true bypass' wiring mod!) and never instead of it. But it does sound big. Very big. In fact, if I had to characterize its sound in three words they would be 'additional dirty space.'

Although I love this pedal, I am aware of its limitations and am open to the possiblity that something better will come along. This being said, I have decided to give it full marks for tone on the basis of some previous reviews' low scores. Trying to keep those overall ratings up!

Overbuilt to excess, to such an excess that I worry about it getting a big head and overlooking its own mortality. Gigging without a backup is no problem whatsoever, but I did have one knob crack for no apparent reason....

I have never dealt directly with Fulltone, but I will realte the following: the store from which I purchased it swapped the above-mentioned cracked knob for me witout question or complaint. All I had to do was ask about it; I didn't even have the defective piece with me and they let me take the new knob home on my word that I'd bring the old one to them in the near future. Support your small, local stores, folks!

The '70 is currently the only pedal in the OD-distortion-fuzz family that I make regular use of and has been for over one year. It is never off of my board, and I don't really need anything else 'dirtwise' even though I play an extremely ecclectic variety of music.

I suppose I should mention that mine is a Summer,2003 model with little white-tipped black NPN Transistors, a blue 'rough surface' paint job, red LED and off-white knobs. I recently saw a picture of the guts of a red-chassis 1998 model (It was a '70, not a '69-- I am positive) and it looked COMPLETELY different-- transistors were of the metal-encased variety, for starters. I would imagine the sound to be a bit different from mine on that basis, but I won't be trading the ower of that one any time soon.

For its price tag, I do have one minor complaint: I know this is supposed to be a reworked vintage fuzz box, and that these pedals are very unruly and noisey, but does it have to pick up radio signals like a vintage fuzz, too? With the '70 on, and the instrument volume at '0,' there is either a loud hum/hiss which is not present with the volume cracked even a little bit, or a hum/hiss with AM frequencies streaming through it... okay, so I have made use of this built-in quirk for dramatic flair in some instances, but it strikes me as almost something of a quality issue. Fulltone's only excuse is that it would alter the pedals performance in some other, detrimental way if they put in the higher impedence capacitor or whatever they need to stop RF interference... and I haven't heard them use it....

That out of the way, this is probably my 'desert island' pedal. I could certainly live and perform without it, but it is the one constant in my effects arsenal regardless of the (electric instrument) playing situation. It covers a wide range of territory simply by being an innovative spin on an even simpler design. If you're looking for a fuzz face type pedal or just a new, dirty experience, you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

Three knobs: volume, mids, and fuzz. All pretty self-explanatory. The manual is brief, but not necessary. This fuzz pedal is very easy to use.

Fender American Standard Strat with stacked Dimarzio single coils in neck and middle, Seymour Duncan JB Jr. in bridge; Warmoth Tele with SD vintage single coils; Epiphone Elitist Les Paul; all running through a Peavey Delta Blues amp (15" speaker). This fuzz is very quiet...for a fuzz. There's still some radio interference when the volume on the guitar is turned down, but it's not noticable when playing. I haven't found this to be anywhere near as annoying as it was on my Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face.
This effect has a huge amount of available gain. The "mids" control provides a great deal of control over the sound, either mellowing it out or adding more teeth to the fuzz. The "fuzz" dial combined with the "mids" dial can get you into nice Hendrix-y vintage fuzz or into full-blown metal type aggression. Even at extreme settings, the individual notes retain excellent clarity. A fuzz with this much available gain can bring out all the noise in your attack, so you have to control your strings while playing. I've actually found this to be very useful in improving my technique (damping, etc.), even for when I'm not using the fuzz.
I think overall this fuzz offers a great deal of versatility. I bought it basically to give me a saturated lead sound for Gilmour type stuff, but it's way more versatile than that. I'll be finding more sounds in this thing I'm sure.
Bottom line: excellent fuzz.

I almost get tired of saying this. This is my third Fulltone pedal this year. I'm hooked on them. They are hand-built to standards which far exceed most other manufacturers (even other boutique gear). Just holding it in my hands makes me happy. Excellent finish, solid knobs and switches. It's an expensive pedal, but it feels (let along sounds) expensive. My experience with Fulltone (after several gigs and constant use) is that they will hold up very well. Fulltone also has a 5 year warranty for their products, so I think they're confident (as am I) that their gear will hold up. Just don't abuse them. These are not little Danelectro mini pedals which you can replace without thinking about it when you kill them. This is a fine instrument and should be taken care of.

I've had one email ignored and one email answered within 24 hours. I won't give a rating here.

Can you tell I like this thing? I find that when I play with good equipment, it can bring out the best in my playing, and lead me to new musical places. Playing with Fulltone gear has shown me this. I've been playing blues and rock for over 20 years and I've had (and still do have) lots of equipment. But this and other Fulltone pedals are different. I haven't been this into playing guitar since my first few years with the instrument. This Fuzz is worth the money. It's at the top of the fuzz heap in my opinion. It's a high quality piece of gear that will inspire you and will probably outlive you if you respect it. Go for it.

very easy. Set and play.

3 custom shop strats. 4 gibsons-2 les pauls-335-76 explorer. Peavey wolfgang. 3 paul reed smiths.

Lexicon pcm 91 and 91. Eventide dsp 4000. Custom audio electronics midi footswitch and custom audio switcher.

6 other Fulltone pedals.

5 marshall half stacks. 2 are 30th anniversary, one is a limited edition. 25th anniversary.

To the ones that say that they don't like this pedal- what are you talking about. If it doesn't work for you then just leave it at that. So many critics and so little talent. Thats how it usually goes. I wish it were different. Mike Fuller is sucessfull for a very good reason. Get it......OK...

This pedal IS great. It usually makes sense to buy all top notch equipment. Dude, buy a Marshall or something along those lines. Don't expect a good tone if your rig is lacking. I read to many of these reviews that are by people saying they have a fender amp or some other tank that won't get you where you want to go. Be honest, how many concerts have you gone to and thay are using fender amps or some other thing that isn't meant to be driven on the autobahn. Ok, I saw James Taylor and his guitarist had a fender. Eric Johnson has a fender (for the clean tones). Same goes for Jeff Beck. CLEAN TONES. That's the key here. Pay attention.

Don't blame Fulltone..Sounds so good on the clean channel when you turn the guitar volume down. Very chimey....

I have 6 fulltone pedals and have never had a problem.

Only have sen emails with a quick response.

Great company and great products. Excellent value.

3 knobs how hard can it be!

Just play around until you find some good settings

I bought mine about 9 months ago & it's one very nice fuzz.

I use it mainly with the crunch channel on my marshall & it sounds fantastic. please note that this pedal sounds better the louder your valve amp is & continies getting better the more you push it.

I was blown away the first time i opened up my '69 pedal and saw how perfectly everything was laid out in the steel case & this '70's pedal has the same quality to it, it's nice to see the effort thats gone into this thing!

I bought this from Musictoyz.com & they were very quick & helpful, i wouldn't hesitate in dealing with them again as it was real easy

For a medium gain fuzz this thing is the sh#t!

I love the way it sounds with a cranked marshall & because of this the '70's pedal will be staying on my board for long time

Simple to use - who could get lost with this lay out? It's cake.

I was some what dissapointed with this product. I own a Ful Drive II and it is my favorite pedal in the universe. It was my first fulltone, and I expected al their pedals to please me.
I also own a n American Big Muff, and was hoping for a similar but higher quality sound - I'm still searching. The 70's pedal just doesn't produce much fuzz. Not the big muff style fuzz anyway. It doesn't sustain like a muff and it doesn't fill in the sound and spread te way a muff does. Likely it was not intended to. From reading the pedal's description and manual it seems that the intention of the 70's fuzz is aimed in a diferent direction. Something less fuzzy, more controlled and more like distrotion with grit. In this capacity it sounds ok, but the fuzz knob doesn't really do anything unless you crank it up. In the end it seemed to me to be a somewhat one dimensional pedal, producing one decent, but not thrilling, sound.

Solid. Fulltone makes top quality stuff.

Didn't need it!

Ok, but lacking in versatility, and delivering a somewhat limited range of applicatability.

The '70 could be hard for someone new to fuzz to use well. You have to use your guitar's volume control to get the best out of it. The sweet spot is with the volume rolled to about 8 to 9, somewhere in there. I only use full volume on the guitar when I'm playing climax-type solos above the 12th fret. Finesse is key with this one.

Fender Voodoo Strat (APS reverse/staggered bridge) and MIM Tele (Antiquity b./Fralin Blues Special n.) to '70 to DD2 to Bogner Metropolis

This is an excellent fuzz. The sound is very dimensional, very warm, and responsive.

Each guitar retains its individual character with the '70.
The '70 is warmer than the '69, but doesn't clean up as well.
The "mid" control allows you to harden up the sound when turned clockwise.
The internal trimmer is very useful, with a very broad range.

Preferred settings:
volume @ 2 o'clock
mids @ 3 o'clock
fuzz @ 4 o'clock (about 80-90% up)
timmer turned counterclockwise to about 10 o'clock. This gives
a slight emphasis to the "snarl & spit" type of tonality.

This is being sent to a Bogner Metropolis. The amp is usually set with the gain around 2/3 to 3/4 up, which is a warm overdrive. Schizo 5 would be a lot like a plexi-vox type of tonality, with a round, bubbly type of overdrive. The '70 will not do well running with a high gain type of preamp.

I have used this since 2000. I do occasionally get rf interference, but might try using a 10pf cap to see if it will eliminate that. Otherwise, there have been no problems at all. It's pretty much "over-built."

Mike Fuller is a very easy guy to talk with on the phone. He will definitely stand behind his products.

I've been playing 30+ years. The '70 is my favorite fuzz. It produces a fantastic tone, and cuts through the mix like wild. I also use a Kendrick Buffalo Pfuz. The Pfuz is smooth, and transparent. The '70 is bright and fruity. Kind of like contrasting a dry white wine with a hearty burgundy. Its amazing how good this is, and how impossible it would have been to have found a fuzz face this good 30 years ago. But, it does require finesse on the part of the player, and I must say that, to my ear, the '70 sounds a whole lot better through this Bogner than any other amp I've heard.

With all fuzz boxes there are alot of "unhappy" settings where you get horrible amount of either fuzz of scooped-mid terror. This pedal is a little different, you kind of have to try and get a back sound from it, even though there are those bad positions. On the other hand, to get an amazing sound you must toy with it. Finding the right match with the fuzz knob and the mid knob is kind of like trying to hit a 100 mhp fastball with a golf club, nearly impossible but it can be done. Once you get your own sweet spot this thing is hard to beat.

As everyone knows a fuzz box changes with every guitar, amp, cable, battery, even strings matter when trying to get that perfect fuzz tone. I use a Deluxe Strat with Vintage Noisless pickups through a Vox AC/30 re-issue with blue bell speakers. With this setup I can get very close to Eric Johnsons sound. The noise level is lower than the majority of fuzz boxes I have used before. As for sound you still have to take into consideration that this is still a fuzz effect, full on balls to the wall fuzz. With that in mind this pedal is a 10, no fuzz is perfect but this is damn close.

Fuller builts some serious pedals. I own a Fulldrive II also (like the rest of America and half of England) and both pedals are amazing.
I have never had a problem after a years time with either of my Fulldrive pedals.

Never delt with Mike. I bought both pedals used to Im really not sure.

If you want a fool-proof this is as close as you are going to get. If it were stolen I might buy the '69 just to see the difference but I would without a dobut eventually get another '70 if I needed a good raw fuzz. Do yourself a favor and check into Fulltone.

three buttons, as easy as it gets, you'll recieve a cool sound either way your knobs stands, but for your own special, Free, Young sound you'll nee some time and temper to sort it out right.

at the right settle this little purple funny looking thing will sound like your dreams, i ran it through my les paul studio lite, with the neck pick turned in a hill, with the three base strings lying a bit closer to the pick. with the 70's this will give you a real vintage sound, you'll dream your ass back the golden years. i placed it after a v847 into a fender super reverb 65 and i got the sound, indeed.

just got it but i rely on this man, looks tight.

if you want a really fuzzy sound and if you drag it through some humbuckers i'll think it will play you please, on my les paul i got the crunchy thing i love, but through a strat it delivers a more alone in the corner sound.

Only gets a 7 due to a crazy whistling sound you get if you put it right after a wah. With a Vibe unit between the wah and the 70 its great, just never turn off the vibe. Not hard to use, I turn the fuzz all the way up, mids all the way down, and adjust the volume to match the volume with it turned off.

I play a Les Paul standard with both pickups on, bridge pickup with tone on full and neck pickup with the tone all the way down, then through a clyde deluxe wah, dejavibe 2, then the 70, finally through a fender reverb tank into the normal channel of a fender deluxe reverb amp. If I turn the intensity on the vibe all the way down, it sounds a lot like Eric Clapton circa Cream. Turn the intensity up and it sounds a lot like Hendrix circa Band of Gypsies. It has this warm round tone thats hard to describe, and gets as fuzzy as I want it to.
Anyway it freaks out if I plug it into the vibrato channel or if I put a wah right before it, so try it out with your own stuff to see if it works for you. Still gets a 10 because it sounds so beautiful when its in the right place.

Very very solidly built. I doubt this thing will break anytime soon, but I still baby it.

Never had to deal with him, none of my fulltone stuff has had a problem yet. I hear he stands behind his products

I always admired the way Clapton and Hendrix got a real heavy sound that was still fat and round sounding. this pedal really does it for me. Modern distortion is too thin and brittle sounding and some other Fuzz pedals are too weak. I tried it out next to a 69 and liked the 70 a lot better. I dont know why the other one seems to be more popular. If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely get another one. Theres nothing quite like this pedal, and thats the coolest thing about it,it makes you sound way different. when I crank it up with the Vibe and Wah it sounds like spaceships taking off.

Well... I bought it used from Guitarville, Seattle (grreat service - the only shop that would sell pedals to international custommers and without robbing them at that! It was in bad condition, but the price was fairly attractive. It is the purple version (cuter in my opinion !)At first, not being familiar to fuzz boxes I wasn't completely satisfied with the sound, so I tweaked a lot the internal trimmer. I set it wrong and it sounded TERRIBLE. I even considered selling it but since Fulltone is completely unknown in France (all guitar players swear by Boss and Dunlop) I decided to give it an other chance. I plugged it once in a diffrent amp and it sounded better. I realized that this pedal had potential and I had to explore it. I eventual found a setting that I liked. And now I wouldn't part with it. I st it fuzz and mids on full, volume on 3 o'clock. beyond that I get a piercing whistling noise I can't explain. Does anyone else experience the same phenomenon ? Thanks. Findinf a useable setting with a wha is very difficult. So I'll give it a 4.

My setup :
Stock 1998 '62 AV Stratocaster -> RMC-1 wah wah -> '70 pedal -> Fulltone Custom shop mini deja vibe -> Fulltone Distortion Pro -> Fulltone FD2 FM (old version) -> Fender Blues Junior or Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb.

This effect is prety noisy. when you turn the volume on the guitar all the way down you get an unpleasant HMMMMMM. Which disappears if you click in a wha. This helps you to understand how hendrix got his sound. It shows the problems inherent to his gear combination. But along with the wah and the vibe, you've got hendrix. I usally add distortion from my FD2 or the distortion of the Blues Jr to get the right sound. i've got Woodstock and the Fillmore at the tips of my fingers. On its own the '70 with the vibe sounds too trebly and "solid-statey". The CVR doesn't sound very good with this pedal. I mainly use it with the Blues Jr. I wouldn't recommend a Fender 6L6-based type of amp. As said by other users, you can get unlimited shades of distortion. Hendrix, I'm telling you. I wish I had a marshall plexi!

No problems. It is not an essential part of my sound. I can gig without backup. But apart from the switches, i wonder how it could break.

Emailed Mike Fuller twice. Concise answers.

very good for what it was used for. I have to try it with styles other than Hendrix.For the price I paid it (thanks to the exchange rate, I should not complain !

3 knobs, Volume, Mids, Fuzz. On-off button. Can it be any more simple?

Well I've had it for just over a day, and its already a main part of my sound. At the moment im using a rack, Jmp1 preamp and 9100 power amp (I know not the coolest setup, and very different to you other Fulltone users). Im puttin the gain on the jmp1 on 2 and using that as my rhythm sound and for leads using the '70 as a boost and it just sounds awesome, already I don't know what I'd do without it. Its just got this sound I can't describe, almost like a univibe if that makes sense, it just squeezes the notes in the right way, or something. Killer sound.

Only had it a day.

Im playing funk blues rock, been playing 10 years. Id definately buy another if this one was accidentally run over by my drunken grandmother. Buy one, 'nuff said.

very easy to dial in a great sound. if you turn the mid control all the way down, then it sounds like a classic fuzz face. if you turn it all the way up, it is absolutely stunning!!! plug in and play!

this effect sounds great with my prs mccarty, fender strat, dano 56-u2, and jerry jones short horn guitars. tons of singing sustain. so much so that my strat, dano, and short horn guitars sustain like a les paul. The effect cleans up nicely as you turn your volume down, so you can get various shads of distortion. I tried this out next to a '69. This one has tons more gain and sustain. there are also many more shades of distortion as you turn your volume pot down on the guitar. The '69 sounded great, but didn't sustain very well and cleaned up way too quickly. all the gain you would want with tons of available feedback on the '70. it is a litle noisy though, so i'll take one point off.

This effect is built extremely well. I don't own any other fulltone products, but i've tried them all. They are all like tanks. I'l probably add the clyde wah to my setup as well.

I've emailed fulltone in the past and mike is very quick to respond. He gets a bad rap for being a bit short, but people, the guy is busy making some of the best effects in the world.

I own a prescription electronics experience pedal (using mainly as an octave unit and the wild swell function). i also use a sib varidrive and zvex fuzz factory. i wanted something to fit in between these sounds, and boy did i hit the jackpot! i run all this stuff through my dr z rt 66 and i'm in tonal heaven.

This baby rips. That is the bottom line. I plugged it in, set the volume to full, mids to 7, and fuzz to about 9. I couldn't figure out why the fuzz setting of 10 seems to fuzz less than a slight rollback on the dial. I opened up the back and adjusted the internal trim till I found the right sound. The setting I chose was almost the same as the one Mike has pre-dialed in at the factory.

I am using an American Classic Stratocaster with Texas Special pickups and a Jimi Hendrix model strat. I run Monster rock cable to a Fulltone Clyde wah to the 70' pedal to a modified Marshall Plexi reissue(6550's instead of EL34's). It is a powerful effect and will almost instantaneously give a killer feedback howl at full volume. To me any fuzzbox sucks soundwise without your amp at maximum. This fuzzbox isn't much different. You can roll off your guitar's volume knob and get a good bluesy/R&B sound however, it is very touchy between not enough and to much fuzztone. I usually just click it on for leads and let the Marshall Plexi handle all but the heaviest rhythm work. I can get a fairly close Hendrix sound but I still am not Jimi. As far as I'm concerned it's given me my own sound that far exceeds the Boss/Dunlop garbage you find in most superstores and catalogues. The only downside is it can really pick up the radio stations at times. This is the worst when the guitar's volume is all the way down. This doesn't bother me at all. I usually get a kick out of it and can work the pedal and my playing to avoid this during a crucial time such as recording.

I know for a fact that it is dependable because I have gigged countless times and jammed with it countless more times in the two years I have owned it. The only difficulties I have encoutered is a low battery. I don't know how other batteries work in this unit because I have always replaced it with the same greencell batteries. I carry a backup Dunlop Jimi Hendrix fuzzface (a real piece of junk) and a Big Muff fuzz and never needed to use any of them.

Pound for pound the best fuzzbox I've ever tried or heard. I have yet to compare it with a Roger Mayer product but am quite certain that it would more than hold it's own. Wouldn't want to gig or jam without it. The sound inspires me to take the music to the next level, as should any great equipment.

I've had it for over a year, although I haven't used it constantly, I'm pretty familiar with what I want to do with it. This is recreation of the silicon based Fuzzface from the period right around 1970 (three controls outside; volume, mids and fuzz; one internal PC control). In addition to the basic Fuzzface sound, there are a lot of colors within a specific range that can be had. I found it easy to get good sounds out of it, but it is important to remember that what comes before and after it has a lot of effect on the sound you get. In particular, I did not get good results with any non-true bypass effect in front of it. The sound was nowhere near the quality or type of sound that you get when you plug pretty much straight into it. I played around with the internal pot as well. This is useful to really dial in the sound for a particular guitar/amp setup.

The manual was quite helpful getting started, although I am a manual person. You could probably do just fine plugging in and letting it rip.

This is potentially a very versatile pedal, due to the ability to morph the amount of fuzz with the guitar's volume control. I've blues solos with it, then turned up the gas to do the legato Hendrix-Eric Johnson sound.

I use a variety of guitars and amps with my effects. ('90 Strat Plus with a Duncan Little JB with coil split, Lindy Fralin, Van Zandt PU; mid-'90's Mexi Strat with Fender Vintage Noiseless PU; 90 Hamer Special with Duncan P-90's, 94 Hamer Special FM with Duncan JB and 59; mid-60's Fender Jazzmaster with re-wound pu: '64 Fender Princeton; '65 Fender Princeton; Custom Re-wired silver face Bassman (set up like a '59 Bassman)).
Like any high gain effect, single coils are noisy, but not particularly so. There is noise, but I can live with it even when it is set on 10. The humbuckers are almost noiseless.
The sound quality is excellent. It really gets a very smooth silicon Fuzz Face sound as far as I am concerned. It is more of a growling/moaning kind of fuzz, rather than a sharp trebly screaming kind of fuzz. Fuzz to be sure, but it has a more distortion to fuzz sound rather than a Rolling Stones - Satisfaction kind of sound. It is of course important to keep two things in mind. I use nothing but true bypass effects in front of it, such as a Sweet Sound Ultravibe. I don't think in general fuzzes should have anything in front of them, but that my opinion and experience with my stuff.
Pretty much any setting is musical, just different. There is not a wide range of tweaking to be had, but again, within those ranges, this effect is excellent. It is designed to do one sort of thing and does it well. If you like Hendrix or Eric Johnson fuzz sounds, this will do the trick. Of course, a key part of EJ sound in particular is to use a Marshall, which I don't. But you can get the flavors of his fuzz sound, and Hendrix is pretty much on the nose with my Strats. The Hamers are a different flavor all together, but very nice. The effect is quite responsive to guitar volume settings, and the type and amount of fuzz is dependent on the guitar volume. You can get useful overdriven blues sounds with it (like Cream era studio Clapton, not SRV).
The fuzz doesn't seem to be too picky about what comes after it as far as true bypass is concerned. I've use both standard Boss pedals, an Ibanez TS-9, a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive, a Line 6 DDM and a Little Lanei Reverb. The fuzz seems not to be affected by whether the units after it are true bypass or not to a large extent. That having been said, you will get good and bad sounds out of the combinations, but I tend to use the fuzz into a Boss RV-3 (for reverb) and switch in and out the Ultravibe. Boss choruses work fine too after it, but there is a special magic to plugging into the fuzz and straight into the amp. So it depends on what sounds you are trying for, and how you want to process the sound afterwards. Live, I think you can do fine with other things after it.
I believe (but didn't try it) that using tube amps with it is a must, but the kind of sound you would use this for sort of demands tube amps anyway.

I have had no reliability problems with it. The battery usesage is excellent. The switch very occasionally seems to catch, but that is always going to be a weak point in any true-bypass pedal.
I would gig without a backup. It as solid as anything I've seen.

Never dealt with them.

I play blues and bluesy progressive rock (Muddy Waters, SRV to Eric Johnson and Hendrix). For the latter type of music, this borders on an essential effect. As mentioned above, if you fiddle with the settings and the guitar volume, there are a whole range of useful solo and comping sounds available (think Spanish Castle Magic here). I have been playing 35 years, although most heavily in the past ten years. If lost or stolen, I would replace immediately.
For overdrive/distortion type things, I also own and use heavily a Fulltone '69 fuzz, Fulltone Distortion Pro, Fulltone Fat Boost, a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive and a Analog Man modified Ibanez TS-9. I have a Russian Big Muff Pi, a Reverend Drivetrain, a Dunlop Fuzz Face reissue and a Visual Sound Route 66. These latter things don't get used much.
I love the fact that this pedal nailed to my ears the classic Fuzz Face sound; the legato distortion, the smooth fuzziness and the sustain. I was pleasantly surprise at how dynamic it was, and this just made the purchase all the more enjoyable. I have found that all of the Fulltone pedals are like that. I buy them for a particular sound, and they exceed my expectations in dynamism and tuneability.
I've fiddled with fuzzes and own a few others still. The '70 and '69 pedals are it for me. They both have different colors. The '70 is less versatile, but has a fuzzier edge to it that the 69 does not get (I'll go into that more in the 69 review I post later, but I've been using the 70 more lately and felt better able to describe it).
It is definitely inspiring and makes me want to play it.
It is expensive and limited in some respects, but it worth the money for the essential Fuzz Face sound, and can deliver a number of other useful distortion sounds as well. It is not the sort of thing you would want to use for metal, since it is very smooth and not a cutting sound (listen to the demo at Musictoyz or Fulltone's web site). The demo really nails the EJ-Hendrix sound, but keep in mind that in my experience, the Marshall is a significant part of that. I use little Fender amps, often with a Marshall 1X12 cabinet for extra lows, and can't quite get that sound. But the demo does give an accurate representation of the overall tonal color that is the true soul of this pedal. Just from my experience with Fulltone sounds and gear, I plan on getting at least the Soul Bender too.
I give it a 10 for value, since it delivers the advertised sound, and more. It is very solidly built both internally and externally. It is also important to keep in mind that this pedal was designed to be an improved version of a very particular late '60's/early '70's pedal, using only a slightly modified circuit. There was a lot a variability in the original pedals (see interviews with Eric Johnson about going through dozens of them to get one that he liked). This is like a pre-selected good one, with the two extra controls to tweak in your personal gear. Sure it is expensive, but to get that very organic quality of the very best gear, that's what it takes. If you want a great Fuzzface, this or the '69 is the place to go in my opinion.

Easy to use, for the most part. However, heed the following advice: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use this pedal AFTER any effect in your chain that is not true-bypass. I made the mistake of putting it after my Boss TU-2 tuner (which is the first pedal in the chain) and because the Boss is not true-bypass it has a regulated output that screws with the '70 something fierce. If you're getting that squashy, phasey fuzz when you use a pickup with a higher output like humbuckers, you probably don't have this pedal placed properly in your chain. That being said, after I corrected this problem, this pedal is incredibly easy to use.

Wow, there are very few fuzz pedals that I've tried that sound this full and yet have a clarity and bite when you need it by upping the mids knob past 12 o'clock. Sounds phenomenal through old orange heads or 4-input Marshall plexi-style heads. Backing down the volume knob ever-so-slightly allows for a super warm overdriven sound that's great for rhythm. Back the volume on the guitar down further and it's a nice somewhat gritty clean tone. Contrary to other opinions, I don't find this to be a one-trick pony by any means.

It's a fulltone--need I say more? Woe to those who complain about footswitches. Hey, they break occasionally!

I've spoken to Mike Fuller several times, as I own several of his products, and he's been completely curtious and helpful on all occasions.

This is a great pedal overall. I love the dynamic response, the warmth, the clarity, the singing sustain qualities and the many sounds that can be derived from this unit. Way to go Mike.

Twist the little knobs til it sounds good...I have them all on 10 (or 11, whatever that is)..but I'm a bit extreme..

The sample download on the Fulltone site is cranked..realized I had to turn things up in order to simulate what Mike what putting out...The fuzz knob dimed was hissing like a mutha until I opened it up and adjusted the trim pot..As posted, Mike marks the board with tiny dots..mine had two of them, I turned the pot to the other one and the hiss disappeared....This is a nasty pedal but it took me awhile to realize that..

I'm sure it'll be fine..he doesn't cut quality..as reflected in the price of his line..Dealers sell retail because they can..you won't find these in Musician's Friend..

From the reviews in here, one would think the service would be above reproach..not my experience..Emails and phone calls weren't returned..so much for that...I'm sure Mike would acknowledge me if I persisted..I wanted some input on adjusting the pot..It's fine now..

Come to find out, this pedal is over two years old, one of the purple ones..sold as new by Guitar Center..I'm keeping it because it's an unusual addition to what I have..I tried to contact Mike about any upgrades as well, no response..Probably won't do any more business with them..but since this puppy screams at me so nicely, it's a keeper...Make sure you have something made recently..The pedal's a 9, the support is a 2..You pick a number for overall..

3 knobs and a switch.I didn't get the manual with it cause it was used.It's the hammerite blue one.It has the trimmer inside to tailor the tones.

I use it with humbuckers in a Les Paul.It doesn't clean up completly with the volume knobs but it stays in a milder overdrive kind of fuzz that's still musical and sweet.Crank the volume onthe guitar and it just fattens right up!Sounds good too.I've tried it in the store with a Strat and I think it does sound better with single coils but this is not to say it sounds terrible at all with humbuckers,just a little more saturated.It doesn't get along with my Clyde as much as the 69' fuzz.Ya kinda get that "talk box"sorta sound which can be awkward,but I guess that's a silicone fuzz thing that might work for others.Other than that,this fuzz is absolutely fat and sounds righteous!!!!

Looks solid,I have other fulltone stuff and no break downs so far.

Never spoke with Mike.

This thing does have way more fuzz than the 69' and it still has a great tone too.It does remind me of all the Hendrix riffs because it's easy to get those tones with this but it also depends on what you want to play,and what your set up is and so forth.I do wish it did work with a wah a little better but granted it sounds so good,I can get around such a minor thing.I'm not sure how the purple one sounds different from this blue one but it's probably minor and the folks in the back rows of the clubs won't notice(or care).This was a great buy,tons of tone!!

Just three knobs attracted me to this. Wish it worked.

I was not expecting a project when I bought this high-end device a couple of months ago. Now I have to send it back for repairs. I'll have to dig my old reliable Boss out of the closet and hope the thing comes back fixed.
Plenty of volume but no fuzz.

Remind me why I paid so much for a pedal that worked well maybe once....

I will have to see what happens. I am worried because occationally it works, which may make it tough to repair.

I will send in another review when I get the thing back in the mail some day. Meanwhile, I have to borrow one for the next few gigs.

This is the new BLUE color version of the '70 pedal that I am reviewing.
Three knobs- volume, fuzz, and midrange (tone). The mids knob increases the volume output as you turn the knob clockwise, as well as boosting the mids- very nice feature because full counter clockwise is the late 1960's fuzz face tone, and as you turn the mids knob clockwise the tone gets more and more modern. Very nice, as leads explode when the mids knob is set fully clockwise.

Sounds great with my Gibson les paul Standard into a Marshall 50 watt AVT amp.
When you set the fuzz fully clockwise to max and back off the volume on your guitar slightly, the bass cleans up and you get a nice bright tone for rhythm that sounds more overdriven and distorted than fuzzy. Then just crank the guitar volume back up to ten to bring in the intense bass distortions that darken the color of the tone and that make it sound fuzzy again. It was noisy right out of the box but needed 20 minutes to warm up and its quiet now. It was sitting on some dealers shelf for 8 months so maybe the transistors needed to warm up a little. Now its dead quiet when I use it. I get Hendrix tones out of this pedal as well as hard rock sounds. With the guitar's back neck pick-up I get awesome sustain for leads. Mine is #1054 made in July or August on the 22nd day of the month in the year 2001. Signed by Mr. Fuller himself after he checked it out and set the internal trim pot.

Very well built. Fulltone doesnt compromise on components- the parts are all first rate quality.

Pretty good. Michael Fuller always responds to my questions regarding his products, at least after I have purchased one. I also own his Soul-Bender which I like very much.

Great pedal for rock music styles from 1960's to the 1980's as the mids knob can dial in more modern midrange boosted tones. There is an internal trim pot inside the pedal which Mr. Fuller has set himself, and as the pedal sounds great the way it is, I am not going to adjust it any further. Good job Mike! The tone is a little dark until you lower the volume on your guitar slightly, then it brightens up just like a classic 1970 silicon fuzz face would sound. This Fulltone '70 pedal is more reliable than some old original thirty-year old pedal.

Deceitfully tricky. 3 knobs- easy right? Don't forget the internal trim pot. Well not so easy. This thing is tempermental. I put it after my tu-2 and before my hotcake and the thing sounded off...hard to describe. Took those two out(the tu2 & the cake) and there it was the great full fuzz sound I remember in the store when it was by itself second only to the 69 which i also must have;> If you just put this thing anywhere in your effects chain it may not like its neighbors. Other than that how hard can 3 knobs be? Vol, Mids: very cool feature. Makes your fuzz posess many faces heh! and of course the fuzz knob.

Would you like to supersize your fuzz sir? Yep! This thing has got fuzz like you have never heard before. What makes it so great on top of the fact that your fuzz knob seems to go past 11 is the fact that it sounds full. It in no way sounds nasal or pinched unless its next to some effect it does not like. see above!
The mid knob is cool as h#ll. It works quite well at changing the mid level of the fuzz in all settings from full up to full down.
I play an American Standard Strat w/ Tex specs pups through a Fender HRD 4x10 and the 70 just rocks the hell out of my setup. The sound is like a firehose of sound with mucho sustain and yet with remarkable clarity. I can hear all the notes in a full open g chord even when the fuzz is cranked! A dallas arbiter does not even come close to the full fuzz of this outstanding pedal. I love this thing so much. You can definitely get that liquid lead sound you have been searching for and still have plenty of attack leftover to sound crazy-tight with your band when you re-assume the duties of a rhythm guitarist. BTW it has true bypass so if you like your sound it won't mess with it until called for by you!

Brand new. So it is hard to say. I have heard nothing but great things about Mike Fuller and Fulltone. However the thing is built like an M1 Abrams battle tank. I foresee no problems if I were to drop this thing off the balcony of my apartment however, I also don't forsee myself doing that either. I would be willing to bet this thing is going to be around awhile. Thats a very good thing.

I play hard blues/rock with an Alt flair. I have been playing for 14 years and can't believe I have only heard about fulltone just recently. If it were stolen or lost I would get another one for sure. This thing blows away every fuzz I have ever played. with maybe one exception, the fulltone '69, but its a different kinda fuzz. I shall definitely enjoy the inspiration this rich sounding fuzz has to offer me. Definitely worth the money. Did I mention it has true bypass? I did? OK.

Very easy!! 3 Knobs. Standard Fuzz Face Volume & Fuzz, plus a mid control which is a really nice feature. The internal trim pot helps you fine tune the fuzz just how you like it.

I use various strats > 70 > fulldrive 2 > philpott tych > BF Fender Pro Reverb. No noise. I really only look for one thing in a Fuzz, & this pedal does it! Volume:2 o'clock, Mid: 3 o'clock, Fuzz: 4 o'clock.This allows for a nice overdrive sound when the guitar volume is rolled back to about 7, and when the time comes roll the volume to 10, & BAM!!! Full out feedbackin' in your face Doyle Bramhall 2 "Green Light Girl" solo sounds single notes f***ing sing!!!!!

This thing is built like a tank!!! I don't see any reason why I couldn't depend on this. Would,& do use without a backup.

Have never dealt with Mike myself, but have friends who have had less than pleasant experiences with him. If I was as busy as him I'm sure I would have my unpleasant moments too!!!!!I've also heard great things about Mike. I sure as hell won't let the rumor mill stop me from buying his effecs!

I play newer blues rock like DB2, & this is perfect for me & does just what I need it to. If it were lost I might look into the '69 or a Diaz Square face, but would probably wind up with another '70. I like this pedal better than the others because it's more agressive sounding. I've found that traditional Fuzz Face type pedals are a little weak for my taste.

3 Knobs: volume; mids; fuzz. Also, has a bass adjust feature inside pedal. Very easy to use. This pedal is a custom pedal that features the BC183L's.

I love the sound of this pedal. I am very confident Jimi is playing one of these up in the skies. I get great sounds from over the top to just a little bit of fuzz (turn down the volume knob on your guitar). I play a Les Paul into a fulltone deja vibe > optional FDII > 70's pedal > Peavey Triple XXX (don't knock it till you hear it, I sold my Marshall one trick pony for it) > Digitech 2021 & BBE 362(effects loop). The thing that impresses me the most is the sounds I get by turning down the volume on my guitar. Wow! Wind Cries Mary, Little Wing, etc. Perfect sounds. I also got a geat Red House tone by adding some delay. My amp has great clean and hi-gain dirty sounds but lacks that elusive in-between sound. We'll I couldn't be happier with the in-between sound I get from the 70's pedal. I play original alternative rock / metal in my band. The tone I get sets us apart from some of the other same old, same old bands in the area. Modern music with a little of Jimi's voodoo.

Haven't had any problems. Built like a tank, and inside the wiring is imaculate.

I have talked to the man himself. Pretty cool to be able to do that. Full life time warrenty on craftsmanship. I have read other reviews stating Mr. Fuller is a prick, but he was cool to me. Mike, if you are reading this, remember you are nothing without you customers, so treat them right.

Great sounds. Great craftsmanship. Good support. A great investment. Some may not like all the tones but as for me, I am definitely impressed. This pedal makes my rig.

Mine is one of the new blue 70's pedals(hybrid BC108/BC183L silicon transistors) This is not your Father's silicon Fuzz Face with 2 knobs (Thank God) You get Volume - Mid - Fuzz controls with an internal trim pot. for fine tuning the transistor response. The instructions page that Mike includes is not necessary, but is helpful in describing what the mid and trim pot do.

I use a Fender Am. Standard Strat with Maple Neck and Custom Shop '54 pickups > '69 pedal > '70 pedal > POD > Power Amp > 1x12 closed back cab with a 25 watt Celestion Greenback.
OK, so I have Fulltone 69 and can't live without it( it's the best Ge fuzz face I've ever heard). I wanted the 70 for the silicon temperature stability and the different sound characteristics of a silicon fuzz. ( I often have outdoor gigs )
There is always considerable and legitimate debate over Germanium vs. Silicon transistor fuzzes. I must admit that until I plugged up this Cobalt Blue Beauty, I was a germanium snob...The 70's pedal has made me rethink this. Everyone has their own interpretation of what sound they're looking for and ways to describe, but here is what I hear:
Very dynamic and responsive to your touch with pleasant rich harmonics. Individual notes seem to bloom and sustain for a fat searing lead sound. Nothing harsh or piercing. Mike sets the trim pot (and marks it) for a killer sound. I like a little more square wave and spit from the transistors. This is easily accomplished by turning the trim pot. counter-clockwise to taste. Another very nice quality to this pedal is the interaction with the guitars volume knob. It has a smooth gradual reduction in gain without loosing the top end frequencies. By comparison, the 69 does this also, but gets much cleaner at about 7 or 8 than the 70. All in all, it just doesn't get any better than this. There is some serious Voodoo in this pedal. So you want a sound like Hendrix,Eric Johnson,Santana,The Guess Who,Tommy Bolin,David Gilmour,Doyall Bramhall...???? This is a great way to start.

Very solid...beautiful work on the inside..I have no doubt about the craftmanship. Will gig without a backup..

I don't anticipate needing help. If I did, I have no doubt Fulltone will stand behind their work. Mike has made upwards of 10,000 pedals by hand...pretty busy guy. He does the best he can to answer questions..etc..All I want are straight answers to straight questions, which he has always provided.

I have to remind myself that fuzz pedals are not for everyone's taste. I just happen to adore them. Good ones that is. There are plenty of dogs out there that pass themself off as a Fuzz Face clone etc...and I've ruined more of them by trying to get the right sound than I care to remember. The 70 and its older brother, the 69, are great compliments to each other. I've not tried the earlier Purple 70 pedal to compare the diffence in the newer Blue one I have, but I'm sure it's minimal at best. Overall the 70 is a trully musical pedal and does what I had hoped it would do for my setup. I can now end my search for a silcon Fuzz Face.. next? maybe a SoulBender would do nicely.

Very simple, but you should know what the internal trimmer does before "fiddling" with it.

I love this fuzz!!! I bought it regardless of some awful reviews(which I rarely listen to anyway), and I'm glad I did! Fat sustained fuzz for days! Very Hendrixian, with the Knobs set as follows Volume w/e, mids 5, fuzz 10...My rig consists of Custom made strat-Teese RMC 3-Octafuzz-Fulldrive 2-'70-Deja 2- then to my Vintage Fender Super Reverb. I prefer the tone of this pedal without anything else on, except for the Octavia occasionally. I set the internal trimmer full clockwise, the stock Dallas Arbiter thing sounds to "flatulant" with my rig, maybe with a $3000 plexi it would sing??? LOL

This thing is built to last, and I especially love the hammerite finish in blue. I wish Mr. Fuller did his products all with hammerite.

I'm playing blues(go figure) and it's great. I don't not like a single thing about it and I feel great everytime I hear it. As a reminder this refers to the NEW model with the trimmer, not the old one set to the original D.A. Fartortion (LOL) If it got lost I'd replace it in an instant and I'll shortly be purchasing a '69 and Soul bender...can never have to many Fulltones!!!

extremely easy!! fuzz on 10, mids at 2 o'clock, volume to taste

smoothest distortion/fuzz/overdrive!! i have the '69, soul bender and fulldrive, and this blows them away!!

yes. its a fulltone. i have 7 fulltone pedals. never had a problem.

very helpful. mr. fuller usually emails back within a couple of hours he recommended the new '70 model that he had made a few tweaks too. glad he did!!

i play blues and rock. been playing for 27 years. i ahev a prs mccarty, 2 relic strats and tele, tokai les paul, robben ford, es-335, jerry jones, hamer 25th anniversary, 1977 dean v, original silvertone, matchless tornado, top hat club deluxe. fender pro jr., fulltone DV2, FD2, soulbender, '69, choral flange, ultimate octave, supatrem, analog mike modded fuzz face, P.E. rx overdriver, way huge green rhino, proco rat, teese rmc 3, original thomas organ wah wahs, Voodoo Lab proctavia, microvibe, bosstone and analog chorus and a crapppy diaz tremodillo noise maker.
I love the sound of this pedal, although it is high gain, with my relic start w/ lindy fralin p/u's it sings!! very smooth and sustainy, i don't sound like eric johnson with it, because i don't have his touch, but a great usable sound for more than just hendrix covers. i would gig the whole night with this if i had too and just obtain different distortion flavors by playing with my volume control.
unlike my '69 and analog mike modded fuzz face, when you roll back your volume control, it doesn't clean up immediately, there is still some lower gain, distorted, bluesy sounds left before it cleans up. coupled with the soul bender which is ruder sounding and the FD2 you can get a ton of sounds!!!

It's a fuzz pedal, but it can be a bit tricky at times. Read on.

I use this with a tele and a mesa DC5. This was one of the few effects I've ever owned that I plugged into and was immediately happy with. Its a very smooth sounding fuzz with a lot of cool transistor fizzle in the background. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it sounds great.
Two things to be aware of with this pedal. One is that it tends to get lost in the mix a bit if your playing in an acoustically challenged environment, and a lot of the subtleties that make it so great can be completely lost(you want to tell your drummer to shut up so the audience can admire your tone!). Another is that it does NOT like to be after certain other pedals. I had a Visual Sound Rt. 66 which contains a built in buffer which made the 70 uselessly noisy. My boss CS2 also cannot be placed before it. I guess it's very sensitive to the signal its fed. I also had to place it before my wah pedal or it took the effect out of the wah when it was on. Sounds awesome, but very tempemental.

Mike Fuller is usually pretty helpful. I asked him about the problems I had with my pedal placement and he explained why, but when my Supa Trem went out it took a while to get a hol of him.

A little tricky, but an outstanding and complex sounding fuzz.

If you have a Fender Strat or Tele, and want to sound like Hendrix, this is without a doubt the pedal for you. It is easy to get the Hendrix tone via you amps clean channel. Easy to dial in your sound, simple controls.

Use a strat, ot Telecaster. I suppose any guitar with single coil pickups will work good. Don't use a high power humbucking pickup guitar with it, it seems to overload the pedal causing a very undesirable sound. Noisy? you bet, feedback, oh for sure, but isn't that all a part of the hendrix sound? It is supposed to be a better fuzzface and it does that well. I use it with a Marshall DSL 2000, using the clean channel, no need to add any amp overdrive, it just decreases the sweet fuzz. This pedal works best alone!

Mike is prompt with e-mail responses allthough he seems to avoid a direct answer to questions and doesn't seem to take critisism well. I'm sure he would repair or replace anything defective promptly.

I play mostly 60s, 70s, and 90s rock. I wanted to replace my Big Muff (garbage) with a fuzzface type pedal for the older rock ala Hendrix. This pedal is clearly the one for that. I have been playing GTR for 22 years. I own a Fender Strat and Tele. A Peavey EVH Wolfgang, and a Gibson ES335. A Marshall DSL 2000, a Trace Elliot Velocette (great little amp) a univibe reissue, Vox (modified) wah, a boss metal zone (zowie), a ibanez tube screamer, purple haze octive divider, distortion +, MXR phase, voodo tremelo, EH Big (shit) Muff and soon a Carl Martin combinator (not released yet. I would replace the 70s pedal if it were lost since it is my Hendrix tone! None of my other pedals can get that great fuzz. I compaired this pedal to the Roger Mayer classic fuzz(yuk) and the 69 Pedal, this had a great deal more fuzz then the 69 (as it claims to). I also compaired it to the z-vex fuzz factory (more like space factory, weird!) I think if it had a noise gate circuit in it I would like it better. Bottom line,it does what I wanted it to do, and does it well!

Easy to use (only three knobs). The pedal has a very simple layout. All of the knobs do exactly what they say they do.

I am using this pedal with a strat and other Fulltone pedals through various amps (I can't make up my mind). I really like the fuzz of the '70. I have tried several other fuzz pedals and I have not been able to find one that I liked. I tried the '69 for quite a while. I have also tried an Austone Fuzz Nuts (I almost bought that one just for the name!) and some Fuzz face reissues.

I really stuggled with finding a fuzz that I liked for a long time. I began to debate whether or not I even liked fuzz pedals in general. But the more that I tried different pedals out I began to develop an ear for what I was looking for in a fuzz. We all know what fuzz tone sounds like. We all have heard Hendrix or a good Zappa album and the tones are amazing. But playing a fuzz pedal differs so drastically from an overdrive pedal that it initially scares most people away from fuzz in general. But once I understood the beast and knew what I was looking for, the '70 fit my needs perfectly. Compared to the '69, the '70 has far more fuzz and to my ears sounds more refined and not quite as flabby. There are two things that I really enjoy about both of these pedals. I really like the way that they clean up when you back off on your volume knob (very cool!). I also think that they sound great through tube fender amps. The fuzz is really fat and extremly rich in harmonics. Who needs a Les Paul? A good fuzz pedal will turn any single coil guitar into a fat sustain monster.

In many of the venues that I play, volume is a great concern and I am not able to turn up very loud. This can cause sustain problems with a strat player such as myself. I am using the '70 in front of my Fulldrive for wonderful singing lead tones that are otherwise unobtainable will the fulldrive alone. The '70 completed my overdrive/fuzz set up and I couldn't be any happier.
My only complaint is the shielding. Both pedals are very prove at picking up radio stations and this could be a major problem at louder volumes. For this reason alone I can only give it a 9.

Very dependable. I do have a concern with the new switches that Fuller is putting into his pedals. This pedal came with one that is different than the one that is in all of my other pedals. I opened up the pedal and looked inside and it was not a Fulltone switch. I don't know if this switch will last or not but I am really concerned that this might be the first step in diminishing quality in Fullers stuff. I certainly hope not.

I would definetly purchase this pedal again. As I said earlier, I couldn't be any more happier with my set up. I am just waiting for Fuller to come out with an analog delay or a echoplex copy......hmmm.....that would be nice.

Update to my review below.

After careful A/Bing other pedals, I must go ahead and say that this thing is too muddy for me. It dulls most notes that I play and must be for a style that I simply am not after. I own and love a Fulldrive 2, but the whole 69, 70, Soul-Bender lineup are NOT my thing. They are all mud, if a relatively psychadelic cool mud at that. But I can't get them to work. I play everything from modern Southern Blues to Hendrix, and you'd think it would fit in. I got a Menatone Blue Collar to compliment my Fulldrive 2 instead and am happy. Don't have that fidgety need to change settings on the pedal to make it work or justify to myself that just because it was a top name it sounded good! The 70's pedal was not too pleasing to my ear--MUSH! My rating is to balance out my first one.

N/A

N/A

The 70's pedal had me fooled that because it was Fulltone "it worked great, sounded like a 'vintage pedal' should, and that was it." But you know what? After some thought and experimentation, it doesn't work. For me at least. It sounds dull and all low-end notes sound like a bad case of flatulence. High notes sound like Boston on steroids. A very muddy stew that could only have potential at very loud volumes to blast a muffled farting barrage at your audience. Not for me. And PS, I tested another 70's pedal--same thing. I even tweaked the internal trimmer to try and fix it. I just don't get this one. The 69 as well as the Soul-Bender had similar qualities. The Fulldrive 2... another story.

Simply--volume, mids, and fuzz. Fuzz only kicks in really strong after 8--narrow range of intense fuzz. Mids knob is subtle but noticeable. More "bit" with the mids.

Seems to like the bridge pickup on my strat the best for a cutting lead but can sound good with the neck pickup too--just a bit more muffled. At first I thought it sounded amazing, then I thought I started to notice a dull, muffled quality, especially on lower strings. But, there is this certain raunchyness to it the whole time that is just so--DIRTY and NASTY--that I love it all the same. Screams on mid to higher notes. Might conceal any complex chords with fuzz though! I use an FD2 with it as well (see below for how I use them together). My gear is a strat w/Lindy Fralins, then (in order), VOX wah w/mod, FD2, Voodoo Labs Overdrive, 70's pedal, Line 6 DL4 delay/looping pedal, Fender Deluxe amp. Fits right in--completes my distortion/OD/fuzz lineup!

Steel and the best quality wiring I've ever seen.

He's alway there if you want to talk to him. Opinionated, but hey, he can afford to be. Just don't ask him about other people's pedals!

Compliments my FD2 nicely. Picks up with the raunch that it starts to give out. In-line with the FD2, with the FD2 tone set to high treble, it helps the 70's pedal not sound so dull in places. When I say dull I mean "flat fuzz" where the notes aren't distinguishable. But overall this thing is super.

as a germanium fuzz...most often turn fuzzfull clockwise. A little
tweaking of the 'mids' knob until you find the sweet spot for sustain
and you're there.

This is an exceptional pedal and has an incredible amount of depth.
I am running this thru dual Peavey Classic 30 tube amps and the
sound is expressive and rich. Have you ever been to Electric
Ladyland?..well I have. Michael Fuller says he borrowed ideas from
Eric Johnson's Fuzzface and I can tell. Add a 'Uni-vibe' type effect
and Trower/Beck/Hendrix sounds are a reality. WOW!

Have only had the '70 a month but have a lot of faith in Fulltone
products as I have 5(Fulldrive2/'69/Soulbender/Octafuzz also)
and once you try Fulltone you're hooked. Circuitry is solid, and
boxes are well made. I have a lot of pedals, but would probably use
this as my only distortion pedal w/o a backup, no worries.

Michael Fuller will almost always answer your questions and does
extend a 5 year warranty(minus shipping).

This is a pedal that lends itself to more than bluesy rock, and is
much more suited to those that want to expand their distortion.
I like it better than my Fulltone '69 and feel it has expanded my
sound ALOT. My favorite distortion by far and I always want this
pedal in my arsenal. If it got lost or stolen I would get another
right away. I love classic stompboxes but would not use a classic
modified fuzzfaze as a 'daily driver'. The '70 gives the same if
not better fuzz and with reliability.

Three controls "Fuzz", "Mids", and "Volume". It has a true bypass switch. You do need to tweak the "Mids" and "Fuzz" controls to dial in the proper tones for any guitar. I found it hard to get the right amount of sparkling highs where I wanted them.

Excellent sound once it's dialed in. You can really get a fat round sound. It can make that Eric Johnson and Carlos Santana sounds very easily. When you roll back the volume on your guitar you can get a cleaner, brighter sound that I like for dirty arppegiated rhythem work. With the "Fuzz" all the way up and "Mids" boosted you can replicate a later model FuzzFace.

Never had a problem yet with passive pickup guitars. Forget it with EMGs! The tone dies and the signal just sounds like a bad distortion. I have tried many ways of configuring pedals and volume levels with the EMGs and this pedal to try and solve the problem.

I have one guitar with EMGs that's my main axe. The pedal doesn't like the buffering or the output level from the guitar, can't figure which. I have contacted Fulltone many times and they are of no help at all in working with me to solve the problem.

If I only used all passive pickups this is one of those killer boxes you need to have in your arsonal. I have considered a few times selling it for another type of silicon fuzz.

this is hands-down the best fuzz unit i have tried, as far as being a useable, musical fuzz. easy to use, three knobs on top, and one trimmer inside that adjusts the clipping of the two BC-108's...by the way, the 108's ARE the original fuzzface transistors, NOT the 109's.

i use mine with my strats, differing amp setups, and effects. it's a pretty quiet fuzz unit, if you want hendrix, this is the one. if you want musical, this is the one....chords sound good, as well as single note lines. i'm very happy with this fuzz!

i've never had a fulltone pedal go bad yet, but i'm not worried if they do. i know mike fuller would do his best to repair it and get it back ASAP.

mike has been VERY supportive, and is willing to do most anything to satisfy a customer.

i hope i never lose this thing! it's my favorite fuzz ever. and i've had MANY of the vintage units, etc. sounds better than: re-issue fuzzfaces foxx tome machines univox superfuzz EH big muff for me, this is the most musical and useable fuzz i have ever heard. rich, harmonic, and dynamic. well worth checking out if you want that Hendrix/EJ type of fuzz sound!

Straightforward 3 control layout, featuring Volume, Mid, and Boost (Fuzz). The Mid control is a bit confusing, it seems to act as a fine tuner by which you can adjust the resonant peak; it's unusual, but it works. This feature I find comes most in handy when using different guitars (e.g. a humbucker vs. single coil-equipped axe). The bottom line is that the controls are interactive and it was real easy to get a great tone in minutes. The pedal also has an internal trim pot and while the instruction sheet does not provide any useful detail, this feature adds another element of flexibility. I have a feeling though that you could throw the '70 in front of just about any amp and get a COOL tone quick using any guitar of your choice.

The '70 pedal, like every Fulltone effect I've tried, excels at the task for which it was designed, which is to provide a real-world, high quality, modern and reliable fuzz tone. The distortion is rich and fat (greasy really) and in spite of the over-the-top Hendrixian fire tone you can turn your Strat's volume knob down and keep the pedal on and have that warm, happening clean to milder gain tone without negative consequence such as oddball dynamics or wierd EQ feel. I haven't tried many vintage or reissue Fuzzfaces but this pedal is extremely gratifying. If you're after the classic fuzz sound you will not be disappointed. Further, given the fact that the '70 provides the Mid control IN ADDITION to the variable trim pot inside the unit, one can tailor the tone to fit the guitar/rig and application whether it be a live gig or session. Much has been said about the wonderful tone of the '70 in the other reviews featured here, and it's all true.

This is my fourth Fulltone purchase (I also own a Fulldrive 2, Octafuzz, and a Supa Trem). I have used my other Fulltone units extensively in the studio and on stage, I have had no reliabilty issues or problems. I have never felt compelled to have backup for any of my Fulltone gear.

You won't find any issues here, Mike Fuller is a gentleman. When you call Fulltone you speak directly to the man. He is generous with his time and has offered many help suggestions for settings as well as non- Fulltone related questions. I have had occasion to have a pedal repaired (due to my own error) and the response was fast, courteous, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent...

I would buy it again. I have never found a true "distortion" or "fuzz" that is as sweet and usefull. This is not a novelty box, I'll bet blues players to alt-rockers to metalheads would all find usefull tones here, not that this pedal offers a "silver bullet" to crap technique, gear or creativity. Plugging it in at the store with an Anderson strat through a VHT Pitbull 45 I had happening tones in seconds. It was only $100 used so, you do the math-sold on the spot. I figured I could get great tones on my own gear and I was right.
There seems to be some controversy on the issue of the transistors employed in this unit. I have to admit I'm a little uncomfortable with the fact that the pedal is advertised as having "rare BC183's" or whatever the hell thay are supposed to be, when in fact the pedal has BC108 transistors; I do feel a little cheated:(. Admittedly I can barely tell a transistor from a resistor but it seems that this issue needs some clarification from Fulltone (I haven't called them yet). Mike, if you are marketing this as having "special" or "rare" components when in fact they are not actually installed, I'd say that's a problem. To be fair, the BC108s MAY BE THE BETTER COMPONENT but how are we dumb guitarists to know, particularly when the instruction sheet included AND your website still indicate the use of the rare and elusive 183? Well, the pedal does sound KILLER so who really gives a ratsass if the '70 uses Pentium chips, transistors, or flux capacitors!

Easy to get a good sound. Three tone controls (Volume, Mid, and Fuzz) Also there is an internal trim dial inside the pedal which I don't know what is for. It comes with a very brief instruction page that explains the product.
I can't use this pedal in front of my V-twin for some reason. It needs to be placed after it.
The mid control is unlike any I have used before. It kind of boosts the whole signal as you go clockwise. Tones are spongy at one spectrum and firm at the other.

Great Fuzz. I had a re-issue Big Muff before and the 70 sounds so much more musical. The fuzz doesn't have as much bottom end as a big muff but it has a nice balance between every spectrum. I was suprised to find out that the pedal doesn't make much noise. The only problem is that the pedal does pick up radio signals easily.
There is a true by-pass so that when the unit is off it won't degrade your signal.
This pedal is especially useful when used in combination with a good overdrive/distorion pedal to get even more gain. I personally use the 70 after my Mesa V-twin pedal. Having both pedals cranked creates a indescribable amount of gain which is just too much because of the background noise. My optimal setting is having the gain on my v-twin at 6 the fuzz on the 70 at 8 or 9 and my volume on my strat at 8. This gives me good sustain and screaming distorion which I love.

The first one I got had a problem. For some reason anything past 3 O'Clock on the volume knob resulted in a hissing sound when I plucked a string.
The sales rep at my local music store confirmed this and I exchanged it for a new one.
I must have gotten a bad one.
Despite this it is solidly built. Each one is handmade with quality craftmanship. It is housed in a steel case which is virtually indestructable.

Me and Mike Fuller (owner) have been having a flame war regarding the transistors in the pedal and whether I am making up lies about his pedals. I get the feeling he doesn't like me much. Regardless, even though I am giving him a low score here it doesn't mean that his pedals are bad or his customer service is bad either. Almost all the reviews praise his customer service. I guess I have been the only one that has had a bad experience with Mike Fuller.

Overall it is one of the best out there. All pedals are signed by Mike Fuller himself and are hand numbered on the bottom sticker. The unit is a purple and has a very generic look to it, no bells and whistles. Good fuzz for hendrix styles. Hook it up to a wah and a univibe and a good tube amp and you are in tone heaven. I checked out the 69 and the soulbender too. I chose the 70 because the 69 didn't have as much gain as the 70 and the soulbender, although it sounded great was out of my price range.
One more thing, I opened the pedal up and found that it doesn't contain the BC183L transistor that it said it had. It had the BC108B transistor or something. I don't know if this transistor is worse or better. Mike Fulltone stated that the 108 was better. If anyone has any opinions e-mail me. Otherwise, the BC108's sound great anyway.

The '70 consists of volume, gain boost, and a midrange countour(tone). All ranges on the tone and gain remain musical, from 1 to 10. The manual supplied by Fulltone gives real world tone adjustments and tips about tweaking the pedals that actually work!

The sound of this fuzz pedal can only be described as sweet enough to sleep to. Warm fuzz tone that is smooth from top to bottom, no peaks. This pedal doesn't boost bass to overcompensate for loose fuzz, ala Big Muff. The gain is light up until 8 and then it really digs in tight. This is the first pedal that actually cleans up when you roll the volume back! The mid knob gives a wide variety of tones at any setting. Finally, a tone control that doesn't just roll off bass and treble, but actually voices the overall tone. The pedal is susceptible to radio due to light shielding, so roll down the volume when not playing. My only complaint.

Built in America in the basement of Micheal Fuller's(owner) own home. Each pedal is signed and numbered by Micheal himself after passing the final check(his ears). I opened the box and discovered tight, clean solder and not a single wire that wasn't wrapped tight and secure. 14 guage steel keeps this pedal tough for life, after all, it has a lifetime warrenty. If Micheal Fuller is that sure it won't break, than I will never sweat it during a gig either. This pedal is the true representation of love for a man's work!

Micheal Fuller has answered the phone all three times I've called and always gave me a few minutes of time to answer my questions. I'm impressed by him and his work. If only I could get Jim Marshall on the phone!!

I'd sell my soul for this box. $170 list is a steal for what you receive. Boss , Ibanez, and Dunlop charge nearly the same dollar amount for their overseas built pedals and don't give half as much. Fulltone products should put all the rest to shame. American Quality, workmanship, sound, and looks. If you own a Big Muff, TS-9, Vox Tone Bender, Distortion+, or Fuzz Face, you owe it to yourself to compare them to a Fulltone. You won't go home with your precious vintage reissue, that I promise.

Has a really nice, nasty fuzz tone. Just two uncomplicated knobs to tweak.

I like it better than all the fuzz boxes I was trying, and was pleasantly surprised as I bought it used sight and sound unseen on the Internet. I had bought a Fulltone Fulldrive II new so figured it was probably worth risking for this pedal as I'm really happy with the FD2 pedal.
The guy I bought it from was sticking with his original Fuzzface. I didn't like the other fuzzes I was trying, such as the reissue Fuzzface. For my style it was a bit harsh and almost too much like a metal amp, and not the fuzz tone I like.

Seems to be a solid footpedal.

See my notes in my Fulldrive II review.

A nice sounding fuzz box. It's supposed to be Jimi Hendrix's 1970 sound, hence the name (as opposed to the '69 pedal). It's supposed to be a heavier, snarlier fuzz than the 69 pedal which I was going to get but couldn't pass up a $100 used pedal deal since this goes for $169 new I think.
I prefer it to the other commercial fuzzes I was trying out, so I was lucky my Internet deal worked out otherwise I'd be trying to sell this!