Fulltone Deja'Vibe

Pretty straight forward, and easily understood. Volume, Intensity and Speed knobs, Chorus/Trem and Vintage/Modern switches. The Vintage/Modern switch governs EQ, with the Modern being brighter, but it's a pretty subtle difference between the two.

The general effect sounds good....just like it should. The reason for my low rating, and although it's part of the intended design, it isn't really well documented in these reviews...is that when the effect is engaged, it tends to trim A LOT of highs from the signal, even in Modern mode. For the Vintage side, this was largely be design to recreate the flavor of the original.

Admittedly, it's largely personal preference, but I would prefer that is was more tonally transparent. Gotta have a good dose of the effect, but would prefer that the treble/bass balance was retained better. I'm starting to get used to it.

Other than that, a great example of the effect.

Haven't had it too long, but my Fulldrive 2 has worked like a champ for quite a while. Fulltone is largely very high quality stuff.

This unit is too new, and the FD2 hasn't required support, so I can't say. I've never personally dealt with Mike Fuller, but I have seen some of his exchanges with users on the forums. I respect his talents and his products, and understand that with a small company, his time is limited. But the way he deals with some people could still be better.

As I've said before, his personality would never keep me from spending a couple hundred bucks for a pedal. If he made $1000+ guitars or amps, however, his reputation along might keep me from buying.

Overall, a nice unit. Good sounding effect. Just not keen on how it trims the highs.

to get good sound i think its key to pull back the intensity to about 4 and use a strat-fender combo
i also think IMHO it dosent sound great with humbuckers.

i haven't tried the sweetsound but I can get a great sound out of it i don't try to cover a sound but added to my already great sounding setup it was magical.

cant afford a backup

dont know

very cool took some to grow on me but i really dig it

easy. i got the white one (lucky me!). so dunno about the new ones.

marshall superbass>orange 4x12>les paul gold top(p-90's). sounded blooming georgous when put behing my fulldrive2. i didnt want to switch it off. the vib setting was pretty naff but the chorus setting more than made up fot that. made my sound all creamy and anything i played just sounded good, no better than good it sounded fabulotatsic. however when i stuck my boss sd-1's in front of it it got lost, the boss just seemed to swamp it all. it was just a muddy sound. i guess its matched pretty well to being used with the fulldrive2. i can live with that cos the boss sd-1's can be hooked up to other guitars i use in my set-up. one sd-1 is modified by analog mike the other a tiawanese jrc4558 black label. both didnt like going with the deja vibe. the deja vibe is not a wild effect, being more on the subtle side but i think thats perfect. i think it goes to show that different pedals bring out or cancel out when used with other pedals. i'm hooked on it tho and wouldnt want to live a day without having one.

looks ok. i got it second hand and everything seems ok. havent had it long enough to rate it in this category.

ok a lot of people rant badly about mike. i have almost been guilty myself in the past. i mailed him about help for the power supply for this unit as i live in the uk and he was very quick and informative with his replies. i think it's obvious he is a busy man, filters his mail and only answers/helps where he thinks it is warranted. can't say i blame him as he must be busy.
i'll give him a ten cos he supported me good on this one.dont really think kindeness comes into it tho.

i wuv it to bits. its a bit big but it's still sitting there beckoning me to play with it and i cant ignore it. i cant sleep at night cos i wanna plug my gweetar into it and kick out! if you are looking for holy grail of vibe pedals that will end your search then you will be in the rut of buying pedals forever cos they all sound different. its just a great pedal, same as most other great pedals; get one to add to your collection of other pedals!

My unit is the older white model (dated 1/99). Bought it brand new. It has Volume, Intensity and speed controls. It also has two toggle switches to switch between vibrato/chorus modes and bright/dark modes. It is very easy to use, just step on it turn some knobs and go.

I'm using it with a Japanese Fender Strat with Antiquities Texas Hot and Jumbo frets. My other effects are Vox re-issue wah (with true bypass mod), Fulltone Fulldrive II, Fullonte 69, SupaTrem and an old Boss Analog Delay (routed thru a hard bypass box so it's out of the signal path when I'm not using it). My amp is a Marshall JTM 310. The DejaVibe is not noisy at all. It sound really great on it's own. It's okay with the FD2 but I don't like it with the 69. It thins out too much. This is the first time I've used a Univibe type of effect so I did not know what to expect when I bought it. I only based my choosing this from the reviews here.I Was not able to try it out in the store since I ordered this from another city. I wanted the ChoralFlange but I can't afford it.

It looks very dependable except for the toggle switches which do not inspire confidence. I know that sooner or later I'll break mine. I don't have any back-up because I can't afford to have one.

I've e-mailed Mike Fuller lots of time and on most instances he answers right away. On some, he did not answer even when I re-sent my e-mail just to make sure he recieved it. Friendly ???!!! No, I don't find him friendly AT ALL.

I mostly play blues rock and Billy Joe Shaver songs. I've had the DejaVibe for about one month now and unfortunately, no matter how I tried to use it I can't seem to find a use for it. It seems to get in the way. Dont' get me wrong it is a great unit and I like it. It's just not my cup of tea though. I've made a lot of mistakes in buying gear in the past and this is one of them. I've been playing since 1987 non-stop but mostly as a hobbyist. If it were lost or stolen then I'd just forget about it. If anyone wants to trade with this for a Choralflange, I'd be very interested.

Easy to use, typical setting is the chorus with the modern or vintage options... Speed knob for pulsation.

Sound cool, like what it's supposed to do. I have found though, that it is a little weak, even on it's strongest setting. I am using a ES335, a Victoria Bandmaster,and a ts9. The deja vibe doesn't cut through the mix... It doesn't sound as strong as the sustained 17th fret bend on "Machine Gun," but then again, I'm not using a Marshall. I think this offers a trower sound, not particularly Hendrix.

Very dependable, Fulltone stuff usually is. Sometimes the switches go out though because Mike Fuller supposedly uses cheap switches even though he makes about 80 grand a month probably, but he will repair them if anything were to go wrong.

I understand that he is easy to contact, but don't expect to chit-chat.

I play rock/blues/jazz/fusion... If it was stolen I would get Sweet Sound Ultra Vibe. The Fulltone was the only univibe clone that the local stores had. If you are gonna spend 250+ on an effect, you should perhaps try the Prescription Electronics Vibe unit or the Sweet Sound Vibe Unit. Don't get me wrong, Fulltone stuff does rock, and the Deja Vibe rocks too, but if you are very picky like me, then you notice the small things. this pedal is fine, and I will continue to use it, but if anybody has something they want to offer, I may consider a trade...

updated from 10/11/00

Okay, this is an update to my original review on 10/11/2000. I still like
the vibe but I found some quirky things since owning it. First &
foremost, The vintage/chorus setting that I found to be the best
originally, is way too dark & muddy to be well heard in live band situatiuons.
This is the best sound out of the peda, bu, is only good in your bedroom
or in a quieter setting. Also on this setting, sometimes I feel like I have
no effect, just a giant compressor squeezing the hell out of my tone. I
like effects to be transparent, but not invisible. At least not while the effect is on!!

updated from 10/11/00

updated from 10/11/00

Overall this is a great pedal, but you really have to have specific uses
for it. If you are into lush, thick chorus, this is not it! It is more of a phased
out leslie type and it "is" unpredictable. It is a great sound shaping tool &
is awesome for about 3 or 4 songs until you get tired of the swirling. It
is good at what it does, but it could offer "much" more vibe. For almost
$300, I dont think that is asking too much. Bottom Line........sold on E-Bay!!

Simple to use, easy to get to different settings.

Not too bad, but it did'nt seem to be able to get as wet sounding as my original 69 univibe. I can get the sound of this pedal maxed with the original set at less than half! It was nice, but the old one blows it away!! None of the clones came close to my ears. (dunlop,prescription,fulltone, etc.)

It seems to be built to withstand alot of use.

I think this pedal is well made, yet it could use more effect than there is availiable. Perhaps it can be tweaked? I was looking for a vibe to replace my original for live situations, but I think I'll stick with the original! It is just too good to leave home.

very basic - volume, intensity, and then you can choose modern chorus/trem or vintage chorus/trem. the dejavibe is also very pretty.

there are couple things i did not like. first of all, if you want real intense vibes like in machine gun, then this pedal will not suffice. but if you are playing lenny (srv) or just like a nice tune with a low intensity, then this pedal is nice.

it is large and heavy so it tends to get banged up, but it still works and looks like new. if i gigged much, i would not bring a back up.

haven't needed it yet.

it is perfect in all aspects but intensity. this is not a sales pitch, but ive heard that the roger mayer is a lot more powerful. dont believe me though, because ive never used it. the roger mayers are also alot more expensive.

see other posts

I just thought I'd add my two cents here. I have one of the very early brushed metal ones that everone seems to favor. I also own a very, very good univibe and a prescription electronics unit (also very early psych paint job).

I bought this because of the true bypass. It is not as detailed as the univibe and is also not as organic sounding as the prescription electronics unit. I was embarassed into buying the prescription unit by an LA session player friend who told me it was far superior to the Fulltone and he was right. Robin Trower uses these, for sure, but almost everyone else has a Vibe Unit on the floor or in the rack. Maybe things are better with the changes in later models. This one has a very wah-wah sounding modulation that is unlike an original univibe.

If you are looking for a the bestsounding univibe clone, the prescription electronics unit iws it, not this one (even in its early, and supposedly, best incarnation).

2 knobs and a couple of switches. piece of cake

all vibes, and i mean ALL vibes sound different. i should know. i have owned 22 and paid 3,000 in the process. all the boutique ones, a supervibe, and several original univibes. this one does sound like trower. dead on. i listened to about 12 or 13 on the phone and on mp3 bytes til i found this one.

made in 98. still going

mike is curt. his earlier vibes were hit and miss. now they just suck altogether.

do your legwork on this one or you will blow a ton of money. the white one is the grail. you just have to find it.