Fulltone Distortion Pro

After I read the manual and played with the adjustments, basically got to know how it functioned, it is easy to use. I feel that if a person does not understand how to use this or any piece of equipment, they will not get a good sound out of it.

After 30 years of using guitar effects, this is the best distortion I have heard.

I live on the road performing full time - it is my life - and the Fulltone pedals I have withstand the use of the road.You pay for the quality with Fulltone.

I have never had to contact them.

One thing for musicians to remember: Your sound isn't coming from the equipment, it's coming from your hands - you. If you can't pick up 5 different guitars all playing through different amps (or no amps) and have it sound good (meaning like "you") then you're bound to keep looking at the "tools" to make you sound better. With that said, this particular "tool" is of high quality and if the time is taken to understand how to use it, you can use it in any style of music and make it sound good.

Tuning this pedal in will take a little more time and effort but it'll be well worth it. The amount of flexability that Mr. Fuller has put into this pedal can be intimidating at first; but once you get the jist of how the controls interact with each other the possibilities are endless. Nothing fancy with the controls, just clockwise if you want more and counter-clockwise if you want less...

Merely pluging this pedal in and turning it on will give you a good tone . However, when you figure out how to effectively use all the "tweakability" this pedal has to offer, you will be amazed at the results. Even at extreme settings the distortion remains focused, even complex chords retain there harmonic content. After a few small, and I do mean small adjustments to the two trim pots on the inside of this pedal, the tone cleaned up extremely well when rolling of my guitar's volume. This gave me even more flexability, allowing those "in between" sounds that can give your playing a whole other relm of dynamics.

I,ve only gigged with this pedal for a couple of months now and have had no problems at all. I do however have a Fulltone FD-2 that i've used religiously for the last 2 years and not even the paint has chipped. I do try to take pretty good care of my stuff but i've dropped that pedal a few times and it has never missed a beat. I trully believe that Mr. Fuller is deticated to making a product that not only sounds good but will stand the test of time. I honestly don't even worry about the reliability of these two pedals, they are a joy to own and well worth the money I spent on them.

This category is what led me to leave a review about this pedal. Although I was happy with the tones I was getting when I first plugged this in, I was having a little trouble getting the exact tone I was looking for. I emailed the company thinking maybe somebody in there sales staff could help me out. Mr. Fuller himself emailed me back and pointed me in the right direction. All of this took place in the same afternoon that I sent the original email. I was very impressed.

Although most of the Fulltone line, including the Distortion Pro is a little more money than other pedals of the same purpose, I consider it money well spent. There durability, tone, craftsmenship, and even customer support are in my opinion, among the best. I try to play as many different styles of music as possible and this pedal has given me a new sonic range in which to play. One thing I will suggest, if you buy this pedal used or in my case new but fail to get the manual, go to the website and download it. There are some very helpful tips in the back on adjusting the internal trim pots.

Turn Knobs clockwise to increase values, counter clockwise to decrease.

Step on switch to turn on and again to bypass.

Ease of use; this is a pedal not rocket science.

One of the most expensive distortion pedals I have hade the displeasure to buy before the try.

Please do not buy this pedal on word of mouth.

Give it a nice looonnnggg test drive.

Thank God for ebay.

Built like a Tank... but why?

Needs improvment!

I have been playing 22 years, Rock/jazz/fusion/funk.

My favorite features hmm... nice shinny red paper weight, ergonmic rectangular hammer and tone destroyer.

I do own the Fulltone OCD and TTE and love them both but this one needs to be dropped from the product line.

Easy to use. I didn't need the manual to find great sounds. Fuller gives you six knobs (plus an internal pot) for a wide range of tone-tweaking. If you didn't find a good sound with this pedal using any guitar and amp combination that you can throw at it, then you probably didn't take the time to find your sound. This pedal sounds fantastic with any guitar and amp I have. All I have to do is tweak it for that particular setup. Only improvement I would like to see would be to the ability to adjust the internal trim pot on the outside of the pedal since I use this pedal with both single coils and humbuckers.

I play a '76 Les Paul Custom into a Peavey Ultra 212 with Celestions or an '83 Strat into a Music Man RD112. I was mainly looking for a good distortion for the Strat/Music Man combo and found it in spades with this pedal. It also sounded great with the Les Paul. The internal pot lets you adjust for the type of pickups you're using. Whisper quiet when off and no tone sucking. Let's the sound of your guitar shine through and doesn't mask it even when the distortion is heavy. It's my main distortion on my pedal board now and replaced my Keeley-modded Sparkle Drive. Keep in mind that this is a distortion pedal. It is perfect for classic rock. This is not a 60s fuzz face or a metal pedal, but it is a solid "10" for that creamy smooth sustain for classic rock leads or, when you back down the distortion, it's great for punchy classic rock rhythm chords.

Built like a tank with quality parts.

Got a quick reply back to an e-mail asking about the internal trim pot.

I've been playing in cover bands for 30 years - mainly classic rock, with some 50s and 60s, and new stuff thrown in. This fit the bill perfectly for getting my Strat to sound fat with smooth, creamy distortion. For me, this pedal beat out a Keeley-modded Sparkle Drive and BD-2, both Jekyll and Hyde pedals, Maxon OD808, Zoom Hyper Lead, '83 Ibanez TS-9, and others. All very good pedals, but just not quite as good as the Fulltone DP-1. If stolen, I'd buy another one.

Some tweaking is required if you compare it to a simple distortion box.

I'm sorry to disagree with many enthusiastic reviews here but to me this pedal is something of a disappointment. I would'n t call it a distortion pedal....to me it sounds more like an (overpriced)
fuzz box, with hardly any definition, no sustain and a lot of buzz
particularly on the lower strings.
I tried to tweak the internal trimmers but this didn't change my overall opinion about.I already own a Fulltone Fulldrive
and Fulltone Fat Boost,which are great, but a Keeley DS1 Ultra (which I have too) kicks the Distortion Pro out of
the window and costs half as much! I also tried a Carl Martin
Plexitone of a friend of mine, which ,for a few euros more,
puts the Distortion Pro to shame for sound and flexibility.
Fulltone products are generally great but this one is really not the case.

Fulltone products are built like a tank.

I've been playing for over 35 years. I generaly play jazz/fusion and occasionally rock/hard rock.

never seen a pedal this small w/ so many adjustments

I had the DP and just bought the OCD. I think the tone of the OCD is much better. Basically the Distortion Pro is made for the stage. I am just a hobbiest with my equipment set up in the basement, therefore I cannot crank the volume. To me the OCD sounds better at lower volume levels where I think the Distortion pro would shine at a live gig. The distortion is kick ass though.

tough as nails

they have replied to every e-mail promptly

High quality pedal. If you play live and want to spend a lot of time tweaking a distorion pedal, this one is for you. There are definetely some great sounds in this pedal, although you can find some bad ones too.

While some make like the added control of the trim pots, I think they make it harder to get a good tone. I think there is such a thing as TOO much control in an effect pedal. There is such a range of available tones in this box that it's just as easy to get a very bad sound as it is to get a good sound. I don't want a stompbox to have the flexibility of a rack unit. If I want 10 different tones, I'll get ten different pedals. I like pedals with a great basic tone as a foundation that allow little tweaks to adjust the sound to fit my guitar and amp.

The Distortion Pro sounds alright...but that's it. I was expecting a much more refined tone. I know it's a distortion and not an overdrive, but it didn't retain any of the qualities of my guitar and amp.

I also thought there would be a lot more gain. I normally use overdrive pedals, but I play a lot of covers so every now and then I need a heavier tone, and I thought the Distortion Pro would fit the bill.

The pedal looks solid but I've heard bad things about the trim pots falling apart...

I'm a tone NUT. I own about 70 pedals, from $50 Boss to $500 Way Huge and everything in between. I'm a firm believer in spending more to get more. But honestly, I just don't understand the hype about this pedal. I am NOT slamming Fulltone, but I have never played any of his pedals and thought "Oh my God, what a tone!" I was equally disappointed with the Fulldrive 2 and the Choralflange.

Because of the so-so tone, the lack of transparency, and the high price, this pedal just doesn't do it for me. For the same tone, get yourself a Boss SD-1 and save $130. Or for a better tone in the same price range get a Tone Bone, Barber, Maxon, etc.

This is D.P.serial #1.I won this pedal from fulltone a few years ago.After a few years of owning this Im able to give a fair and balanced report.Its quite advanced for a distortion box especially if you are used to the usual 2 or 3 knob pedals.There are 6 KNOBS!.At first,.I wasn't prepared for the versitility this thing offers and mabie even a bit skeptical however, I was pretty impressed right off the bat with all the variations you can dial in from very dynamic picky mild kinda singing tone with a little sag to full on almost a brite silicon fuzzface type sound with almost all the picking attack and dynamics removed BUT without all the radio stations or the noise you get with other pedals.Its the only distortion pedal that offers all this controll.Versitility makes up for the fiddling time for sure.Ive updated the chip and its a little smoother than before but whatever...its not as crucial as I initially thought.I figued it out without picking up the manual....thats key for me.

My settup changes depending on the situation at hand but a few basics allways apply.A decent guitar thats confortable to play with non muddy pick ups.An all tube amp that reacts well to how I play at a non deafining level and a quality 2x12 or 4x12 cab(16ohm) with broken in v30's or broken in eminence 12 inch speakers.... an essential starting point for filling the requirments of"rock tone" as we know them.From what I can tell,The D.P. was not designed to warm up...say.. a clean clear sounding solid state amp like the Roland JC-120.You could certainly be into 80's Robert Fripp and use the D.P. and achieve those bright colder fuzz tones if thats your thing....BUT...The D.P. in my opinion was ment to add ample sustain and gain to a warmer tube amp thats"in the zone" or at stage level with a mabie hint of break up.I like to run this in front of another pedal at the same time for more over the top pink floyd"Time"type soloing.Works excellent.Very noise free.Could be stiff or cold into a cold amp.

A TANK.

never needed it

This pedal compliments my set up very well.I like etherial weird art rock. For long sustained almost ebow like soloing ala Steve Hacket, I dont need his exact pedal..I just need the gain without the hisssssss.It was free.Its very rugged and compact and very usable and tweekable.Doesnt get the choas blown up... super farty or phat edgy or hissy with a scooped mid like a big muff if thats what your into.Its way more precise and controlled with more mids.A little more polite.Do not expect it to behave like a cranked up amp!!!.There is no be all end all with pedals( and I own many).....You really need to play your guitar with your amp with a band at stage volume to find out what really works best.

Volumen y Distorsi?n + 4 controles para el tono+ 2 Trim internos...un poco complicado pero tambi?n por ello realmente vers?til .
El m?o es la versi?n del 2004, con el nuevo opamp. He podido probar la versi?n antig?a y comparar, y realmente merece la pena: cremoso y con cuerpo ser?a la definici?n

Gibson Les Paul Special + Fender Deluxe 112
Nivel de ruido m?nimo, incluso a alta ganancia.
El sonido es "enorme", con mucho cuerpo: nada que ver con otros pedales de transistores.
Muy vers?til, siempre en la onda del rock, blues rock...
Desde Hendrix a Zeppelin, Allman Brothers, Clapton , etc
Paleta de sonidos muy amplia, alcanzando la frontera del Fuzz.
Simplemente , uno de los mejores y m?s vers?tiles pedales de distorsi?n del mercado.

Solido como un tanque.
Lo he puesto a prueba en directo y responde sin problemas.
Parece innecesario tener un backup (aparte del dinero que supone ;-)

He consultado en una ocasi?n con Fulltone (supongo que no contestar?a el propio M Fuller, aunque firmaba como tal! :-)
acerca de los trim pot

Por el precio y teniendo en cuenta su versatilidad y la enorme calidad del sonido, se merece un 10. Comparando con cualquier otro pedal de distorsi?n que he tenido (Boss DS1, MXR Distortion +, Vox y un largo etc) se merece un 10 sin dudarlo: es ni m?s ni menos lo que buscaba dentro de la l?nea del rock, hard rock, blues.

4 tiny knobs are not easy to twiddle with, and feel flimsy to compared with the 2 volume and gain main knobs.

A lot of possibilities allows you to dial around and look for your sound, as the manual is kept to the minimum

All pots interact with each others, again many sound variations possible but it can take time to nail your disto.

I use a Peavey wolfgang std or a Mex 60's strat with Texas S, into a fender blues junior.
The unit is not particularly noisy. I cannot find any bad sound with it. Every sound will be very organic, creamy, beautiful.It is warm, but not agressive, cutting but not harsh.


This distortion is definitely more on the vintage, Fuzz-ish side of sounds (can actually create a brilliant genuine fuzz), and is not a hard rock or metal pedal.
It oozes quality and authenticity. Highly recommended

Tank-like. Heavy case, sturdy knobs, sockets, and battery compartment
Real trustworthy gear, better be nice with the smaller knobs, though

no experience

Great for Rock lead, rhythm. Classic sounds and sheer quality

Would buy it again, or check other fulltone gear.