Fulltone Distortion Pro

You've got to tweak the knobs for a while to get the tone you're looking for. But for me, it was worth it. The manual is pretty good at getting you familiar with the features of the pedal and how to tweak it.

Well, here's the deal. Lately, I've been getting into a tone with the high end rolled off. Perhaps because I've been listening to a lot of Eric Johnson...not sure. So that's how I set up my Dist Pro and it sounds awesome to me. I set the distortion level all the way up, sustain almost all the way up, voicing knob about half way, highs rolled way back, bass up a little more than half way. If I was going for more of a biting, cutting type sound I probably would have gone with something else because when set up that way ...the pedal is not much better than a lot of cheaper pedals out there. I bought my Fulltone Fulldrive2 and my Distorion Pro on the same day...about 2 months ago. I am soooooooo glad I bought both pedals. To me, the Distortion Pro picks up where the FD2 leaves off. Know what I mean? The way I've got both pedals set up, I get very fat, fluid, full bodied tones that sing with lots of sustain.

I play rock, jazz, fusion and blues. 29 years of experience...tons of pedals..(Boss, ProCo, Vox, etc..) about 10 amps and 10 guitars...notably a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, ES-335, etc...and Marshall and Boogie half stacks + 4 Fender tube amps: DRRI, HotRod DeVille 2x12, Blues Jr. and Prosonic combo.

If you're in the market for a full sounding distortion pedal, you should check out this pedal. To me it works best set up to get a "rolled-off highs", very saturated kind of distortion. Set up this way, it's a killer box. Oh, and don't be put off by the tone the first time you turn it on...you'll probably need 5-10 minutes of knob tweaking before you dial in something you like...or really like. Sweet pedal.

Just plug into your amp and adjust the knobs until you hear somthing you like. As far as I'm concerned all positions sounded great.
The manual does a good job of detailing functions.
This unit was signed 7/1/03, so it has the new chip, not sure how the older version sounded like.

Setup: Guitar, G&L Lagacy w/Fralin SC pickups to the distortion Pro to either a Penn Pennalizer 50 and a Lexicon Signature 284.
Noise Level: Not bad at all, even at extreme settings.
I'm not trying to sound like anybody in particular, but the distortion is superb.

So far I dont see why I could'nt depend on this pedal. It is built very robust.
If I had a gig, I would use without a backup.

So far Fulltone has answered any question within the same day. I'd say thats excellent.

Price is the only down side to this pedal, but what do you expect from a hand signed pedal.

This is a follow up to an earlier review that I posted. I bought this pedal in 2002 and have used it quite a bit but the small adjustment knobs broke apart. I e-mailed Mike Fuller and he said that he had a couple of bad patches of these knobs and said he would fix it for me. I sent him the pedal and he promptly repaired the knobs and also made the pedal compliant with the 2003 version. How cool is that. I had heard that he is tough to deal with but all I can say is that he stands by his product and is totally responsive. I got the pedal back in the span of two weeks and can't wait to try out the new tweaks to the pedal. Thanks again, harry

You have to be patient and do a fair amount of knob tweeking with this bad boy. It reacts differently to different guitar and amp combinations, so spend a little time dialing in the tone for you. The manual is adequate and informative.

Overall I would rate the sound quality as very, very good. So far I've played thru a Peavey Classic 50 (sounded great thru that amp), a Fender Deluxe Reverb (sounded a little fizzy and loose at first but after I rolled back the mids and highs, and cranked up the bass and saturation, it sounded very sweet and musical) and a Mesa Boogie Dual Caliber 50 head and 2x12 vertical cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's (it sounded incredible thru that amp!!!). I still can't believe I'm saying this but the Dist. Pro thru the Boogie's clean channel sounded almost as good as the Boogie's drive channel! To me, that's saying something because the Boogie's drive channel has one of the deepest, roundest, fullest, richest, fattest, sweet and musical sounding distortions I've ever heard. I stood there with the bass player in my band and played the same riff with the Dist. Pro and clean channel - then the Boogie's drive channel (which is loaded with several preamp tubes I might add)...we both agreed the tone was very, very close. I couldn't believe it. I think that pretty much says it all... For a little red box to come close to sounding like the drive channel in a $1000 amplifier is outrageous. I love this pedal! I will give a rating of 9 and not a 10 only because of the results I get with the Deluxe Reverb amp which is not quite as good as with the Peavey or Boogie - but even thru the Deluxe Reverb, it's still the fullest sounding and best sounding distortion pedal I've ever used with it. Puts all the others I've tried to shame. Bravo!

Can't comment - haven't had it long enough.

n/a

I play rock, blues, funk, and jazz fusion. It's a great match for the music I play and for the gear I own (strat, tele, les paul, ES-335...4 Fender tube amps, Marshall JCM-200 TSL60, Boogie DC-5). I would also add that my Fulldrive 2 pedal works extremely well with this box, as does my Boss SD-1 overdrive pedal which I kick in for soaring solos with the Dist. Pro. Been playing 28 years and if I lost this pedal I would check out what's new in the market and if nothing was out there that sounded better, I'd definitely buy another Dist. Pro. Full, fat, rich, smooth distortion that works well for rythym and lead work...very low noise...true bypass switching....I love it. The only negative I can think of is at $199, it is a little pricey - got mine on sale for $179. Thank you Mike Fuller!

Be prepared to spend some time getting used to the tweaks on this pedal. This is an aggressive distortion pedal. Initially I was apprehensive about my purchase. I had to spend a couple of hours with my twin, Les Paul, Telecaster (both stock), Stratocaster (noiseless) & a screwdriver, tweaking the internal pot while comparing Guitars, Amp and pedal setting. I ended up with both internal pots down between 1/8 and 1/4 turn down from factory settings to obtain the tones I wanted. This was just a starting place.

There are a lot of variables here. First being the amp I use it with. I have an evil twin, a hot rod deluxe, and a Tech 21 Trademark 60.(More on that later) On or off, when alone in the chain, the pedal is completely silent, even on the hot rod's more gain setting (I have lowered the total gain of the pedal with the internal pots). I've owned and gigged the pedal for about 8 months and have been using it for high gain tones (Van Halen, ZZ Top, AC/DC). I use a TS9 reissue for overdrive (SRV, Cheap Trick, Tom Petty). I keep the amp on a pretty clean setting. I recently started using the Hot Rod more often than the Trademark and have rediscovered this pedal. With the Trademark (solid state) the pedal?s distortion took on a grainy quality, which was unpleasant when too high. With the Hot Rod or The Twin this pedal SHINES. The Distortion takes on a more tube like smoothness (silky, creamy, violins, EJ) that is MUCH more natural. Room sizes also seem to affect the pedal, probably more due to changes in amp settings. That is where the tweaking capabilities shine. The "resonance" or low tweak fattens, not necessarily boosts the low end. Too much of this makes the low end muddy or loose. I use it mainly to remove muddiness. Keep in mind I prefer the sound of a combo, not a 4-12. The "voicing" is a mid-range control that acts very much like the "Punch" midrange on the Trademark 60. It adds crunch or midrange distortion and presences to the mids and highs as well as boost. It interacts with "Distortion". It's very useful when you need to cut through the mix of a full band. It also helps me deal with the voicings of different guitars. The "Highs" is just that. It does affect or interact with the "Voicing" and "Distortion". The "Saturation" is a compression type setting. It also adds distortion as you add compression. The compression is dramatically flattening and for me a little bit goes a long way. Finally, The "Volume" and "Distortion" are the 2 large dial and are just what they say they are. All buttons interact with each other.

Examples: Increasing "Saturation" might create sponginess that requires more "Voicing" to maintain presence and attack, while the distortion added by both tweak could be reduced with "Distortion". Or : Reducing ?Saturation? and ?Distortion? might Tighten the sound and allow me to increase ?Resonance? to fatten low end in a tight sterile room.

This pedal likes tube amps and enhances the qualities these amps already have. My Trademark 60 is a fine amp and is very good at what it does, but does not respond to this pedal very well. All 3 guitars listed above maintain their individual characteristics and clean up nicely when the volume is backed off. The Les Paul tries to over saturate a bit, compared to the Fenders, but can be controlled by cutting the guitar volume back to 7 or 8. The Strat is a total pleasure through this pedal. I prefer it on the bridge pickup to help maintain the highs. The Tele really gets dirty and edgy and wants to play disgustingly throaty delta slide through this pedal.

I give it a 7 because of its' ugliness with my solid state amp.

I own product from Boss, Ibanez, T.C. Electronics, VooDoo Lab, VHT, MXR, Vox, E.H., Boomerang & Tech 21. I also own a Fulltone Clyde wah. I think Fulltone pedal are the best-built pedals on the market.

Haven't dealt with them(him).

I play classic rock from the '60s to the 2000's. I have been using this pedal mainly for High Gain stuff like AC/DC, Van Halen, Steppenwolf, etc. As I become more familier with the way it responds I am backing it off and using it for stuff like Black Crows, Santana, even Tom Petty. I agree with a lot of the Rob L. review. There times I feel right in the pocket with this pedal, and times I cringe at the sound when I step on it. I still use a TS9 along side it on a low overdrive setting. To me the DP1 sound great at bedroom volumn, but can get out of control at gig Volumn. If lost or Stolen I would probably get a fulldrive 2 to instead. This pedal is very musical sounds fantastic if you prefer a higher gain to a more subtle overdrive. I don't. I guess that is my biggest problem with it. Although, the more I get it under control, the more I like it. Be prepared to spend time to get the most out of this pedal.

it's pretty hard to make this pedal sound bad. this is the 2003 model with the updates.

this is, bar none, THE best bloody dist/overdrive pedal i have EVER heard! my strat & lespaul/sg love this thing! i've been going back & forth between the "brown" & the "blues" settings (& variations thereof) in the manual. they're both great, though i think i'm leanin' towards the blues. i had a sneaky suspicion that the dp-1'd be great, but i didn't realize it'd be this bloody great!!! i am so-o-o stoked that i got it instead of bonzai's fireball 2!!! my sg does a spot on "crossroads!" and the strat sounds like MY bloody strat!! this thing does it all!!! and it feeds back wonderfully. it basically sounds like you've just plugged into an overdrive channel of the best sounding amp on the planet. it's very fluid & articulate at the same time. not only doesn't it glom your guitar's sound, it allows your instrument's textures to be heard, as if you were playing through a clean channel with no distortion. even with the distortion turned full up! all the parameters do useful & usable things; but the "saturation" knob is the key to this pedal's versatility. it ranges from compressed, saggy & fluid legato, to strident, uncompressed definition, or staccato, if you will (great for blues!).

just got it.

i've heard it's good. he responds to questions.

this one's a necessity. i'd have to replace it! a 2 channel version would be perfect. i can't say enough about the dp-1. you usually have to compensate for something or other with a distortion pedal to make it work. not with this one! all the components for a great sound are there, waitng to be dialed in for a particular guitar.it even has a big fat bass WITH definition, if you need it. mike fuller is without a douby, the distortion/overdrive/fuzz/gain king!!!

Once I adjusted the internal trimmers it was much easier to dial in a decent sound out of this pedal. The manual gives some examples of settings but I never go by these because not everyone is using the same guitar or amps, etc. so as for a guideline I guess the sample setting are ok. The manual itself is pretty straightforward and easy to understand.

I am using humbucker guitars (Les Paul Standard w/Burstbucker V's and a B.C. Rich Mockingbird with Bill Lawerence PUP's). I used it with my Tech 21 Trademark 60 set on the clean channel. Since im using humbuckers, I did adjust both internal trimmers, cut by 1/8 of a turn. Made a huge difference in clarity. After those adjustements, no matter which way I adjust the rest of the knobs, I got a good sound. Some better than others, but never a lousy sound. I got a great thick lead tone remminisent of Clapton in is live Wheels of Fire days. I also used the Distortion Pro through my 100 watt Marshall super lead with a modded master volume installed and I dialed in a great Gary Moore tone ala Still Got The Blues!! The only other pedal I use with this is my Boss Chorus and my Tech 21 Killer Wail wah wah. The best part of this pedal besides the great tone is the fact that there is no noise comming from it,,no hiss no hum, unbelievable for a "distortion" pedal. Thats another thing,,I wouldnt even call this a distortion pedal. I mean, you can get a distorted tone if you crank up the distortion knob and the saturation knob. I like to think of this pedal as a Class A preamp/overdrive pedal.

So far so good...Ive only had it a month and not a problem with it at all. Used it for gigs and I am not worried about this pedal crapping out on me,,just feels like its built solid. Im giving it a 10 rating, I have that much faith in it, and I figure if anything was to go wrong it would have went wrong already.

Never had to deal with them so....

I play rock from the 60's to the 80's and this pedal can cover it all. Ive been playing for 30 years and had my share of distortion/overdrive pedals, and each one was good in their own right. The closest I can say this pedal comes to is the Boss OD 1? (yellow pedal). The Fulltone has better definition to it and clarity in my opinion. I love everything about this pedal, like I said, once I got the Trimmers adjusted. I originally set out to buy a Radial Tonebone, but they arent available in my area yet, so I tried this pedal and figured I would give it a shot. When the Tonebone does come around I will be checking that one out and then decide which to keep. (Ive heard great things about the Tonebone also). All in all, I have read alot of reviews here saying it sounds too fuzzy, cant get the sound I want, etc. I say spend some time with it, thats half the fun of a pedal to create new sounds and finding your own sound. Your paying for a quality pedal, treat it like one. If you want to settle for something that you can just plug in and go with..all I can say is you get what you pay for.

Well as soon as i got this thing outta the box it was easy to get a great tone. The manual gives nice settings. The brown sound is exceptionally good, i adjusted it a lil bit for more mids and less bass, but it was easy. The pedal was a lot easier to tweak than some made it out to be. Volume, distortion, bass, mids, highs, and saturation. Plus two pots, but i didnt touch those.

*DISCLAIMER* THIS PEDAL WAS NOT MADE TO SOUND LIKE METALLICA, PANTERA, AND THE LIKE. DO NOT LET THE NAME OF THE PEDAL CONFUSE YOU.

I use this with my Gibson Les Paul, a boss tremolo pedal, vox wah, and marshall jcm2000 DSL. I got it cos i actually sold my peavey delta blues and plan on getting a fender blues junior. For the fender i wanted a pedal that'd give me a nice blues tone. Something smooth, creamy, and maybe even fuzzy.

Well, when i put my amp up for sale at the local shop i saw this pedal on sale, used. Only $150 opposed to the $219 price for it new. I planned on getting the 69 pedal but i thought i'd try this out. I actually didnt even bother and i just bought it though. I came home with it, plugged it in, dialed in the brown sound and was blown away. I went through many pedals including: Boss metal zone, Boss blues driver, MXR distortion +, Boss DS1, Ibanez smashbox, Big Muff USA, Big Muff russia, POD, Zoom 505II, Ibanez DS7 (i think that was the name) and i think a few others and after all of them i was FED UP with pedals. I thought they sounded like crap. But this was is FANTASTIC. I think as soon as i get my fender, the marshall will take a well earned break.

The tone in this pedal is superb. It has a lot of low end, which people complain about, but a lot of pedals lack. I just turn the bass down on the pedal =) The tone is SO smooth, and so creamy. Its like the Big muff... but good! You can get a variety of tones. Its great for blues. YOu can get a subtle drive goin on that still has its fair share of sustain. This pedal is amazing.

I dont plan on it breaking but i notice that the knobs don't look all that sturdy. The previous owner took a little chip out of the voicing (highs) knob. But it's ok. I dont think it'll break but i'm pretty sure it wont take the punishment a boss pedal would though.

Never dealt with them so far. But from what i hear they're good. I trust them right now. I wont rate it though, seeing as though i've never had to contact them. As of yet at least.

I play mostly brit rock (oasis), newer more experimental rock (interpol, black rebel motorcycle club), but my passion is still definitely the blues and funk. I'm also currently trying to learn jazz and get good at it. For $150 this pedal gets a for overall rating. For $219 i give it a 9. I mean, it has SUPERB tone and is absolutely wonderful, but i dont really believe in paying $219 for any pedal... If it were stolen though, i think i'd have to buy a new one cos its so great =) If you like the blues, or the Clapton sound when he was in cream, get this. If you dont, you should at least try it. It just might have the tone you've been looking for.

No two ways around it - this is a deep pedal with lots of variables in regards to tone. Six knobs, the two most obvious being Volume and Distortion, and four mini knobs that alter the entire character of the pedal's sound. I've gigged this pedal quite a bit and have had moments of total bliss as well as moments of panic. In a word: Versatile.

I mostly play my PRS McCarty into Clyde Deluxe>FullDrive II>D Pro>block logo Phase 90>Line 6 DM-4 and out into my Hot-Rod Deville. I can get all kinds of killer old-school rock tones, trippy clean sounds and nice bluesy bark with this set-up. I consider the D-Pro to be somewhat of a loose cannon within my set-up. The first six months spent with it were very inconsistent. I was gigging it a lot in an improv setting so finding the appropriate time to use it was taxing in and of itself. I always had the volume knob set very low because of what I perceived at the time to be the pedal's enormous output level. Recently, I've allowed myself more tweak-time with the pedal and have come up with a few solutions for the out-of-hand output level. Simply by rolling off the Voicing knob quite a bit, I was able to achieve a much smoother, more predictable sound. The drawback to this is that I lost some definition because the Voicing knob is basically a highly reactive midrange/distortion control and by cutting out my mids, I lost some of my ability to cut through the band. All of this goes to say that yes, this is one bad mamma-jamma, but it takes a bit of time before all the controls start to make sense. I've finally reached the point with this pedal that I can reach for the exact knob I need when I'm playing and I need to make a change.
By itself, it's not a very noisy box, compared to a lot of other distortions I've used. With the Fulldrive boosted and feeding it, and the wah-wah on, let's just say the band better be really cooking or else you'll hear that lovely windstorm whitenoise loud and clear.
The bottom line here is that this is one of the best, and most confounding distortion pedals out there. I've had moments where I honestly felt like my Hot-Rod Deville transformed into a cranked 100 watt Plexi. That cool crispy, sparkly, creamy, dynamic high-end was there in spades. I've also had moments where I've regretted turning the thing on. It's almost as if this thing has got a personality of its own. That's why I keep my faith in this pedal. With patience and insight, it's unbelievable. If you expect to unpack it and sound amazing right away....I suppose it's possible, that's just not how it worked out for me.

Hasn't let me down in fifty or more gigs. Fulltone stuff is rock-solid inside and out. Very worthy of pedal board space.

Never had to contact Fulltone before. No opinion here.

For my rock band, this thing is really great. Classic sounds, not overly processed, highly dynamic (I forgot to mention above that the guitar's volume knob can be used to REALLY clean this guy up) and cool to look down at when you're rocking out.
I really love how I can turn it on at the beginning of a jam with my guitar volume set very low, play rhythm and cut through just fine, then when the time is right, dime the guitar and it's all there - feedback, sustain, crunch, grind - attitude. Really very satisfying. It can be a harsh mistress, but the time spent with this one is well worth it. I really like the way the Saturation knob adds sag and compression - very cool for a modern lead sound, the Resonance knob really kicks some oomph into my open-back combo, and the Highs can be made to scream and react in a very organic way to my playing. Just writing this has given me even more insight into why I got this pedal in the first place - it's versatile, unique and future-proof. Great tone will never go out of style.

Yes, contrary to so many of those with massive ADD who haven't the patience so turn a few nobs, this pedal is super fine and rather easy to dial in not one, but many great sounds. I am clueless why anyone thinks this is hard to use. Learning to play a guitar, now thats hard. But turning a nob here and another one there, that's the fun of owning a great pedal. Experimenting with with it's capabilities. WIth this pedal, the possibilities are endless.

My rig includes the following:
64 Strat or 76 Les Paul BB > Menatone Red Snapper > Ibanez TS-9 > Distortion Pro > Keely Moded Blues Driver > DOD Flashback Fuzz > Boss OC2 >Qtron+ > MXR Script Logo Dyna Comp > Boss DD3 Delay > SweetSound Mojo Vibe > Ibanez FL 301 DX Flanger > Digitech WH-1 > Fulltone Fat Tone > BOss GE-7 > Ernie Ball Volume Pedal > Tone man moded Vox AC -15.

I'm not going to get all technical here or break this sound down molecule by molecule. There are plenty of gearheads who have done a great job here below. Simply, for my Strat, I keep the pickup in the lead position and dial in the VOlumne at 2-3:00 Distorition on 12:00
REsonance at 11:00 VOicing at 1:00 Highs at 2:00 Saturation on 12:00 and I get busy playing. As for trying to cop the sound of other artists . . . guys, come one nothing can do that for you. Their sound is mostly in their fingers and then , when you factor in their chain, their guitar, their amp and then the recording equipment itself, you will drive yourself crazy if you expect this little red box will make you sound like Frampton or Eric Johnson. Instead, try doing what they do, sound like yourself.

Box look damn dependable. Built very sturdy. I will sit in my pedalboard and I will step on it once in a while. I would imagine it can take that abuse forever.

Here's what I can vouch for. Mike Fuller will answer your email in a timely fashion and deal with you with utmost respect provided you have human expectations from him. Those of you who expect him to be your best friend or shower you with the love and attention you didn't get as a child will of course be disapointed. So get over it. All Mikes love apprantly goes into his pedals where they belong is my guess. In any event, he answered every single one of my emails with the same if not slightly more respect than I showed him. So if you ask me, I say he's a class act all the way

I play rock. 60's seventies, 80's and 90's. I sometimes play music from the last five years but that's when I forget all the theory I've ever learned and trash all the tone I've spent a lifetime perfecting and just thrash out 3 chords over and over again. This generalization of course exclude certain various artists like Beck, Marilyn Manson, U2, some great Rap artists and few select others. But the rest of the crap out there - it's like no one has studied the masters.