Fulltone Distortion Pro

Very easy to tweak the knobs, but there is no great sounds usable so im giving it a 2.

We tested this on a 6100 4x12 Marshall and this is the worst pedal that we've heard. Guitar used was an ibanez PGM301 loaded w/ paf pros.

All the worst tones in a pedal in a small package!
- fizzy & cheap sounding.
- fake/sterile sounding
- too many knobs and no good sounds
- did I mention fake sounding?

Looks durable but the sound ain't usable.

Fulltone is the ICON of 'no aftersales support' so i'm giving them:

1

I have a fulltone OCD and it's good, but this.. this pedal is the worst ever!

Even if it sold at a price of $10, I still wouldn't buy it.

Very easy. EQ responsive with saturation being X factor in tweaking sound.

My setup is a 79 Strat, MIJ 93 50's re-issue tele & a ESP Eclipse customized with passive PAF humbuckers through a Fender Vibrolux & Fender Pro Jr Amps. I also use a Mesa Pre-amp pedal, a Vox Wah, a Xotic BB Preamp, MXR Carbon Copy, MXR Stereo Chorus & Boss Compressor in my chain. The Distortion Pro is what it is. You are not going to get great blues and clean tones out of this but usable clean tones can be dialed in. It is a Vintage Marshall like tone for musicians using clean tube tones who desire an occasional Marshall tone without buying another amp. Like any pedal it's tone varies on "your mood" when you engage it. Somedays it sounds great & other days it just sounds OK. Overall, sounds very good for what it does. Classic marshall like rock tones.

Built like a truck. My mid knob broke in half but I don't care because it doesn't effect it's usability.

Never used them.

Kind of a one trick pony but very useful as a tool for higher gain marshall like sounds.

easy plug and play, but tons of options if you want them. the settings in the manual are a great starting place, i actually really liked this pedal. great drive unit.

I was running this into a Framus Ruby Riot and a fender deluxe. sounded great. Fulltone does the overdrive distortion thing really well. clear and punchy. you have to be careful with teh eq or you can kill the sweet spots, but at the same time they overlap slightly to let you get exactly what you're looking for if you spend time with it. hard to change things up because some knobs were really small and hard to turn or see where they were live, but great if you are looking for one sound to stay solid all night long.

fulltone quality. this thing was packed too, weighed like 3 pounds and is a small unit.

I was pleasantly surprised by this unit. if i didn't send it to my buddy in europe to try (and they didn't discontinue the pedal) i would still have it. this is one that i wish i still had.

It may be more difficult for some, but I did my homework so it took about 5 minutes for me to dial in the tone that I have read so much about with this pedal. Just put your amp on clean channel, then turn the volume at about half way, distortion turn it down, and the little knobs put them at 12, and tweak from there it won't take long.

I have a Fender 65 Super Reverb Reissue with a G&L Legacy
I started to give it a 9, but honestly it is a 10. I can't believe how much Marshall like tone, and drive this pedal gives my Fender amp. I considered buying a second amp , but now I don't have to, and I saved 1900 bux in the process. If you want to know how it sounds got to www.myspace.com/postblunt and listen to the solo's on Hell's Doorman

I wouldn't worry about it from everything I know about Fulltone now it's not an issue.
No fear of not having a backup.

Never dealt with them, but I hear they're not difficult.

I play, Metal, Punk, Alternative, and this does them all.
I've been playing for 12 years, and this is the best pedal I've owned,
I would replace it in the blink of an eye if it were misplaced.
I love that it makes my Fender sound like a Marshall.
I'm not crazy about red, but thats the only thing i'm not completely smitten with about this pedal.

What a nice pedal! Great looking too in that candy apple red!
Great versatility all the way from a nice clean boost to real
nice distortion capabilities. You can really sculpt your tones
with the 4 little knobs under the level and distortion knobs.
You've got "resonance" (bass frequencies) "voice" (mids and more)
"highs" (self explanatory) and "saturation" (really varies the pick attack and sponginess).
Very interactive controls with a lot of sweet spots.
It cleans up REAL WELL when you lower your guitar's volume pot too!
It's one of the more transparent distortions I've heard. You really
hear your strings and guitar tone through it.

There is no discernable noise or hiss that I can hear.
I use it through a RI 59 Bassman LTD. and it works great with it.
Works great for a wide variety of music styles.

It's a Fulltone so yeah, I can depend on it. Mike Fuller is one
of the better boutique builders out there! I haven't used it long
but I expect no problems.

I liked it's sound when I tried it out before buying it. So I suppose it's really easy to get a good sound out of it. With that said, there are a few more knobs than on many other distortion pedals, and they're all quite sensitive to slight adjustments. This allows for a lot or fine tuning--sculpting your sound. It's necessary to adjust gain and output settings depending on how hot you're running your amp. It's also necessary to adjust gain and output settings when switching between single coils and humbuckers. Adjustments to EQ significantly effect output and gain too. So it's not the easiest distortion pedal. I haven't found a bad sound though, not that I've been looking for one.

I found the sample settings provided in the manual to be very useful starting points for experimentation.

What setup (i.e. what guitars and amps) are you using this with?:

I alternate between a Les Paul Studio model and a Squire Strat. I use two Fender Blues Junior amps run in stereo with various other analog effects in front of the amps.

Is it noisy? On what settings?:
Higher gain settings are of course, noisy, especially with single coils. It is a distortion pedal with a lot of gain.

Are the effects weak or do they always sound great?:
The Distortion Pro is not weak. It can boost your signal enormously. I think it always sounds great. I think it sounds fantastic.

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?:
My favorite artists are legion, but they include Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Santana etc. I also love a host of old blues greats (all of 'em). Really dig the Stones. Anyhoo, this pedal covers all of that territory capably.

With the distortion knob set to full CCW (absolute minimum)it can be used as a clean boost with a VERY responsive EQ. Moderate to low distortion (9:00 to 11:00) sounds great for Blues and Bluesy rock. 12:00 and above is seriously crunchy distortion for hard rock. When I say hard rock I'm thinking Hendrix, Led Zeppelin or AC/DC. Black Sabbath at most. The Distortion Pro isn't a pedal for modern high-gain sounds.

To utilize the full potential of this pedal in any setting one must place it in front of a tube amp with the power amp section cooking. I play mine through one or two 15 watt tube amps (Blues Juniors) with their master volumes (power amp section) cranked and volume (pre-amp section) set low (2-5, depending on how loud or quiet I need my basic tone to be). This provides a slightly overdriven sound than can become sparkling clean by rolling back the volume knob on my guitar. Engaging the Distortion Pro gives me my distortion sound (unless I'm using Fuzz) and to me it's beautiful. It makes my 15 watt Fender amps sound like a pair of cranked Marshalls. I believe this is exactly what it was designed to do and it does it superbly.

The Distortion Pro cleans up beautifully when I roll back the volume knob on my guitar. I set the Distortion Pro up for a crunchy distortion sound (from 9:00 to 12:00 depending on whether I'm using a strat or a gibson) with the guitar volume full up. Rolling back the guitar volume to around 7 gives me a nice overdrive sound. Below 5 is a boosted clean sound. A very versitile, great sounding pedal.

I believe I'm getting the results I'm getting at reasonable volumes because I'm using low wattage amps (they can be run hot and not be too god awful loud). Playing the Distortion Pro thru an amp that wasn't overdriven, or a non-tube amp (yuck!) wouldn't sound so good.

I've owned a total of 3 Fulltone pedals, and they are all extremely well built. They could very well outlast me.

I've no experience whatsoever with Fulltone customer support. This speaks to the reliability of their products I think.

I'm a blues/rock/funk/psychedelic player. I like jam/improv based music as well as just playing The Blues. I've been playing for 23 years and have owned an assortment of guitars amps and pedals. My current set up:

Les Paul or Strat into:

Ernie Ball Volume Pedal with tuner out > Snarling Dogs Super-Bawl Whine-O-Wah > Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper > Fulltone Ultimate Octave > Fulltone Distortion Pro > Fulltone Fat Boost 2 > MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay > 2 Fender Blues Junior amps.

My pedal board routing module allows me to have my MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay (awesome pedal at a great price!) going to just one of the amps. I must say, my setup sounds so bitchin' I can hardly stand it. The Distortion Pro is an integral part and I use it a lot. The Ultimate Octave is a Fuzz pedal with an optional octave up (the Purple Haze guitar solo sound). The Distortion Pro covers all of my non-Fuzz distortion needs (blues and non-psychedelic rock).

I managed to pick it up for $100 used so to me the value for money ratio is very, very good. The list price new ($199.99) is high, but this is a top-quality pedal.

I tried out the GT-500, which is basically this pedal + a Fat Boost 2 in one pedal with the option to choose boost > distortion or distortion > boost. The GT-500 doesn't have the Saturation (compression) control and has a different midrange control (it's actually a wah pot). The distortion side of the GT-500 and the Distortion Pro sounded very similar. I actually liked the GT-500 slightly better, because of the midrange control--and I don't use much of the compression available in the Distortion Pro. However, since I already had the Fat Boost 2 and the Distortion Pro was available used at half the original price, I went with it instead of the GT-500. I have no regrets.

Very easy to use. No problem finding a great tone, well under certain circumstances that is, which you can read below.

If you try it at home at bedroom/livingroom volume levels: it sucks!
But as we don't gig or rehearse there, it's no problem to me. This pedal comes to life at rehearsal/gig volume! I tried it at home through a small 15Watt solid state amp and it sounded like a broke DS-1. But I read the reviews about it sounding this way under these circumstances. So I took it with me to the rehearsals of my band and.....it kicked some serious butt! I even didn't touch the knobs and used it as I set it at home. It sounded somewhere between my Sonic Distorion and my TS-9. I was really impressed. My set-up: Ibanez Les Paul '78 and a Guyatone 100 Watt full tube bassman clone with only a clean channel through two 12" celestions. It also sounded great along with my (3) other dist/drive pedals I use. I'm a happy man!

I have no idea, but it looks sturdy

no opinion

I play all sorts of music, from pop to rock to metal. I play over 20 years now. I do not consider this to be a stand alone metal pedal, but with an overdrive I'm pretty sure it does that job as well.
I was a bit sceptical at first, reading all these good and bad pedal reviews, but I'm happy I bought it anyway. This is the first drive/distortion pedal that made me go WOW! People that do not like it either only play at home, have no good amp/guitar to play, or need to get a doctor checking out their ears..

Tone shaping knobs can be misleading - READ THE MANUAL.

Basically, resonance=bass, voicing=mids and highs=treble. However, they don't necessarily react as you would expect from a traditional EQ.

Start with your voicing and highs at 12:00, and your resonance at 8:00. Volume half way, distortion at 0. Start adding the resonance until your amp sounds full. Then, flavor with "Saturation" to taste. Otherwise your tone can easily turn muddy or fuzzy.

Play this pedal loud! It works best with a driven tube amp - don't even try with your Fender Frontman in your bedroom.

Fender strat --> Distortion Pro --> '65 Fender Twin Reverb Reissue

If your amp is bright, and you want a chunky rhythm tone, turn the distortion level to 0 and volume halfway. Back off on Saturation. Great chunky tone with both humbuckers or single coil. Otherwise, your low end will sound muddy or will get a fuzzy distortion sound that you read about below.

For lead, increase distortion and saturation for sustain and grittiness. Ripping lead tones cut through the mix.

I struggled with my tone for a few weeks because I just plugged it in, turned everything to 12:00 and tried playing. My low end was muddy and the high end was fuzzy. But give it some time, and you'll find your sweet spots.

Don't see any problems.

Not needed yet.

Great in front of a clean, high-end tube amp, just like it says on the website. Why the heck are you people playing a $200 pedal in front of your Crate of Peavey? Of course it sounds like crap.

Great match for a wide variety of rock, even some metal (not thrash or death metal - you don't need a pedal this nice to play that stuff - go buy a Metalzone).

This pedal does take a while to get used to. You have to spend some time with it, and you have to use it live to hear what it is truly capable of. I found the manual helpful, I used it as a starting point and then went from there. If you have little patience and like simple devices, you may want to look elsewhere. However, if you are willing to spend the time it has some very rewarding sounds available.

First of all, I agree with what the previous reviewer (Chris) has stated about this device. This pedal has gotten a lot of unfair negative reviews. I think many people were expecting a modern high gain distortion. This pedal gives you a vintage sixties slightly fuzzed-out Plexi tone.

I am using it primarily through a 73 Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean, which has the original Dynasonic single coil pickups in it (similar in tone to P-90's). I play blues and fusion style music, and use the DP for my lead tones. I did use the DP briefly with my Les Paul Standard, and the pedal was much fuzzier and more difficult to set up. I do think the pedal in its factory form is better suited to single coils or very low output humbuckers. If you have higher output pickups you should lower the gain using the internal trim pot.

That said, this pedal is a PERFECT match for the Gretsch, and gives me thick, fluid fusion style lead tones with the neck pickup, and nice powerful crunch tones from the bridge pickup. The pedal does not mask the tone of my guitar, it still sounds like a Gretsch, its just more aggressive. This pedal is also very quiet, and even at high gain settings does not produce excessive feedback with my hollow guitar.

I use this pedal through a Mesa Boogie Studio Caliber DC-2 Combo, a Mesa Boogie Mark 1 Reissue Head, and a vintage 1973 Fender Deluxe Reverb amp. The pedal sounds fantastic through all amps. I use a Fulltone Anniversary Mosfet Fulldrive for lower gain sounds, and a Fulltone OCD for higher gain rythm sounds. I primarily use the DP for solo and lead work. All pedals compliment each other very well, and I would recommend this type of three pedal setup to anyone looking for the best in vintage sounds, from low gain to vintage high gain.

My primary influences are Carlos Santana, Al DiMeola, Jimmy Page, and Gary Moore. The DP really adds a fatness to the notes that I have not gotten with other devices. Great pedal for classic rock, blues, and fusion style tones. I will say I have been using this pedal for several months now, so my review is not based on the "honeymoon period", but real experience both live and at home.

I have been using this at home, and live once a week for several months now, and have had no issues. Fulltone pedals are built for professionals, and are made to last. I expect no problems.

This is not a pedal that will get you metal sounds, or ultra high gain sounds. This is vintage high gain distortion, like a Marshall Plexi, not a Marshall JCM 2000 or similar modern amp. You must tweak the pedal and spend some time with it, and dont give up on it until you have used it LIVE. It took me some time to find my settings, but now I dont mess with it, I just play.

I have been playing for 12 years now. I picked up the guitar at age 19 and was fortunate to have some amazing instructors. I used to focus on distortion, now I focus on getting each note to be as fat as it can be. I try to use just enough distortion to add fatness and sustain. If you follow this philosophy, which is fatness over distortion, you should check out the DP and other Fulltone pedals. One note, this pedal has been discontinued, so if you want a new one grab them while they are still available.

This is a fairly easy pedal to use. Everything is laid out in front of you. Plug this pedal in between different guitars and amps and find your sounds. You don't really need a manual, just your ear. Start tweaking until you find the sounds that work for the guitar and amp you are using because different pickups, guitars, and amps will each respond uniquely to this pedal. Think of it as an artist's palate. Fuller gives you 6 controls on the pedal to shape your tone not to mention the controls on your amp and guitar. This isn't a plug n' play one-sound-fits-all pedal. It's an awesome tone tool. If you can't find several excellent tones using any combination of guitars and amps you have, give up playing music and go play a radio because you don't have the ear to create good sounds.

This is where this pedal shines. It is quality tone all the way through. Whether you are using single coils or humbuckers, all tube or solid state amps, you can find plenty of awesome tones in this pedal. Every pickup, guitar, and amp responds differently and requires it's own tweaking to get the tones you need. This pedal lets a Strat still sound like a Strat and a Les Paul still sound like a Les Paul.

I use it frequently and gig with it regularly. Never had a problem. Quality components. Especially, the switch. I've never had a Fulltone switch crap out on me.

Very helpful. E=mailed for a manual for the DP-1 and got a .pdf of one, in just a few hours. Works for me.

I don't give many 10s because in my mind, there are only a few outstanding pedals. This is one of them. I've played guitar and gigged for over 30 years. Owned and played the original Big Muff, original Tube Screamer, Ratt, as well as countless other boutique distortion pedals. The Fulltone DP1 is one of the best pedals out there and is the only distortion pedal on my pedal board. (I have an overdrive (Rodenberg Gas) and a Menatone Red Snapper boost pedal on my board too, in addtion to my tube amp's crunch and lead tones.) Like I said above. This pedal is a tool that gives you 6 controls to shape your sound. If you can't get a good sound out of this pedal, it's not the pedal's fault. Rock on.

An inexperienced effect user or player may have a little trouble. Not instant gratification. One needs work with it in order to find all the great sounds.

I get a chuckle when I read the reviews on this pedal. Some talk about how the mass-produced Distortion pedals can be unnatural and lacking in good sound, and now that some one has produced a boutique Distortion pedal that delivers, people wonder why its not like a DS-1.
I think this is because there are a whole lot of use 30 somethings and younger that were weened on high gain distortion from solid state devices. Its one thing if you dont like the tone, but to say that its not what Fuller says it is, is just not true and clearly from the ill-informed. I think many of us just dont understand or havent heard what high volume tube distortion sounds like. I learned this myself trying to cop the George Lynch sound. I finally figured it out when I plugged my tube head, clean boosted, into a Greenback cab. There was the sound. A loud Marshall, clean boosted and into the greenbacks. Thats kinda what this pedal sounds like. I real thick, old Marshall, higher on the rock distortion side, than on the overdive side. If you want a bit more gain, or an edgier bass side, just run a TS into it. Also one thing to remember, its more important how you sound in the mix than in your bedroom! Thats where this baby delivers!

Very reliable....would not worry!

Mike Fuller is a great guy, answered my emails in minutes. But he is busy and he make top of the line stuff, so he going to expect educated questions

If you want a distortion sound that gives you an old Marshall sound, only a little heavier then this is your pedal. It also great because you can boost it with a tube screamer to get a more modern sound, i.e. tighter, edgier bottom, that still has a lot of the vintage Marshall qualities. But before you buy, make sure you understand that its a Marshall sound, its not going to be like a newer high gain amp, that has that pre-amp distortion sound, it sounds like power amp distortion. I personally love it, cause I can get all the classic 80's metal like George Lynch, Warren DeMartini...I can get sort of a late 60's hard rock sound, 70's.....and with my Maxon TS and Fulldrive i can get a a slightly different take on modern heavy sounds.

I felt compelled to write about this pedal. I bought it on a whim, like some other writers, and was hugely disappointed at first...yes it can be a fuzz pedal...but...tinker with it a little...don't just write it off! I was just about to bring it back to where ever, then I found a good setting. Turn the "highs" knob all the way down then crank the other little knobs and find a level of gain you like. Mine fuzzed and hissed until I turned the highs down.....lots of potential features though

Once the highs was turned down I get this great woman tone kind of sound...thick & robust with enough juice to use often enough to keep. With my strat it doesn't sound like a les paul but definitely gives it a more humbuck like tone...with emphasis on the lows and mids. Ive come to like it alot.

I can't imagine this ever having problems.

n/a

My board is: e-ball mono volume>buddwah>homebrew germania>barber burn unit>OCD>Distortion pro>Keeley fuzz head>(all through a true bypass box) out through a barber launch pad...using a strat, les paul & first act sheena into a matchless clubman 35 and fargen blackbird. I keep the darker tone pedals toward the back and cascade them with the higher toned...all in all I have alot of different tones at my feet and the d-pro is a valid portion that makes awesome creamy tones that are functional in my pop rock band. Don't write it off so fast...give it a chance.

It's impossible to get a good sound out of it - until you discover the secret (duh!). It only sounds good when driving a tube amp that's already clipping. All of the criticisms you'll read here about it being a fuzz box are true until you get your amp good and hot (loud).

It takes a lot of tweaking even when you've found the secret. Don't be afraid to turn the mini-pots on the front through their full sweep. There are interesting sounds everywhere.

Also, the box is super sensitive to the amp: try plugging into a Deluxe Reverb's reverb channel in the higher gain input. Ouch. Then try plugging it into the non-reverb channel: much smoother.

When driving a tube amp with its power output stage saturated the Distortion Pro has that Marshall snarl without sounding fuzzy. The pedal responds really well to changing pick dynamics and attack, with the amp smoothing out the spikey-ness(?) of the pedal's inherent sound.

Fulltone's site suggests that the DP will get you to the sound of Eric Johnson or Allan Holdsworth: a lead tone that is pretty smooth. The Saturation control does a great job of smoothing out the dynamics but I would say the DP is not the most direct route to the Holdsworth/Johnson tones. If you stack your Tubescreamer in front of the DP with the DP set to a low distortion level things start to get interesting yield that smooth, sustaining tone the fusion players love.

Lastly, this is a gigging pedal, not a bedroom jamming pedal. It's voiced to cut through a rock band and will sound like crap until you play it loud.

Fulltone has a well deserved reputation for building road worthy gear, with the exception of mini-pots on the Distortion Pro. The first run seemed to be made of Play Doh and deteriorated rapidly. This is fixed on new versions.

I would gig without a backup as it's unlikely to fail and I carry a TS-808 clone that would cover the territory if it did fail (not to say that a Tube Screamer sounds anything like the Distortion Pro).

I play baby boomer music (blues, rock, jazz, fusion) on a Godin xtSA (high output strat sound), Godin Montreal (335 sound), and a Les Paul (like a Godin LGX ;-). I only use a Deluxe Reverb as I haven't found a clean tone to compare after several other Fenders, Boogies, Marshalls, Traynors ... you get the picture.

I've been playing thirty years as a performing amateur (I get paid now and then but not enough to feed the dog).

I would buy the pedal again, although I would try the GT-500 from Fulltone before buying as I use the DP with a Tubescreamer a lot ( the basic architecture of the GT-500 is overdrive into distortion).

There are 6 knobs - not including the internal trimmers. You can be at this thing for days tweaking. That being said, this is not a "set and forget" pedal. Long ago, when the ADA Mp-1 was the rage everyone was saying how great it was to be able to fine tune the distortion to each and every room you played in. But that was a pain to do with the MP-1 but that benefit is derived in this pedal. You can easily adjust the overall tone from the pedal. I have to admit it does take some time with this pedal. This isnt really a pedal for amatuers.

I use this pedal with either a H&K Puretone head or a Hiwatt DR504 with a 4x12 Celestion cab. I also use on my board a Keeley Compressor, a Boss GE-7 e.q. a Fulltone OCD and a Keeley Modded Ad-9.
This pedal has the plexi Marshall thing cold. Simply put, that's what it does. The website does not lie. If you have a good tube amp with responsive tone controls than this thing will give you the great Marshall tone of yesteryear. Think AC/DC, Sex Pistols, some VH ( early ),Slash even some Allman Bros . I think this pedal gets a real bum rap on this site. It is a great pedal for what it does and that is it "Marshallizes" a loud , good tube amp. I think this part of the problem, most people dont know the open powerful sound of a good Ol' Marshall. It isnt a modern sound so fans of modern sounds probably are many of the disappointed. You can get Overdrive sounds and semi-Fuzz tones. This is not a holy grail do-it all distortion, but a good player with good equipment will tell you that this is a great pedal.

Built like a tank - No problem here.

I have 2 Fulltone pedals - I have had them both for a couple of years. I have had no problem with them so no reason for customer support. I know well enough to realize that Mike Fuller has plenty of friends & I am a customer.

I have been playing hard rock for 28 years. I went into a high end music store in NYC and asked " I got a great amp, what is the best distortion pedal to give me that classic Marshall plexi sound ? " I was sold this pedal and I can't complain. It is a great pedal for slide playing because of all the voicings that the controls provide. I have tried this pedal through a 6l6 amp and it seems more geared toward EL-34 type amps. So to recap - it does one thing ( plexi Marshall sound ) really well. It needs to be used with a good tube amp with responsive tone controls, and it needs to be played loud.
If stolen - I would get another one w/o question. Keep in mind it is a well made if not the best made Distortion pedal availiable.

The pedal has two normal sized knobs for Volume and Distortion, and four tiny knobs marked by Resonance, Voicing, Highs, and Saturation. It should be simple to use, but it turned out that whatever effort I put into tweaking, the sound was really sub-standard. I can only conclude that it was not easy to use.

I bought the pedal after it received the Editor's Pick in Guitar Player a few years ago. That taught me a lesson about the reliability of so called "bench tests" in magazines: don't believe what you read!

The sound produced by this pedal was really, really bad. I tested it on a large number of high quality tube amps of various sorts, and on hybrid amps, and on transistor amps. The pedal consistently produced a sound of unacceptably poor quality. In fact, even the absolutely best tube amps in my arsenal sounded like cheapo transistor amps when engaging the Distortion Pro pedal. That was really unexpected, regarding the raving review in Guitar Player. This makes one think: what are the factors warranting a good review written by one of the journalists in a magazine? And what implications does an Editor's Pick have for the sales of a product? I bought my Distortion Pro solely on the basis of the review, but that was a huge mistake. After this, I have become really, really skeptical to any conclusion drawn in the magazine reviews, as they seem not to be objective at all.

The four small knobs were flimsy and vulnerable. Otherwise, it looked sturdy.

Never dealt with the company.

I have been playing the electric guitar for 28 years. I play mostly rock based improvisational music, and I own a motherload of seriously good equipment. My experimental duo plays a few gigs a year (alternative festivals, and some club gigs), and I perform solo about a handful of times a year. I am extremely critical when it comes to sound, and it soon became clear that the Fulltone Distortion Pro was a total miss from a sonic point of view. Therefore, I sold it, and I was glad I got rid of that hunk of junk. Instead, I spent some time testing alternatives, and I ended up with the fabulous BJF Dyna Red Distortion as my main distortion pedal. For lower distortion level (actually, more in the overdrive domain) I use a Klon Centaur.

This pedal is pretty difficult to get a good sound out off, all of the knobs are labled, but that doesnt seem to make it any eaiser. The manual is legit, contains three sample settings and blank spaces on the back for you to fill in your own settings. I even adjusted the trim pots turning them clockwise (less gain, mids, what have you) and it didnt seem to improve clarity or anything.

My rig is pretty straight forward, 90s tele standard(little 59 bridge pu), planet waves stompbox tuner, voodoo labs sparkle drive, holy grail reverb, phase 90, and a micro amp. All of that runs into my peavey classic 50. I purchased the pedal because fuller said it would make my tele "compete" with humbucker equipped guitars. Well it does a lot less than that. It seems as soon as you turn the gain up it is too much. And along with it comes this high end fuzz whenever you play. Ive tried and tried and cannot get rid of it. If youve read any other reviews that say fullers crazy this is a fuzzbox, well there right.. IT IS A FUZZBOX. The other guitar player in my band uses a full drive 2 and it sounds pretty good but i dont think ill ever give my business to fulltone again. This pedal is a very large letdown. Come on fulltone...honestly.

This thing is built like a tank, We should send these to iraq.. I would use a digitech deathmetal distortion before i used this at a gig...

I didnt even bother trying to contact fulltone, ive heard way to many bad things. People, please take your business elswhere. Places like robert keeley, radial, zvex...anything!

Im still really young (17), and ive only been playing guitar for like 4 years, but living in nashville with a band that plays out you have to know, and have, good tone. People, this isnt good tone. I think im going to go back to gc, get a tonebone, and then go out to lunch.

FYI, one of the knobs in the back is an input gain knob. If you're using high output pickups, the key is to turn this trim pot down to clean up the input stage of the clipping. Otherwise, you got Fuzz-central.

All those here saying they get a Fuzz-tone need to lower the trim pot down and then start tweaking the knobs in the front to dial in the ideal distortion sound.

Will always sound vintage, because that is what the pedal is. Designed to have a "tube-like" personality. It is quite frankly ironic, because tubes usually = warmth which is something those pedals coming out with the preamp tubes in them do not have.

Stop complaining that it doesn't sound "modern." Go buy a modern distortion box for that. If you want an all-in-one distortion pedal good luck. Personally, the all-in-one approach is a lost cause. No two people want the same things in their overdrive and distortion. So to make an all-in-one is setting yourself up for disappointment.

But I digress, the distortion pro is very toneful: fat distortion like you've never heard in a Boss, Ibanez, or what have you. You can go from fatter overdrives that the Fulldrive (TS808) really can't touch to a saturated Marshall distortion.

Will not break unless you submerge with lighter fluid and torch.

Try it out before you let any of the reviewers here pre-judge what this pedal does and what it doesn't. We all know that you have folks that really know what their talking about and folks that don't know squat. Folks here that gig regularly with huge amps and folks here that play in front of a mirror with a tine 15-watter.

For both folks and all in between, you're going to get subjective reviews. No single piece of equipment is good for all. Try it out!

Tweakable yes, but not in the right ways. For instance: I want to dial out the mids, how the heck do you do that? None of the knobs really can be used to scoop out frequencies. I want to make the distortion tighter with more of a Proco Rat like attack. How do I do this? Fiddled with the "Highs" knob and the Distortion knob that is supposed to control the first clipping stage. No luck. Messed with the trim pots in the back while sending a looped signal into the pedal thru the amp. Tweakability is a very sad thing on this pedal. Boss pedals are tweakable like an EQ pedal. The Distortion Pro's infinite knobs do not.

If you like the sound out of the box, then no problem.

"Not a FUZZ!" was the description on the Fulltone website. Mike Fuller needs to call me because we need to have a little discussion on what a Fuzz is and what Distortion is. Proco Rat = Distortion. Metal Zone = Distortion. DS-1 Distortion. Distortion Pro = FUZZ!

You gotta be kidding me. This is a Marshall Plexi classic 60's Fuzz-Crunch in a box. It is thick and has gobs and gobs of gain layered on top of gain. Think about a Proco Rat gain set at 3 o'clock where it starts to Fuzz out. The tweakability is all centered around this tone. The only palm muting you get with this is by putting a wah pedal in front and rocking it all the way forward.

Your treble strings will sound huge. Very thick and with lots of fat gain. However, the unmistakeble nature of the Fuzz gets very fat crunchy and loose on the bass strings - think 60s Cream, "Woman" tone. When you play chords all that thick fat gain intersects producing that classic Fuzz crunch. Your chords more or less sound like Hendrix "Purple Haze." You can absolutely nail this tone with this pedal.

Very good pedal for Solos; not so good for rhythm work. This is 60s Marshall NOT Mesa Boogie. Vintage not Modern. Eric Johnson not System of a Down. Sorry dudes, anyone that says modern distortion has got no tone - you all need get out of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Music is progressive and evolving - learn to embrace it.

Like a tank in munchkinland.

It's not a bad pedal, but I'm giving it an 8 because the title and description don't fit the tone. I wish the knobs were straight forward like an EQ. But it is what it is and it does what Mike Fuller created it to do. You can definitely tell it's a quality tone that comes through. Anyone that says that you can get better distortion at a third the price is a moran. Let's face it, distortion pedals are cheap little gadgets to produce compared to this beast. Use it for what it is and get your $60 distortion boxes to play side-by-side.

It's a labor of love with this pedal. Read the manuel it will gey you started buy showing you some starting points and what the knobs do. From there I found it easy to get great sounds and every time I what something a little differant a tweak or 2 and another great tone is there. I believe this is a 2001 version.

I have gottin SRV, Santana, Hendrix, and several great tones
from thi pedal. I play a SRV strat with Van zandt pickups mostly
and have used it with a Reverend Roco with humbuckers. No Hiss at all. Every knob works and they enteract with each other so you can always get that little extra you want or don't want. I play though a black face super and use this pedal occasionally at the gig for distortion at lower volumes.

This is indestructable. I'ts been strong for 3 years now.

Haven't dealt with them and probly won't have to.

I can't believe I don't see people useing these or hear anything about them. IN the 30 years i've been playing This is the first dist. pedal i've kept over a year. I've had them all.

Very easy to use - More options than your standard OD/Distortion pedal. Manual is very useful and explains each function in detail.

This is my first Fulltone pedal. I took the shiny red pedal out of the box in amazement like Ralphie on Christmas Story with his new RR BB Gun. Like Ralphie I was Excited at first but left dissappointed - OK Enough you all know the story - The pedal is solid - I plugged it into the clean channel of a 100W Marshall JCM900 with 6L6 Sylvania Power Tubes and Mullard 12AX7 Preamp Tubes. I have a custom Mahogany Hamer with Dimarzio Fred Pups. The pedal is Quiet. Strong Volume and works great in bypass mode. I read the Manual and understand all the functions. I'M into Vai, Satriani, Rhoads and VH type tones - Couldn't even get close with this pedal. The word Distortion pedal really through me - more like Fuzz Distortion. The Gain in my opinion is not smooth - no matter what I did it made my humbuckers sound like single coils - very vintage tone - It's a great pedal but not for me - I'M into more modern tone - like a modded Boss SD-1 or Kelley TS9 Baked - Like I said the word Distortion through me + I figured with all the tone shaping knobs I could get my tone - couldn't get rid of that 60s "Spirit in the sky" or something like that tone - I checked the internal settings just to make sure they were factory set - they were not touched - I put the pedal back together and back in the box it went

The Pedal is Fulltone Quality and I'M sure it could survive livn' outside in a Florida Modbile Home Park next to a Gator Pool in the middle of Hurricane Season. I wouldn't use this in a gig unless it was 1969

I have never dealt with Fulltone - I'M sure their a Top Notch Company - It's made in USA and not Mass Produced - well maybe medium produced

Very Expensive - I can't even play it - I had to check the internal switches to make sure it was working properly - It' just not my type of tone - that doesn't mean it's a bad pedal - it just didn't work for me - The price should be lower and the name should be changed to Fuzz Drive 69 or something like that - I have a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 on the way - I hope that's better - I have been paying for 20 yrs. I own mostly Marshall amplifiers. If It were stolen I would be mad - only because I paid over $150.00 for this pedal - I would not buy it again - I'M mad because I bought it the 1st time. I love nothing about this pedal - I would love someone to buy it - my favorite feature would be to get my $$ back. I bought this pedal because it has the word Distortion in it + has a lot of tone shaping and it's a fulltone - I wish with all these knowbs you could make the tone Vintage or modern - It's just vintage - Fuzzy not smooth - very single coil sounding - not solid even on my low strings.

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.