Fulltone Distortion Pro

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.

Lots of choices. Two large knobs cover volume and distortion. Four tiny knobs cover resonance (lows), voicing (presence), highs, and saturation (compression). Despite all the knobs, it was pretty easy to get good sounds out of the unit. I haven't even touched the manual yet. I will say that the little knobs are tough to get a hold of. Some earlier reviews say they sometimes "disintegrate", so I'm being careful not to squeeze them or anything.

Fender American Strat with Dimarzio stacked humbuckers in neck and middle, Seymour Duncan JB Jr. in the bridge; Epiphone Elite Les Paul (stock); Warmoth Tele, ash body ebondy board with SD vintage single coils...all through a Peavey Delta Blues with 15" speaker and Fender Blues Jr. I run this pedal into the clean channel just on the verge of some power amp drive.
The Distortion Pro is very quiet, though it can put out a huge amount of gain. I've not taken the volume past 10 o'clock. The sound I like best so far is the Les Paul bridge with the distortion at 10 o'clock and the volume at 10 o'clock, mini knobs at about 1 o'clock but the saturation at 9 o'clock. With this setting, the humbucker gives me a nice classic rock lead and rhythm sound. It also cleans up pretty well. The Strat sounds ok with it, but the humbuckers are better. With saturation relatively low, this box preserves your picking dynamics very well. I don't like an overly compressed sound (saturation clockwise), but if you're into that sort of thing this unit can deliver. That saturation knob is, in my opinion, the single most flexible pot on the Distortion Pro. It can dramatically change the feel and sound in a good way.
I would recommend this pedal to people looking for a good classic rock sound, especially with humbuckers (you know the sound). It's not an overdrive pedal. True bypass, which is essential.

Fulltones are solid. This is my fifth Fulltone pedal and none of them have given me anything but great tone. 5 year warranty.

One email answered, one ignored. No rating.

I've been playing for over 20 years, have owned various overdrive / fuzz / distortion effects, etc. I play mostly classic rock and blues, with some metal and pop thrown in.
Great pedal for getting various shades of classic rock, especially with humbuckers. I prefer my Fulldrive 2 for the Strat. The Distortion Pro sounds very much like a good tube amp with power section being pushed. Nice dynamics, great flexibility, great sound. I do wish the mini knobs were larger, but cant't reasonably ask for that in such a compact box. It's nice that these knobs exist at all, adding to the unit's flexibility. I would replace this unit if I had to.

I found it fairly easy to get a good sound out of it, but it wasn't the sound "promised" by Fulltone, nor was it the sound i was looking for.

Playing a Suhr classic with single coils into a Fender Blues Jr at modertaely loud volumes. While very musical, this pedal didn't have near the gain i was looking for. Decent sustain, but where's the dirt? The only way i could get it close to what i wanted was by running my Fulldrive 2 into the front of it. The Fulldrive is the best overdrive pedal i have ever plyed, but i was looking for something to give that serious shred sound, and i could only get close with the Distortion Pro by combining it with the Fulldrive. I suppose there are those who would find this to be exactly what they want, but it just didn't cut it for me.
I will say that for what it does, it sounds excellent.

Fulltone stuff is built to withstand WWIII. I'v eno doubt that had i chosen to keep it, this pedal would've lasted a long time.

My only dealing with him was one email, to which he responded to a couple days later. No complaints.

A nice piece of gear, just like all fulltone products, but not what i was looking for.

You have to tweak very much to get a great sound of this unit. Four interactive controls that are very touch sensitive. The suggested settings on the manual don't work for me.

My setup is Tom Anderson Classic Swamp Ash, Valley Arts M Series, PRS Custom 24, Custom Made Strat with Rio Grande Pickups and Burns Bison Custom Shop.
Sounds good but not great, my Keeley DS 1 Ultra sounds much better. Definitive not a Allan Holdsworth sound. Good Sustain, can handle complex chords, not noisy, not good for scooped mids. Tone controls inetractive a real pain in the ass.

Built like a Sherman Tank, practically indestrutible, I can gig without a backup, althought little tiny controls seems fragile.

Never have to deal with Mike.

I am a professional musician for over 23 years playing fusion, rock and pop music gigging 3 to 4 times a week. If it were stolen or lost I look for somewhere else since I like this pedal but not love it. I think this unit is overpriced for what it does. Good but not God.

Borrowed the DP and a Fulldrive from a buddy for a couple weeks and found both to be great pedals. Chose the Dp due to the versitility(sp?). This pedal has it all!

This pedal still amazes be after almost 3 months! Countless shades of drive to all out fuzz! Will kick the crap out of many fuzzfaces! as well as serve up great overdrive tones. I currently run a DP in place of my double TS-9 set-up with an original Dunlop cry. My main amp is a Kendrick 410 (Bassman replica) with 3 spring reverb and other custom goodies. With the DP It doesn't matter if I plug in a strat, 335 or Les paul, the pedal is very transparent and also works well for tough volume situations... Lively rooms, small stages,garages, basements ect.

Cant say just yet, but optimistic. Very quiet and well built.

cant say yet.

I have been playing over 25 years, I have owned countless vintage,reissue,& modern amps. You WILL NOT be able to realize the full mojo of any (especially custom) effect box unless you have a GOOD amp period! I read the reviews below and I can see why some users' experiences are bad.If you have a solid state or so called tube amp that consist of a pc board with tubes stuck to it, the DP wont cure it all (would probably help), but if the amp has no dynamics and bad voicing you are already headed down a muddy Mississippi road! Get a real amp and then try his effects and then you will realize the potential. I have tried other pedals by Fulltone and other boutique effect pedal builders. There is some really cool stuff out there. A lot more than there was even 10 years ago. Younger players are very fortunate. They just need a good amp to begin the journey.

very easy to get a great sound, I dunno what those negative reviews were talking about either unless they just don't know how to play.

I bought mine used with no manual

The unit has not been upgraded and I belive it was built in 2004

I especially like this effect with just a single coil strat, the pick up switch on 5 all the way up to the neck pup and vol on the guitar full.
I do not find it noisy

The effects always sound great if your using good equipment. You can't take a shitty amp & guitar & expect a miricle.
I generally use it with a fender amp.
I think the pedal is al;l good for a distortion pro.

Definatly built like a tank...

I always carry backups for everything I can...just Murphys law

called once & they were very friendly & helpfull

I play blues & classic rock

I have been playing over 25 years

if lost or stolen I'd def look for another

I compaired it to all the major brands out on the marcket. This one won hands down

take your time with it & find out what it does & doesn't & use it to have fun

This is just a follow up to an earlier review - my original review was in Sept. 2003. I've had my pedal for about 1 1/2 years now and use it quite often for lots of gigs. It's actually on my "back up" pedal board which I use for outdoor gigs...my main pedal board never goes outside. Anyways - the Dist Pro works great for me - doesn't sound as good as my Tonebone Hot British distortion, but I still dig the vibe of the Dist Pro. I use it in various combinations with 2 overdrive pedals (Reverend Drivetrain II & Boss SD-1) as well as my Boss compressor.......and it really gets the job done. I mainly use the Drivetrain II for rythym work then kick on the Dist Pro for a really fat saturated lead tone......nice.

But I had to laugh when I read part of the review below:
"...one of the four little knobs has crumbled apart, it still works though."

Two of my Dist Pro's "little knobs" have also crumbled apart. What's the deal? Mine still works fine too.....but jeeeeeeez...for the money I paid for this pedal, that's not cool. For protective measures a wrapped small pieces of electrical tape around all 4 small knobs for fear of any future "crumblings". I take exceptionally good care of my gear and this pedal has always been secured on a pedal board which is transferred around inside a very heavily padded case. It didn't fall or anything.......just can't imagine how or why those knobs crumbled?

Pretty easy to use...if confused, then look at manual. Tones are above average at bedroom levels, but onstage (strat with a 66' Super Reverb, amp volume set on about 5)this pedal really sounds neato.

Although it sounds good at bedroom levels, you need to take it onstage to really apreciate the tones that the pedal is capable of. Although, for apartment jamming I found that I can get a great tone with the Distortion pro and my strat played through my little mid-1970's vibro-champ. To my ear, this pedal prefers single-coil pickups. I occasionally use this pedal with my Germino Masonette head which also sounds neat, but I prefer using it with the Super Reverb. The Germino gets a pretty great overdriven tone without any effects.

I have had it for two years and it has held up well, but one of the four little knobs has crumbled apart, it still works though.

I have dealt with fulltone and he was very helpfull.

Good overdrive pedal, goes well with single coils, but that is only my opinion. Also, I prefer it's tone with mildly cranked single channel tube fender amps.

This pedal takes some getting used to. It is not a "play in your bedroom" distortion device. Once you accept that, and work with it a real stage volume, then it gets interesting. The manual does what it intends to do, but again, the manual makes sense at stage volumes.

I use a Soldano SLO100 or a Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr, no reverb. Gibson 335 or a telecaster, it sounds great with both guitarsThe results are the same for both amps when turned up. The Soldano doesn't need any boost, but the pedal does sound great anyhow. My pedal is quiet at stage settings. It works well with both amps.

This is the most muscular booster pedal I've ever used. The tone is deep, tight, punchy, clear without harshness, and very strong. On my Dr. Z, it seems to add many watts to the little sucker, putting it into the 50 watt feel. This may be one of the all-around most powerful lead tones. And, it really does clean up to a rythm tone when the volume gets turned down.

The key is in the trim pots inside. I backed both pots down(CLOCKWISE = LESS) a quarter turn. This pedal is mighty indeed. Beware - if you want squarewave, clipped super crunch, this is not really it. However, if you want truly big-league professional solo tone for real worl stage volumes in a quality tube amp, this is a fine piece. I'll give it a 9 because I'm still getting into more of its textures and haven't stopped tweaking it.

It's a Fulltone. Reliability is not an issue unless you beat your gear. If you treat your gear with respect and simply give it a moderate stomp for on-off, it should last a very long time. Backup? Come on - I can use either amp's own overdrive qualities to finish any gig, but this pedal's reliabil;ity is not a factor in anything. If you break this, you are doing something excessive. Does anyone bring a backup steering wheel for their equipment truck? Just in case it breaks . . . ?

I sent an old Fulltone 70s pedal in for service. I tried changing the electronics in it and fried the output signal totally. I spoke with Mike on the phone and told him what I did. He said he would upgrade the old pedal to newer specs. $39 bucks. He wasn't mean, just busy. The actual repair service was flawless. I got what I wanted on the first try. That could be considered customer service, right? No big deal.

I've played for 30 years and used a lot of gear. People say my tone is always very good. I play music that ranges from rock to metal to country. There are differences between live stage sound and studio sound, and this is a live pedal, I think. I probably wouldn't bother using this pedal for the lighter stuff, but when it's time to rock out and take a solo, this pedal is powerful and articulate. Remember - this is a professional, stage volume device, not a bedroom or studio crunch pedal. If you want simple crunch, dirt and hard edged clipping, there are better choices.

I recieved a 2004 model of this pedal, and from what I understand, it is more responsive with the volume knob than the older model in many ways, which I thought was cool. As for the controls, they're fairly straightforward, though slightly oddly labeled. Two of the controls are actually tweaked from inside the pedal through means of adjustable trimmer pots, which are vital to the pedal's tonal shaping. It takes a little work to get a good sound out of the pedal, but overall, it's pretty basic.

First, a disclaimer: I will try to be as objective as possible with this review, but this pedal was not what I thought it was going to be. I will be scoring it based on the accuracy of Mr. Fuller's description.

As for my set-up, I'm using:

Kramer Striker Custom FR-422CM with Seymour Duncan '59 Humbucker in the bridge -> Analogman modded BOSS SD-1 (TS-808 mod) -> Fulltone Fat Boost (godly pedal, by the way) -> Fulltone Distortion Pro -> Fender Hot Rod Deville 410, on clean channel

It's a relatively quiet pedal, but, here's my big problem. The pedal is nowhere near as sweet and buttery as Mike Fuller would have you imagine. I was expecting something in the ballpark of a cranked class A, handwired tube amp kind of vibe. Not necessarily of the same caliber as, say, an AC30, but something smooth like that. The only tone I was personally partial to was a kind of fuzzed out Plexi tone. It was cool for Cream stuff, but it's not really what I was looking for. I could get a pseudo-Page tone as well, but not convincing enough for the price tag. I decided to mess with the trimmer pots, and found my adjustments to be more agreeable with my humbucker-driven sound, but still not quite up to par. Don't get me wrong, it was a cool sound, but not nearly as cool as my SD-1/Fat Boost combo. The sound from the Distortion Pro was something I could only describe as buzzy and intrusive. That description may be a little harsh, but the sound was just too cold for my tastes. I wouldn't go so far as to put it on the same level as, say, a BOSS MT-2, or something equally as horrid, but I feel like it was not at all worth the hefty price tag. Final judgment: Decent pedal, less than decent price. I would give it a 6.75 if I could.

I don't think I'll answer here, simply because I didn't keep it long enough to really test it.

I've never had to deal with Mr. Fuller, but from what I've heard, that may be a good thing. I won't pass any judgments as I've never talked to him, but let's just say he has quite the reputation for being difficult at best.

I play in a band that is like a mix between Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pink Floyd, Queen, and a little bit of harder stuff thrown in, like Guns N Roses, Alice In Chains, Motorhead, and the like, and I can honestly say that the Distortion Pro didn't really nail of the usable tones I was looking for. I'm 16, and I've been playing for 3 years, but I have a very picky taste for tone, and let's just say my amount of experience isn't representative of my playing. I've tried two other Fulltone pedals (Fat Boost and '69 Fuzz), and found much more success, and I've heard good things about his other ones, and I'm also led to believe that the Distortion Pro is the rotten apple, so to speak. If it were lost or stolen, I would most certainly not buy another one. In fact, I am going to the guitar shop tomorrow to exchange it for a Full Drive or Soul Bender. Overall, good pedal, but not great.

Hard to find the sweet spot-differs with twins and marshalls and boogies. not complicated but has only one sweet spot.

Not bad but not as good as I expected. If you want EJ, than buy a tonebone classic. Its not too bad though but not very versitile. A bit buzzy and thumpy. It just dosnt sing like my tone bone or my keeley tubescreemer. Not bad, but for fulltone-it sucks-and the price too.

fulltone stuff always stands up to abuse-except the older clydes.

I know everyone thinks Mike fuller is a pompous, snobby-ass jerk! He is actually a nice guy and will talk to you in person patiently and helpfully. And He is a very busy guy!!

Not fulltone material-should be discontinued.

Pretty easy. I played this pedal once in a music store through a modded fender super reverb reissue. The mod was explained to me as such that it was modded to sound like an original super reverb.
I plan on getting this pedal or a MXR Distortion 2 when I can afford it. (I'm po') The pedal has more controls than your average pedal but this makes it more diverse. I did not have time to mess with the internal trimpots as I only played on it for an hour or so. I had no problem adjusting the pedal.

I was using a G&L custom shop strat type guitar with single coil size blade buckers and George L's cable into a Fender as described above.
It sounded great! I was impressed by the amp like sound that this pedal produced. Most pedals seem to sit on top of an amps clean channel and unless combined with another gain stage, say another pedal or an overdriven amp, sound unusable and fake. Not this one.
It had wonderful sustain and articulation. I could slide up to a note and it would pick it up and sustain it. I played awhile without picking and felt like Joe Satch! Not really (the Joe part), but it was cool. I could just slide and slide! The sound was definitely what I would call brown. I mean this maybe not like others do because I know that everyone calls EVH's sound brown but it always seemed red to me. (maybe his guitars?)
But it actually seemed brown and was not at all harsh. It was a dry sound and I don't mean dry as in dry signal but dry as in it didn't seem liquid. I know that that may be seen as a negative but I didn't think so. Perhaps it was woody. It integrated with the amp very well and had room to breath unlike the Maxon D&S II I tried that same day which sounded like dog doo. Come to think of it though the maxon seemed to have an ampish quality to it as well which makes me wonder if perhaps the amp that I was using just reacted to pedals better than what I have. I am using a 5150 head and have never been able to get a good tone out of an overdrive or distortion pedal out of the clean channel. I am now using a Sansamp GT2 which works fantastically combined with my dirty channel but sounds fake through the clean. On top of the fakeness there are terrible ear shattering highs that aren't even part of the tone. Anyway this is about the Distortion Pro. Great Pedal!

???????? Would guess that it is reliable. It did have a shifty look on its face though......

?????????

I would say that this pedal could match just about any style of music that uses distortion. What about nu- metal scooped sounds you say?
Sure if you reaaly need more distortion and less mids combine it with a little amp distortion or another pedal and an EQ and there is no reason why you couldn't, unless you can't play, but isn't that the case nowadays. Of course there are many exceptions. I have been playing for 15 yrs I play anything I can get my hands, mind and heart around. I started with shred and metal went to funk then classic rock and blues to folk and fusion and am now working on jazz (gotta revisit the blues). Don't own it so can't say about whether I would replace it if it was stolen. I love the sound hate the price.

I was intially very disappointed with this pedal. I bought the DP-1 because my Full-Drive 2 gave me instant gratification (and, to this day, is my favorite pedal). However, the DP-1 required a great deal of tweaking and even then I was only marginally satisfied.
I felt the control knobs were labelled sort of arbitrarily. "Resonance" "Voicing" "Highs" and "Saturation" are terms I understand yet in the context of this pedal their relationships baffled me. So I put it away. I went through countless other distortion and fuzz pedals, looking for the "holy grail" distortion to complement my overdrive sound.
When I came back to the DP-1, I decided to give it one more try. Still no luck. And then, I reread the manual and realized I had missed the obvious: INTERNAL TRIMMER ADJUSTMENT.
I followed the instructions, reducing the gain for trimmer #1, and the results were very gratifying. The control knobs functioned perfectly and logically.

I play hollowbody guitars out of Fenderish amps. I bought this pedal for a solid Marshall type distortion to complement my overdrive sound. After I made the internal trimmer adjustment, the pedal no longer fought my humbucker pick-ups. My low-end didn't disappear. I got that thick, high-gain sound I was looking for.
I've read many of the reviews for the DP-1 and I believe many (if not all) of the negative reviewers would benefit from tweaking the internal trimmer#1. My initial response to the pedal was just like their's, but I'm so glad I held onto it.

I've never had a problem with any Fulltone products.

N/A

I play Pop/Rock music. No cover band stuff. Just, guitar-driven 3 minute pop songs. I've been playing for a long time. If this pedal were lost or stolen I would immediately get another one.

Mine is a 2004 model and has the usual features: volume distortion plus 4 small pots and two internal trimmers (very useful!). A lot of control is therefore possible at the expense of needing time to fiddle (but that's all part of the fun!)

I had an early version of the DP-1 which I didn't really get on with. I have to say my opinion is now completely revised with the new version. With my setup of Tom Anderson/Music Man guitars through a Cornford Hellcat combo, it is rich and smooth with lovely overtones. It nails a good range of distortion sounds but the thing I really like is the way it interacts with the amp and your guitar's controls. The best distortion pedal I've tried for my setup (and that is the crucial point - it may not be the right one for your setup and needs).

Built like a tank and well designed. No backup required.

I've never needed to contact Fulltone for anything (I also own a Clyde deluxe wah and a custom shop Dejavibe) so I can't comment.

I play everything from bluegrass to Steve Vai via the blues, rockabilly and classic rock. This pedal suits my setup and style perfectly and for that extra push, it is superb. As someone else on the forum has said, "Good things aren't cheap and cheap things aren't good". Discuss.

Well, it does have a lot of knobs - but I stil found it easy. Really, I have never seen a difficult pedal. How hard can it be.

OK. That's what I think of this pedal - good, but not god. I've owned this pedal for over a year, and coupled with my Ful Drive II (best pedal I've ever played!) it has been usefull, if not inspiring. I play in an inde rock emo band, but don't really like distortion. I like the mild chunky sounds between distortion and overdrive.
This pedal, on the other hand, ounds very smooth and reentlesly "classic rocky." This is exactly what the ads say, and obviously what Mike Fuller intended. For me it has outworn its usefullness. Ths became very apparent the other day when I tried out a Maxon D&S and was treated to much more of what I've always wanted in a distortion device. Although the Distortion Pro has many knobs it never, for me, produced a particularly great sound. Al that tweaking produced only one ok sound after another. In some ways the pedal is versatile - but in other ways it is hopelessly limited.

Rock solid!

Ok, but not great sound. One could get any number of simpler cheaper pedals, and probably be happier with the sound. If you like cheesy "classic rock" smoothness this pedal could be for you.

This pedal is easy to use, but I have a certain approach picked up from an earlier reviewer here. I turn the Saturation and Highs controls all the way to the left and basically leave them there. Resonance I leave at 12 o'clock, and Voicing at 1 o'clock.

Volume I leave at 10 o'clock and Distortion is 8 o'clock, just a little bit over "all the way to the left".

Using the above settings, you will find a nice smooth boost, my friends.

You must have a good amplifier sound to begin with, before even thinking about boosting it. The Distortion Pro is not a cure-all that will take a sterile solid-state amp and turn it into a vintage Marshall Plexi. I used an ENGL Screamer 50 head and the results are just fine. I highly recommend using speakers with hempcones instead of standard speakers in your cabinets.

In my case, using the DP instead of the ENGL Screamer 50's volume boost and channel switching definitely seemed to be smoother. "Smooth" is the watchword here. Smooth instead of fuzzy, smooth instead of harsh, smooth instead of scratchy. That's where the DP shines.

Compared to the Fulltone Fulldrive 2, the DP will give you more of that .. you guessed it ... smooth sound.

I bought a used 2002 version in May 2004. So far it has worked just fine. Not sure about long term reliability ...

I e-mailed Mike Fuller about upgrading my 2002 DP to more recent specifications. Instead of addressing my simple request, he asked some rather lame questions about what was wrong with my DP. I wrote back, saying I wasn't talking about a problem, just asking about upgrading the DP from 2002 to more modern specs. He wrote back, saying that "I wasn't hearing him" and again reacted as if I were asking about a repair problem instead of an upgrade.

Trying to restrain myself a little bit, I wrote back, semi-apologizing (even though I wondered why I should semi-apologize, considering the situation) and I explained that the upgrade of the DP from 2002 to the more modern specs was what I was referring to, citing examples from the web.

He ignored that e-mail. So, sorry guys, even though the DP is a great pedal, I think Mike Fuller's customer service leaves a lot to be desired. Too bad.

I'll probably try once again to contact Fulltone about upgrading my DP from 2002 to modern specs, maybe by phone, since I live in L.A. If I get a positive, no BS response, then I'll update this review in the future.

Come on, Mike Fuller, stop being a prima donna and remember what the words "upgrading the Distortion Pro" mean. It's the "op-amp" upgrade, remember?

Great pedal, big increase in tonal quality, highly recommended.

But hey, why is Mike Fuller lost in space? It's time for Mike Fuller to climb off that hobby horse and join the rest of us.

Just turn the knobs and you see what this can do.Simple.

Quite good as a fuzz.Wasn't really what I was looking for, I'm after more of a broken sound that can go from soft to powerful.It's not a bad sound if the distortion level is set to zero but any more it gets way too fuzzy and you lose string clarity for picking.very quiet pedal and nice compression.I play through a Roland JC-120 which is quite a bright amp.Maybe the pedal will react better to a tube amp.I've got to get my Rivera TBR 1 working, been sitting there tubeless for ages ! I wanted more 'overdrive' really.Gonna sell it and try something else, maybe the Fulltone Bassdrive for low end handling.The quietness,true bypass encourages me to try another fulltone pedal to see what they are all about. My set up is Fender Jazzmaster '63 Teese RMC-3 Wah/Boss GE-7 equalizer/Fulltone DP1/Boss DD-3 Delay/TL Audio 5051 Compressor/Eventide DSP-4000 Effects processor/Roland JC-120 with chorus half way.Gonna ditch the Jc 120 for a tube amp.Simms-Watts or Rivera.Daisy chained with Mesa Boogie Powerhouse bass cab.EV speakers.

Very solid and well built.Should last a lifetime if not more !

I play Verve/Cocteau Twins type stuff.Lots of Reverb/Chorus/delay need a powerful distotion that doesn't get lost in the effects.This is a good pedal for a mild fuzz but not very versatile.I was dissapointed.I want noise and power but with string clarity.

What a dud! i could not get a good sound out of it for the life of me. GOOD FUZZ FACE SOUND!

for the price i payed i expected more. Im using it through a vibro-king and a super reverb usaly i use 2 TS808s and a klon Centaur for overdrive a Captin Coconut 2 and a RCM1 wah with a Fender 1960 custom shop master build Stratocaster with a big neck and 11-50 gadge strings. and an Gibson ES-335. the Distortion pro sounds like a fuzz face and nothing more i was hopeing to get a smoothe eric Johnson like tone but to my disopointment it sounded more flat than a Boss overdrive. maby through a marshall plexi id have more luck.Oh well. which way to EBAY!

does'nt matter

they should be sued for fraud for saying "it's not a FUZZ"

Ive been playing Rock with a bluezy edge,Fusion,Jazz. but now im in a rock band and i need a overdrive a little harder ill have to keep looking. ive been playing for 8 years

Yes, I would like to truthfully state that it?s easy to use.

But that?s not the most important thing about this pedal. I would like to vent my own subjective ill informed criticism on this pedal. Up front; Yes, I might be considered as an amateur but I can?t help that and I?ve got a pocket full of money to spent so I?ll state my opinion. I?d like to spent my money on something I can appreciate. I hope that everybody can respect that. If you can?t, I?m really really sorry.
Anyway J, I was looking for a professional distortion pedal. Not one of those crappy, no bass, super clipping until your sick with it, mass production pedals. But something with nice attributes like true bypass, overall tone and tone control, pick response, little bit of tube feel and so forth. However, when I searched the net for the usual quality producers I noticed they seem to concentrate on overdrive and fuzz pedals.

Until I found the Fulltone Distortion Pro! Of course, the brand name sounds reassuring, it?s called Distortion Pro (remember what I was looking for), reviews are raving and it?s got a price tag that can compete with the best pedals out there.
I went ahead and bought one without hearing it (yes I know, that?s risky). Sadly, I was disappointed with the pedal. I?ll state right away that is indeed a quality pedal. It?s noiseless, has got real nice controls, there?s bass response and I imaging it really resembles a ?plexi on 10?. But it has just a small amount of clipping. I really don?t want is to sound like a Boss MT-2 (I?d rather not), but it?s more a high gain kind of sound then that there?s a lot off distortion there. When I thought of that (the high gain part), I remembered what I read on the Fulltone site; ?The greatest hi-gain sounds you can imagine, from Brian May to Boston, Holdsworth to EJ in a little metal box?.

My conclusion is that this still is an OVERDRIVE rather than a distortion pedal. I like overdrive but I wanted just plain clipping in levels you can?t achieve with the kind of amp I use.

So, with decreasing hope on the distortion pedal of my dreams I bought a Keeley DS-1 SEM. Now that?s really nice as well! Of course, it doesn?t have true bypass (since it?s a Boss pedal to start with) but it is still very quiet and I haven?t noticed any loss in signal or leaking of the effect when it?s off. It resembles the character of the DP in it?s tubelike sound but offers a lot more clipping. It?s got bass response as well.
It?s also a lot cheaper. I gather that that is something the pro doesn?t complain about because ?if you want quality, you?ll pay for it? but I really wonder about why some of the boutique pedals cost almost as much as a quality amp. Furthermore, I don?t think that just accepting high prices will help anyone (except the producer).

Probably yes, but I can?t judge that on my own experience. Seems to be manufactured very well.

I?m a little bit worried about the reputation of Fulltone. It seems you can get mails if you don?t act like a professional and ask stupid questions. (I would not like to get kicked out of the Fulltone family at just the start of my pedal career.) But hey, that?s hearsay and I wouldn?t hold that against anyone. That?s just not fair.

I play rock. Use a Fender Strat+ with an Orange AD15, also fuzzfoot, wah, DS-1 SEM, MEK TB-2 overdrive (made by hand in Germany and a lot cheaper than most other boutique pedals), CE-2, RV-3.
The DP didn?t do it for me. Maybe it?s the pedal for you. Just consider the fact that this pedal doesn?t produce a whole lot of clipping. It simulates the kind of clipping professionals the likes of Jimmy Page produced by cranking their high gain amp, which in itself is distortion but is a whole other ballgame than the possibilities of distortion nowadays. I don?t know but for some reason I just like some amount of clipping in the signal and then into a tube amp after which there probably is another stage of (natural tube-) distortion and compression as well. But hey, I?m an amateur.

Anyway, if somebody wants to correct me on things described above, please feel free to mail me. Greetings, Bam

Be ware: hi end means higher than 5k, more like 7 or 8k. The bass controll is deep bass. the saturation controll is great - you can adjust the compression and the odd harmonics. I would have liked a prescence knob as well.

Especiallly great with strats. works fine with a gretsch. Can need a little fine tuning to a avoid a muddy bass with a gibson (LP or 335).
It works great with marshalls, a Koch, a Alessandro/Working Dog, but a Rivera almost collaped - it diden't seem to have enough headroom.
The best thing about it is how dynamic it is. From semi-clean to distortion just with your pick attack or the volume knob on the guitar.
It's more quiet, more dynamic, more muscular and better sounding than a Tonebone Classic [sic].

Fulltone is the best.

If it were stolen, I'd by a new one.

For ease of use I give this pedal a 7. Simply put it is not difficult to get a good sound out it, but it does take some time tweaking to acheive the desired tone. In other words I wouldn't whip it out of the box and plug it up for the first time at the gig. On the other hand, after some knob twiddling, I had acheived the desired result within an hour or so and haven't hardly touched a knob since. The only thing I do turn a little is the volume and distortion knobs, to fill up the room or vice versa. The fulltone manual describes the controls very well, but even so, the resonance (bass), voicing (mids), and highs (duh...), are far more interactive than can be adequately put in writing. Also the knobs, for the most part, have a detent at the midway position, which I suspect might help guide you on a dark stage. But seeing as how I don't mess with anything thing but the big knobs I don't really have that problem. Moving forward, mine is the upgraded model with the new chip, which really must be a godsend, because I have yet to have an abnormal noise issue. Basically the only thing I knock points off is for the tediousness of the first time dialing in your tone. After that it's pretty self explanatory.

I play a Fender American Standard Strat, all stock, through a Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr NR, and a Z-best 2x12 cab. First of all, and this is the most important thing about any pedal, if your guitar and amp combination doesn't sound good, there's no effect on earth that can change it. That being said, I really dig this pedal because it doesn't seem to alter my original tone too much. Don't get me wrong it really delivers on the distortion, but it sounds more like another channel on my amplifier than a pedal. One thing I will say is that it has far more bass response than your typical manufactured type distortion box. I thought this would be a problem as I demoed the pedal in my house, but at the club it really seemed to give the guitar some extra balls. As far as I can tell the pedal is dead quiet. I find that most noise can be attributed to either the shitty electrical wiring in the bar or far more likely, something such as a neon light running on the same circuit. Now for the big question... tone? My particular amp is a single channel model with a class A ciruit. It covers vintage fender to voxy type tones very well. With the DP-1 I can have my fender-esue clean tone and Marshall thick distortion. Keep in mind I'm not saying it sounds like a Marshall amp, but it really is that BIG sounding. Here is one place that I've encountered a problem, it that's really the right word for it. This pedal has an incredible amount of volume. I've found that if the situation doesn't allow me turn the pedal up to around the 12:00 position, then I might have to give it a little extra distortion to get the sustain I want. But what can you do? Hands down the best all around sounding distortion pedal I've ever played. Also cleans up very well with the guitar's volume control.

Short and sweet for this category. I would and do use it without a backup every time I play. No doubt about it. I looked inside this thing the first day I got it. Pure genius. Plus the casing is made of Sherman Tank steel or something like that. You could probably run over it with a car and just break the knobs. I know it sounds crazy, but for a box this small to be made of such a thick grade of steel, I can't imagine the amount a force it would take to actually make the pedal collapse upon itself.

I wouldn't know, never had to talk to them.

I play rock and blues. AC/DC, SRV, Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, Allman Bros, Cry of Love, Hendrix and such are what you'll find in my CD collection. I've been playing for approximately 9 years minus a couple that I can't really remember, but I still tinkered around some even then. I love the reliability and pure tone of a single channel amp such as my Z. With my Fulltone DP-1, I can broaden the range of sounds available to me without screwing around with my amp setup. For this it is invaluable. I have tried dozens of other distortion style effects including but not limited to the boss line-up, ibanez, some digital multi-effects devices (dod, digitech), and a mesa boogie v-twin, as well as various channel swtiching amps. The Fulltone beats them all. However, I still believe that good tone is primarily built on a strong foundation, such as a quality amp and guitar. If your rig doesn't sound right to begin with, the DP-1 will do you no good.