Fulltone Distortion Pro

This is an update to a review from early 2002. My first DP1 really sounded awful. Could not get a useful tone out of it. Perhaps because it was one of the first hundred, perhaps for some other reason, but it was dreadful. This one is 1000% better. Giving it a 9 simply because of option anxiety due to its sensitivity and versatility.

I've used it live with a Rivera R-55 and an '88 Mesa Mark III and have been pretty happy. This pedal cleans up magnificently at the guitar, probably better than any other pedal I've ever used. Not too noisy, but so far I've used it with a PRS Standard and a Hamer Artist, both humbucker equipped. Playing with single coils or hybrids results in a little more noise and hum, but nothing outlandish. The massive improvement over the original pedal I had comes in far better sustain and far less fizz in the pedal's decay. My first pedal had a very obvious sizzle in the note's decay, similar to the awful electronic crackle that the Prescription Electronics Dual Tone possesses. This pedal sounds far darker and more natural than that one. Very fluid sustain. Very violin-y tone; Eric in a box, as others have commented. Much improved.

Nevr had any issues with Fuller's build quality at all. If this failed, I could easily default to amp channel overdrive, which is always an option for me. The DP1 gives me a fourth and sometimes fifth option for amp tone. After owning a number of Fulltone products I have no doubt that this will prove every bit as reliable as those.

Mike's Mike. Doesn't suffer fools well (so I try not to bug him too often...), but has always responded to service issues I may have had. Sent a replacement footswitch for a Fat Boost a couple years ago at no charge, and it arrived in Illinois from California in a couple of days.

Jazz fusion/funk and variety music. Playing for 30 years now. Own loads of stuff. My old mid-80s Rat is still a benchmark distortion pedal for me, but I haven't really used many outboard distortion pedals since buying the Mesa I have in '88. Other amps are a Budda SD30 and a Rivera R55, both high gain beasts that have more than enough distortion. Again, pedals like the FDII, the Banzai Fireball I, and the DP1 supply some extra distortion options for me. These all sound like very natural extensions of the amps' tones. In fact, the DP1 in its high gain mode has a very similar buttery tone to the Mark III's lead channel. This is definitely more in line with what I had in mind back in early '02.

Pretty straightforward really - anyone who can read will be able understand what the various knobs do.

I use a levinson blade R4 + KA hot rails in the bridge > MXR dynacomp > crybaby > sparkle drive > Boss SD1 > Fulltone DP1 > Tonebone Hot British > Fender Pro-Reverb with Lexicon MPXG2 in the loop for post gain FX, Rvb, delay etc.,

For the first time in my life I bought a pedal on the strength of reviews and I have to say I am disappointed in every way. I am a serious player of 25 years and however I try to use the DP-1 I just cannot get a decent sound out of it.

The DP-1 sounds brittle with a very harsh top end and little useable sustain. It sounds absolutely nothing like a valve amp! With the rig I use I can easily achieve great "just breaking up" and blues tones, I wanted the DP-1 for a much more sustainy saturated sound but it was a massive let down.

I have tweaked the internal trimmers, which do make a difference but you pay a huge price for increased sustain because what you get is a mushy bottom end, too much compression and a ton of uncontrollable feedback.

And it stinks with single coils - it breaks up all over the place and sounds more like a 100lb pile of dung than a 100lb violin.

I cannot get a single useable sound out of this thing - do yourself a favour and check out everything else on the market before you buy a DP-1.

I will never find out if it's reliable as I would never use it live and it's now for sale. Note: these things don't resell for anything like their retail price - enough said!

I emailed Mike Fuller (very politely) as I was so frustrated that I couldn't get this thing sounding decent and asked for his suiggestions / help.

That was nearly 2 months ago and neither Mike, nor anyone from his company has replied.

I have played sessions, gigs and taught guitar for 25 years, I imagine anyone stupid enough to steal one of these will probably be disappointed with it too. It's going as soon as someone offers me anything like what I paid for it.

i think its pretty eay. I set it using the EJ patch in the manual, and then tweaked alittle here and there. Greats sound.

Excellent. I got the 100lb violin thing going with single notes, but I dial in a bit more edge with the high end knob. So I sound like a violin that will kick your ass. ALso sounds very clean, what you put in is what comes out, so sharpen you chops if you dont like the pedal.

fulltone = good shit with a great service department.

see above. sent mine in for chip upgrade, $10 and a week later it was back in my hands. Cool.

if you want more out of your dist boxes , get this, and tweak.
I dig it. Also sounds great goosing an already distorted amp.
All around great value in a nice small box. Can you dig it?

Out of curiosity, I took the unit out of the box and plugged it in. It sounded great. The tone was very tube-like and organic with the controls in the neutral positions. This pedal is a tweakers wet dream. I am not a tweaker, so I was pleased to find that the setting suggetions were good starting places to find the tones you are looking for. I am giving this a nine rating because it is not a simple device. You could spend days and weeks getting to know the nuances of each of the six control parameters of this pedal.

My setup is a G&L Legacy and ASAT, a 1970s Gibson SG, and a Guild Bluesbird. I play these through a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue and a Marshall AVT 50 (a fantastic amp that has replaced my 50 watt Plexi). I play this pedal exclusively through the Marshall. I have noticed no real jump in noise through this pedal. The distortion is like my old Plexi, only you can enjoy it at much lower volume. My plexi has to be up around 8 to reach this tone. You can cop the EJ and EVH tone pretty easily. The Brian May tone is less obvious to me. I use this pedal with only a Line6 Delay Modeler and they interact very well. My tone is close to the EJ violin tone, and this pedal makes it very easy to get there. I already had great tone, and this pedal has made it even better.

No problems here. This pedal feels like a brick with some wiring inside. I no longer gig outside the studio, but I would have a backup. It is just the smart way to gig. It is probably more important to back up your power source than the pedals, in my experience.

I have emailed Mike and the sales department 3 times. I always received a reply by the time I woke up in the morning. Bravo to the operation Mike Fuller has set up. They have made a believer out of me.

I play Gilmour and Alan Parsons Project(Ian Bairnson rules all) type music, with some fusion tendencies. I own a Big Muff Pi, Boss DS-1, DOD OD250, Boss BD1, Fuzz Face, and a Chandler tube overdrive. This pedal will replace all of them, but I will keep them on my shelf to impress the youngsters. I also purchased a custom shop Fulldrive2. These two pedals together will handle all of my overdive and distrtion needs from now on. I was torn between this and a tonebone classic distortion. I am so glad I chose the Distortion Pro. The tonebone sounds great, but this sounds better. My good friend owns a tonebone and he wants to trade. If it were stolen, I would replace it immediately. I have played since the hair metal days of the late 80s(I like that era more now than I ever did then, new music is sad). I am being sincere to say this is a powerful tone generator. It is very expensive, but this is one of those rarest of instances, you get what you pay for. I am now a GOLDEN GOD.

Pedal very easy to use. Could not find a bad sound out it with my gear. Manual gives you a great start.

I play various Strats with all types of single coil pickups. My amps are a Peavey Classic 50 with 4x10's, a Fender Blues DeVille, and a Mesa Dual Recto with a 4x12 cab. and a 2x12 cab. Don't bring everything to every gig. Club or hall size determines what gear is used.

Built like a tank. All Fultone pedals are built this way.

Nothing yet but, from what I've heard, very cool.

I play in a 70's and 80's cover band. Guitar rock, no metal, like listening to a lot of the FM stations out there. It's perfect for that style. Just tweak the dials a little bit and you got the sounds you need. I don't try to sound like anyone else, never have, never will. That's why I like the Pro. It's responds so well to the volume, and dynamics of your playing, you have your own sound with it. It is a very musicial sound. The manual mentions the violin sound, it's in there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

n/a

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Haven't dealt with them(him).

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

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

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

just got it.

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

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

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

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

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

Never had to deal with them so....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Never had to contact Fulltone before. No opinion here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's a lot knobs on this thing, and they interact, so its takes quite a while to figure out. I re-labelled the little knobs "low scoop" "mid bump" "high scoop" and "compression". Also the 2 internal trim pots make a heck of a difference. I call them "harmonics" and "cream".

Tweak the two internal trimpots ! They make all the difference.

You can dial-in from a reasonably farty distortion, to a resonably mild overdrive. Its musical with all dials at zero, or all dials dimed. In all settings, it has very "in your face" dynamics. So the creamy settings still have a lot of picking edge.

In all settings, you can clearly hear all the notes of the weirdest chords. On my Strato (with noiseless pu's) I can still hear all 5 pu settings distinctly. With a compressor in the loop, te note clarity is staggering.


It really keeps my guitar's dynamics intact. This can be pretty intimidating when set to high gain, and high volume. It doesn't compress the sound. Which is why I think its well suited in front of a saturated amp, or with a compressor in the circuit.


Sequence of effect is very important. These non-bufferered pedals behave very differently depending on the order. This affects noise and tone.

It really brought my Fulltone Deja Vibe to life. I also like adding compressor in the loop for some tones, especially when I'm playing with my amp at lower volume (saturation). I also like to have at least one buffered pedal in the loop to keep the signal stong and bright

From what I hear, Mr. Fulltone is a nice guy.

But the little knobs shattered with just esktop use. The little white dot markers were fit too tight. I epoxied the pieces back together.

No need yet.

Tweak the two internal trimpots ! They make all the difference.

Wish it also had a compression knob. The "in your face" sound is great some of the time, but not always.

It is not easy to use

Hamer/Kramer/Gibson57/charvel -> SparkleDrive -> Distortion Pro
-> TC Chorus/flanger -> Boss DD3 -> JTM45
I play 80's rock mostly,,

.Little bit noisy..but distortion always happen
.Four mini nobs ARE the key of this product.
-> Solos & Rhythms..excellant performance!
.I've tried many many distortions for recording reasons and..
.I'll bet this one works

You better watch out~
4 little nobs are little bit fragile..
My one of 4's is already broken..
Can fulltone members repair this one?

No comment

It matches really well with any humbuckers for bridge..
If you're fender kind(singles),,,I wouldn't recommend this one..
It especially works well with overdrives..(Mine is SparkleDrive,,
and they are the best friends..^^)

pretty easy to use. nothing facy.

i dodnt like it. i wanted to really like this product. i bought based on other eviews. it doent suit me atll. this distortion doent scream. i wanted a distortion that wansnt a metal distrotion and that it would clean up nicely when i rolled back my volumes knod. like jimmy poge. well this thing doesnt get me there the leads ounf lfta. ive tried it with everything from a les pual with duncans a fender strat, an esp with emgs another les paul with emgs, it doent sound good with anything. the marshall jackhammer or the zoom hype lead blow this thing out of the water. even the guys in my band said i was ripped of this blan distortion unit. this is overpriced junk.

dont know ill probably give it away or sell it. dont care it sucks. i wasted my money on this.

i hear the mike fuller takes great pride with his pedals but man, i really thought this thing would be killer, what a dissapointment. i dont know i havent written to mike about it nor i dont think i will.

if you want killer distortion go with the marshall jackhemmer, the boss ds-1, the zoom hyper lead or tri metal the mesa v-twin or the radial tonebone, those pedals deliver the goods. the distortion pro just seems very bland there is absolutely no tine in this thing.

I'm not very patient, but it took several practice sessions to learn how to get a decent sound out of it. Hang in there and turn every knob and you will finally dial in the sound you are looking for.

I play mostly through a Bruno Underground 30 and use a custom shop 54 strat with Rio Grande pickups. In higher distortion settings this setup seems to bottom out my celestion blues so I have to bring the distortion or saturation knobs down a bit. This pedal seems to like the combination of my Dr Z Rt 66 and PRS McCarty because it sounds much better through these two. Overall I'm not really excited about this pedal even though I own seven Fulltone pedals and like all of them more than this pedal. I just couldn't seem to get the sound that I was looking for out of this pedal.

You can definently depend on any Fulltone pedal. I've never had a problem with this pedal. I always have a backup because you never know what will happen.

I've only had one problem in three years of playing Fulltone efects. I had a switch go out on my Clyde Wah and had to call because the turn around time was getting long. Mike Fuller was very nice on the phone and apologized for the delay and got it back promptly.

I play Christian music with a 150 voice choir and we do a variety of music. Praise and worship, Black gospel, and contemporary with other styles mixed in. I've been playing about 15 years and my setup is as follows: 54 custom shop RI strat and PRS McCarty with only Fulltone pedals. Clyde wah>SoulBender>FatBoost>DistPro>FulldriveII>ChoralFlange>Bruno Underground 30 Reverb Head with 2x12 Celestion Blues also Dr Z Rt 66. If this pedal was stolen I probably wouldn't replace it because my other pedals would get me through just fine. I bought this pedal because of the great reviews that I read. I guess we all have different taste.

6 dials, pretty straight forward. Nothing not to understand. Actually prefer the tone dials to be smaller, so that they won't get knocked around during a show.

The manual says "The Distortion Pro is designed to cover that huge gap between Overdrive and out-and-out Fuzz." Not only do I agree with this personally, but I think the subpar ratings and comments ignore that first sentence of the manual. This will not make you sound like neither Eric Johnson nor System of the Down. It will make you sound like just about any indie band in the last 20 years, depending on how you set the dials.

The tone dials are uniquely useful. Going left to right (below the volume and distortion level big dials):

Resonance: shapes bass frequencies. I leave it all the way on. I hate pedals that chop the lows- this dial fixes it. I can even use it on my baritone and bass.

Voicing: mids. Frequency dependent for distortion level.

Highs: highs. Has frequency overlap with Voicing.

Saturation: this is the most interesting dial. Has both compression and sponginess features. Although some may describe it as a power amp tube simulator (the compression part for sure), I think of it as adding extra speaker thump as well (a bit more give, a bit more air) A great cure for single-coil brittleness.

I find this to be a very versatile pedal, with very useful in-between tones, and yet it's more refined (in a good way). Doesn't have the bright harsh spikes of say a RAT or MXR Distortion +; I think this makes this pedal really great on single coils, but maybe less than ideal for humbuckers. Not a surprise since Mike is a Strat player. I think this is a great pedal for rock rhythm playing.

I haven't tried direct recording with this yet, but I'm anxious to try. Compared to my SIB Varidrive, it sounds a bit more flat (dimensionally speaking), but that may be a good thing for direct recording or smaller amps. I still think the Varidrive is the bomb for live gigs. Haven't tried both together.

The sustain is not as long as many other pedals, which I think is a great feature for controlled sounds on recording. I'm planning on using my Maxon compressor anyway for my live rig, and a boost pedal in front of it sounds great for leads.

Perfectly solid (got it used). Can't imagine problems with it.

See above for my comments. A wonderful pedal- not mind-blowing, but a very solid workhorse with just enough refinement to class up standard rock tones.

Lot's of options being made the way it is. I waited to review it until I used different guitars and amps. Manual is useful

my setup - EC strat (1989) with PUs replaced with early 60s regular old strat PUs >> Carl Martin compressor>>>distortion>>> tape echo>>>Gibson GA15RV on the triode (6 watts) setting. I am thrilled with it - finally a distortion unit that treats a strat bridge PU right. - very fat tubelike character - more tubelike than tube distortions I' ve used (Phatman, real tube, etc.) It does AC/DC great. With the distortion set all the way minimum it's a great blues breakup. My favorite settings are with the distortion and saturation set much lower than the manual which makes sense because my amp is 6 watts and already on the edge of breakup. With my 40 watt vibrolux the setting are more like the manual.

don't know yet but seems solid.

Fulltone has a good reputation - I'm not concerned

I've played 35 years and own way too much stuuf (and hope to get more) The bottom line is that I did it right. I bought a disortion unit that is made by a stratocaster guy. This is perfect with my strat and both teles I have. It is useless with my big rockabilly box with P-90s but that's ok by me. I use my TS 10 with that box. I play RnB, rockabilly, pop-rock and funk. Most distortion boxes sound too "metal " like. This one is divine. I still use my TS10 but for a different sound. I would certainly replace it.

I love the manual for this pedal. It gives you several setting to choose from pending on your style of music. It also gives you a record keeper to write down any discoveries in tweaking the pedal that you may find.

I currently use an American Thinline Tele running through a Fender '72 Vibrolux Reverb Amp. Playing rock, funk, and blues, I always used to use a Boss Overdrive pedal for the really meaty portions of the song and for a solo. Although I was pleased with it, it didn't have the kick I was looking for. I just got a Distortion Pro and from the moment I plugged it in I've loved it. I use the blues setting that the manual gives, with it tweaked ever so slightly. This pedal has real bite to it that cuts through incredibly. It has a very warm tone that does well for a single-coil Tele. Although it is the best overdrive pedal I've ever heard, I have trouble with string clarity. So for the more driving parts of a song I use the DPro, but if i need more clarity on the strings, I will use the Boss. Overall, it's a great pedal and I highly recommend it, especially for Tele players.

It has been dependable so far.

When I got the pedal,I was very disappointed in it. I couldn't get a good sound at all no matter how much I tinkered with it. I was feeling like I was cheated out of my money and was ready to agree with some of the other reviews that is was just some overated muddy sounding fuzz box with no tone merit at all.But, I looked at the manual and it said that there are 2 trim pots in the back of the pedal. Trim pot #1 says that if you have a guitar with humbuckers that it can be adjusted Clockwise no more that 1/8 turn to cut back on some of the distortion. Trim pot # 2 is supposed to be left alone and not messed with cause it's set how the factory says it should be. Well,after I adjusted both Trim pots # 1 & 2 clockwise 1/8 of a turn, it made all the difference in the world. More about this in the sound quality section.Ease of use before trim pot adjustment is a 3. Ease of use after trim post adjustment - 9

I'm using a 86' Mesa Boogie Mk III fully loaded simul-class and using it in Class A mode. I also have a Mk IIc+ Bubinga/wicker simul-class combo fully loaded. I use a Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top Classic S/S/H . My effects chain is as follows Boss Ft-2>Boss TU-2>Boss CS-1>Boss CS-2>Boss Bd-2>Boss Od-1>Boss Od-3>Nobels Odr-1>Mxr Dist. II>Barber Direct Drive> Fulltone Dp-1>Nobels Pre-1 Booter> Boss Ns-2>Arion SCH-1 Chorus>Boss CE-5>Ibanez AD-9>Boss DD-3>BossDD-3>Boss PS-3. All patch cables are George L's and Monster Cables and this effect chane goes into one of the Boogies. I set the Boogies up for a nice clean tone with just a touch of onboard reverb.As I said up above the pedal was not happening until both trim pots were adjusted. For the record ,I tried the pedal by itself before I put it in the chain.One I did the trim pot adjustment, all the clarity,articulation and transperency that I had been looking for was there.The knobs still interactive and changing the gain or saturation may force you to make adjustments in the other knobs to get the desired tone your after,but you don't have to hunt very long to get a great tone. I was able with tweaking to get into the Van Halen,Eric Johnson,Michael Schenker and even some May,but not the exact sound they have,because there are to many other variables involved strings,guitar,amp and other effects in their chains that all make up their tones.But all these root tones as well as many others are in this pedal.One real important part of any pedal getting a fair chance at proving what it can do is starting out with a guitar in very good working and playing conditon and if you are using pedals for all your overdrives and distortions,a good clean,clear articulate tone from your amp. It must start here,in order to give a pedal a fair chance. I did this with the Dist. Pro and I never gave up on it,and it payed off.

I have not had it long enough to tell,but it looks like it built very solid and I probably would not need a back up for it.

I e-mailed Mike about my Trim pot adjustments.I told him that I've seen way too many brand new Dist. Pro's being sold for cheap on E-bay and HC.I mentioned that probably almost all of those guys never adjusted both trim pots,and therefore thought the pedal sucked. He emailed me back in a few hours and said the new Dist. Pro's have the pots cut back and players are alot happier.Mike does really care about what players think of his products and wants them to be satisfied. If you have any problems e-mail Mike. He will return your e-mail

I play in a Country variety band.I play old and new country classic and new rock,funk,rap and Tejano music. I have to be able to cover all the bases. This pedal is able is able to cover alot of ground. With pot adjustment I can go from light overdrive to singing lead tone.I've been playing live for 25 years staight with only 5 months off when I changed from rock music to country variety. I also own a 72'Fender Deluxe Tele,77'Fender Strat,77'Gibson Explorer,82'Jimmy Wallace 59'reissue quilted sunburst,91'52'reissue Tele,96'50's reissue Fender Strat,and my live giging guitar. 99' Tom Anderson Hollow Drop Top Classic.If it were stolen I would purchase it again.As a matter of fact,I'm probably going to buy a few of HC or E-bay who don't know what they're getting rid of.I love the tonal options available on this pedal. My favorite feature is the saturation knob. You can dial nice compessed tone to taste.I compared this to the Barber Direct Drive and it was more versitile than the Barber.On the light side the Barber was more transparent,although the Dist Pro was transparent on the light side,it just wasn't as much as the Barber.Now on the heavier side,the Barber couldn't get the singing saturated lead tone the Pro could. I also compared the Pro also to my Mxr Dist. II pedal.To my surprise neither the Barber or the Pro were as transparent on the light side as the Mxr.Neither the Barber or the Pro could match its almost clean boost transparncy.But on the other side of the spectrum,neither the Barber or the Mxr could keep up with the Pro's singing saturated lead tone.I bought this pedal for this reason.Thats the effect I was after.The fact that I can get so many other useable tones is just a plus. I don't consider myself a pedal snob and I don't have to have the most expensive pedals to feel like I'm getting the best tone. I use a lot of Boss pedals and also use an Arion chorus and also a Nobels overdrive along with my Mxr,Barber and Dist Pro.Some are inexpensive and some cost some good bucks,but they are "tone tools" to be used in the right mix with the guitar and an good amp. The group I play in has opened up for just about every big name country act in the country. I've had a chance to hang out and talk about equipment and tone with some of the best pickers around.The thing that I've noticed is that most of them just use good old tube amps alot of them use boss pedals with choice high end pedals mixed in. In talking to these guys they say their sound starts with a good guitar into a good sounding amp,but they say that the best guys tone comes from their fingers. The effects only help enhance the basic tone.Without the proper fundamental tonal foundation the pedals no matter what they cost mean nothing. Case in point,is when we opened for George Jones. The guitar player played an old silver faced twin and was using an old 60's or 70's strat,and only had a Boss cs-2,Boss Dm-2 and he had just about the best tone I've heard live of all the pickers we've opened up for.I've learned from this tonal enlightment that you have to know how to properly use the tools you have to get good tone. This pedal is alot like this. There is an Ambosia of tone lurking inside the pedal waiting to nourish the tone hungry explorers in all of us.

This is a follow-up to my previous post. I posted about running the DP through my blues junior and my boogie. Well, I am very hesitant about giving 10's but, I just started playing the DP through a stock '65 Twin Reverb (reissue) and this thing sounds every bit as good as anything I've heard (recorded or live).

I am learning a few lessons here, which is good.

First, the '65 Twin is an fantastic amp and the DP sounds just a great.

Overall, this pedal is very particular to the amp-guitar set-up. If you find the right combination of instrument and amp, this pedal will satisfy you for a long time.

Really, its not brain surgery, but you just need to understand which knob does what.

Guitar: Les Paul Classic - 500t bridge PU and 498T Neck PU
Amps: Mesa Rect-o-Verb thru a 2x12 Rectifier Cab, Fender Blues Junior

Using this pedal straight out of the box I was a little disappointed. My first test is always with the Blues Junior amp. It's not the greatest sounding amp, so my theory is if a pedal sounds good through that, then it usually sounds good through my Boogie.

The DP sounded very chunky (in a bad way) and rough. Not very musical to my ears. I played around with a number of different setting over a number of days. The distortion from the Blues Junior was better than the pedal! At this point, I'm getting very cynical about all of these perfect 10 reviews I've read previous to my purchase.

Anyway, I then tried the DP with my Boogie. The pedal sounded better than through the BJ, but it did not knock me off my feet. To me, this was an average pedal with a very high price tag.

A little frustrated I decided to tweak the internal trimmers. I lowered the gain of the internal trim pot approx. 1/4 turn (lowering the gain) and the pedal sounded MUCH better.

This pedal now sounds a lot smoother, BUT it has to be played at a relatively loud volume. When played loud, this pedal is a 8+. At lower volumes, I'd give it a 6, maybe a 7. When played through the BJ, the pedal still gets a 6.

I did try a number of distortion pedals. The BOSS Mega Distortion actually sounded better. I could get every sound of the Distortion Pro out of the BOSS pedal and more. Plus the BOSS was a lot smoother sounding. The big drawback to the Boss pedal was at loud volumes. It started to get a *tingy* metallic hiss type sound.

The lower notes still seem less defined, a tad muddy.

Looks like it is well constructed.

Sent one email, responded within the hour (after his normal business hours).

I once read a post somewhere in here to be weary of any review that gives all 10's and uses words like "greatest ever", etc... I agree totally with that poster. Some of the comment border on the ridiculous. There are a lot of those reviews for this pedal. I believe some of that comes from folks who spend large $$$ on a pedal trying to justify thier purchase. Others, well, it is probably true to thier ears.

Overall, the Fulltone Distortion Pro is a very good distortion pedal. In my opinion, at loud volumes, it beats the likes of Maxon DSII, MXR D+, and Boss mega Distortion.

Really, if you plan to purchase, do yourself a favor and seek a dealer with a return policy. Try it out with your own gear and judge from there. (By the way, in the music store this pedal sounded like a "10" through a Reissue '59 bassman!)

This is a subjective point of view. Each owner must judge to thier own ears. Hope this helps somebody.