Fulltone Fat-Boost

It's a no brainer. The small Gain knob can be a little tricky when it has to be reset when switching from s/c to h/b pickups, but otherwise it's fine.

I use this pedal with a variety of guitars through a few different amps. Almost all setups sound better with this in the chain but it does make my Victoria 3515 a little farty when I crank the volume. And that's even with a relatively lo output Strat pickup. When I put it between a 335 and a Plexi (using a Power Brake) it make the 335 even more throaty. I dial down the bass and up the mids and for my money it's one hell of a sound.

I had a problem with the switch about a week after I purchased it. I'm told Fulltone really prides itself on their switch quality and I do own other Fulltone pedals that have performed flawlessly for a few years now. I need to get a new switch and I have contacted the company about this. No response as of yet.

I've been playing blues, soul and r+B, and rootsy rock for about13 years now and and this enhances everything I do. Tonally, it's absolutely transparent which I think is it's greatest feature.I tried an Austone boost and found it too limited control wise, and also tried a Z-Vex super hard on that I just thought was weird. This pedal allowed for so much more control both tonally and output wise.

Volume and tone, how can you go wrong? Nice clean boost, some distortion with hot inputs, high output, overloads non-master volume amps nicely, warm tone.

Sounds great like all the Fulltone pedals. I think the Zvex SHO is bit better clean boost, but this is a nice sounding pedal.

He builds good.

Generally a nice guy, but gets a bit huffy if contradicted.

Nice sounding pedal, nearly as good as the best and a lot cheaper than many.

Extremely simple to use. Volume, Tone, and Gain. It may present some problems if you intend to run it behind (into) another pedal and could possibly overload it and cause some unwanted distortion or clipping.

I bought this pedal to boost the quiet tones produced by my strat. At the time, most of my playing was completely dry and I was using a Boomerang to creat blues loops or whatever. I needed a pedal that could boost the clean tone for blues. It took me a while to reach a point where the fat-boost was dialed in right so that it didn't overload the 'Rang. This pedal is absolutely fantastic as a stand alone pedal. It will give your strat more volume than a Paul and yet retain that pure bell like tone that only comes from single-coils. It does compress things ever so slightly, but this has the effect of diminishing thin or brittle tones a bit and helps make it sound -well- FAT. Don't get me wrong, it does not muddy things up at all, it just kinda takes the edge off the harsh ear-piercing brittle tones sometimes produced by single coils, and beefs up the lows a bit so that the sound is fuller as it becomes louder, all of this is very subtle- in the way a sprig of mint might alter the favor of a glass of ice tea. No hum. No noise whatsoever.

Stomp it.

Still works.

It's good for fixing a quiet strat. It's good if you like clean tones coming through tubes with a side of spring reverb. In short -blues lead. As far as amplifing other sounds, it does just fine, but lets not scrutinize its effect upon the fine subtle characteristics of an active humbucker coming through a boss metalzone, or some other neat sounds that have their origin in a bunch of ones and zeros... Not that they are bad, (I use them too) but this box really shines when there isn't much between your guitar's output jack and a good tube amp.

This box has 3 controls: Input Gain, Tone and Volume. The only way to get a good sound out of it is to set the Input Gain and Tone to the max and then adjust the volume to the required level, otherwise it is very dark and muddy sounding.

The controls are smooth and not noisy when rotated. There is little noise when the you are not playing. The sound quality is less than I expected for an expensive custom-made effect. It is dark sounding and definitely colours the sound. The input gain needs to stay at it's max setting for minimum noise. The tone control is too heavy and I found that i was leaving it at max almost all of the time. It was *okay* sounding with my tube amp but not so good with my transistor amp.

This box is very well made. It is solid and the construction is excellent. The gray goop that is all over the circuit board is bad in that it would make repair very difficult and it prevents me from making a mod to the tone control to improve the sound.

Never dealt with manufacturer directly.

I was really disappointed with this box. It has so little useful range on the tone control that it is almost useless. Also if you turn down on the input gain it begins to get noisy. If you want a good clean boost then the Z.Vex Super Hard-On is a better buy. I plan on selling my Fat Boost and trying something else.

I opened up my Fat Boost and traced the circuit. If you want to see what makes it work then see my page at http://kickme.to/fatboost

The pedal sounds great, and does exactly what the name says- it fattens the tone, and boosts the signal going to the amp. There is plenty of gain on tap, from a little to way more than you'd need. I don't get what some others have said about noise- my FB is extremely quiet, and I use it after several other pedals. I plug into all-tube non-master volume amps, and it makes the sound bigger at lower volumes, as if the volume on the amp was cranked a few notches higher. It doesn't produce a more middy, cutting tone, like a Tubescreamer. It can also enhance the tendency to get controlled feedback at low volumes, another great feature. I'm not giving a numerical rating because that's become meaningless on these reviews. For what it is designed and advertised to do, I don't see how it could be much better.

Excellent to deal with. Pro quality products and support whenever you need it. I feel there's pride in their work. So they don't want to chat for a half hour on the phone, and they don't say "have a nice day" or put smiley faces at the end of e-mails, so what. Call Mr. Rogers if that's what you need.

Very easy to use. I would have given a "10" here, but the little input trim knob gets somewhat lost on a dark stage.

I use a strat or L.P.(P-90's) into various 60's bf Fenders, depending on the size of the gig (Princeton Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, blond Bassman). I bought this pedal because I needed a boost for solos that wouldn't mess with my tone. I go straight into the amp & usually have to turn around and crank the amp for solos, then turn it down again. This pedal solves that. It sounds like my amp at a louder volume when I kick it on, and the bypass keeps my tone intact. I've had no problems with noise or signal loss, and this is coming from someone who has NEVER liked using pedals. I've liked the sound of a few different pedals (my buddy's MXR Phase 100 comes to mind), but they're only on 10% of the time & the other 90% my regular tone get's muddied w/o a true bypass. I finally own a pedal I can use.

It seems really solid, but I haven't owned it long enough to give a valid opinion.

Again, I haven't had to deal with customer support yet, so no opinion.

I play rock, blues, country, basically everything but screaming loud metal/hard rock. It this pedal were stolen or lost, I would probably buy another. I considered the Klon, but figured I'd give this one a try since it was half the price & I didn't need any overdrive. I just needed a boost for solos that wouldn't ruin my regular guitar-cable-amp sound, and this thing covers it.

Very simple layout. The only reason it doesn't get a "10" here is that little input knob can be tricky on a dark stage.

I have always been happy with my guitar/amp tone. I've heard some pedals that I've liked, but they never made it into my rig because of the fact they always ruined my straight tone. This thing goes in line without messing up my tone. Depending on the gig, I use a BF Princeton Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, or Blond Bassman. I bought this pedal because I got sick of turning up my amp for solos. By the way, plenty of people have told me I could take care of this by turning my guitar's volume down & keeping the amp cranked, but I have never played a guitar that didn't lose definition or top-end when I roll off the volume. This little pedal takes care of it. Kick it on, I get a little volume & drive added to my sound, just like turning up. I like it. As far as the people who say it's noisy w/ other pedals, I don't use any so this isn't a problem. By the way, have you ever thought maybe those Boss/DOD cheapies were noisy anyway & that a 20db boost of ANY kind would result in more noise?

This thing seems pretty solid. If it ever died at a gig, it probably means I left the cable in it & killed the 9 volt.

3 knobs. easy as pie. Only loses a point cuz the gain knob is so tiny.

I'm pretty much just writing this to point out a good use that I don't think anyone else has touched on. This thing makes my acoustic/electric Rickenbacker sound like a real acoustic when played through an amp!! (I use a Vox AC-15 w/ alnico speaker). It's great. It's wonderful. If you have an acoustic/electric and a tube amp, give it a try. No more tiny, brittle sounding tone. Just nice, creamy, acoustic goodness.

Of course, it also is great for overdriving my amp with an electric. (Ric 370 is my main axe). I've also tried it with my Danelectro Longhorn... doesn't really do much of anything for it 'cept make it louder... whatever.

Seems pretty solid to me. One thing though, if you have a piece-of-shit AC adapter, and you leave it plugged in with the box in bypass mode, the adapter will get really hot and then stop working within about 20 minutes. I went through 3 crappy wal-mart multi-adapters, before I finally stole my little brothers Danelectro AC (which doesn't have a problem).

never dealt with'em

I gots no particular style I don't reckon. As Kid Rock said at that Las Vegas Phish show, "I just love fucking music!" (well, I've never actually fucked music, but I think you get the idea)

Anyhow, if I lost the thing, I would get another pretty quick. It's useful, for sure.

Very simple. The thing I have found is not to get the input bias knob turned up too high or you can get some clipping, the kind that isn't musical. I'm sure it depends on the type of amp and what other boxes you use with it.

My setup is a modified '57 reissue strat with vintage hot lindy fralins (neck and middle) and a 7% overwound blues special in the bridge. Effects are Teese rmc 3 wah, Fat Boost,
boss cs-2 compressor, boss od-3, boss ds-1,boss dd-2 delay and rv-3 reverb/delay (I only use the reverb).Amp is a Marshall JTM-45 that was reworked by the guys as Clarke Amplification (not cheaply either) to mimic a model #1987 circa 1969-70 4 input top.Cabinet is a Mesa 1x12 with a vintage 30 celestion. I have another with a 200 watt EV.
This rig is very versatile for the music I play, which is anything from Van Halen to hendrix to srv to clapton etc. Big Strat sounds.
My rig sounded good before I got the fat boost and it sounds even better with it. I didn't actually intend to buy one of these but I went to my favorite guitar store and they had one of these running through a bogner with some other pedals and it sounded great.
This is a pedal that, to me, makes your amp have the same sensitivity and high end sparkle you would have at high volume at a reasonable level. It does work great as a boost. But, I think it just makes my guitar sound BIGGER with out any squashiness or compression, although it does increase the sustain. It works well with gain or clean.
This is not a distortion or overdrive. I have read that some people who have the Klon are insulted that people try to compare this pedal to it. Who cares! Get a life! The fat boost is a cool thing all by itself and really adds depth to your sound where you might notthink itneeded any. The thing I want to emphasize is that this pedal is very musical sounding. I have also had an oppurtunity to hear this pedal with a PRS McCarty with the p-90's and there was a definite improvement with the fat boost. The sales guy at the shop where I bought the unit had been putting itat the end of the effects chain and wasn't really impressed with it. After I changed
the order they had set up,the guys face lit up. He told me that I had sold him on the pedal and was going to take one home that night.This brings to point that, you its hard sometimes to tell if something will work with your rig. Then there's a chance you're using it wrong.

who knows, it seems sturdy enough. things break?

never had to deal with.

This is an icing on the cake deal. If your rig sucks or your axe sucks or even if your playing sucks this won't help you sound like your favorite guy. I've been playing for 25 plus years and have had a friggin' boatload of gear. To me, the best guitar sounds are the ones that are uncluttered and pretty straightforward, a little gain here a lttle distortion there some delay or reverb in there. I've never written a review before but I felt the need here because I think some people have the wrong idea about this pedal. It's inspiring to play with this pedal and there really aren't too many things (guitar-wise)
that you can buy for 150 bucks and say that about. I've had a fat boost for about 6 months and I like it more now than I bought it. How many pedals can you say that about?

Much has been said in other people's comments so I'll puy my spin on it here:
Very easy to uses except watch the little gain trim....you need to balance this for your particular situation so as not to emphasis noise from your OTHER effects or single-coil pickups

This unit is clean and not noisy

Fender Strat w/ Linday Fralin vintage p/u's into Boss Dynamic Filter FT-2 >> Fulldrive II >>> Boss DM-2 digital delay >>> Fat Boost >>> 65 Deluxe Reissue with Weber P12R speaker

The pedal does exatly what it is supposed to do: FATBOOST

Nothing to break really...no need for back-up

Ask a question (e-mail works best) get an answer...what more can you want?

Rock/Country/Blues/Funk etc....This pedal is a great for adding fatness to your amp without cranking it. Also can be used for a clean boost during solos. Side benefit is to use it for clean boost soling on acoustic guitars especially when you don't have an on board volume knob