Fulltone Fat-Boost

In 10 minutes you can tweak trough the 3 knobs and have this
pedal down. I only glanced at the nanual after I had it for a couple
months you don't need it. I bought this in 2003 on ebay it was the
latest version.

I play a customized SRV strat through a black face super at gigs
and a black face Princton at practice. It is absolutly clean unles you turn the imput gain past half way and then I think it's only driving my amp into light break up that sounds wonderfull.
The tone control can fatten up a strat if you back it off or leave
it the same at 2 o'clock. I've been using this infront of a distortion pro pedal by Fulltone that I bought the same week and they are great together. I set the Pro for a slight boost and light distortion and when the Fat Boost is kicked in it pumps you up for a out front solo nicely. This is the fist overdrive/dist. setup i've kept for over a year. Every so often I just tweak in a minor adjustment on the many knobs on the Pro and i've got a new pedal. I went to a jam and played through a not so nice ampeg jet with only the Fat Boost and it made that amp sound totally amazing. The fat boost can inhance the tone of any amp and guitar.

I've had it over 3 years, it's been dropped, kicked, and stomped on
many times and it works like new. I'ts indestructable.

Never needed to deal with Mike but one of my friends has talked to him on the phone and had a upgrade with good rezults.

I play classic rock, funk, blues. This pedal would work for any type of music. Just try one you'll find it a valuble tool. I use this more than any other pedal I have. I've been playing for 30 years and these are the only pedals i've ever been happy with for this long. They grow with you and on you.

Three knobs: volume, tone, overdrive.

I have tried the Fulltone Full Drive 2, Distortion Pro, OCD and now the Fat-Boost. The Fat-Boost is clearly my favorite of them all.

Combining the Fat-Boost with the Full Drive 2 or OCD produces a great result, but my favorite combination now is the Fat-Boost with the AMT California Sound. Super thick Mesa/Plexi overdrive with these two.

So far so good.

E-mails to Fulltone don't always get a reply.

I would like to compare the Fat-Boost to the Klon Centaur and the Maxon OD-820, which I think are the main competitors. (And much more expensive, too).

The sound is definitely cleaner than any other Fulltone overdrive pedal. I like the fact that the amp's original tone is not drastically changed.

Non semplicissimo come puo sembrare in apparenza: credo che la scelta di un potenziometro per il tono sia deficitaria perche complica le cose e puo portarti anche a snaturare il suono tanto cercato. Certo, puo anche migliorarlo :) ma in un booster inserire un potenziometro per il tono e... come dire?... non prendersi la responsabilita di quello che si fa: se il tono finale si colora con il fatboost e sempre e comunque colpa dell'utente perche non sa settarlo. Uhm...


I think that the choice of a tone knob it's not lucky: it complicates the live of who wants to get a really transparent tone from this pedal.

Eccezionale.
A parte il difetto sopra esposto, il pedale e fenomenale. Ormai mi sono abituato a tenerlo sempre acceso.
Perche?
Perche non c'e solo un aumento di volume ma anche un ingrassamento serio del suono. Troviamo una metafora: e come passare da un mondo 2D ad un mondo 3D! Tutto assume forma, peso, consistenza. E' un altro modo di sentire la chitarra, decisamente migliore, pur rimanendo trasparente (a patto di smanettare un po' col tono).

A proposito: POTETE usarlo come boost perche e un boost. Frase sciocca? No. Qualche recensione fa pensare che non aumenti poi granche di volume. Non e la verita: se mettete il vostro amplificatore ad un volume che non sia il massimo, il FB spinge eccome. Se siete gia al limite di volume, non dovete prendere il FB: cambiate ampli. Il guadagno credo sia realmente sopra i 20db.

Marvellous. For me it's always on. It's really transparent (the trick is to dial on the tone knob with the right setting) and it emphasize your sound, fatten it, make it bigger. For me it's like saying that you go from a 2D world on a 3D: you gain another dimension of sound!

For who wants to use it as a booster: USE IT!, because it's a booster. If your amp it's not a the highest volume, the fatboost kick in. If you are at the limit of your amp volume, don't take a fatboost: change the amp!
It gives you a great gain: 20db are sure, maybe more.

Ormai non vivo senza: Fatboost e Menatone Red Snapper saranno in qualunque pedaliera della mia vita. Costa un po', altrimenti ne avrei gia un secondo.

It's a must: with the Red Snapper it's my favourite effect. It's a bit expensive, so I cannot buy a backup item.

What's a Customer Support with a perfect item?

Suono rock, blues e qualche country. Ultimamente mi sto dedicando di piu al southern rock: il fatboost e indispensabile qualunque cosa faccia.

I play rock, blues and a bit of country. In the last months I've played a lot of southern rock: the Fatboost is always called at work!

Buy it, it's a great thing.

Very easy to use because there is only 3 knobs for obvious controls: volume, gain (overdrive) and tone.

Just use it as an overdrive pedal, but don't expect drive because this is NOT an overdrive pedal, although it looks like one, specialy because of the 3 knobs.

The manual is important and very effective for understanding that this is a pedal to increase (boost) volume and gain.

To understand my review, here is my set-up:
- GUITARS: Fender Stratocasters (from 1969 and 1974) and Fender Telecaster (from 1968);
- AMPS: Marshall 100 watts reissue "plexi" Super Lead and Marshall 50 watts reissue "plexi" (both non-master volume, so they must be incredably loud to overdrive);
- CABS: Marshall 4x12 with Celestion 25 watts green backs reissues and Marshall 4x12 with Celestion 75 watts;
- PEDALS: Fulltone Full-Drive 2 through the Fulltone Fat-Boost then to both amps through a Morley A/B/Y box.

The Fulltone Fat-Boost ISN'T NOISE, although the drive knob makes some scratch noises when seting up, but it is warned on the manual and, since that potentiometer is dented (11 positions) it keeps in place securely avoiding the undesired noise if accidentaly touched.

Even at higher volumes, when it is expected to EVERYTHING be noisy, the Fat-Boost didn't made/added/brought those tipical static and trebly noises common on overdrive/distortion pedals. For example, the very good and traditional MXR Micro Amp brings that undesired static noise.

The Fat-Boost serves to boost your volume for solos or some leads.
It really increases the volume to cut through the band (I play with another guitar player who plays Gibsons with humbuckers, we play loud rock 'n roll - think AC/DC).

IMPORTANT: be sure your amp has enough volume headroom, otherwise NO PEDAL in the world can make your sound louder because your amp CAN'T BREATH!

Most important of all, the Fat Boost is very, very transparent. The coloration, when on, is minimal. The true by-pass works very well when it is disconnected.

Don't expect this pedal to clip (distort) your clean amp like an overdrive or weak distortion box. If it is what you need, go look elsewhere.
Actualy, the Drive knob gives some drive, but just a little to make the sound better when kicking the volume.

I only control the volume and set the Drive and Tone knob on max.

It looks like a brick and the electronis are very well mounted and soldered.

I totally depend on it to cut through on solos.

If lost or stolen I would by another.

Like I wrote on the reveiw of the Full-Drive 2, sent one e-mail and there was no answer...

Again, like I wrote on the Full-Drive 2 reviews, it is bloody expensive but it is an amazing pedal! You shouldn't expect anything different for a boutique pedal.
Just bought it on the web (at MusicToyz.com).
Makes me want to solo like crazy and be sure everybody is hearing me!

Deca



PS: I have nothing to do with Fulltone, I'm just a far away customer... and they don't even replyed my e-mails...

This a review for the "newer" version of the Fulltone Fatboost. Has 3 controls volume, Drive(dirt) and tone. Ease of use is very subjective with this pedal as the controls are interactive. Sound will vary depending on your volume settings of your amp and guitar and most importantly what and where you use it with in a pedalboard. My ease of use is based partly on sound quality.(see below)

I have mixed feelings about the sound/use of this pedal. I use it primarily with Fender P and J basses and a Modulus jazz. My main amps are Eden (tube preamp) with Eden 210/Mesa Boogie 15 EV cabs. I've also used it with small solid state Vox and Yorkville bass amps. Other reviewers say this is a clean transparent boost...I disagree. Is that bad not necessarily but it is NOT TRANSPARENT it colours all my basses, other pedals and amps. I was looking for some saturation/fatness a little bitty dirt as a change to the clean/crispness of the Eden amps and it does that job fairly well. I have it at the very end of my pedalboard EBS Multicomp-EBS Octabass-EBS IQ-MXR EVH Phase 90-Demeter Tremulator-Fatboost-Eden. Anywhere else and it doesn't sound as good, it can really change the sound of my other pedals...so placement is very important. Setting the drive past 2 o'clock gets harsh pretty quick, this is also effected by the tone control which can give it presence, I usually don't go past 2 o'clock (12 is neutral but can be muddy)As a pedal to give you a bigger sound it does a good job but it can really change your original settings. This is why I have a love/hate for this pedal. I find it's best application for me is on it's own to beef up a little combo amp that needs a volume/tone boost. I find it sounds better with passive Fenders than my active Modulus with Bartolinis. I have had this for over a year and have used it in many applications but I find that I go back to using basically the same settings on the pedal, other settings to me just sound mediocre. I know there is probably something better so would I strongly recommend it..No. I bought it used off Ebay so obviously the original owner didn't like it that much.

This pedal is the best built pedal I own.

I did email with questions about the OCD and if they had any experience with use on a bass rig. Got a quick reply but not much detail. Why doesn't Fulltone have bass sound files on their website??

I play mostly blues/funk/r&b 30 years.Again the use of this pedal is very subjective. It was reviewed in Bass Player and the website entices bass players to use it. I think this would probably be better with an all tube head. Like I said it will give you a nice saturated louder beefier sound but it is not a transparent boost. Placement of this pedal is very important. Build quality is excellent. I'm a glad I bought it used because new it's a little pricey.

It is like it says. easy to use and straight up. Its comes with a 2 page instruction manual and 2 basic settings. They should give you more suggested settings so you can get going faster.

I played it at home thru a 1980 Gib LP with a pair of super D's and a 2005 Pro Reverb amp. It was a very quite pedal and i used it on various settings. I didnt do too much for me cus my amp is dark sounding to begin with. (it sounded great in the store thru a deluxe reverb and EC strat)
So i took it home for a few hours and was dissapointed. I play otis rush type blues and i was able to accomplissh the same thing rolling back my guitars tone and increaseing my volume accordingly.

Dont get me wrong this pedal works and really fattens up your tone without changing your sound but i think it responds better to a brite sounding amp like a Twin reverb or Deluxe etc.

n/a

n/a

It sounded great in the store. I compared it side by side with the OCD and couldnt make up my mind becasue they didnt have my exact set up. so on the recommendation of the salesmen he let me buy it and take it home for a few hours with the understanding that if i didnt like it he'd let me exchange it for the OCD. WHich I Did 6 hours later.

The tone is hard to describe. it adds meat to your existing tone without changing it, but it just wasnt giving me the blues sound that i was looking for thru my perticular amp.

very easy plug it in a go your off. read everybody elses reviews.

This is my second time with a FB. This time major equipment upgrades have occured, a few more years under my belt, and playing with professional musicans hasnt hurt. This is my set up: Gibson Custom Jimmy Page Les Paul Custom Authentic 2005, Gibson Custom Historic Les Paul '58 Reissue 2003, Fender Custom Classic Tele '99 (Sadly maple neck), a '59 Reissue Danelectro DC2 and a Gibson Limited edition Double Neck (white with gold hardware). Zep heads out there should figure out that I've got a Page set up. For amps I go through a '89 Reissue JTM45 (retro'd completely back to 60's specs) that is soon to be put into combo form ala bluesbreaker. that goes into a Marshall 1960bx 412 cab. Pedals are merely a fulltone clyde wah -> fatboost -> maxon ad900.

Enough about that, that was just to show that i am not a know nothing kid and I know my gear even though I am young (22) I have been playing for almost 15 years now and have own a plethora of gear.

The fatboost in this set up was ... ... FAT. That is all. This, unlike what Mike Fuller states is not a transparent boost. I spent a good long time trying to get it transparent before I started trying to boost the signal to no avail. No matter what settings you dial in the shimmer of a non master volume tube amp is not. It fattens it a compresses it. this pedal is cool if you want to forget about your amp tone (like most overdrive or distortion pedals). A lot of fun to leave on (especially on a JTM45) because it gives you that saturation thats near to the 1987 or 1959 SLP. But that is not what I purchased the pedal for, I purchased it to push me above the rest of the band, that is mike sells it as and I feel it failed miserably at this. When you're playing at Plexi levels this thing doesnt push you anywhere it just fattens without the boost. which translates into getting lost in muck. fun for bedroom level playing or on a super clean amp like a vibroverb or twin amp or even an old traynor ygm3 but on marshalls it does not stack up...

sorry mike, I love you pedals but this is not one of your best...

built like a tank like all fulltones no questions there

havent tried since he never got back to me about fixing my clyde. Thanks Robert Keeley for the fabulous job you did on install the blue LED in it and fixing the switch!

lets do the music type in chronological order:
blues, rockabily, rock 'n' roll, rock, and hardrock
from the 20's to the early 80's and then mix in some STP, Pearl Jam and Django in there for variety. Huge Zephead. this pedal is going back on ebay this weekend and thats the last time i buy one of them. 2nd time, 1st one bought for a great price of 90$ this one not so lucky but ill still pull a profit! fun pedal for bedtime stories but for real playing is seriously lacking in depth - really really takes ALL the dynamics out of your guitar and amp. Its like playing country with a freakin' compressor/sustainer YUCK!

hope I was some help.

Very easy all been said before

OK this is whay I am writing...I used it on guitar for a while and loved it into just tubes but found that in the mix of other effects I couldnt get it to do what I wanted for me. I went with the super hard on from zvex and got hust what I wanted a thick cutting boost and got it with the SHO. But wait folks there's more...!!!! I dicided to use it on my bass which I like with a clean to overdriven tone but I always want fat deffenition. WOW oh yeah WOW this is where this pedal has done for me what no other boost pre amp bla bla bla has ever done. Made my american Jazz bass come to life like a massive sensitive tone monster Oh I couldn't put it down!!! I love this thing on bass. I have removed all other gear from my bass rig with but an envelope filter for special bouncy sounds on some funky tunes ( not used much ) and the fat boost just that from jazz bass to 66 bassman head and bass cabinet with 10s and horn. This thing will let you feel your way to bass tones with your fingers and slap with the halfground strings I use sound super percussive better than could ever be expects I give it a 9 on guitar because it works with just the amp very well but not for what I needed but on the bass I give it a 12!!!

Rock solid

no problems yet

Well I wont play bass without it period its like the bbe sonic maximizer for guitar I just wont play with out it and this goes the same now for my bass

Easy to get a great sound out of. 3 knobs.
The small knob is tough to turn.

Sounds great. I only use it for a Solo boost live. It is also very quite. It really does fatten up the tone without the typical bass/low-end farting of most pedals. It lets you keep your rhythm tone on the clean side of dirty. When you turn it on for solo's it really cuts through. Great volume separation when the pedal is on.

It's been a good pedal.

They seem to answer all emails very quick.

I've heard that they are great to deal with from other guitarist.

I play Hard Rock/Punk Rock. Been playing forever. I play a Tele Deluxe & a Tokai Love Rock. My quest for tone has been crazy the past few years. I got tired of gear not sounding like I want it to. There's no reason to play through gear you're not totally happy with. This pedal is happiness in a Stompbox. I tried one of these a few years ago & I was wrong, wrong, wrong about what this pedal can do. I thought my MXR Micro Amp was the ticket, until I used on a couple tracks in the studio. The Fat Boost works perfect with my old Peavey Butcher (the greatest JCM 800 ever made) & my Classic 30 combo. I spent thousands of dollars on amps & pedals trying to find the right combination. Fulltone really makes great pedals. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. I never thought I'd be playing through Peavey amps & a Fulltone Fat Boost.

As stated by others very straightforward operation, two big knobs covering level and drive and a small one for tone - don't be fooled by its size it has a big impact.

A serious pedal for people working hard on their tone. I have used this with single coil and humbucker guitars, semi's and even on an acoustic. Its been run through Matchless, Boogie and Musicman amps, and even a solid state Polytone.
It always make s a difference. It can set to add bite, or clean boost, but at lower settings it just brings out a much fuller sound. Eeverythng just sounds better.
No hiss unless the tone is up full.

Built like a little tank, Fulltone stuff is pro standard.

never had to deal with them.

Nowadays 160 bucks will get you pedals that can do some pretty amazing things. This is relatively subtle, but if you have a decent guitar and amp it is well worth the investment to finish off the tone.
It also works as a good line driver. If you use a number of effects, like I do, put it as the start of the chain and it helps minimise tone loss.
A stand out piece of kit.

A volume and drive knob and a tiny tone knob. Pretty easy to use. Manual is brief but all you need.

American 40th Annivesary Strat with Dimarzio stacked humbuckers in neck and middle, Seymour Duncan JB Jr. in neck; Warmoth Tele with Seymour Duncan single coils; Epiphone Elitist Les Paul; all through a Peavey Delta Blues 15" speaker amp.

With drive low and volume up, tone at 12 o'clock, this amp can give your sound some serious girth. Adds great body to whatever sound you are using. With drive up, this box adds some nice, subtle overdrive to your sound. I use this pedal primarily for live playing as a lead boost, but it can also be used just to add some punch to your amp's basic sound at lower playing volumes. Remember the Aphex Aural Exciter and how it would just add punch to your existing sound? That's what this box can do. A wonderful device. Essential to any set up, I think. Very quiet.

Said it before in other reviews of Fulltone products. The build quality is superb. Great attention to detail. Feels solid as a rock. I've gigged without a backup but:

1. I can't see this well-built, finely-crafted box ever failing.
2. If it did fail, I could still get through the night, but would be bummed.

Can't really say. They've responded to one email and ignored another. Won't give a rating here, but they do have a 5 year warranty, which is great.

I play classic rock and blues mostly. I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned lots of pedals, though the Fulltones are my first boutique pedals. I love the quality of this pedal, the "substance" it adds to my sound, and its versatility. The tone knob is versatile and can color your sound or leave it intact. My current amp has a fat boost built in, but it can't compare to the three-dimensionality of the sound this pedal adds. I do wish that tone knob was a bit larger (easier to use), but I rarely move it from the 12 o'clock position, so it's not an issue really. I chose the Fulltone over the Seymour Duncan because, from reading reviews on HC, the Seymour Duncan uses plastic jacks and seems to be mass produced, unlike the Fulltone. I like that this pedal is handmade...it shows. I couldn't ask for anything more from a pedal like this and recommend to anyone who wants to add that missing something to their sound. I would replace this if it were lost or stolen. This pedal is now in constant use on my pedal board.

Three knobs. Easy enough!

I think of this as a live gig pedal. The sound quality of the overdrive is great,so it could certainly be used strictly as an overdive pedal in any situation, live or studio- but I was looking for the ultimate 'solo boost' pedal because i don't like channel switching and this is the ulimate boost pedal! I use it with either a Top Hat or a Hiwatt, and as long as there's some headroom in the amp, it will kick it up to where you want it- and do it with a juicy, round, natural tone. What kind of guitar you or I play is irrelevant- this thing blows away everything else I've tried.The Sparkledrive is the first in along line of pedals I no longer need since I bought this. I like a simple setup, and this just takes your sound and pushes it out front beautifully.

Wouldn't worry about it failing. Warranty is five years.

I e-mailed him with a question regarding this pedal vs the Fulldrive- I wanted to know ifthe Fulldrive had the same amount of boost- 30db. He got back to me in less than 24 hours. Well done.

I do sessions for commercials and rock albums, and I play in several local and national rock bands. I've been playing electric guitar since I was 10, and I'm 40 now. I play Teles, LesPauls, etc and this was worth every penny. It has a simple function and it's simple to use. I would have to replace it immediately if it were lost or stolen. It couldn't possibly get in the way- it's so small- just stomp on it and go. I've used it in some pretty huge rooms, including the Fillmore West in San Fransisco a couple of months ago, and it makes your amp cut through when you need it to, but it does it with a beautiful.... full tone, what else can I say?

As easy as they come, plug and play and take 5 minutes to tweek...

Perfect for taking the cranked marshall sound one step further. I play a gibson LP classic, into the pedal, into a 50watt plexi halfstack. I always play my plexi on 9 or 10 and use a weber mass attenuator to save my ears. This pedal does exactly as it says, BOOST...doesn't alter the tone hardly at all like a distortion pedal would, and it doesn't attack your low end at all, not in my case anyways. It just takes your sound and adds that next level of gain. This thing is perfect with the plexi, absolutely perfect to get a true cranked marshall scream when it comes to leads. I have my amp cranked to 9, volume on the pedal at about 1 o'clock and drive at about 10 o'clock and the tone almost cranked and it makes my plexi breath fire.

The key with this pedal is having an amp and sound that you already like, this just steps it up the next little bit to really give you a hot rodded sound, that's what a booster is for i guess.

works perfect so far, haha...I'll keep my fingers crossed

Haven't needed them yet

Overall excellent pedal for what it's ment to do, don't expect it to transform your amp into a totally different sound, buy a tube screamer for that, but in my case, I just wanted a little extra out of my plexi for leads and this does the trick perfectly!

Easy to use -- volume, tone and drive like any overdrive pedal. All the knobs do what they say they do.

So here's where it gets subjective. First, let me give you my credentials. I've been playing rock and roll about 20 years but only playing guitar for about 10 years. I get together with friends every week to jam and play the occasional party but I'm not a pro. Having said that, I make enough $$$ to be able to buy what I love and I'm a gear whore who has churned through many guitars, amps and effects. My current rig is: 3 guitars (PRS custom 24, Gibson Les Paul Classic with Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers or PRS McCarty Soapbar (my #1)) into Furman pedalboard with Clyde Deluxe into Bad Cat amp switcher with the clean channel also having Fulltone Supa-Trem, Fulltone Choralflange, Line 6 Delay Modeler, Fulltone Fatboost into a Bad Cat Hot Cat 30 combo with a Bogner Cube 1x12 extension cabinet. I only write reviews on Harmony Central after I've lived and played with my gear for a while and I'm loving this box. I'm running it with the gain at one notch short of max but the volume down at 9:00 which takes the crystal clean of the Hot Cat (unless it's cranked) up to vintage Keef (think Sticky Fingers) territory and gives me a beautiful just breaking up tone. This effect is (like the Supa-Trem) slightly on the bright side -- it lifts your presence in a way that even if you set it at unity gain it would be awesome to give back all the frequencies that some effect steal. I find it enables me to cut through the band beautifully for that "in between" tone but if you're looking for a chunky bottom metal tone it's not here. I don't usually run it this way but if you turn the gain down and the volume up you get a much fatter tone. If you're looking for a pedal to take a clean amp to the sound of a cranked amp without diming the volume I would recommend this pedal (although I have not played the Klon Centaur which could be better based on its reputation -- although I can't imagine it does a better job than this). For other purposes, I can't comment intelligently.

Seems rock solid. No issues after 6 months.

Dunno. Never dealt with them.

If you're looking for a pedal to put at the end of a bunch of effects to give back the high end they all steal, I totally recommend this.

If you're looking for a pedal to give your amp the sound it has when it's burning loud but at lower volume, I recommend this.

If you're looking for tone-neutral volume boost, this won't quite do it -- it does effect tone in a way that you may or may not like although I can't imagine what (shy of a rectifier/bogner style built in amp boost) wouldn't affect tone.

If you're looking for metal tones, look elsewhere.

For what I'm looking for -- that "in between" just breaking up sound on a clean amp that sounds just like an amp turned up, it's pretty killer IMHO.

Although this thing is easy to use, why would you when

All this thing does is rape and molest your bottom end. Man I just don't get all these ( oh I love Fulltone shit) putz's out there.Don't believe any Harmony central reviews except this one. This thing makes a CLICKING NOISE when you turn it on, has a HISS like the ENTERPRISE and as I said, ABDUCTS your BOTTOM END. If this is what you like then give up guitar and buy a suit and stinkin tie.

If you are that stupid not to flog it off to the first chumpa that comes along you better hope it shits itself real quick.You can depend on that.

Who gives a rats.

I've been playing for 30 odd years just so you know I'm not 13 years old without a clue.I play a stat( wcr neck and middle, darkburst humbucker bride) through a JCM 800 and just wanted to improve my boost. I use an old Yamaha compressor pedal to get the amp going a bit more. It's noisey and robbs a bit of top end so basically I thought after reading the reviews from these flogs that it would be a better proposition.As if.I sold the Fat Boost straight away and am now seeking other avenues, all of which are none of your business. I am posting this scathing attack because that's what is required.Any device that kills your Treble and or Bass has no businees in anyone's rig.We're trying to improve our sound not vomit on it.I also tried the Fulltone Distortion Pro. Fuck me,same thing, and the cost of his shit.Fulltone Schmulltone,I will never go near this over priced crap again.Let the quest continue without Mike Fuller.Good one Mike.

I give this a nine. It's essentially a clean boost, without too much coloration. I'd give it a ten except for the small trim wheel that you need to set for gain. Once that's done..no problemo!

I use this with various guitars and mainly old Marshalls (JMPs). This does exactly what I wanted it to..just boost the solos a bit. Like all of Fulltone's pedals, it has true bypass switching and a really wondefull transparency. If your rig and tone sound great, this won't mask it at all. The tone control, even full up does not add a lot of unecessary treble...but that's a good thing! It's also very quiet. I set the trim wheel for fairly clean setting and then just place the gain control where I want it.

I can't imagine it breaking down..very rugged.

Never dealt with Mike Fuller

I play mainly blues and R&B. This is perfect for that. I imagine even metal heads might dig it withthe gain/trim wheeel turned all the way up! If it went missing, I'd definately purchase a new one.

It only has 3 controls and is very easy to dial in a good sound fast.

This is what I was looking for. A clean boost that did not put a lot of treble in my tone. I think the deciding factor for me was the tone control, which can be used to take out some of the treble or harshness that might come from using a high gain distortion box or amp. As another reviewer pointed out, it really doesn't add bass, it just takes out treble.

I play a wide range of stuff from college pop to hard core blistering metal.

My setup:
Ibanex RG-570, Scheter C1-Classic, Fender Telecaster
I have a lot of effects separated on 2 pedal boards that I A/B.
I have a digital pedal board and an analog pedal board.

Below is what I am using now. I have had about 50 effects in my short 2 years of playing.
Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah => Morely Bad Horsie 2 wah =>
Fulltone FD2 => Fulltone Distortion Pro => Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive (Keeley mod) => Ibanez TS808 (Keeley mod) => Tube Works Real Tube (with 12AT7) => Analogman Sun Face =>
Boss EQ-20 10 band equilizer => Rocktron Hush =>
Boss CE-5 chorus (digital) => Boss DD-20 Giga Delay (digital) =>
Maxon CS-9 chorus (analog) => Maxon AD-900 delay (analog) =>
T.C. Jauernig Luxury Drive (treble boost) => Fulltone Fat Boost =>
2 Fender Blues Jr.'s and 2 Marshall AVT20 Valvestate's in stereo
1 Fender and 1 Marshall on one side of the room and the other 2 on the other side of the room (results in warmth but with balls and at bedroom volume levels)

I like to set my amp just on the verge of break up and then push a lot of gain through it, but roll some off with the guitar volume control. I think this results in a fatter sound without harsh overtones.

The Fat Boost worked well with all my pedals.
It was a little too much for the Fulltone Distortion Pro, but was OK when I backed out of the Fat Boost.
It added lots of "depth" to the the Analogman Sun Face and Voodoo Labs sparkle drive, that they did not have before. The Sun Face is a $250 boutique pedal that was actually made better by the Fat Boost. I actually think its sounds best with the Sparkle Drive, because the sparkle drive is really just a clean boost with a overdrive mix knob.
It sounded even more natural just boosting the amp, but I don't think it has enough boost for metal on my small amps. I imagine if you had a 100 head and 4X12, it would be plenty of boost for anything.

The T.C. Jauernig Luxury Drive is a Fat Boost, but with more treble and no tone control. It adds shimmer to your sound, but it really is only good for my Telecaster. It absorbs palm mutes and pinch harmonics and tapping is too bright, however it is ideal for pop and country and it only costs $90.

It's Fulltone and I'm sure there will be no problems with it.
Tough shit if there is a problem, because from what I've read, they are not warm and fuzzy towards the general public.

As many, many reviewers have eluded to, Mike Fuller is not a customer service service orieted guy, unless you are one of the artists listed on his web page or some other big name.

I've emailed him before asking which one of his pedals I should buy over the other to get a particular sound, and he never responded. Come on, lower yourself to speak to us idiots, especailly when we are trying to buy something from you. One of us might be a big name on your web page some day. Everybody on your web page now played shit gigs for beer money at one point, and I'm sure when they first started playing as kids they've called up Guitar Center asking for a "left-handed distortion box".

If you want great pedals and even better customer service, check out Robert Keeley Electronics. He answers every stupid question I have ever asked, sometimes about other peoples stuff with no expectation that I was even considering buying anything from him, and his pedals are the same quality as Fulltone.

Excellent box. I can't say enough about it.
It fattens and adds life to your sound. Absolutely transparent.
From country to pop to shred, its all that and more.
Much better than the other boosters I've had.
Not a single complaint. Worth every penny of the $179.00, that Guitar Center wouldn't give a break on the minimum gip.

Very easy to use. Read the manual and figure out which features serve you best. For those of you who play ibanez 7 strings, solid state amps, line 6 amps, or master volume heads you probably shouldn't buy this.

The tone knob is critical on this. I love the Z. Vex SHO, but I like this a little better live because I can adjust the tone on this pedal when I switch from single coil to humbucker. Get a good amp first. I have a Victoria amp and it pushes it to just the right spot. I use this to fatten up the tone in choruses and solos and it beats every overdrive and ties the SHO.

It's built tough and who can really afford a back up? Just buy one of these instead of having two junky ass MXR micro amp pedals. This will last you longer than 10 MXR pedals.

Here's where we have a problem. This guy can be a total jerk. I have heard people make excuses for how busy he is and blah blah blah...He makes enough scratch that he should have a full staff working the phones for any questions. I have had problems with a 69 fuzz that was part of a batch in 1999 that were made with bad switches and mine went out. He said they only had a one year warranty for the switches and he finally fixed it for me considering he knew they were bad. Let me say you would never have this problem with Z. VEX. I usually hear people say something bad about Mike at first then they say "but I love the way the pedal sounds"-it shouldn't be like that.

I play rawk, blues, and garage rawk. This was the missing link in my tube amp set up for years. I have had an insane pedal board before and now I'm down to just this, a reverb pedal, and maybe an modulation pedal here and there. Tone is in your hands brothers and sisters, but this definitely helps. If you have ever wondered why your overdrive pedal takes away tone then this is for you. I have wasted a ton of money on buying a pedal on ebay and selling within a month until this.
Try this and try an SHO and see what you like best.

very easy to get a good tone. manual is helpful. I use it on 18v the difference is very noticable.

Gibson Les Paul Standard > '02 Clyde Wah > '03 Fulltone Fat boost > '99 Prescription electronics Vibe Unit > Fender Pedal Style tuner > '99 Marshall JCM 900 (212). not noisy at all. not a good volume boost (which is what i bought it for) but i dont use it for that anymore. I basically use it, as the name implies, to fatten up the sound. I play mostly classic rock (Zeppelin, Cream, Doors, Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Sabbath etc... I dont usually need alot of gain. But for Sabbath its good to fatten up the JCM 900 (i have it set low gain and classic rockish which doesnt work the best with sabbath) i stomp on the fatboost and it fattens everything up to the proper sound. Also, on occasion my band plays some ozzy, guns 'n roses, darkness, newer stuff and ill need a more gainy sound. fat boost again to the rescue. A great little pedal that comes in handy when i need that gain backing my playing.

seems exceptionally sturdy. a little tank i think. but then again its secure in my pedal train pedal board so its not gonna knocked around that much. been playing with it for a year now. Done quite a bit of giging with it and its held up great.

website is very informative

great dependable little pedal that will push you from classic rock tone to 80's and 90's rock tone (well not too much of 90's tone as there wasnt that much tone in the 90's) but it can get you to those soundgarden and early pearl jam levels if needed. great investment

Super easy to use!

By far the best investment I have made in my rig! I paid $150.00 for this unit on ebay! I have a $3000.00 Matchless Lighting that never leaves my home, I use a Carvin Bel-Air 50W 2x12 fir gigs. The Carvin amp is very clean. I use a Aphex Guitar Xciter to bring out the sweetness of the amp but I was still unhappy with the drive channel, NO BALLS! The Fulltone Big Bottom push the amp into a wonderful blues tone...........I FREAKING LOVE IT!!!! This little pedal was the key to the full warm tone I was looking for! If you use a tube amp, this pedal will work wonders on your tone! By the way Im using Strat style single coil pickups from Carvin.........The Big Bottom makes them sound HUGE!!!

Built like a tank1

Have'nt used it.........

Im going to rate this unit a "10"........I spent $349.99 on a Budda Overdrive, it was crap! $100.00 on a Tone Works Tube Tone, Crap! The Fulltone is the BOMB! Good luck finding just the right tone for your liking.

Very easy to use a no brainer

Very few things in life is exactly as what you expected and this is one of those very rare brilliantly made peice of gear that makes your setup beautiful.You must use a nice tube amp( 60's fender deluxe) and a pro quality guitar to really get the bang out of this beauty. It makes my strat sound amazing and I can even make it sound like a vintage les paul by fattening the sound with drive knob.I give it the highest praise to mr fuller,thankyou.And for those fucking idiots who are more into klon or what ever the fuck else... why don't you all just go take a guitar lesson and learn something about equipment before you have your momi or daddy buy you your equipment for you!! You idiots have no idea what a good tone is to begin with so how in the world would you know about a good tone you fucks!!!!!!!! Go suck o your clon and keep pretending that you are decent guitar player with your bullshit 7 string ibanez.

built to last a life time looks like.

It's a bit costly but hey you get what you pay for and this one is worth every penny and I'm sure mr. fuller had put in a lot of late nights trying to perfect this to what it is.

Super easy to use. The middle trim knob is a little small and hard to use but its also hard to hit accidentaly with your foot.

The main problem with this pedal is that I bought it to use as a lead volume boost but it sounds so darn good I never want to turn it off!

Build like a sherman tank! No problems or complaints here. totally reliable in my book!

Nener needed it!

I play blues/rock/jam. Using 2 Fender Hot rod Devilles with a Fulltone Fulldrive II, an old blue Fuzz Face, a TS9, a TC Electronic Stereo Chorus, and a Bad Horsie Wah. The fat Boost is all the claim and more in my book. I cannot live without it. You can hear samples of my playing this gear on my website at http://www.markarbogast.com

The only pedal I've found that's easier to use is an MXR Phase90. That says it all.

This is the best widely available pedal for Marshall amps. Period. I use it to simulate a cranked up sound at lower volumes, and I feel that it works better than a Powerbrake or THD Hotplate for this purpose, although the Hotplate offers a line out, which is nice. For my purposes, I cannot justify the added expense and complication of the Hotplate, though. I use the Fat Boost with a Flying V with Duncan JB/Jazz pickups, and a coupla Marshall DSL50 heads and 1960 cabs with G12H speakers. This is the closest thing to a perfect rig I've ever had.

Seriously, Fulltone pedals are built like a bank vault. I've spilled beer into this pedal on a number of occasions, and it never even hiccuped. I have been using this pedal without backup for over 200 gigs, without difficulty of any sort.

I called Mike Fuller awhile back about the new Tape Echo pedal, and he handled my call personally in a pleasant, brisk, businesslike manner. He's undoubtedly a busy person, but was very helpful to me. I think I helped him by having my questions organized on paper before I called, so as to take up as little of his time as possible. He's doing a GREAT job, and I hope he keeps it up.

Cool, fun, badass pedal. Does exactly what Mike Fuller says it will, just like everything else he makes. Do some research, and put your money into the BEST gear your can afford for YOU, and you won't be sorry. Buy what you really want the first time, and avoid G.A.S., which will waste your time and money.

Very easy and straight forward. I like how the newer version (2003- ) gives you the gain knob up top next to the volume. Set your preferences, step on it, and you're in business. It's easily tweakable once the pedal is on too, so that's even more points in this pedal's favor!

Well, here I have to go stand in the corner with the DUNCE cap on. I bought an MXR Micro Amp several months ago and tried to justify the lower price of the MXR pedal over the Fatboost. The Micro Amp was okay, but once I got it home and had it a while, I did notice when the boost was engaged, there was this subtle thinness to my sound, and trying to raise the volume brought that nasty, scratchy gain that's built in after 3'O clock. Needless to say I sold it only after about a month. Since that time I had been playing humbuckers, P-90s and G&L MFD pickups that have plenty of punch. I recently picked up an Ernie Ball Albert Lee Strat and loved the way the guitar sounded but hated having to adjust the settings on my amp to compensate the volume drop off when I was playing the Lee. I went out and picked up a Fulldrive2 (which I am crazy about and this is my 3rd one!) and while I liked having the cleaner non-compressed overdrive boost, I still wanted to get a clean, fat boost without too much compression. My Maxon compressor gave me a nice boost, but then again, it was a compressed boost. The Fatboost won't compress unless you have the gain turned up quite a bit. After A/Bing the Fatboost with the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, the HAO RustBooster and the Micro Amp, I bit the bullet and went home with the Fulltone. Even though gain past 1'O clock will start to sound scratchy, it increasingly fattens your sound rather than some other pedals that seem to thin your signal out. This really is great for bringing out the best in an alnico II strat pickup without coloring its tone. Combined with a slight bit of compression from my Maxon, the sound on a clean amp is absolutely amazing. I thought the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster sounded good, but I didn't like the coloration the three-way switch gave me, and I've read that pedal has some quality control issues that I'm not interested in fooling with. As far as the HAO RustBooster, well, that was okay, but it imposed too much gain when turned up and didn't seem to have as much headroom as the Fatboost. The Micro-Amp is fine, but to correct what I said months ago about the Micro Amp being as good as the Fatboost....I apologize to Mike Fuller and the Fulltone faithful. The MXR is okay and will work, but the Fatboost makes me want to stay in my room and play all the freaking time.....That's the best way I can describe the difference between the Fatboost and the Micro Amp.

Shoot...Are you kidding me...Go try one out in person and you will know what I"m talking about......I think I could even shoot it with my Casulll and it would still work.

Never had to deal with them and I feel sorry for Mr. Fuller. Every guitar picker thinks they are hot stuff when they call and talk to a famous guy, when all they are doing is waising his time with garble about gear and common sense you can figure out on your own accord. I think I'll leave him alone and rely on customer support if I need it. I don't think I will as I've had several Fulltone pedals. Plus, Guitar Heaven in Nashville is Tops in customer service and just all around good people working there (Corner Music is righteous too!) so I will take any problems I may encouter up with them first, and then the manufacturer if there ever happens to be such a delima.

What else can I say that I haven't already. Look at the overwhelming positive reviews and rejoice. The plusses of this pedal are in the majority and if you look at most of the Fulltone products, they seem to have more reviews in the 9 or over rating than any other manufacturer of guitar pedals I've seen. Especially when you see so many people rating these pedals. Expensive? Well, not really when you compair to other boutique lines. For true bypass, great tone and reliability, this pedal (along with most other Fulltone pedals) are hard to beat. Go try one for yourself and enjoy the experience!

I have the 2003 model with the detented control. This pedal couldn't be any easier to use.

Sound quality is such a subjective thing. Obviously, and thankfully, we all don't like or want the same things. Therefore rather than try and convince everyone that this is the answer of their prayers I'd like to tell you why I like it. When I first plugged in this pedal and cranked it to the point where I was getting an overdriven tone it reminded me of something that at first I couldn't quite put my finger on. The tone was great, but very different from what I was used to with my standard set up of a Super Reverb and various overdrive pedals. Then it came to me. I have a 1963 Brown Fender Princeton that I keep tucked in the closet. The Fat Boost sounds identical to this Princeton when it is cranked up! I don't play the Princeton a lot because it really doesn't have enough power to gig with so I just drag it out once in a while. I always loved its tone however and now I can get the same tone out of just about any amp at any volume. So, will you like it? I don't know. But if you think you like the sound of a vintage low wattage Fender tube amp cranked up then you will love this pedal. I give it a 9 because the tone is nearly perfect for me but realize that probably nothing is 100% perfect.

So far so good. Seems really well built but only time will answer this question.

I am pretty much a strict blues player, both traditional and modern. The website claim is correct, I never want to turn this off. I fnd I can still get nice clean tones when I back off the volume and pick attack however I get my Princeton grind when I dig in. If anyone is interested I use a Tele, a Les Paul Classic and a Heritage H535 (335 style) guitar. This pedal works great for me!