Fulltone Full-Drive 2

Extremely Easy to use other than trying to match up sound levels of the 2 different settings (normal and "boost"). To get a nice drive, the volume increase was hard for me to overcome.

The sound quality is pretty good (certainly, however, not the end-all I was looking for. I originally hoped to replace 2 pedals with this one, and ultimately gave up. The tone gets lost in a mix (in my opinion that is), and the sound of a good 808 tube screamer is better (once again in my opinion. I will say it does a good job of emulating the sound of my amps overdrive with very little coloring which I guess is something to be proud of.

Absolutely no problems. Built very solid.

Never dealt with them.

I would not replace the FD2 if stolen since I feel there are better pedals out there for the price paid. Also, if you cannot fully utilize BOTH of it's channels (which I had trouble doing) it's a waste of space. Better to just have 2 best of breed pedals.

Pretty simple to operate. The typical controls for an OD pedal; OD level , volume, and tone, with the added comp cut and flat mid (if you have the newer model) and a separate footswitchable boost. A very easy to use set up for 3 quickly selectable sounds, clean, slight OD, and boosted OD.

I have been using the FD for about 10 years with Dr Z Maz 38 Studio, Maz 18 Jr, Rivera M60, & Rivera R55-112.. Sounds excellent throught the M60 and both of the Dr Z amps, I don't like the sound through the R55. I play a PRS Custom 22 and an American Strat Deluxe.. the pedal interacts nicely with both the single coil and humbuckers. The pedal is very quiet on the settings I typically use, vol-1:00, tone-2:00, overdrive-8:00, boost-between 9:00 and noon.

I had to fix a solder joint on one of the jacks just before a gig, not a big deal. I do have a back up - for now (see support section)

I did have an experience with Fulltone and my original FD. I was not getting the typical great sound out of the unit so I thought I's simply e-mail Fulltone and see if they had any suggestions. I did not receive any suggestions by rather a note that said fill out the form and send the pedal in. So I did. The communication was practically non existant from Fulltone so I ended up buying a second FD for a recording session (they did not even acknoledge receipt for over a week). I did end up getting a note that siad the pedal would be shipped out on such and such a date... after giving more than sufficient time for shipping I contacted Fulltone again. The apologized for not shipping the pedal. Aparently an oversight. So I receive the pedal.. on the paperwork was written, pedal checks out ok, check power supply, chack cables, check EARS!. I was more than a bit annoyed and very suprised that they would insult a customer by suggesting I cannot hear. So I faxed Mike with the story and my feelings. He responded and basically felt I interrupted their production causing them to loose money because the tech had to stop making the $999 TTE to check out my pedal. We did at least agree that this whole ordeal might have been avoided with some info either on the web site or via the tech e-mail.

I play mostly a mixture of rock, blues, and funk and this pedal is killer. My setup is: PRS/Strat - COT50 - Clyde Deluxe wah - FD2 - Earnie Ball Vol Jr - Maxon AD80 delay - Mojo Vibe - Aria DMX10 flanger - Boss CE2 chorus - Amp. I would replace if lost.. oh yeah I already did that.

I loved the features and the variations possible; two chanels to select from is really nice. Cudos for that. On paper, the Fulldrive II is the perfect overdrive and offers a tremendous amount of flexibility. But in the process of moving from idea to reality, things happen, and that is where I found problems.

Less than spectacular. One reviewer mentioned that the unit is picky with amps - maybe so. My analogman Tubescreamer has a much clearer sound. I have heard there are mods that will bring out the mid-range on these units, take away that muddy slog. But before I could do anything about the sound, one of the switches went south. Okay, no biggy. I contact Fulltone and someone tells me that my year was a bad year for switches and that I can order a new one. Great. The sound problem never really improved. But this did begin a longlasting relationship between my soldering gun, both my Fulltone pedals, and sporadic emails to Fulltone.

Both my Fulltone pedals failed within six months. Switches. My Clyde wah emits a high pitched squeal that aliens can hear in deep space. Dogs gather at my gigs. I have the replacement switch, but I can't get Fulltone to replay to my emails, so I don't know what wires go where (the two switches are different). That leads my review into the bizzaro world of Fulltone Customer Service

After I fixed the bad switch on my Fulldrive II, the other one went out. I had a pretty good experience fixing this factory problem, in terms of Fulltone and helpfulness. When I had to do it again a short time later, I wondered why they didn't advise me to change both switches at the same time? But oh well, I fixed it then started working on the sound problem. When my Clyde took a shit soon after, it was a different story (still without end). But that is another review. Bottom line: contact with Fulltone can be okay or it can suck, depending on what you want and what your problem is. My problem was their problem (factory switch was a loser), and when I think about it in those terms I start to cringe at all the people who report bad dealings with Fulltone customer service. I look at the Fulltone website and gaze at all the georgeous guitars shown in the Fulltone museum (Mikes?). When I think that perhaps some were bought with my money I want to ask Mike how that equipment would sound through my sqealing broken Clyde and muddy Fulldrive II.

This is the first review I have ever posted (this and the Clyde review. Check that one out if want to hear a true rant). I don't use either of my Fulltone pedals anymore. There are others that do it better for me. I need to say that I think there a ton of people who have these pedals and love them, trouble free. They can leave glowing reviews. I can't: my pedals gave me grief, and Fulltone CS is still giving me grief. I just want out.

I used to be a true believer in Fulltone. But that eroded when I ended up spending more time inside my pedals than out. If you can't be personable to your customers (especially when they call about your mistakes), hire someone who will.

Mine is the newer version with the toggle switch for vintage, FM & Comp Cut settings. To be honest, I'm not sure that you can make a bad tone with this thing. Point the knobs anywhere and magic seems to happen. There is clarity in every setting. Great for chords and soloing with the boost on.

I play Rickenbacker 330s thru a Fender 65 Super Reverb. The chain goes Vox Wah, FD2 and DOD DFX91 Delay. The Full Drive has 6 different tones. The Vintage mode is something along the lines of a very beautiful Marshall overdrive with a sweet boost for solos. The FM setting starts with that ultra clear "Sonic Youth/Swervedriver" type of overdirve where all the notes of big chords come through. Then the boost on FM gives you... well... more! The there is the Comp Cut. Starts with wonderful clanging yet transparent overdrive and then the boost switch procedes to destroy your speakers for something that is truly special. I've never heard a pedal so completely take over the speakers of an amp. The Buddah is in there somewhere. Honest. I tried a bunch of different pedals to get good overdirve out of my guitars and amp. This is the only one that has been jaw droppingly satisfying. Everything else is either too muddy or too crispy. There is substitute for hand bilt mojo, great components and dedicated vision.

I bought mine used and it seems to be holding up just great. Fulltone is an A+ compnay to deal with that care about its product and artists.

They reeeeeelly care!

If you are looking for more extreme types of Fuzz I would recommend some of the other Fulltone pedals. For classic tones and the ability to let your guitar and amp work with the overdrive I'm not sure that you can buy a better pedal. Again, there are no bad tones in this thing. Worth every penny and I wished I could of had one 10 years ago.The Vibe of the tone and the clarity of dense chords through the overdrive make this a unique pedal in a land of wannabes.

Easy enough. Four knobs, and it's very easy to adjust them to get good sounds. However, I don't like the way that the comp cut switch is located under the tone knob. It makes me not want to use it because I know it will end up getting kicked off when I'm in the middle of a performance. You must also consider that Fulltone has improved their design since this one was made (mine is an older model). I'd like to see how the newer model compares in this category.

Sounds great! I used to use a Z Vex Super Hard On to boost my amp into distortion, but once I got into the studio with it I noticed that the SHO added something that I didn't like to my sound. Zachery Vex called it a "sparkle." Meh. I dig a lot of the other Z Vex pedals for their interesting quirks, but right then I knew that I had to replace this boost pedal with something more transparent.
I decided to buy this particular pedal because Maike Zaite from Dr. Z amplification suggested it as a great pedal to compliment my Dr. Z KT-45. He was right. I mainly use the boost end to let my amp do all the work, but the distortion is also an awesome addition to my sound. It adds susstain and beefs up my leads. It's everything I need for a well defined distortion sound. I love it.

Once I got my hands on this puppy, I opened it up to check out the craftsmanship first thing. It's dependable. Solid construction all the way. Everything was hand wired with care. Before I bought this I heard a lot of great things about Fulltone's craftmanship, and a lot of rumors about Mike Fuller's over inflated ego. Now that I actually own one of his pedals, I can see why. I imagine that it's hard to stay humble when you make such good quality shit.

I never dealt with them, but I've heard good things about their customer service. Still, I can't say.

I just want to point out that I spent $200 on a used pedal because it used to belong to Page Hamilton of Helmet, and they are one of my favorite bands. My band's music is similar to Helmet's style, except we've got more of a classic rock feel. For that I believe this pedal is a good match. Fulltone seems to want to stay true to the sounds and craftsmanship of the 50's through the 70's, which is something that I prefer when it comes to tone and quality. I dislike the digitally distorted sounds that a lot modern metal bands have been using, and a lot of new effects seems to have a shorter shelf life these days. My favorite feature on the pedal is the boost because it really allows my amp to growl, which is perfect because my KT-45 sounds great on it's own. The added distortion is the icing on the cake.

Because it has the 3-way selector switch (comp-cut, flat mids, vintage) it makes it a little more sofisticated to use....

I'm playing a strat through a Fender Vibolux amp. I placed the Fulldrive 2 after my Analogman 'silver' TS-9 on my pedalboard. The Fulldrive 2 I purchased new had a problem with the 'vintage' boost channel not working (defect). The Fulldrive 2 is a nice pedal and provides a decent 'vibe' but doesn't have the sonic clarity or headroom of the Analogman TS-9 (I didn't, however, try to up the voltage to 18 volts DC which Fuller claims increases the headroom etc..). I didn't think that the Fulltone 2 was a good match with my Fender amp (maybe a Marshall plexi type) a great pedal compared to production overdrives but mediocre in the boutique pedal race.

Mike Fuller builds great stuff, I'm sure he built this to endure the road and beyond.

The guy has helped me out on all my questions concerning his gear, even called me up after I faxed him a question. A bit intense if not a tad arrogant, decent support, above average for sure.

A decent value, but there is better out there. I know that tone opinion is subjective, Fuller builds great products, I want fantastic products!

Not much here, older blue one, with comp-cut knob. Four knobs, two switches, easy enough.

Using B-bender teles, into budda wah, seymour duncan pickup booster, boss cs2, barber direct drive SS barber Ltd, boss c5 chorus, original smallstone phaser, carl martin delaylah, into a fender twin. All fx are powered with a VL pedal power. I tried this pedal for a bit, and was unhappy with the results. I remember doing a recording with a boogie mark II, and the fulldrive, and it sounded great, so I picked one up, thinking it would be my main Od for the twin. I was wrong. This pedal is very picky with what amps it likes. I thought Mike Fuller made this to co-exist with fenders, but the only sound I could get was a rather fizzy overdrive, with way too much presence in the extreme top end. It was also a bit muddy in the 200-300 hertz range. This combined with my fender twin, which already has a decent amount of low mid honk, made a very mushy sound. I tried hard to like this box, and as I said, I dug it through the boogie, but it's just not the Holy Grail of Od that everyone talks about. Try it before you spend the $200.

Seems well made, but we've all heard the stories of Mike and his CS skills, so I hope it wouldn't break.

I heard a story from a friend of mine who worked in a guitar shop, about Mike calling him and bitching him out because he wasn't selling enough of his pedals. My friend promptly told Mike to take his business elsewhere, and discontinued selling his pedals.

I just want everyone to know, you should always, always try any pedal before you buy. It's a lesson that cost me $30 since I had to resell the pedal.

Very easy to use! I have the newer model with the mids switch.

My chain goes as follows - American Strat into RMC3LE Wah, Analogman Boss DS-1, Analogman Chorus, Analogman TS9, Fulltone Fulldrive II, ernie ball volume, EH Memory Man Deluxe, Boss EQ, Boss NS-2, into Upgraded Hot Rod Deluxe. This pedal is hands down awesome. I have used the analogman ts9 for awhile now and it is great but the fulldrive is amazing. It really just adds to your tone and doesn't color it with a bunch of mid-range nasal junk like most overdrives. Truly a great overdrive! So much range in tones!

It is in a metal case... what more could you ask for? Seems sturdy and very well crafted.

Only wrote Mike once and got a response by the next day. Good customer service guy, right up there with Geoffrey Teese and Analog Mike!

I play light rock - bluesy rock. Suits me very well for the sound I am going for. Sweet sustain and responds very well to pick attack and volume level. If it were stolen, I would probably buy a new one, but money isn't exactly plentiful these days so it might not be right away.

This pedal is way too easy to get a good sound out of. It's hard to choose which kind of overdrive you want. I got the newer one, with the black nobs, not the one with the white nobs. The new one has the toggle switch witch allows you to choose between Comp-cut, FM, and Vintage settings. The manual explains it all wonderfully, but the only way to really do it is just plug in and screw around.

I'm using a Gibson ES-335 into a Mesa/Boogie DC-3. As the name describes, this overdrive is just FULL. It can make any guitar and amp setup sound superb. My favorite setting has to be the Comp-cut which just is completly clean and it has the fattest sound. Once you turn the pedal off, you can't see how you ever survived without it. The FM and Vintage settings are amazing as well. You can get a very Eric Johnson fat singing tone. The boost switch is also great for going from Rhythm to lead when you want that extra boost, and overdrives the comp-cut a little, which makes a completly natural overdrive.

Seems totally solid and I would definatly use it without a backup... I wouldn't mind having another one though.

I play a blend of jazz and rock. This is the perfect pedal. I use the Full-Drive 2 like this ES-335>Full-Drive>Boss SD-1>ProCo RAT2> Guyatone MD3> Boss CE-5>Mesa/Boogie DC-3. I compared it to the Super overdrive and also the overdrive on my Mesa. The Fulltone sounded alot more FULL than either. It sounded more like my guitar through the fulltone than effects, and that's the way I like it. I use the Fulldrive through the SD-1 to get a searing lead tone, but you can get a perfect tone through the fulltone, I'm going to have to get another one. I would definatly buy another if stolen. It's the perfect pedal period.

Not the easiest pedal to use. There are so many combinations of tones that it's hard to find the "sweet spot." It seems to either be too dirty or too clean. Hard to find that perfect, natural Fender-like tube overdrive. It's like the manufacturer tried too hard to make it be all things to all players when they should have tried for one perfect tone.

Good sounding, but not as good as the Klon or Reverend Drivetrain. The clean boost is my favorite tone. The overdrive seems to change dramatically depending upon what amp or amp setting you choose. The response to pick attack isn't as natural as I need (either too dirty or too clean). With every room I play, I seem to spend the first set trying to dial in the right tone.

So far so good.

Nver had to deal.

I play rockabilly and honky tonk music. I was trying to find something to get that "just right" natural Fender overdrive at a moderate volume setting. This didn't really do it for me. For me, the Reverend Drivetrain 2 with the cap mod does the rockabilly thing best of all. I thought this might be even better, but it's not. The Klon is great too, but its pricey and takes forever to get.

The Fulldrive 2 is very easy to use, its self explanatory really, I do suggest reading the helpful manual and then its off to the races, this is one of the best if not the best ever.

I use Gibson SG's and Les Paul's through a Marshall Bluesbreaker and a Marshall 1959slp. This thing sounds great with them and I also run a Fat-Boost. I also use both when playing a telecaster through a Fender Bassman, makes a world of difference.

I have had no reliability troubles whatsoever, not only would I gig without a backup I would never buy a backup.

Mike Fuller is a walking mood swing, if you hit him right, hes very direct and nice and gets things done. Other times you can rub his ego a little wrong and he lights up a bit, a friend of mine sent back a fat-boost for repair and never heard a word from him, it just showed back up at his house fixed, kinda weird.

I play rock n roll and nothing sounds better with rock n roll that a couple fulltones, I also play blues, and some country. They work great on everything. If my fulldrive was stolen I would absolutely replace it as soon as possible, no question.

The fulldrive2 is probably the easiest pedal I've ever used to get a great tone. The first time I used the pedal I had no problems getting the sound I wanted. This pedal is very versatile. It has a true bypass so that you can create your own clean sound and the pedal, when ON, gives you a great overdrive sound without comprimising the tone you select on your amp. The manual is very easy to understand and even gives you some sort of reference on setting it. This is got to be the only pedal that I have used to go from clean to overdive to distortion with ease.

I use a les paul standard with a marshall avt 100, and a fender strat with the same amp. The pedal gives great sustain even with the single coil pickups in my fender. However, the overdive "comp-cut" is awesome but the distortion is a little weak. I have to crank the amp to get the volume at my desired level when using the distortion. The sound on the overdrive has given me the ability to get the sound of artist's such as 3doors down, blink182, bowling for soup, bush, eve6, lit, just a great alternativ/pop punk sound.

Very durable. This pedal has been to alot of gigs and has never been undependable. I would use this pedal at any gig without a backup.

I play alot of pop punk and alternative rock. This pedal has always given me the sound that I want. I have been playing for about 15 yrs. I also own the ROBERT KEELEY modded BOSS DS-1 ULTRA, BOSS CHORUS, and BOSS TREMALO. I compared it with many other pedals before I decided on the fulldrive2. I chose this one because of its versatility. Although I dont like the distortion that much its still an awesome pedal. I would definetly buy another one if it was stolen. GREAT PEDAL.

Not very easy to use. This is one of my main complaints. It's like the manufacturers tried to make it do everything when they should have concentrated more on doing one thing very well. It has various switches and knobs that take hours of tweaking to find a decent sound. This one has the 3-way comp cut, flat mids, vintage mids switch along with the boost knob and switch. I guess I'm too low-tech, but the fewer knobs and switches the better if you ask me. A few knobs and great tone would be perfect in my book.

I know this opinion will be controversial, but I just wasn't that impressed once I played it on a few gigs. I sounded great in the store at low volume, but when I tried it on several gigs, the sound seemed to change dramatically depending upon what guitar and/or amp setting I used. I has a very nice clean boost and the Billy Gibbons/Southern Rock sound is decent, but I couldn't find a sweet spot in the "naturally overdriven old Fender Bassman" area. That surprised me, because I thought that this is what it would do best. I think most the problem has to do with what I commented on above - there are too many different settings and controls to find the one sound you're looking for. After about three weeks of gigs, I put my Reverend Overdive II back on my board and took the Fulltone out. As for gear, I use a Guild Starfire III with TV Jones Filtertrons into my overdrive of choice, then an Ibanez AD9 delay, and then into my home-made low-power tweed Twin. I also play a home-made Warmoth tele on some stuff.

No problems.

Haven't had to deal.

I play rockabilly and honky tonk country. In my never-ending quest for more magical tone, I was looking for a pedal that would come even closer than my Revered Drivetrain II to getting that "can't tell you're using a pedal" tone. I'm not going to say the Fulltone is a bad pedal, just not what I was looking for. The only other pedal that might come closer is a Klon, but I've never tried one. I'll probably just stick with my Reverend.

I've tried ou this pedal three times (about six months apart each time) because of all the good reviews I've read. The first time I thought it wasn't very transparent, more of a distortion than an overdrive. The next time I had the same impressions. The last time I wanted to try one I brought my guitar (Tom Anderson Drop Top T), my favorite OD pedal yet (Reverend Drivetrain 1 - black and white) and went to my favorite guitar store to try it out again. I hooked up four pedals, the Fulldrive, my Drivetrain, a used Drivetrain II and a Nobels OD pedal. I plugged all of this into a Bogner Metropolis (a KILLER amp). The Nobels was interesting and actually quite good. The Fulldrive might be a little better but the Drivetrains shot the Fulldrive right out of the saddle. Tone wise the Drivetrains sounded almost identical except the Drivetrain II seemed to have a little sharper mid range. The Fulldrive really had a raspy, square wave sound that didn't sound like a cranked amp at all. Another thing, The Fulldrive did not compress at all. the Drivetrains have some compression. I set the drive low enough that you really can't tell the pedal is on until I hit two notes at a time. Then it sounds a lot like an amp cranked. I've read a lot of people saying a pedal doesn't compress like that's a good thing. Running a compressor into the front of it reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughn's tone, which is usually very compressed. He relied on output tube compression. I'm 49 and have been cranking amps for over thirty years. Fender tweed amps, Fender Black face, Fender blondes, non master Marshalls and the thing is when they're dimed they all compress, usually a lot. Angus young has the classic cranked non master marshall tone and it's really compressing. It's what brings out feedback and pinch harmonics. It's almost impossible to try all of the ODs out, there are so many, but I've tried a lot and so far the Drivetrain wins easily. I didn't care for the Klon Centaur at all or the Pete Cornish Soft Sustain. I actually thought the new yellow Digitech had a pretty good dound. I want to hear some Menatone pedals but there are no dealers near Kansas City. Sorry to rag on the Fulldrive but I thought I should state my "research".

Ill admit you have to spend a good session with it to achieve the right tone from each setting, but besides that, four knobs...its pretty simple.

This is the best overdrive i have ever used/owned. The thing is simply amazing. Before i bought this i owned a marshall bb2, dont get me wrong its a great od, but u just cant compare (i still use its boost mode tho) When i was searching for "that overdrive" pedal, the one that would define my sound, i started at the obvious place...the ibanez tubescreamer. I personally dont care to much for the TS9 but the reissue TS808 is a great pedal, yet still nothing compared to the fulltone. The ibanez was limited, didnt produce a lot of gain and didnt have true bypass. For a little more you can purchase the fulldrive. My next stop was the voodoo lab sparkle drive and rt 66 american od, both amazing pedals, and unique. Yet the fulldrive just stands above, it is undeniably natural and fullsounding, it doesnt color your sound at all and it is simply a remarkable pedal. My rig as of right now is a Fender 69' thinline tele goin into the fulldrive than into the marshall bb2(on boost mode), boss dd6 delay mod(analogman high end cut mod), than a RMC wizard(sensational wah) and boss tu2 tuner into a fender hod rod deville 212. overall it produces an amazing sound.

built like a rock

I play classic rock/blues/jazz and a little bit of fusion. It is just an awesome pedal, without question, i recomend it to anyone looking for the ultimate od, its just awesome.

Some people here have said that this isn't the easiest thing to use, but i disagree. Pick one mode out of the three, dial in the amount of gain you want, adjust the tone knob, set the output, and you're set.
The boost option is isn't really a second channel, but adds more gain to push your sound over the top.

Hands down, this is the best overdrive i have ever used. I've played for 25 years, and at this point the most important thing to me is that the natural sound of my fingers on the strings (i don't use picks) comes through, as i believe that that is my sound. This pedal does exactly that. This isn't going to turn a crap sound into something great, it's made for people who already have a great sound and want to add some boost or overdrive.
I don't think there's a bad sound in this thing. The comp-cut mode is the most tranparent, and adds a boost, the FM mode (flat mids) sounds great, and the vintage mode (my favorite) adds the most gain.
So far i've only used it with single coils (i think they are much better for hearing the fingers on strings), but i'll get around to trying it with my Ibanez RG which has humbuckers.
I don't notice adding any noise that wasn't already there (i play my guitar into the Fulldrive into a Fender Blues Jr), and i just added a Digitech Digidelay today, and it sounded great with that too.

I've only had it about a month, so i can't say yet, but it seems like it's built like a tank. I don't expect any problems, and would definitely gig without a backup.

Never dealt with them; based on the website, and what i've read, they seem very helpful.

I'm playing blues-rock with a touch of fusion, and this pedal has given me the sound i've been searching for. It's pricey, but well worth every cent to me. Again, i'm most concerned with the sound of my hands on the strings, and this is the best thing i've found to reproduce that.

With four knobs plus the comp/cut switch, it's quite easy to use.

I have played the FD2 with an ENGL Screamer 50 head, a Gibson GA-15 combo, and a Soldano Astroverb 16. There's no question in my mind that it is much more useful with an amp that lacks an overdrive capability on its own, such as the Gibson GA-15, than for an amp that already has a good overdrive sound. The GA-15, when cranked by the FD2, enters a sonic region it wouldn't dream of entering otherwise. Full-throated silky overdrive tones. But when driving a high-gain amp like the Screamer 50 or the Astroverb 16, the FD2, while certainly adding a lot to the sound, doesn't have nearly as dramatic an influence. Conclusion: if you have an amp that definitely needs a kick to get the overdrive sound, get a FD2. If you already have healthy overdrive, get the FD2 only if you're a total tone freak that needs the extra volume.

Had mine since February 2004. Reliable so far.

Mike Fuller is a little cranky sometimes. Aren't we all? He'll answer your e-mail, but try to be direct and to the point.

The Fulltone Fulldrive 2 can add that Plexi tone to an amp that really needs the boost. I would imagine "clean" tube amps like the Fender Twin, Fender Deluxe Reverb, Dr Z Carman Ghia, etc. benefit the most, while amps like the Soldano SLO 100, Bogner Ecstasy, or Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier need it the least.

This is the fulldrive 2 model with toggle switch to choose any of the 3 modes-comp/cut,flat mids,and vintage.Then there is the boost footswitch to add more gain into the mix.Quite a number of different options available so takes some tweaking to get the best sounds from it.

The sound quality on all 3 modes is very good,I have had this on my board for over a year now and it's done around 100 gigs playing mainly classic rock covers.I started off with it in vintage mode in front of a Matamp 100 watt head used as a solo boost with the amp set clean.In this configuration the fulltone excels-the vintage mode has the most available gain of the 3 options and yields a lovely liquid type sustain,very Santana like with a neck humbucker.There is a noticeable mid hump when used like this but I personally like this sound for leads,it fattens out single notes at the top end of the fretboard.
The FM mode has slightly less gain and as the name suggests flattens out the mids,this sounds good when playing rhythmn on the neck pickup.
The comp/cut is a great clean boost which does not colour your guitar tone but enhances it,if you have a good sounding rig the comp/cut will improve your tone.
After experimenting with the 3 modes I have decided that the comp/cut works the best for my set up.I have this running with an 18v supply and the comp/cut sounds fantastic,more headroom and articulation than 9v.In the green mode(stage 1) it will just 'fur up'the sound slightly in a very musical way and then step on the red footswitch(stage 2)for a very nice solo boost which does not compress like the other 2 modes.
The vintage and FM channels are very similar with only subtle changes between them,slightly more gain and mids in vintage which to my ears is much like a TS9.There is a lot of gain and volume available in the 2 high gain modes and endless sustain with harmonic feedback is no problem.However the tone control which is basically a presence control is not as effective in the 2 high gain modes,I had it set at 3(o'clock) on vintage and 2 on FM,any less than that and the sound became muddy.Also in these 2 modes the 2nd gain stage does not lift the volume it only dumps more gain in the mix,so it will not turn a single channel amp into a 3 channel amp,although I can do this by setting the amp clean,fulldrive on vintage for a solo boost,and then backing off on guitar volume for a rhythmn crunch.Works very well that way and retains tone when backed off on the guitar.
Now I get to the best feature of this pedal for my application anyway-the comp/cut,what a beautiful sound this is in front of a quality tube amp set clean,the 18v supply has made a big difference to this mode-if you have a fulldrive I suggest you try it,I am not saying that it will improve your particular rig but with my set up it has made a huge improvement,but only in the comp/cut mode,I can hardly tell any change in vintage and FM modes with 18v,although after over 20 years of live gigging I am partially deaf anyway,so what do I know.
Another plus is that the 2nd gain stage gives a much bigger volume lift in comp/cut than in the other 2 high gain modes,so playing lead work on a strat neck single coil becomes a truly uplifting experience in the red channel and you can cut through the live mix just fine.
Used this way the fulldrive is very unforgiving and will not tolerate sloppy playing-no hiding behind a huge wall of distortion with notes blurring into each other,you can hear every individual note and it has certainly made me think more about my guitar playing,and probably tightened up my technique.Also the tone control is more effective I have it at 10,and there is more volume available,I have that on 10(all settings are o'clock)as well,whereas in the 2 high gain modes it was set at 2 or 3.

Outstanding build quality,no problems.

Had a slight problem with my fulltone choralflange which turned out to be operator error-fulltone responded to my e-mail within 24 hours and gave me advice to solve the problem,excellent.

This pedal is a great asset to anyone playing classic rock/blues type music and is a vital part of my tone,if it were stolen then I would replace it immediately.I've been through a lot of o/d distortion pedals,including the standard boss type and also several boutique pedals and this is one of the best.
I like the comp/cut even better now at 18v,and the vintage and FM modes are both excellent overdrives.The true bypass does just that and does not affect the tone when in standby.
I am very pleased with my sound and the fulldrive has improved my playing.The vintage mode which was my favourite initially,has been replaced with a TS9 on my pedalboard,a classic pedal which I love,but the fulldrive in vintage mode can sound exactly like a tubescreamer if you want it to.
After owning the fulldrive for a while now and getting to know the sounds inside it,I don't think the comp/cut mode at 18 volts supply and put in front of a great tube amp can be beaten,if you like playing some nice blues licks try it,I don't think you will be disappointed.

Actually is extremely easy to use. I personally use it for 2 purposes: for the bluesy tone and also for the booster. In fact lately I use to booster my screaming leads when I go direct to record from my Line6 Vetta.
On live it's very friendly.

The quality is great. I don't use one distortion box only. I like to use different boxes and amps -including a Marshall, Line6, a Music Man, Ibanes TS10 (Analog Man modified), ADA MP1, Mesa Boogie, and other stuff. I do a lot of studio work.

The Full Tone is very natural sounding and seems to sing enough in a lot of situations.

Extremely reliable. The battery lasts long enough. Mine has been trough a lot of gigs and sessions.

Haven't needed it so far.

Let me clarify - I got the Creme Custom Shop FD2 with the mode switch in between the TONE and OVERDRIVE knobs. I would presume that it's in the same ballpark as the blue ones. If you're thinking of tweaking *just* the pedal for a good sound, then you're going to be in for a big surprise. POINT: My amp has 11 knobs with two push-pull swtiches for extra mid-gain and brightness. The pedal has four knobs with a three way mode switch and two footswitches. The point is, it's not just about the pedal, it's about the amp as well. So I rate this a 6 as it's not as easy to use as I would've thought.

Want high gain Marshall/Mesa type sounds? Megadeath? Cradle of Filth? Corrosion of Conformity? Well, stop reading this review or any of the others. The heaviest tone you'll get by using this pedal is probably AC/DC. Unless you already have a Mesa. And of course if you define 'heavy' as 'the amount of distortion used on a down-tuned guitar'. Is Korn heavier than SRV? Hmmmm...

Setup: Japanese Stratocaster --> FD2 --> Fender Deluxe Reverb II. I have other effects, but for the purpose of this review, that was my setup.

It's not particularly noisy. Although I must say there's an increased amount of noise when I engage the pedal. This noise, however, was already present even before I used this pedal, albeit at a lower level. I guess it's the single coils. And since the pedal is a signal booster of some sort, it just amplifies that.

I bet most people agree with me that TONE is SUBJECTIVE. So I can't say if the pedal is 'great' or 'weak' sounding. But I went out on a limb and bought this pedal through mail order because of the reviews over here. What it gives me is versatility. I can nail the Clapton (current, seventies, Mayall-era) tone to a 90% accuracy (less for the Mayall-era tone) of some sort (this was confirmed by both guitarists and none guitarists alike). But if I want a Buddy Guy type tone, I can back off the OVERDRIVE and BOOST, flick the switch to Comp-Cut, and get something in the same ballpark. I haven't tried the SRV thing, though. Might work, might not.

I highlighted the last paragraph with some popular artists' sound so that you and I have a common reference. But try not to think of it as a pedal to immitate a specific artist e.g. SRV, but something as an enabler to get different sounds. Have an open mind, some patience and good tones will prevail. Remember that there are thousands of variables to get different tones. Some of it gear (amp, guitar, cable etc), some of it technique (pick angle, pick dynamics etc), some just pure luck. I bet if I played Clapton's rig, I won't sound exactly like him to save my life.

Haven't tried it with a transistor amp. Wouldn't know what that would sound like. But I bet my life it's suppose to work better with valves. Oh, get a low-ish wattage amp too. About 20-50 watts. I *think* if you have a hundred watter, you'll still need to play the amp damn loud before this pedal makes any appreciable difference. But I might be wrong.

It's a brilliant pedal, though. Solid 10. Does what it's supposed to do.

I don't gig all that much. Just the odd jam session with friends. So don't take my word on Reliability for it. Doesn't feel as tough as a Boss, though.

Never dealt with them. But for someone who is across the Atlantic, and has this reputation of being such a egomaniac, well... says a lot about Mike Fuller, right? I mean, you don't have to know Michael Jackson to know that he's a weirdo. But I'm not here to date Mike, just use his pedals...

I've been playing for 9 years. Still trying to find my own 'sound' on guitar, but the process is wonderful. And this pedal is definitely one of those 'enablers' for me to get to a new chapter. If it was lost, I would definitely want it again, but I don't know if I could shell out the money.

Loves - It's simple job which it does brilliantly. BOOST THE SIGNAL!! BOOST THE SIGNAL!! The colour. Creaaaammm...

Hates - I'm nitpicking, but if the mode toggle switch was actually a footswitch... I wouldn't have to bend down in between songs. I could change the tone of my guitar mid-song... I could do a lot.

I went through this Radiohead-phase where I bought a bunch of pedals for weird effects. And then I heard 'From The Cradle' and took the blues quite seriously. It's nice to downsize my rig. From having 10 pedals to just one. Gives my sound some breathing space. And as much as I want to attribute this pedal to my sound, always remember that there's a reason why SRV is SRV, Clapton is Clapton, King is King. I think it's more technique than anything.

Push Pull pot for Comp Cut is the only down side to this pedal. Otherwise it really runs itself. With a Vintage type Marshall or Fender Blackface it takes just a few minutes to dial this in.

Keep in mind this is the Older Orange 1996 issue FD2. Mike fixed the problem of the push pull in 2003. I am considering a buying another one for the Toggle opition. But this one ain't going nowhere!

These 1996 FD2's are really amazing. I have owned three stock blue FD2's prior to this one and this one is heads and tails my favorite. The Mids are just wonderfull. I like the Flat mid option but I just can't stop playing this pedal. WIth my JTM 45 it is just like peanut butter and jelly. Have not heard a better drive pedal in my 20 years of playing.

This one has the older switches (Black Top). I don't think they are as sturdy as the newer 3PDT's . But it has been around for 8 years and is still going strong. I gotta give it a ten .

Always helpfull and Pro.

Belive it or not I paid $125 bucks for this "vintage" FD2. I found it in the recycler ads. I was in the Hollywood Guitar Center last week - They have two in the Glass Case for $400 and $500 bucks. ridiculous? Yes I think so - But the tone is very much worth $250. If you run across one of these old FD2's before the FM switch over and have the $$$$. Give it a shot - I will never sell this pedal.

This is certainly not the easiest pedal to master. You have to choose from three modes (Vintage,Flat Mids and Comp Cut), and then you have to adjust your volume, tone and the drive for each channel (OD & Boost). Getting the two channels to sound the way you want them at the volume you desire takes some careful tweaking. Plus, you have to consider the overall volume that you're playing at. What sounds good at low volume may not sound the way you want at higher volumes. That being said, you can dial in some very happening sounds if you have patience and good ears. Those who can't work with the Fulldrive II are usually lacking in one or both of these qualities or they have inferior equipment. With all of the options, anyone should be able to attain a great overdriven tone.

Using a Carr Rambler amp and a variety of guitars (Reverend Slingshot, Tele Special, Les Paul, Galveston Resonator and Harmony Stratotone) with the Fulldrive in the Vintage mode, I get closer to the sound I want to hear than with anything else. And I've tried dozens of pedals from the "boutiques" on down to the pedestrian with mostly disappointing results. I had an older Fulldrive II that I sold because I didn't like the push/pull pot for the Comp Cut and I wasn't exactly happy with the Flat Mids sound. When I saw that the new version had a mini toggle switch to go from Comp Cut to Flat Mids to Vintage, I figured I'd better try one out. I'm glad I did, because it sounds excellent. There is a noticable difference in the Flat Mids and Vintage settings (despite what some of the other reviewers say) and you definitely hear it more with single coil pickups and a clean amp. I can go from a nice blusey breakup to a singing, sustaining tone and still hear the characteristics of each guitar. There is some noise (especially in the Boost channel), but it's livable. One of the best overdrives avaiable and my personal favorite until something better comes along (if it ever does!).

Very well built! My old one never had any problems and I don't expect this one to have any. Of course, things can break, but Fulltone's products are very high in quality.

Haven't dealt with them.

Been playing Blues and Blues/Rock for over 30 years in mostly small to mid-sized clubs. I would definitely get another (I already did). I love the sounds, but could do with a little less tweaking of the knobs. Still, the rewards are there if you work for them. The fact that I had one and missed it when it was gone should tell you a lot. It is expensive, but not overly so. The guy who said that anyone with a soldering gun and $25 worth of parts can build one of these should build me one of his own and I'll rate it for him!

this pedal is really easy to use, all the knobs are very straightforward as far as how they affect the sound...but then again what pedal isn't? the manual had some great info also.

my current set-up: 76 epiphone les paul, mid 90's mim strat into dunlop volume, buddha wah, eh small clone, eh holy grail, fulltone fulldrive 2, maxon OD-808, ts-9 tubescreamer, x-series digidelay, boss tr-2 tremolo, eh small stone, eh big muff, a/b box with one channel into a boomerang phrase sampler then a silvertone twin twelve, and the other into a 50 watt plexi through a vox 2x12 cab. both cabinets have celestion greenbacks.

yeah that's a lot but i like having a large palette available and in my band my current role is geared mostly towards ambient sounds and a little rhythm and lead. suprisingly this set-up doesn't really suck too much tone, it sounds almost as good as straight into the amp, not very noisy either. having listed all that, if i had only one pedal available to me it would without a doubt be the FD2. i have all my overdrives set to different settings cause i play in a 3 guitar band, and for the OD i keep on the comp-cut setting for a great volume boost with a super clear, ballsy, bright overdrive. i use the boost channel for solos, and both settings cut through very well. (especially with 2 other guitars driving) i have the volume at about 60%, tone between 10-20%, overdrive about %90 (to get a good tube breakup) and boost i pretty much reset every time i play to get a good solo volume level.

before i got the other overdrives i used the FM & vintage settings with the volume at 90%, tone around 60%, and drive at about 20% and got a pretty good full sound while using the boost to fatten it up a bit more when needed.

sorry i tend to get a bit wordy...

only problem i've ever had was a scratchy pot but i sprayed some contact cleaner and it's great again. i'd definitely use it without a backup. the only thing that scares me are the plastic knobs, but the only reason for that is the fact that the enclosure is so heavy-duty it makes them seem light(which they're not).

never had to use it, but the site is pretty comprehensive, plus the fact that mike signs every pedal leads me to believe they'd be pretty helpful.

i play rock that ranges from heavy pop to almost metal, and i a m definitely rooted in blues and soul, but this pedal is a great match. i've been playing 9 years, seriously for about 2.

if i lost this i'd definitely replace it, even at the expense of one of my various other pedals.

i love that the FD2 doesn't color my sound, also the clarity of this pedal is brilliant as opposed to the 808 and ts-9, it's just a great overdriven cut-through volume boost that not only preserves the tone of both guitar and amp, but also pulls out the natural tone of the guitar and enhances the best qualities of both. don't get me wrong, i love the other two also, they just have different qualities.

i chose this cause one of my favorite musicians (ian moore)uses it, and i love that i can get similar tones and create my own stuff with it.

i think it's the perfect overdrive cause it has so many options, it's true bypass, and it's built rock solid.

Plug your guitar in, dial ANY random setting and play...
THERE IS NO BAD SOUND OUT OF THIS PEDAL!

But even if you want to go "by the book",
the manual is simple and clear.
It's a drive pedal after all...

With the little toggle switch (Vintage,FM,Compcut) actually giving 3 different sound profiles, plus the boost switch and all 4 pots,
there is a lot to explore. (and find....)

And it's TRUE bypass.

Fender - Warmoth Stratocaster and Epi Dot 335 Ltd on 1982 b/f Fender Twin Reverb. (All other pedals are OUT of the rig...)

It never gets noisy when played with a humbucker equiped guitar.
When "super driven" with a Strat (single coils) it can get noisy in positions 1,3,5. But i mostly believe that it comes from my amp which needs filter cap replacement.

"Vintage" position.
With drive set to 0 you get a signal boost and a slight "breakup".
Adjust the tone to make your sound brighter or mellower.
By lowering the volume, you gradually eliminate the breakup.
Humbuckers will breakup earlier of course.
As you roll the drive up, you get a rich, full drive(...) but always musical and singing due to the exeptional transparency of the pedal.
Adding the boost, things get serious getting into distortion territories, with great succes though.
More low-end and much more drive.
When i play the semi-hollow 335 with these settings, i have to ...travel away from the amp to avoid feedback...

In my opinion the "Vintage" profile is better when you want the typical saturated sound. (low or high)

In the "Flat Mids" position, things are similar with the "Vintage" but a little bit softer due to the lack of mids. As Mr Fuller suggests in the manual, the FM mode sounds magic with a Strat's neck pickup. It's really cool with the neck humbucker as well, as with all other pickup types and combinations, i might add...

Although the signal is overdriven, there is still so much clarity and definition. Muddy is a word that has NOTHING to do with the FD-2...

Finally, the "Compcut" position is nothing but CLEAN POWER.
And when i say power i mean power capable to tear apart a 4x12 cab!
The mild output of the Strat becomes Huge and the humbuckers must be tamed with the volume control to avoid ...heart attack!
If you dare to engage the boost channel, either you must be wearing earplugs or just live alone in a deserted area...
At least this is what happens with my 135 Watt twin...
The harmonics flow through the speakers clean and loud without ever being distorted. (Especially if you apply 18 Volts which increases headroom and clarity)
A very cool setting i use is normal and boost drives at full, volume at "9 o'clock" and tone around "3 o'clock". This way i manage to get an overdriven signal but with lots of character...


Summing, i'd like to point that in this pedal there is PLENTY OF DRIVE FOR EVERYONE, and i mean that there are so many sounds you can get out of it.
But the best way to find out is to try one, or play it for some time.

Looks strong, feels strong. I don't think it will have any problem.
No backup needed.

I bought it from the internet 'cause there is no authorised dealer in my country.
The dealer(Italian) i bought it from was simply PERFECT.

Once i contacted the "headquarters" their reply was immediate and helpful, although i sensed a little "attitude"... (Maybe i am wrong)

I read other reviews stating an "attitude issue" about them, but i
think people respond to others the way they are treated.
And this applies to both sides. (...peace, people!)

The fact is that they have done a great job and that is what we should focus on.

When i first bought it i was so amazed that i posted a review which was so glowing it was finally aborted...
But after having it for about 6 months i realized that i couldn't play without it and my opinion is still the same. (No flaws IMHO...)

S I M P L Y . . . P R E C I O U S ! ! !

It took a couple of weeks but I finally got a great sound out of this pedal. Originally, I was pulling out the comp cut switch. This was really fattening up the clean sound through my amp (Fender hot Rod Deville 2X12) however, I wasn't getting much drive at all.
Also, with the comp cut switch pulled, the mids really stand out. It gets a little too punchy but if you're looking to push your sound through the mix this is the way to go.

With the comp cut switch pused in and the drive turned up a bit we're startind to get into tube screamer country. The boost side of the pedal really just pushes it over the edge. I now get a really nice singing 'fulltone' sustaining gain sound. nice for soloing with the boost on and great for rythm without the boost.

Great sound quality. I don't know if this pedal is really worth the $200 they charge at retail but the quality is much better than the other, more mainstream companies....sound wise anyway. You get a fairly full ranght of frequency through the pedal. Although FUlltone will tell you the pedal doesn't change the sound of the guitar through the amp (i.e exact frequency range), it's not true. The sound does change somewhat, I felt that I lost some of the high end edge going through a blues deville with PRS.
However, it's still better then the cheaper Boss and DOD effects and other such brands.

Seems great.
No problems as of yet.

I emailed fulltone with a question about a month ago. I'm still waiting to hear back.
Not great.

It's a great pedal and I'm finally really getting the sound that I'm looking for. I bought this pedal for $110 used and I think it's worth that much. I would never buy this pedal for $200 + TAX ETC. I don't think it's worth that much, i don't care if it's handmade etc...
This is a simple boost/overdrive pedal that can be built by anyone with basic soldering skills for about $25.
I'll throw in an extra $75 to have it immediately and save the time but $200 is getting up there for a drive pedal.

Overall, i'm really starting to like this pedal.
Buy it used, there are tons of used ones out there in the market.
One of the better drive pedals.

simple to use. no manual necessary. mine is a white knob flat mid model. i think made in 2000. i have had it about 9 months and have held off on a review because i didnt want to add the same as every one else.

this thing kills a ts9. use teles, strats, LP and 335. great with all. mostly use fender vibro king. i have used on probably 50 shows and i like it better each time. no loss of bass, no tone suck when off. great. not a "heavy" distortion, but pushes a great amp to be better. the key being if you use crappy gear, a boutique pedal is not going to solve the problem.

built like a tank. one of the knobs did strip somehow, but company sent new one for no charge. sweet.

see above

playing 25 yrs. 15 of those constant gigging. mostly southern rock, country, rock and blues. would definately replace if stolen. compared to almost all other OD pedals, this one will drive the amp, but still retain the voice of your guitar. unbeatable sound. i hate to add that with everyone else, but it is no hype. i spent years and tons of $ on "hype", but if you have a good clean tone to begin with, this will definately enhance it. Crate amps and some shitty guitar won't cut it. i recently bought a distortion pro to complement this and it does. great products. not cheap, but if you factor in all the $ spent over the years on crap, it is a bargain.

Couldn't be easier to get a good sound out of this thing. The manual is well written but not necessary if you understand what a volume, tone and overdrive knob do.

At the moment, a couple of my guitars are in for some work so I have only been able to play it with my Les Paul Classic and I have been blown away by how great it sounds I can not wait to get my strat back with new pickups to try this out. There is zero noise when either the main channel is on or even when the boost is on. I can easily get the tone that I hear in my head. It can go from a great clean boost (Comp Cut) to a nice fat tubey blues sound (Vintage).

As soon as I got it home, I opened it up to pop out the battery as I prefer to use it with a power adaptor. The look of this pedal inside is impeccable. It is written on the Fulltone website that after playing a Fulltone pedal and after looking inside a Fulltone pedal.... if you don't understand why the price is what it is that you SHOULD go play something else. Well this couldn't be more true. The craftsmanship is top notch. I totally rely on this pedal.

I emailed Mike Fuller in regards to a question I had and I got an immediate reply. It was a lengthy reply considering the question I had and Mike totally set me straight. In a good way!

I play a wide variety of styles and have an equally wide source of influences. I have been playing for about 15 years now. My current set up is either a Les Paul Classic, Fender California Strat or Ibanez 540 Radius into Budda Wah -> Fulltone Mini Deja' Vibe -> Fulltone Ultimate Octave -> Fulltone Full-Drive 2-> Fulltone Distortion Pro -> Johnson J-Station (set to Blackface for a clean speaker sim.) -> TC Electronic D-Two -> TC Electronic M-One -> Delta 1010 soundcard for direct recording and output through M-Audio SP-5B's. The J-Station is the only Blackface speaker sim. that I have found to be useful. I have a Boss GT-5 and GT-6 and have a POD XT and a Yamaha DG Stomp. I am considering getting a Palmer Speaker Simulator so that I can run my pedals into my Fender Twin for direct recording but for the time being the J-Station is my best alternative. If it were lost or stolen I would buy another Full-Drive 2 withough hesitation. I really like the way that I can get a nice clean boosted sound or a nice Tube Screamer type breakup with no noise and tube-like dynamics. Much more so than with an actual Tube Screamer. It is the most musical pedal I have tried. I can go from very clean to a full on fat tube sound by simply hitting the Boost button. I have not found a single thing that I have about this pedal. My favorite feature is the Boost switch that just takes the pedal over the top. I have about 20 different overdrive pedals ranging from a Visual Sound ROute 66 to an Ibanex Tube Screamer and the Full-Drive 2 smokes all of them in terms of realism and tube like feel. If there was anything I wish it had it would be a 3rd channel that would allow you to go from Comp Cut to Vintage to Boost all without have to change the little toggle switch. All of my Fulltone pedals have opened up a whole new world of inspiration for me. These pedals are worth their weight in gold and soud equally as good.

I have found this pedal to be fairly easy to use, but it took me a couple of weeks to figure how to get the most out of it. Not sure about the manual, i bought this used without a manual. maybe i'll try to order one.

I use a Tele 72 Custom>boss tu-2>boss cs-2>fulldrive 2>guyatone mc-3>fender hot rod deluxe. Its a fairly simple setup that works well in the context that i play...mainly blues/funk/rock. i don't know if this is possible, but it seems like the fulldrive actually makes my rig quieter. before getting it the chorus was noisier. I absolutely love the overdrive on this pedal. warm, organic, natural, very responsive to my playing, breaks up beautifully. very bluesy when i want it to be. after trying different settings i found that if i match the volume to my clean channel and then turn the overdrive way up with the comp/cut switch up it sounds incredible. the harder i play the more overdriven it sounds and vice versa.

haven't had it long, but it seems very sturdy and so i'll give it a 9. i will be using it at gigs without a backup.

no experience here

I play blues, funk, rock in a jamband format. Been playing for 28 years. I also have many acoustics (martin,taylor,gibson) and a few resonators (round and squareneck). i also own the PA for the band...mackie mixer, laney speakers, audio-technica mics. currently shopping for a strat. If this fulldrive were stolen i'd hop right back on ebay and find me another one. this box has really helped me find my sound. in the past i used an mxr+ distortion. there's just no comparison, even though its really a different kind of pedal. the fulldrive overdrive is just so juicy, makes me wanna play all day long. warm, organic, so responsive....reminds me of all my blues heroes. the only negative i have found is that i had to remove the rubber feet in order to apply velcro so that i could attach it to my board, small pain in the ass, but no big deal. great pedal, highly recommended for those who appreciate warm, tube tone, overdrive.

It's pretty easy to work with as far as overdrive pedals go. I've got two of the older orange FDII's from the mid-90's and one of the new custom shop FDII's.

This pedal has earned a permanent spot in my blues/rock rig. My usual blues rig is a pair of PRS McCarty's --> Demeter Compulator --> FDII --> Menatone King of the Britains --> DR Z Route 66 --> THD Hotplate --> early 70's Marshall 4x12 slant cab with greenbacks. I used to use the FDII with an old blackface Pro Reverb I had and it sounded equally great.

I use the FDII for a very mild overdrive sound, and I use the boost for solos. Works great. The tone know really covers a lot of ground in lower gain settings.

Here's a cool tone trick I learned from Zachary Vex: Imported Japanese 9-volt batteries tend to be slightly overcharged and sound excellent in fuzzes and overdrive pedals. They give these pedals a bit more gain & touch sensitive. In the FDII they are simply magical.

I've been using Fulltone pedals for about 4 years, and have a Choralflange. No problems at all.

Mike or his assistant usually return my messages in a day or so. However, Mike is usually blunt, sometimes rude, and twice he's been flat-out obnoxious.

I've been in the industry a long time, and I have to say that Zachary Vex is equally busy with his boutique pedal company yet he always makes me feel like I'm the most important person on Earth whenever I speak with him. The same goes with the guys at PRS & Mesa Boogie.

Mike, if you're reading these reviews, I would humbly ask that try to be a wee bit nicer to your customers. It won't cost you anything and will definately help your business in the long run.

I've been playing Fulltone pedals (FDII's and a Choralflange) for 3-4 years and they're all built very well and are extremely musical. They're as professional grade as it gets.

However, when I compare the customer service to other companies I regularly deal with (Dr. Z, Z. Vex, Mesa Boogie, Taylor, PRS), I just can't justify a higher overall rating for a Fulltone product.

This is an update to my first review.

Well, I've got to change my opinion to some degree. I was able to crank of the Marshall TSL 100 and the tone of this unit really came through! I was quite suprised by the clarity and focus. I still reserve my prior opinion to low-volume playing.

1 for low volume
7 for cranked tube amp

Hungry, Hungry Hippo!

Whats there to say about "Ease of Use"?

Guitars: Fender Strat 67 Reissue, Fender Strat-Malmsteen signature
Gibson Les Paul, Ibanez JS100
Effects: Boss NS2, Boss EQ, Boss HM, Boss OD1, Korg AX1500G,Morley Wah
Amplifiers: Fender Blues Deville, Crate 15W practice amp, Line 6 Flextone 2

It took me a while to tweak this unit to my liking, did some experiments as to where to position this in my pedal chain. Also experimented on using the FD2 together with an AX1500G, morley wah, boss eq and NS2. Finally pinned the result I want. A sound so fat and full of balls, and i mean REALY FAT. I ve read the other reviews, and one guy said it sounded spitty and flatulent...well i guess some patience in tweaking it will be worth it...
I too was frustrated after buying it and used it in my practice amp at low volumes, because i do not hear any sonic differences. But putting it thru the Fender amp, i was blown away by it. I do not even have to put the volume of the Amp pass 4 where a without it, i go to 7 or 8 on the Amp volume.
A piece of advise is: Do not turn on the BOOST of the pedal when you are already using another pedal's distortion. Then it gets out of control, u'll feedback and noise...I only turn on the boost for rhythm guitar playing, on solos, i turn it off and rely on my other distortion pedal

its brand new.....lets see how it goes.

its brand new.....lets see how it goes.

I love guitar music of any kind all thru my life.i have been playing the past 15 years, and gigging for almost half that.This effect pedal enhances your sound. Do not expect major distortion out of this unit because its not what it is for. its good for shaping the guitar sound, and boy it really cuts thru the mix....
A piece of advise is: Do not turn on the BOOST of the pedal when you are already using another pedal's distortion. Then it gets out of control, u'll feedback and noise...I only turn on the boost for rhythm guitar playing, on solos, i turn it off and rely on my other distortion pedal

very easy

I used this in place of a ts-9. not the same, lacked character to me. Be good for a clean amp I bet, but didn't work for me. TS-9 to boost an already overdriven amp is much better. All depends what your looking for. This doesn't have the edge of a TS-9 and I meesed with it for quite some time but never was quite there. I strongly disagree with the last guy (Frank I think) it's all a matter of taste. Mike Fuller makes excellent equipment and that's not SVR dickhead, probably Mike.

awesome

never needed it

I like a tube driven agreesive (but not medal) sound. I like to hear a guitar cry when I push it. This pedal just didn't create that. Maybe it's not supposed to. Good for a clean amp to make it oversriven. Basically turn it into a 3 channel amp. The boost is one of the best I've heard, I mean you really get a BIG boost in volume, very cool. Just not what I was looking for.

Very easy, not much else to say.

I use a wide varitey of guitars (1972 telecaster deluxe, rickenbacker 360, old 50's silvertone hollowbody, strat loaded with duncan 5-2's), running through either a silvertone twin twelve or hiwatt custom 100. I play lots of diffrent styles (beatles, wilco, velvet underground, belle and sebastian, zepplin, mogwai, at the drive in, blood brothers, t.rex, chambers brothers). ton's of influences. every sound out of this thing is useable. Covers all the bases.

I've toured the country 6 times, I would rely on this thing more than either of my amps.

no need

For the older style rock I like to play, this is the sound. The only other distortion I use is a vintage big muff, obviouslly a very diffrent sound. Sounds good live, sounds good on record. There is no coloration of your guitar, or amps sound. I could waste alot of time talking about how great this pedal is, or you could go buy one. So go buy one.

It's a very straight-forward unit with a simple layout.

Think Jumanji, baby (see below)!

2000 Les Paul Studio into a Marshall JCM2000 Half-Stack. As this unit does nothing more than drive the input of your amp, it's pretty quiet.

In my opinion, this unit is very transparent, in that the tone and character of the guitar is unaltered. However this is where I will stray from the pack regarding the sounds available in this unit.

I don't like it at all. Granted, I only played it with a Fly Deluxe and the aforementioned LP, but the overdrive is very spitty and flatulent. I cannot imagine anyone trying to achieve this particular sound or a use for such a sound. The useful range of the drive knob is very narrow and limited to the 1st quarter of its rotation. I've had plenty of time to play around with this device, but I can't find a satisfying sound within it.

I'm glad that I don't own it because I find it unsatisfying. IT does seem well thought-out and engineered to last.

I'm not trying to sway anyone here or be a smart-alleck, but this unit sounds like a pack of flatulent water buffaloes in the throws of passion--heaving and undualating in a shallow pond.

Maybe I was looking or expecting some grit or distortion out of this box, but realize that I went in knowing that this is an Overdrive unit. All I wanted was some nice, thick grit and what I got was humping hippos.

It's really that bad...It will make you think your speakers are blown regardless of the position of the amp's tone controls. It also makes noises similar to dying preamp tubes...Don't even try this thing out with a neck humbucker.

Mike Fuller seems to be a reputable fellow, but why is he using a clip of SRV playing a live song to demonstrate the sound of one of his pedals??

Extremely easy to set up and use. Mike supplies an instruction manual that explains all functions. The unit is built like a brick and is hand numbered and signed(by Mike) on the back. Just plug it in (9volts or 18volts) and your off and running getting great tones right away. There are many tonal options with this unit and all of them are fantastic.

I'm running this with a Ernie Ball Silhouette Special(w/ Duncan Custom Shop EVH humbucker) thru a Bogner Shiva 1x12 Combo. Other effects in the chain inclued: Vox 847 Wah(modded for True Bypass), the Fulltone, Fulltone Choralflange, and a Boss DD-3 Delay straight into the amp. The Fulldrive is VERY transparent(True Bypass when off) in the chain which allows the tone of the amp/guitar to come through. I use this primarily as an overdrive for my Clean channel and it is very quiet when engaged. It does get a bit noisy when used with the Gain channel(but I don't need it with the Shiva's gain). The pedal basically gives me 3 tonal options on the Clean channel: Pristine Clean(w/ pedal off), bluesy Eric Johnson to SRV rythem's when on and the Boost function is sweet for a boost on your lead's or as a slightly dirtier rythem setting. Note: This is an Overdrive pedal, NOT a Distortion box. Your not gonna go from Clean to a Nu Metal tone with this on hehe. It's perfect in the chain with a really good tube amp and guitar for clean boosts and lead boost.

I've only had the pedal for about a month now and it's working perfectly. It's built VERY well and is in a steel case. I could run over it with my car and I bet it would still work fine.

All of my contacts with Fulltone have been very positive. Mike returned all of my emails within 24 hours to answer my questions. Great company and very personable..they are there to help you find YOUR tone.

I play anything from blues to metal and this pedal helps me cover alot of ground. I've been playing for 19 years and have tried a ton of overdrives/distortions and this is by far the most useful box I've had. If it were lost or stolen, I'd get another one immediately as its now a huge part of my setup. It sounds amazing when on but I really love how it is so transparent in my FX Chain when it's not in use. This allows the tone of my amp to stay true whether the pedal is on or off. The only thing I wish it has was one of the Fulltone AC/DC regulators included with the pedal(for $180 they should toss that in imo). If your looking for a really good, hand crafted Overdrive with many tonal options, you cannot go wrong with the Fulldrive(same goes with thier Choralflange pedal).

Idiot proof - easy to set-up any tone/

I run this in my all-Fulltone rig consisting of clyde deluxe,DV2,CF, and FD2! This goes into a Guytron GT100 and my PRS SIngle cut with Rio Grande BQ Bucker (bridge) JB59 (Neck). Awesome,awesome. Quiet and as clean or dirty as you want without changing your natural direct to amp tone...this thing enhances not encroaches on your tone.

A tank couldn't smash this thing

These guys are busy, but they always get back to me the same day (whenever I've had a question regarding tips, technique of usage, etc.) Email works great with them- no problems

I play pop/alt rock-this thing cuts through the rest of the band just fine - My 2 channel amp is now 4 channels thanks to this...AGain this thing will enhance your tone and give it that something extra to propell you...once you get one, you can't live without it-like an appendage, you'll carry it with you everywhere youy play! Believe me! AFter 20 years+ playing through every countless pedals - from Rat to MXR, Boss, etc. This is the real deal for serious pros.

Mine is a 2002 model. I have to admit when I first used it I didn't really understand what it did. I didn't really hear what all the hype was about, I put it away and basically forgot about it for about a year. Then while going thru some stuff I decided to check it out again. The second time around I got it! It is a very good boost with just the right amount of sizzle. Maybe it was the amp I used it with, but I was blown away. It made my amp sound huge and gave me sustain that could last for days. There are more than enough different ways to tweak this pedal to get a sound uniquely yours. So on the ease of use thing, I would say that it is very easy to use but you have to go in with the right expectations. This is not a distortion type of pedal, it is a booster that can add some gain but it is meant to be used in combination with your amp's gain or distortion pedal...and it really does work great for bringing your amp to life. But you probably know this already.

Virtually transparent with just a bit of sizzle at certain settings. It is all good. True bypass...you can't go wrong. I find that I keep it on all the time and hit the 'boost' for a little extra umph for leads, works great for me.

Built tough. No problems with any fulltone products.

Excellent response to email and phone.

I mostly play guitar rock music. This pedal works great, I recommend spending some time with it, it will really help any guitar/amp sing like never before. Excellent value considering the sturdy hand-made construction. The warranty is, 5 years, which is great for a piece of equipment you are constantly and purposely stepping on. And with the true bypass you know your tone is preserved.

This is a continuation of my Fulldrive II review from 10/11/02.

This pedal, with its four knobs, and push/pull-pot (Volume knob can disengage the circuits compression) is pretty straight forward.

The only difficulty one could have is deciding which setting(s) they like best, as the pedal is absolutely musical.

And the dual channel functionality is great - I cannot live without it.

It won't make you play better...but if you know how to play, it will help you sound much better.

My gear collection has grown some the past year.
Guitars: 88 Fender Tele (MIJ) w/Seymour Duncan Hotrails & (2) Epiphone Les Pauls w/ Seymour Duncan JB's in the bridge.
Effects: Boss TU2>Ibanez FL9>Fulltone FDII(18V)>Vox/Keeley Wah>Ibanez AD9>Tone-Jam Sniper EQ. DC Brick providing power to the pedals.
Amp: 50 watt 1978 Marshall JMP & Red Bear 4x12 (Celestion G12L35's).

I may have added some goodies, but the sound is still OMFG awesome.
I still prefer the compression removed from the circuit - that hasn't changed at all. But the biggest change came when I powered it up with 18 volts via my DC Brick. WOW.....

On 18 volts the FDII is even more. The thing I like best about it is that its very natural and amp-like. Its like turning up the pre amp gain on my JMP, only better. I don't like artificial, fake, saturated distortion. I like organic, natural drive. I want to hear the am and the guitar. Powered on 18 volts, the FDII gives me what I like....AND ITS A TWO CHANNEL DRIVER/BOOSTER !!!!

The thing is tits.

My single channel amp now is basically 3 channel fire breathing motherf*#$er. Yummy.

Being the tone snob I am, I have since tried the HBE Power Screamer, dual TS9's, TS9/BD2, the Mesa V Twin, Barber Tone Pump & Direct drive (both let me down...). You know what ? They all failed to win me away from my FDII. All failed.

I am so excited by my tone that I cannot contain myself. I have found my sound - the somewhere between Adam Jones (TOOL) and Dean DeLeo (STP).

Check out www.remedylost.com for some sound reference.

Well I have had it for over a year, and it seems to be just fine.

The only qualm I have is that the foot switches were sticking some, once in a while. I have since lubricated them (WD40) and all is back to normal.

I would like a second FDII just to have, but I sleep fine knowing that my FDII won't fail me.

Everyone at Fulltone is awesome and super friendly.
I don't try to shoot the shit with them, but I am not being an ass either. I have a question, I ask it, they answer it. Pretty simple.
Responses have been very professional and very fast.
No complaints.

The FDII is part of what I do.
I am addicted to the clean boost it provides when powered with 18 volts. I am hooked on the dual channel functionality. I love what it does for me...by working woth my gear to make a better tone.

The FDII is all that. After all of the reviews its gotten so far it really is deserving of all the 9/10's for each category.

If you need to hear the FDII in action, doing something other than blues/classic rock, check out www.remedylost.com

Piece of cake! "Overdrive" sets normal channel distortion, "boost" sets boost channel distortion. Volume and tone affect both channels. Vintage/FM/Compcut sets the type of gain on both channels. A couple of pages describing the controls are included.

Two words: scha weet. Great clean boost in compcut, vintage and FM mode both deliver that nice bluesy sound. Only possible gripe is that there isn't much difference between FM and Vintage on my setup. But, seeing as it sounds great on either, that's OK.

The only thing you might be able to do to this pedal is break one of the plastic knobs by hitting it repeatedly with a hammer.

I bought it from a Canadian dealer, "Terry's guitars". They were excellent. I haven't had to talk to Fulltone themselves at all, nor do I expect that I ever will.

This pedal is awesome for bluesy tones or just giving good clean boost control with compcut. I play a lot of different styles, and this pedal's flexibilty is great.

Easy as Pi!

Very nice, open, amp like quality with this pedal. Versitile in tone. Everything from clean boost, blues, rock & beyond and they all sound very natural. The comp / cut is a useful feature. Using this with two solid state amps at the moment. Can't wait to tube it! I also use a Barber Direct Drive, Vox Valve Tone and a Boss Blues Driver. They are all excellent sounding pedals and do very similar, but different things. They all compliment each other well and it's nice to switch between them for various overdrive flavours.

Looks to be very solid in the build department. I can't imagine anything going wrong with it.

I've yet to deal with them, but from waht others on this site say, it sounds like I would ahve no problem with service if anything did happen to it.

Great pedal. I would be satisfied if this was the only overdrive I had. The fact that it's two pedals in one is a bonus. Look at the roster of Fulldrive users. If it's good enough for them...it's obviously good enough for me!

How simle do you need it !?

playing my musicman luke through my pittbull 50 cl set to a really good rock crunch on green channel. All controls set to 12 o clock on the fulldrive2. Perfect !A solo sound that increases the drive enough and fattens the sound without mudding it up, slightly less treble than my crunch sound.Just perfect singing fat solo sounds.I have owned loads, tube screamers of various ages etc etc etc, but nothing touches this thing. Had reservations about the price but tried it and would buy another tomorrow.
I have been looking for this sound for years

Built like a brick s**thouse.

No need for it yet.

I have the Luke as mentioned with the vitage trem not the old floyd crap, and a PRS McCarty Soapbar, through a VHT Pitbull 50 CL head and Marshall four twelve with vintage thirties. Play rock/blues so like a nice transparent rock crunch sound and a big fat focussed compressed lead sound, the VHT red channel doesn't seem to compress the lead tone too well at the volume I use it so I leave the amp with one setting, green channel set to high gain with gain around 1 o clock.
Hit this pedal on top of that and I'm in heaven. Thank you Fulltone!

easy to dial. comp-cut changes level quite a bit as you might expect- everything else requires little work.

gibson sg and 67'v reissue- humbuckers with sunn solarus (very clean tube head).
'sound' is as close to transparent as any gain-box I've heard. highs are not compromised (or colored much either)- absolutely NO loss of lows. amazing really. 'sounds' exactly as billed- like your amp with even harmonic natural gain.

great construction. very solid. power supply works great. switches are great and click in and out crisply. a perfect 10.

they were cool to buy from.

it's a 'drive' and not a 'distortion' pedal. put it in front of an amp you like and you'll be very happy with the results.

If you know what you're looking for, you'll attain it within minutes, provided your amp is producing a good clean tone that you like.

My rig is a Fender Vibro Verb '63 reissue w/2 10" Weber Ferromax speakers, JD Telecaster w/Fralin pickups, Gretsch 6122S, Buddah Wah, Line 6 DL-4 Delay. This box is quiet and very transparent. The effect is godlike. Dazzling drive. I'm in heaven.

This thing is built like a Hummer. Maybe better. Just open one up and looking at the wiring job and you'll agree. Rugged, reliable, ready to rock.

N/A

I play all styles and do a lot of session work. This always delivers the god-like tone that I need to do the job. The ONLY reason this box doesn't get an average rating of 10, is because CHILDREN WRITE IN AND COMPLAIN ABOUT THE COLOR KNOBS THEY RECEIVED AND CRAP ON THE RATING WITH A SCORE OF "1"! I think that review should be recalled.

Awesome! I am pleased with this pedals simple use. Yeah I know what your going to say "aren't all pedals easy to use?" true enough...
but with some modeling pedals you may have to be an engineer or devote way to much time to "dialing" in the sound or effect you may want.

As far as the setup I keep it real simple. I run this with a crybaby and that is it....I can't stand a drowned out or muddy signal..plus I feel that with to many pedals your trying to hide for maybe lack of talent?
As far as amps go I am using Mesa, Fender, & Gibson with a Les Paul
with this classic setup there is no lack on the FD2 FR. I was also using yhe FD2 blue model with the pull switch ( I bought it used ) now compared to each other BLEECH the sound was flat so I just cranked to use as a distortion(it could of been cooked). Overall it does a job and does it well.

Can I depend on it? sure I can! much more than my crunked bass player.
With out a back up I'd have to I don't have another one and I can't get one until someone dumps it one me.

Very helpful with a quick response.

As far as styles of music I play everything from jazz, blues, rock, funk, reggae, and this with the opition of BOOST covers it all.
I have been playing all my life. Now if it were to be stolen I'd replace it if I could. I have tried lots of diffrent pedals like EH and the Ibanez stuff nothing could compare, this is damn near as good as it gets I also love the fact that there are about 97 other people that own this pedal!(you know who you are)
Peace.

Very easy.

Not noisy to me. Don't like it with my Marshall & L.P. but can't live without it with my Strat & '66 Twin!

When I first got this pedal I noticed the Overdrive pot was a bit scratchy but because I loved the tone so much I decided to live with it. Well, it gradually got worse until finally I HAD to do something. I emailed Fulltone & their respose was "send it back." That was the whole email! Anyway I reluctantly mailed it out on a Sat. afternoon wondering what I'd do for the next month or so w/out my Fulldrive. Well I got home from work on Thursday and noticed the small package by my front door. NO WAY!! It's true, mt Fulldrive was back & fully repaired (better than when I first got it) in less than a week!!

See Above.

I love the pedal & I'm very pleased with the company. I'll definitely look to Fulltone first when I go looking for other pedals

Very self explanatory...Volume knob controls volume...tone knob affects how much high frequency in the overdrive you hear....overdrive affects how much overdrive...and boost affects how much GAIN, not volume boost is provided in the second channel. also included is a cool toggle swith in between the tone and overdrive knobs that changes the overdrive sound and "compcut" works great for a clean boost.

The best solidstate overdrive pedal i've ever heard. my setup is this: 1997 am. deluxe fat strat with vintage noiseless pickups or 1999 american tele> MXR Supercomp> Ernie Ball Volume> Boss BD-2 Blues Driver> Ibanez TS-9 tubescreamer> Fulltone Fulldrive 2> Boss TR-2 tremolo> Line 6 MM-4 Modulation> Boss Noise Reducer> Line 6 dl-4 delay> Fulltone fat boost> Fender Twin Reverb reissue.

It is a noisy pedal, yes, but not noticeable when im not playing thanks to the noise reducer. it is very much worth the noise for the quality of sound this thing produces. simply amazing. my last overdrive pedal EVER.

The boost is a very nice option, but keep in mind that it is not a volume boost but simply adds however much gain you want to it so that you can fatten up a sound without adding volume...get a fatboost or a klon to boost it.

Sturdy. Never had a problem, and i would use it without a backup even though i do have 2 other overdrive pedals on my board i use for diff. things.

I've never had to deal with them at all.

I give it an overall rating of 10. i can't help it, it just sounds so good. i play mostly experimental indie rock and this pedal blows me away. i would buy another one with out any question if this thing were lost or stolen. i don't see any downsides to this thing unless noise annoys you. This thing inspires me to write a song everytime i play on it. i love it!

I was able to get a good sound very quickly after I turned the pedal on. There aren't many knobs to tweek and each one is pretty self explanatory. The mini toggle switch in the middle might take a few minutes to figure out but the manual explains what options you've got here. I would note that I heard no difference in sound, tone or volume between the "normal" OD channel and the boost channel when the mini toggle switch was set to the vintage position. I asked the store owner about this - and he said the boost switch does not work in the vintage mode. The manual does not address this issue. It really doesn't impact me because I prefer setting the mini toggle switch to the FM position.

I will primarily use a mid 90's Fender Strat plus or an early 80's Fender Telecaster - both guitars have a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pick up in the bridge position - running into a Fender DRRI, a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12 or a Mesa Boogie DC-5 head and 2x12 cab. I don't think it's noisy at all - I've used noisier pedals. I don't usually hear the sounds of another guitar player when I'm playing...but this is probably as close to Eric Johnson's tone as I've ever heard (toggle switch on FM - Boost switch on and dimed - tone knob slightly more than 1/2 way). Full, fat, creamy tone that works great for everything from blues to rock and beyond. I also love how this is really 2 pedals in one. No need for my compressor anymore because I can get a slightly gritty, compressed boost using the "normal" channel and a fat, rich, sustaining overdrive tone when I hit the boost switch. Both channels clean up well when backing off the guitar's volume too. Beautiful tones man!

I really can't comment here - well no rating anyway. The pedal is still new to me. I've been a Boss pedal guy for 20 years, so this pedal has a lot to live up to as far as being reliable.......but it seems very well built and from everything I've read about Mike Fuller's products, it should last me a long long time.

N/A

This is easily the best sounding overdrive pedal I've ever used in my 28 years of playing guitar. I really didn't think any OD pedal could be built to sound this good.

I primarily play rock, blues, and some jazz fusion. This pedal is a perfect match for the stuff I play and for most of the gear I own. My Fender tube amps and Fender guitars love this pedal. If I lost this pedal I would buy another one immediately - the tone is awesome. The only pedal that I tried out that came close to the tone of the FD2 was the Reverend Drivetrain pedal. Well, sort of close - I A/B'd both pedals against each other and after a few minutes the choice was clear, and the Drivetrain doesn't have the Boost feature of the FD2.

Mike Fuller's a genius and I'm a very happy guitar player. I've been searching for this pedal for a long, long time.

This i think will be my last review for the FD2. Ive had it for roughly a year and now its safe to say that i found my tone. This thing isnt really that hard to set up. in compressed mod. its the comp cut mod which, once figured out and put the 18v in is the greatesy sound in the worl.d

The thing is a tad bit noisy with the 18v but nothing to get in a fuss about, truly not noticable unless you really listen for it. I first the compressed setting was the greatest thing in the world but now that ive figured out the compcut the compressed sounds like pure garbage! the compcut mode is so beautiful and clean with a good tube amp and a quality strat. the drive mode is just on the verge of breaking up sound. then the boost is this beautiful drive that is not compressed at all and is just pure goodness.

i trust that it wouldnt break.

had a chat with mike a couple of times about other products. always emailed me within the day or the next. very polite and to the point.

i play all sorts of music. from the stones, cream and hendrix to vaughan, pearl jam and nirvana. this pedal makes great for when crunch drive is needed. also can be used as an excellent boost to accompany your amps drive.

Mike Fuller's accompanying manual for this overpriced, virtually useless box gives a few cursory, not-too-helpful settings. It was difficult to use in the sense that I could never dial in a usable sound.

I play a slightly modified G&L S-500 Gold sparkle strat through a Fender Hot Rod Deville. I'm in both a surf instrumental band, and a band that is not a surf instrumental band. The Full Drive took up space on my pedalboard alongside a Pro Co Rat, Dan-Echo, Ibanez Chorus, Boss Tremolo. Anyway, I purchased this FD out at the local 47th st. Boutique, mostly based on glowing reviews, and the fact that, well, if it cost 225.00, it must be capable of something interesting, right? Right away the overdrive sounded suspiciously thin. But I bought it anyway, reassuring myself that I'd be able to dial in an acceptable sound eventually. Boy was I wrong. The comp-cut effect, when engaged, gave you a certain amount of gain on the green channel, but muddied the tone, and basically sounded like thick static from a transistor radio. There is also a needlessly wide discrepancy in volume between the "green" channel and "red" boost channel. In short: the green channel with comp-cut off, is a virtually gain-less volume boost, unless you're playing at arena-rock levels. The green channel with comp-cut on sounds feeble and squashed, and destroys my strat's normally cutting tone. The only time I used the comp-cut was when I combined the FD with my Rat, to get the maximum in thick mid-rangey Jesus and Mary Chain fuzz-blanketing (which wasn't often) The only time I had any real success with this pedal otherwise was playing power chords at earbleed levels (7 to be exact) through an old breakup-prone Super Reverb (with reverb at 1-2)with comp-cut off. Hit the boost channel, hit a "d" chord, and BLANG! the bite was FINALLY somewhat evident. But I play mostly small-to-medium sized clubs, not football stadiums, so this little discovery would ultimately prove to be quite worthless.

This pedal could withstand a nuclear attack

never dealt with Mr. Fuller, probably wouldn't want to.

I've been playing out regularly in bands for about four years, been in and out of different musical situations for about seven overall. I've used overdrives and distortions by MXR, Tech 21, Boss, and now Fulltone. All were equally second rate. I just bought a ts-10 tubescreamer and am VERY content with it so far, but may seek out the Carl Martin Heavy Drive in future. Overall, the FD2 to me was a White Elephant that did nothing to improve my sound. This blues hippie/huckster Fuller should be strung up for conceiving this sadly underachieving one-dimensional pedal. Seems as though a lot of people rate Fulltone high, but then again, lots of guitar players are unaware that they sound like shit, right? These are usually Kenny Wayne Shepherd clones who waste their lives chasing the ghosts of SRV and Hendrix. Get a life, Fuller.

It's an easy pedal to work. This new switch thing is a fucking joke... i tried it with several amps including mesa's, mashall plexi's, BF'd fenders and a couple of matchless's... THERE IS BARELY AND I MEAN BARELY ANY (AND I MEAN ON A SCALE TO 1 -10 IT'S LIKE A 0.5) FUCKING TONE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MIDS AND FLAT-MIDS!!!!!

I do own a few of fulltone's units but this thing just sucks... too muddy, i can get a better tone out of a boss sd-1 and a sound tank ts-5. it's so much easier and beter to use a couple of Maxon OD-808's, and it's more transparent, with out losing the gain... 18V adapter to make it transparent but lose a little gain, fuck that...

do get me wrong it built like an old sherman tank, it just has a shitty sound.

mike's a nice guy, i just think he needs to try again in the overdrive dept.

I returned it.... I like my klon over this anyday!!!!!!it's hard to do an overall rating because it's biult well, and mike's a nice guy, it's just a shitty sounding pedal. and this is just my opinion, and i know 95% of the people out there wouldn't agree with me but that's okay...

Very easy to use. Especially with the new toggle switch. The model this unit replaced (2002) was easy also, but with a swith in the middle of the pedal and setting lettered out for you, it really can't be much easier than this. I had the older one and sold it to get the updated version. The manual is similar except it doesn't have sample settings in the illustration. You don't really need them however.

I sold my first Fulldrive2 in anticipation of getting the new Tonebone Classic from Radial. I've heard and read that is an outstanding pedal. Also, I wanted the option of adding more midrange to my overdrive sound since I'm playing a blackfaced fender where the mids are all scooped out. Funny thing, though, is as I listed and sold my fulldrive on ebay, I began to get post pardom syndrome from the Fulldrive2. I did some sould searching and wondered why I was getting rid of a great sounding pedal to go for another pedal with one additional option? Well, I changed my mind and noticed the newer versions give you the midrange spike if you are looking for it. So, now I could keep my great Fulltone sounds and get another one all in the same pedal! Plus, the Fulldrive2 is still quite a bit less expensive than the Tonebone.

Here's my thoughts of the way the newer Fulldrive2 sounds: Much like the older pedals, but there are some differences. The pedal seems to distort earlier on in the overdrive circuit. The flat mids do seem a bit clearer (like the website advertises) and like a reviewer posted below, the vintage setting (where the midrange is supposedly spiked) is very very subtle. At low volumes, you don't really hear the difference. At high volumes with the gain turned up, you start to noticed a thicker, more annunciated sound typical of higher midrange. With the vintage setting, I can't say I'm overly pleased as I was expecting more of a tonal variation, much like the compcut to flatmids gives you. However, since this newer pedal costs exactly the same as the older model before the newer one hit the streets, I can't really complain. Because there is a subtle difference, just not what I was expecting. And, the pedal still puts out the great sounds it already possesed.

I want to add one more thought. I get irritated reading guys who buy this pedal hoping to get Judas Priest sounds out of this pedal. Those are the same folks who get a vintage amp and complain about the drive channel not having enough gain. Or they get a strat with classic pickups on it and write how they hate it because it doesn't sound like Korn. Come on people! If you submitted a posting on here, then you know how to use a computer and surf the internet. For everybody's sake, please take some time and read and understand the difference between overdrive and distortion! Now, with that being said, this pedal actually gives you plenty of gain. At least for me it does. Even without the boost providing the oportunity for higher gain, the standard overdrive control really distorts well beyond what a typical classic blues player would ever need. In fact, so much that I can't really justify a seperate distortion pedal.

This pedal is a tank. I'm confident you could roll over this guy with a truck and still bring it to your gig. On top of the well-built housing, the inside of the box should be a model for all pedal manufacturers as to how to build a stomp box. Quality begets quality and the fulldrive2 is no exception. A class act all the way!

Never having to deal with a company usually means the product is so well built, there's never really a need to contact them. However, by reading other people's reviews, it looks like Mike Fuller really knows how to start a business, build a great product and take care of his customers. I won't comment on this, but like I said, not having to get a hold of them is a great thing.

I'm sure the Tonebone is a fantastic pedal. And, I kind of wish I would have taken it home and tried it out just to see for myself. However, the Fulldrive2 has some advantages I consider to be reasons I stayed with Fulltone. The Fulltone is not inexpensive, but compaired to other high-quality overdrive/distortion pedals, it's actually quite reasonable. The ease of use aspect is also a key plus for me. I hate the thought of always having someting to set. At the same time, I also can't stand a pedal that is so bare bones, you are stuck with the sound out of the box that really doesn't change with the adjustment of any control knob. The Fulldrive2 is a happy medium of having enough tone shaping controls and overdrive formats to provide me with plenty of versatility without having to spend too much time trying to get good sound from different guitars. And perhaps my most favorite perk the Fulldrive offers is the boost switch. Most overdrive pedals force you to either be satisfied with the sound you have for the whole song or make you get an additional pedal for higher gain/volume while soloing. I know the Carl Martin also has a boost feature but it's a bit different. The Fulldrive2 actually gives you more gain and some volume when used in flatmids or vintage mode which is still good for cutting through with solos. The comp/cut is a different animal. In addition to providing more gain, the boost can add loads of volume to your slightly dirty rhythm giving you the ability to really drive your amp hard.

As one recent reviewer said, if he had to pick just one overdrive pedal, he'd go with the Fulltone. That assesment was well stated. Unlike another reviewer where I'd have to disagree. I don't believe the Fulldrive2 is a "one trick pony". In my regard, nothing is farther from the truth. It's an overdrive pedal that doesn't color your amplifiers original tone. I feel many other overdrive pedals are more one dimensional and can really confine your tone to sounding like overdrive in a can. The Fulldrive2 has lots of headroom to give you subtle dirt or more gain than many people will ever want. As I said above, about the only feature I was dissappointed with is the vintage switch. I was expecting more of the tubescreamer in a can sound to be used when I needed it. But, I can't fault Fulltone for making something all its own without raising the price. All in all I'm happy I stayed with Fulltone. If you are trying to choose an overdrive pedal, I hope my review has helped. Wordy, I know, but the more you read and learn, the better equipped you will be when shopping for a pedal. If you are considering several overdrive pedals, I won't be so snobby nosed and tell you what I like is the only thing you should buy. Mine and your tastes could be polar opposites. Go out and try every pedal you are considering and spend some time with them. In fact, don't just buy something that day because you are impulsive. Take your time and really study what these pedals do and how they sound with a set up similar to the one you use. Don't go by the salepersons opinion. Use your own judgement as to what is going to work for you. That being said, I will say the Fulldrive2 is a damn good one to start with and should not be left out of your pedals to try. The Fulldrive2 is about as natural sounding an overdrive pedal I've ever used, and that can't be said about most pedals. If you are going after that Tubescreamer in a can sound, then there are plenty out there. Just keep in mind that the Les Paul you are running through your tubescreamer-like pedal will have a high tendency to sound like the strat you were just playing except with more mud and noise.

Also remember this. Your guitar and amp always come first. Bad tone does not equal good tone! If you are using a cheap guitar and a cheap amp, don't expect an expensive pedal to work miracles. However, just like guitars and amps, pedals are not created equally either

This is a FANTASTIC pedal! The manual is easy to understand as every knob is accurately described and detailed. The manual sheet describes the capable sound this pedal is able to achieve. Even if you didn't have the manual sheet, you could figure it out.

I run this with a Fender VibroKing and 52' Tele RI and the sound is amazing. I makes it sonic heaven. Amagine you are playin, get ready to solo and switch the pedal on and it is an extension of your amp, it doesn't change the tone like other wal-mart pedals. I play Alt-country and this has been the pedal I've been searchin' for. I compared it with the VooDoo Spaklesomething. That was good also but this had the extra features seemed easier to dial tones.

This is constructed solid. Tough chasis, solid knobs, nice blue paint? Bright LED's. I would gig without a backup, it seems that solid.

Have not had to deal with them. Their website does offer informative stuff and artist using their products.

For rock and roll this is a great pedal. Again if you have great tone to start with this is going to enhance that tone for leads, you can overdrive it, or just a subtle boost. It ain't cheap so guard it! I would have to buy another if were permanently borrowed. I've been playin' 24 years, worked for Lee Jackson (80's LA amp guru) and heard lots of tones & mods. Again this is good stuff!

Ease of use? Depends. The manual is simple and helpful, but some of the behaviours of this unit are confusing and don't always make sense. There is one key option that makes a night and day difference as far as how this pedal can be used: compression or no compression. With compression engaged, you get a nice overdrive with - yes - some built in compression. In this mode, the pedal seems to work intuitively. When you kick in the boost, you simply get added drive for more sustin...but not a whole lot of gain (more on this later). When you disable compression, you get a TON more output from this pedal - less overdrive from the pedal but more from your amp by hitting the front end of your amp hard (as if you ran over it with a mack truck). The output level in this mode is astonishing. What stinks is that when compression is disabled and you kick in the boost...watch out, because your amp just might spontaneously combust. When you crank the boost with compression enabled, you get more gain. When you hot boost without compression enabled, you get a tone more output from the pedal and not necessarily more gain. Again, more on this below. So...easy to use in compression mode and not all that logical or usable (to me) with compression disabled.

I use Les Paul, Strat and 335 type guitars into a couple other pedals into a Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb. Its basically a great one-tone amp that breaks up a little sooner than the other Fender amps. I needed a way of getting additional overdrive and sustaining lead tones. It does this OK in both departments but is great in neither. I find that this pedal is FAR from transparent. I even used the Fulltone power supply, but when I kick in the pedal (overdrive or boost), I instantly loose the chimy high end shimmer I normally enjoy from my amp. It really does suck the high end out of my sound. When I enable the boost with its control dimed, I get a nice, more sustaining overdrive, but not enough gain for me. I was after more of a hotter Marshall-type lead gain but this pedal fell short. For me, running the pedal with compression disabled is completely useless. There's very little overdrive in this mode and a ton of output...more of a clean or slightly less than clean boost.

I have no doubt you can rely on Fulltone products. I have other Fulltone pedals and they are all built like tanks.

Never had to deal with Fulltone directly except to order a replacement power supply for my CF2. Delivery was prompt and free.

I play mostly rock and roll (old to new) and funk. Maybe this pedal has its place, but it was disappointing to me. I returned it and ended up with a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive for my slight overdrive tones and couldn't be any happier. I picked up a Tech 21 NYC Double Drive and got all of the hotter Marshall-like gain I was after (and then some).

This pedal does a lot for your sound so take time to learn each knob/switch. I suggest reading the manual and starting with tone knob set to 12o'clock. You will get a great sound from this pedal at that point. then start shaping it the way you want to.

Well, I have to say that I sold my Analogman Tube screamer for this and I am very happy to do so. You get two for one with this pedal, a creamy overdrive and an awesome boost. Lots of Sustain in there.
I also have a Distortion Pro which works great with this pedal. I don't have any noise other than my Tube amp basic hum sound. My setup is very basic :
Fender Strat Claptop -> Dunlop 535Q Wah -> Deja Vibe -> Fulltone DP1 -> Fulldrive S-FR ->Boss DD-5 -> Fender Vibrolux Reverb.

I have not had any issues with it. I mainly play in Studio settings so I have time to prepare. I do carry a Boss DS1(moded) as a backup in gigs.

I have been using these pedals for a year or so , And Mike and his tech team have answered every one of my e-mails. I even got a free update to my 2002 distortion Pro which was great but you have to check his website for that.

I play mostly Rock and try to use a vintage tone. I switched out my whole pedalboard after I heard the Fulltone products. Along with my Deja Vibe and Dp1, The fulldrive S-FR is helps me shape many sounds out of my gear. I love having two separate channels in one pedal. keep a Boss DS1 for backup I sold my Ibanez TK999 Tube Distortion and Tube Screamer pedals. My Ts9/808 did sound great but a bit of hiss at higher drive settings. I love Clean Channel of Fender Tube Amps( Vibrolux,Bassman,twin...) and This pedal does a great job of creating the overdrive tone I like (Hendrix,70's Claptop,Trower,70's Gilmour). I bought brand new from Fulltone website and will always keep it.

Tone controls aren't super powerful, but there is a lot of room for tweaking in the controls. You can leave it at high noon and it will sound great. It's more or less self explanatory, and the manual is cool, just two printed pages stapled together. Awesome.

Not much deserves a ten, but it does. I used an MIA Strat through a JMP set for clean. Doesn't get much better for me. The Overdrive mode goes from nearly clean boost to a very sustained, gritty tone (if you have the tone set fairly high, the tone is basically a presence control, much more useful than some stupid control that's either not there or is scooping or boosting your mids). Good note definition here. The boost mode adds some volume, and can push the gain from a slight boost that adds sustain to a roaring lead tone. Note definition not as good, but there is more gain here, so not really a surpirse, and not nearly enough to be a bother. The three way toggle is very cool, definitely the best improvement. The Comp-Cut is a cool clean boost for some clean rhythm parts or can be a great way to get a clean solo to cut better. The FM (Flat mids) is a very articulate and well-defined overdrive mode, not quite transparent but very close, and a pleasing color is added. The Vintage mode goes into fuzz range, sounding fatter and rolling off the treble a bit, very useful for when you want that sound. Overall excellent.

I've had it a few months, it's given me NO problems at all, and I don't think it will. It's remarkably tough, the wiring is pristine, the switches are tough. I still have a TS9 I bring with me to gigs if something happens to the FD2, but I don't predict anything will, and I imagine I'd have to try to damage this thing.

Haven't dealt with them, but great warranty and seemingly very helpful. Seemingly customer-oriented.

I decided I wanted the equivalent of two tubescreamers (I had one), and this does it with the Overdrive and Boost modes, and sounds better and more versatile. All the Fulltones I've played were absolute class acts, tough and great-sounding. I've played a lot of ODs, with the major exception being the Klon Centaur, which I don't think I could shell out the cash for, and this one outdoes them.

Just plug in and great sounds are there. The suggested settings in the manual are very good and will help you to quickly get used to how the pedal functions.

I usually use the distortion channel in my Rivera amps. I bought the FD2 to give me a different flavor, to use as a boost for putting my amp over the top, and also to get bluesier sounds so that I can leave my amp's clean channel set for "country clean".

However, the FD2 easily rivals my amp's distortion and overdrive. I absolutely love the transparency of the FD2. Even more, I love the singing sustain and feedback that I can get. I find it easy to get in a Larry Carlton frame of mind with this pedal.

The way Fulltone products are built I have no doubts about its dependability or longevity.

Mike is always helpful and quick to respond to my e-mails.

I play everything - and this pedal will do blues, Tom Petty/Stones-type of rock, new country, jazz, fusion, etc.

I love the way it is built so solid and it is beautiful to look at with the rich paint job. The thing just exudes quality.

If you are struggling for a good tone, especially if you are a relatively new player or just starting your quest toward better tone, do yourself a favor and try a Fulldrive. You will save time and money and sound better instantly!

Anyone who has any idea of how to turn a few knobs should have no problem with this. It is very straightforward to use and easy to find a sound that will leave you giggling due to the excellent quality of sound that will be coming from your amp. Though a manual isn't needed, Mike includes tips and a general explanation of the effect pedal. Anything more would be too much in my opinion. I give it a '10' here for the obvious reasons. It's an effect pedal, not a NASA computer and as such, after an hour of experimenting with it, you should have complete understanding of it's abilities.

I play American Deluxe Fender Strats with the Vintage Noiseless pick ups exclusively and I play them through Marshall heads & cab's and combos. This is not noisy at all in my opinion. I could list the details of 'what does what', but there are quite a few reviews that have covered this quite well. I will say that when reading some of the negative reviews, I'm surprised and left wondering if these people are really musicians and not amateurs looking to sound like their favorite guitarist. To be fair, we all have our own ideas of 'perfect sound' but I find some of these statements lacking in truth. Maybe they don't know how to use it or are playing through a $40.00 solid state combo. No pedal will make you sound like Malmsteen or Stevie Ray even if you have the same guitar and pick ups, amps, pedals, and strings. Quite a bit of it is in the wrist so to speak. For an Overdrive, I don't believe I could find a better pedal. When I use it with my clean channel, it actually screams a bluesy wail that nothing else has given me. And it is transparent to allow your sound to remain the same. I don't care for pedals that shape or disguise my gear's true sound which is an absolute when playing quality gear. I also frown upon the death metal noise that I used to like in my younger days but if that is your 'cup of tea', you should look elsewhere. Bottom line: I think the sound, for what I play, is awesome!!

As others have pointed out, these gems are handmade. They are solidly built which can't be said for too many other pedals. To go with all the other reviews, I have a Fulltone Distortion Pro and it has never given me problems. I don't think I'll have many problems with this either. But I also realize that ANYTHING can, and will, break down so I won't be critical of Fulltone if I have a problem. Mike stands behind his work and will take care of you in a timely manner. Yes, I use it without a back up. I give it a '10' because I've never had problems with a Fulltone product.

I read how some of these people piss and moan about Mike Fuller not giving them the warm fuzzies. If they are looking for advice unrelated to his products or just want to talk about music, they should go to a Guitar Center or some similar store. He is busier than you can imagine with gigging, family & friends, building pedals all day & night, etc. It is amusing to read that because he didn't have time for chatting about his favorite band or advising someone what kind of guitar or amp to play, that he was 'short' or 'unfriendly'. Like others have said, respect his time and keep your discussion related to his products. He deals with the biggest names in music and they don't waste his time either (he is the same if you just began playing or if you've sold a million albums). He has always returned my email with the appropriate answer right away. When I first spoke to him, I was hesitant and ready for the worst from what I've read here. He was really cool and spent 20 minutes with me answering questions and telling me how he sets up his Strats. I told him that after reading "remarks on Harmony Central", I was expecting the 'Soup Nazi' (he being the Pedal Nazi) from Seinfeld. He laughed and said he doesn't waste his time reading the reviews here for that reason. The day after we spoke, he sent me an email saying he had a good time talking and that he hoped my tone would flourish with the Fulldrive 2 S-FR. Considering his schedule, he was more approachable than most well known musicians and business owners. Bottom Line: he'll take care of you and will stand behind his products 100%.

I play rock & roll, blues, jazz and whatever I feel like that day. If your not searching for heavy, skull crushing distortion, this pedal is the one. This is the best of the best in every way. I've been playing for 15 years and have tried most everything. I own (or have owned) quite a few high end pedals and nothing equals what Fulltone puts out. Yes, I would buy it again if it was stolen though it would be hard to have another Custom Shop Fulldrive 2 S-FR (Fiesta Red) pedal made once Mike is done making them. I've researched and compared H&K, Voodoo Labs, Jeckyll & Hyde, Klon, Carl Martin, along with a dozen others and the Fulldrive 2 S-FR is significantly better than all the rest in every way possible. I love how it screams in a bluesy way. I hate that it took me so long to find that sound I had in my head. My favorite feature is playing in the Vintage setting with the boost on. Think of bending a note until you can't bend it anymore. It screams at you in a way where your eyes close and your jaw drops as it pulls you in, this is the Fulldrive 2 S-FR. I was going to initially buy the blue Fulldrive 2 but I opted for the switchable Custom Shop Fulldrive 2 S-FR. This will only increase in value (though this pedal will be with me until I'm put in the ground) as a limited edition offering and the changes such as the CompCut being given it's own toggle and the increased transparency swayed me over. Besides, what's not to love about Fiesta Red? Sure, $225.00 isn't cheap, but we all know you get what you pay for. I give this ass kicker a '10' all the way around.

Very easy to use. Tone control requires some tweaking to find the G spot.

I'm a Tubescreamer user since day one. I've probably owned a dozen since the thing was offered on the market. The Fulldrive is simply a better Tubescreamer. It's just been dialed in better and thought out more. I've owned several other TS boutique pedals and I ended up keeping the FD as it is a marginally more versitile with it's comp cut control.
I have typical pro quality equipment. Mostly vintage. Several different rigs to suit the band I may be playing with.

Everything breaksdown eventually. Foot switches are notoriously unreliable under the best of circumstances. Best have a back up.

One of the foot switches broke so I emailed Mike Fuller about buying more. He sent me two free, imedietly. I was happy to install them my self. After all the gear I've owned, I couldn't have been happier with his service.

I play R&R, R&B, Blues, Country, Jazz, Retro, and experimental combinations of all the above. Over 30 years. FT pro. The pedal suits that basic tight crunchy rhythm guitar and bluesy lead tone very well.
I'm happy to endorse Mike Fullers products. They're all well made and sound good. Whether they ring your bell or not, they're still a big step above most products out there.
If I lost this pedal I would happily buy another, or maybe one of Barbers products which are equally impressive.

Four knobs, two stomp switches, and a three way toggle. Pretty easy. The overdrive affects the boost mode, so you can get a lot of subtle variation out of this pedal. The tone knob is excellent, useful and not excessively harsh. Unlike with other pedals, the tone control can be dialed into a variety of locations and the pedal still sounds excellent.

Very difficult to get a poor tone out of it.

I use a variety of guitars...humbuckers, single coils, hollow/solid bodies, etc. This pedal is useful for all of them, it always sounds tasteful, it compliments humbuckers or single coils very well, it is able to produce a wide variety of QUALITY overdrive sounds...(as opposed to a variety of poor sounds and one or two good ones).

The Flat Mids/Vintage switch is interesting. The change is very subtle. It is very difficult to detect by ear alone. Flipping the switch produces a subtle change in the way the pedal responds, moreso than a dramatically different overdrive.

I have owned both the "vintage" orange, midrangy fulldrive, as well as the flat mid version. The difference between the two modes is not nearly as dramatic as the difference between the actual pedals, and both modes in fact sound significantly different from other incarnations of the pedal. Fortunately, it is a very nice tone.

This pedal is should serve as an example to others for how to build a reliable pedal. It is very well constructed. High quality parts, well designed, sturdy, but easy to disassemble case. Adequate space on the circuit board and inside for modifications and repairs, and free standing pots jacks and switches, so if you break something, you don't break everything

I have not personally required any support on this particular unit. It has never failed, and its instructions were more than adequate. I have however known people who have had experience with Fulltone, and I have used their other pedals. Their customer service is exceptionally personal and helpful. It is clear that Mr. Fuller genuinely cares about his products and his customers.

I play Jazz, classic rock, and pop...with a variety of guitars. The Fulldrive has an important place in all of them. It does everything a tubescreamer does, only much better; and it has some significant added features, in addition to being made in the United States with American labor and American quality.

I have owned several Fulltone pedals, and at least half a dozen Full Drive 2s...They usually leave me because when I show them to people they want to buy them from me. I bought this one direct from the Fulltone website because I decided I want one that I want to hang onto. I have used and owned a variety of overdrives, A Boss SD-1, every incarnation of the Ibanez tubescreamer, the Maxon OD-808 and OD-820, the Ibanez Super Tube and Metal Screamer, several custom made 808 copies, the Voodoo Lab Sparkledrive, the Marshall Bluesbreaker, and several others. The Sparkledrive and Bluesbreaker both do some things that the Fulldrive does not, but if could only have one overdrive, I think I would choose this custom Fulldrive-2.

To get a wonderful sound out of this pedal is actually not easy. To give you some idea, I tried the pedal in the morning (at International Vintage Guitars in New Orleans)in perfect circumstances (not hassled by salesperson, decent Gibson Goldtone amp, OK Strat etc) and found that the drive sounded glassy and brittle, and the volume leap between the two channels somewhat overemphasised. After half an hour, I came to the conclusion that the green channel was fine, but the boost channel was synthetic and far away from the throaty valve/tube sound I craved. I gave up, albeit reluctantly. However, the potential of the pedal intrigued me, and after a late lunch of oysters and Coors light, I returned to the shop about an hour before they closed. The comp cut is actually the key to the good sounds in my estimation; pull it out, leave it out I would say.

Mike Fuller's little manual that comes with the pedal is incidentally pretty good for zeroing in on the singing and crunchy stuff, but perhaps should stress the difference the comp cut makes on the boost side of things.

I use two Warmoth Telecasters, one swamp ash/maple neck butterscotch '52 style, the other a Sonic Blue hollow body with rosewood neck. My other guitars are a 1983 JV Strat with a Kinman SCn bridge pickup, and a Yamaha Pacifica 604W with Joe Barden pickups. All sound excellent with this drive unit, but the hollow bodied Tele is the Voice of God; coincidentally, the Fulldrive demos on the Fulltone site use a Suhr hollow body Tele. There is something about this guitar and pedal in combination; the Fulldrive makes the Tele quiver and moan, I kid not. The JV Strat is also monster with this pedal, but again this Fiesta Red hasn't a bad sound in it; I have a Schaller 5 way switch which gives neck and bridge together in the middle position; try this, it's a beast.

The pedal is quiet in operation, and works well at all settings; I use it with a 2x10" Hiwatt Custom 20 and the EL84s respond very well to the pedal - although it has to be said that the Custom 20 is one musical amp, with or without effects. With respect to getting the sounds of my guitar gods, I long ago abandoned this idea, accepting that my mitts were my mitts - however, if you want to play clone with the Fulldrive 2, it will oblige.

This thing is built like a tank, and is replacing a Lovetone Brown Source. The Brown Source is truly 'Keef in a box', as one reviewer put it, but lacks the additional boost facility of the Fulldrive 2, and isn't really gigworthy. The switches crackle and pop; the Fulltone unit has no problems here, and providing you tote extra batteries, should not need a backup.

Couldn't comment here, but I have the impression that Mike Fuller takes this kind of thing seriously.

I play honky tonk, country, and blues, and would say it's perfect for these. However, my son plays Seattle rock/UK Clash style, and he thinks the pedal is top, no question.

I've playing slightly less than a hundred years, and would definitely wish to replace the pedal if it strayed (although not at UK prices!). The pedal is loveable for its heaviness (reassuring), the cool blue paint (visible), double LEDs (ultra visible), and its sheer versatility; it makes you play and sound better, and that's the whole point isn't it?

Easy to use,short manual with basic suggestions.Love the two stage overdrive concept.

Simply the best I have heard.This pedal does not color your sound in any way as does my Marshall Guvnor 2,another great pedal.With the GV2 everything sounds like a Marshall.With this pedal my Fender amps have the best overdrives they have ever known while still sounding Fender in every way.I can get a nice tight bottom crunch then step on the boost and it sings!This is the pedal for Fenders so you can finally get a good od to go with the great Fender clean.

As good a build as I have seen.

Heard good things but have not needed anyone yet

Love this thing! Take a little time and you will find some great tones.Great tight bottom end and singy highs,none of that midrange compressed tone nonsense you get with most pedals.I have the new model with the mini toggle and I highly reccomend it!

This is the new model blue Fulldrive 2 with the small togggle switch. This unit replaces the 'flat mids' blue FD2.

There is a footswitch to engage the unit, and another for the boost channel. The Fulldrive 2 is actually two overdrives in one. The two channels share output level and tone controls, but they each have their own drive control. They operate completely independently. You can, for example, set the main channel for just a bit of breakup and then max out the boost channel for solos. The boost channel boosts the gain, not the output level (in contrast to the Carl Martin Hot Drive, where the boost channel boosts the output, not the gain). The boost channel's gain starts where the main channel leaves off, i.e. if you set the main channel on 10 and the boost channel on 1, they sound the same. You can turn the boost channel on with the unit off, so when you switch the unit on, you are already in boost mode. The boost channel also does not significantly change the tone, unlike the Stamps overdrive pedal where the two channels are voiced very differently. So you set up the basic overdrive, and the boost channel just gives more gain. If you want, you can set your amp up clean and then have three channels of gain without changing the basic sound of your guitar and amp.

The mini toggle switch replaces the pull-pot which formerly engaged the clean boost mode. It now allows you to switch between clean boost (called 'comp-cut'), Flat Mids, or Vintage.

This design means it's a little harder to use than a three-knob, single-channel pedal like the Tube Screamer, but I'm giving it a 10 because all controls are useful and it sounds good wherever you put the controls. If you can master a three-knob overdrive pedal, it'll take you an extra minute to get the boost dialed in.

You have to unscrew four screws on the bottom to get to the battery. Some folks complain about this, because they'd rather have a cute battery hatch that comes off without tools. If that's what you really want, go buy a $40 box made in China of plastic, and you'll get a plastic battery hatch. Fulltone makes their stuff in small batches and seems to design for strength more than cuteness (more on that later.)

First there was the original Fulldrive (not Fulldrive 2). This is the very rare three-knob unit made in a Hammond aluminum project box with handmade labels. Only about 350 were built. It had a boost channel whose gain was fixed and that also changed the tone. If you were lucky enough to grab one of these back in '95, you had the world's finest sounding overdrive pedal. It ate the TS-808 alive and blew away all the current competition. The original Fulldrive sounded like an integral part of the amp, not like a pedal. It sounds better than the preamp in my Marshall so it's on all the time.

Then came the Fulldrive 2 with its variable boost channel. Most of these models were the Flat Mids circuit, which was more transparent than the original, with a little less gain in the main channel. I liked the original better; the flat mids model just wasn't quite as gainy or warm, particularly with a Strat. Although I can see where a lot of people preferred the greater transparency. Onstage the girl in the third row would never know the difference, but to me the flat mids model had a different 'feel' that was missing something compared with the original.

But with the new model, you can have the best of both worlds. In the main channel, the flat mids position gives even less gain and more transparency than the older pull-pot flat mids model. A very light overdrive that does not change the tone. When you switch it to Vintage, the sound warms up, gets more gain, and the tone focus seems to shift about an octave lower. The Vintage mode will clone the original 3-knob Fulldrive. I did some rigorous A/B testing against my original and couldn't tell the difference. This is a distinct improvement over the flat-mids FD 2.

In boost mode the difference between Flat mids and Vintage is much less apparent; Vintage is a little less trebly.

This is one of the few pedals you can leave on all the time for rhythm and kick on the boost for solos. The main channel makes a nice crunch with a Strat and with humbuckers gives you all you want for smooth rock rhythm tones.

The gain in the boost channel is high enough to handle solos with humbuckers or reasonable blues wailing with a Strat, but as an overdrive, it doesn't have the high gain necessary for ultra-wailing with single-coils.

I know people get tired of the guys with $40 Chinese stompers (see review below) giving out 10s, but this is the world's finest overdrive.

Hard to say, as it's new. All Fulltone pedals are built like Daniela Sarahyba. There is a heavy-gauge formed steel case coated inside and out with epoxy paint, fiberglass circuit board, everything's top-notch. I don't know how you'd build a pedal any stronger. The battery is secured by a strong metal clip, not by a Chinese plastic door and a piece of foam rubber. I'd use it without backup; who drags around a backup for everything they have, anyway? My children will inherit this pedal.

The clipping circuit is coated with a gob of gray epoxy in true Fulltone style. This means trouble at service time.

Fuller answers emails. Bought a fulltone switch for a project. It was DOA so I sent it back for replacement. Never got a replacement. Ended up paying $16 for a new one. Got instant service when I sent in the $16.

This is good for any kind of guitar playing except the extremes. It has great blues and pop potential with single coils, but humbuckers hit it hard enough for some heavier stuff. Don't expect any extreme fuzz, metal or recto tones. This pedal enhances the sound of a good guitar and a good tube amp. It works extremely well with other good effects. There is really no feature not to like (although some wish the boost channel would also raise the volume for solos.

There are a number of great overdrive pedals out there now: the Carl Martin, the Maxon OD-808, etc. I'd have to give this model Fulldrive the nod over the competition for construction, versatility and tone. Every electric guitar player needs one of these.

For about the same money you can get a multi-effects processor with 13 different distortions and 27 different effects. If I were 16 and on minimum wage I'd be tempted. But for your $200 the Fulldrive gives you the best at one thing.

Bottom Line: The new FD2 with the toggle switch is an improvement over the previous FD2 line. It equals the elusive original Fulldrive in tone and exceeds it in versatility. I can't imagine how it could get any better.

Just find the first drive, then the second drive (bost), set the tone, and mode. Thats it.

Great classic drive sound on vintage mode (great just by itself). The FM mode is the one I use as a overdrive boost leads (pumping up the distortion or fuzz). Setup: 73'Stratocaster/w 79'PUs(better, gets more tone)===>Colorsound FuzzBox ===>Diaz Texas Square Face ===> Keeley DS-1 Ultra Seeing Eye ===> Zvex Octane2 ===> Fulldrive 2 S-FY ===> Guyatone MD3 ===> Gibson 56' Altas 80watt head ===> Carvin 12"x4
I also use a RoboTalk behind the fulldrive every now and than. The pedal really sounds great.

Built like a tank.

Great overall ratings, Great pedal for any kind of music.

Short manual, easy to understand, just experiment and go.

I have finally achieved that sought after low volume sound I've been searching for for 25 years. Formula--- PRS Custom 22 into a Fulldrive
II, into a Fulltone Choral/Flange ( a another awesome pedal )into a Fender 65 reissue super reverb with the (4) 10 inch Jensens.I simply can not put the guitar down. Even my son's Squire Strat sounds amazing.

Built like a tank. With quality like this---No problem.

I hear the product support is excellent. I ordered both units direct from Fulltone, received an order and shipping acknowledgement
within 24 hours and the units arrived 4 days later. I have not had to use tech support but hear they are equally customer service driven. A 10 !!!!

I play a variety of styles which include rock, jazz, blues. If the FD II was stolen--Immediate replacement. Definite inspiration!!
Wouldn't you pay a little extra for Great Tone ?

Very easy to use, and a small, to the point, two-page manual (if you want to call it that) with two sample settings (blues and fusion)

This is the older model with the comp/cut pull knob rather than the three-position toggle switch. Powder blue with on/off switch and boost on/off switch. Nice pedal!

This pedal is what it's all about. Every person has their own preference, but if you are trying to obtain the overdriven amp-like sound rather than a harsh, midrangy, saturated sound, this pedal is about as close to a tube amp's distortion as I've heard. I had a Voodoo Lab Sparkle drive, and it didn't take long for me to sell that and get the Fulldrive 2.

The pedal is certainly capable of getting higher gain, compressed distortion sounds via the boost switch and leaving the pull knob down, but again, for a true power amp distortion sound, leaving the comp knob up and using the drive control makes my amp sound great. Not colored, not layered, no loss in the low end...Just a great sound!

Built with a very sturdy steel housing. The powder coated paint finish is also destined for long life. The buttons are built for road use as well and the rubber pads on all four corners of the bottom of the pedal not only make it very stable, but also absorbs shock from the weight of your foot while constantly stepping on it. Well thought out piece of gear.

Never had to deal with them and hope I never have to. Impressive website with a long list of satisfied users (professional and amateur)

Getting the older version and saving $40.00 did not hurt my feelings. Sure I may be missing out on the Vintage vibe the new pedals advertise, but I am quite happy with the sound comming from the pedal I bought. I always try and look for value, but sound always comes first. If you can find a good sound along with a good value, then you've really done well for yourself. I was fortunate to be on the receiving end of old stock while the guitar store was hyping up the new toggle switch version. However, even had the price remained at $180.00, I feel this pedal is well worth the money. This pedal is a nice addition to any amp out there. I use it in front of a Fender Bassman, but I think it would sound great with any amp. Sure not every person reading my review will agree with me, but I feel like I'm in a strong majority in favor of this pedal. I am now a believer in the fulltone product line. You absolutely get what you pay for, and it's worth waiting if you have to save to get the sound you are looking for, rather than just buying a bunch of cheap pedals to have everything. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither should your pedal board be. Unlike some reviews, I enjoy using the fulldrive 2 with humbuckers as well as single coil pickups. Just a matter of preference I suppose.

Anyway, if you are considering one, I strongly recommend you try one. And A/B it against as many overdrive pedals you can demo side by side. Don't just take my word for it. Hear it for yourself. You may like something else, but I think all in all you can't go wrong with the Fulldrive 2

Easy to use, but a little bit more complicated than your average pedal.

Sounds very very good plugged into my Garnet tube amp. I love the sound, but I must say that I liked my DOD Juice Box just as much when I tried them side-by-side. So I sold the fulldrive and pocketed the $140 and I'm able to sleep at night knowing that my $40 stomp box is doing as good a job as something 3 or 4 times the price. From my own experience I can say that this "true-bypass" bandwagon that everyone is jumping on is nothing but hype. It is highly over-rated and I can't say that it is significantly better than anything else. Having said this, there is no denying that the fulldrive sounds great.

Built like a tank.

Great pedal, but would be nice if the compression had a footswitch instead of a push/pull knob.

As soon as I plugged it in, it sounded good. I can't really find a setting that sounds bad, although I've only had it one day. The manual explains everything about the pedal, even though the pedal's not hard to figure out.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Standard through an old Fender Princeton Reverb. Sounds good. The pedal puts out a great "vintage" sound. If you like old rock, this pedal does the trick. It can also sound very bluesy. However, I haven't played through many pedals, I just did a lot of research, trying to figure out what overdrive was right for me. Fulltone stood out, so I tried it. I'm very pleased with the pedal.

Seems to be built like a rock!

Let me begin by saying, I have only had the pedal for a day. However, I did make up my mind as to whether or not it was worth the money. First of all, the pedal looks GREAT! It is built to last. The pedal is versatile, putting out an array of overdrives, from a very transparent boost, to a very warm crunchy harmonic overdrive. The pedal is very transparent; I can hear the origional tone of my Les Paul come right through. I do enjoy playing old rock, and this pedal is great for that. I am very pleased with the pedal.

I found it very simple to use. I just dial in what sounds good to me.

I have to say it is the best overdrive I have heard or owned. Setup - Suhr Tele into Fulldrive II > Keeley Compressor > Analogman CloneChorus > Fulltone Fatboost > Carr Rambler. Minimal Noise and pure tone. Makes my 6l6's sing.

Probably one of the best built pedals in the business.
Play all the time without a backup.

I called one day to ask about the Custom Shop FDII - Mike was very courteous and genuine with his attitude. This is the reason for this post. I read some negative feedback and found when I talked to him that he was very polite and helpful.

Been playing 20 years. Would definately get another even if not lost. I want to get the Red CS Fulldrive II - Just short on funds right now. If you are looking for the best overdrive pedal out there, Try one of these.

Easy to use, manual is short but good and includes two suggested settings, one for blues (supposedly transparent, more on that later) and fusion.

I am using the Fulldrive II with a Fender USA Strat wih fat fifties pu's and a 1991 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24. I play through a Victoria 20112-T amp. This amp, in combination with these guitars, has a beautiful clean tone, with great bottom and a beautiful high end sparkle. The Fulldrive sounds ok, but I am losing quite a bit of the high end sparkle when I am turning on the Fulldrive. I therefore have to disagree with Fulltone about the pedal being total transparent. I used to own a red version Fulldrive II and sold it because of the pronounced midrange of the effect, the blue version in my ears is definately an improvement. I compare this pedal to a number of other overdrives I own: Ibanez TS-9 reissue, original TS-808 and a Carl Martin Hot Drive 'n' Boost. First of all, the Carl Martin and the Fulltone deliver (IMHO) far superior sound quality than the tubescreamers. I always tend to think that the TS's are a bit dull sounding, due to the fact that they destroy both your bottom and high end. I truly can't understand why people are willing to pay a fortune for an old TS-808, in my opinion they are simply not worth the money in comparison with the nowadays boutique effects (and yes, mine does have the good chip). The Carl Martin has a more pronounced high end, but also loses a bit of bottom end. The fulltone loses a bit of the high end, but it is the most dynamic device, it reacts very beautiful on variations in pick attack. In all honesty I must say that, in combination with the Victoria, which gets a bit of a flabby bass when cranked, I tend to favor the Carl Martin, which is also a bit cheaper. I also tend to think that the Fulldrive is primarily voiced for single coiled guitars and blackface amps, and you will get the maximum out of this pedal by using tele/strat and a twin or deluxe reverb.

It seems very well built.

I mainly play blues with this pedal. I am not so much looking for a SRV type of tone, but more a 'in your face' Red Devils kind of sound. The Victoria is excellent for this style, the Fulldrive is good but not completely satisfactory, due to the loss of high end. I honestly think that the first total transparent overdrive effect is yet to be built.

Just a follow up to my other review. Well, big surprise. Im wailing down on my american series strat and getting good to better tones w/ my fulltone fulldrive2. then i pop a string and my drummer says use this peice of crap guitar (old 80's stag w/ old seymour duncans). I plug it in a ... AHHHHHHHHHH... absolutly the tone i was looking for. If youve ever heard STV then this is it... well with this guitar. with my strat its sort of weak but this stag sure brings out the best in this pedal. So now I've started using the Stag as my main guitar and my other strat as a back up or louder more modern music guitar.

just read above.

Finaly!!! I got my tone. Well there you go.
Volume 12 o'clock
Tone 3 " "
Overdrive 12 " "
boost 3 " "
still, i think its a little too pricy. Im gonna order a Keeley Rat Mod soon and see how his mods are.

It is simple enough. But far more options then most OD units to be sure.

Well...I gotta say that this is not the greatest OD I have ever heard. I will admit I like the tones of my guitar and amp all by themselves, end of story. Regarless of what OD I have used there is something lost, a richness and depth or clarity that all effects take away. This is no exception. With this unit I lose much of the tone I really strive for in my sound. At low volumes the effects are very apparent. Not so much once I play in the band setting. I use a Suhr Classic and a Fargen Blackbird or 67 Super Reverb. Those rigs sounds best all by themselves. Adding peddals is a must since volume can be an issue in clubs. This unit does not sound like a tube screamer in any mode that I have heard. The Comp Cut mode is the most transparent by far but is rather brittle if your not clear in your settings. Its just a hint (and I mean a Hint) of OD. the boost function is very usefull here. It acts as your would expect. In the other 2 modes adding the boost adds alot of gain to the sound. Also the other mods are very compressed sounding and much of the dynamics of the guitars sound a smushed up. There is very little air in the chords with these settings. Cool for some things, a bit too much to use live since the sound changes so much. THis unit is rather noisy, about the same as every other unit I have ever used. None are all that quiet regardless of what people tell you. All in all its an OK unit but not worth they hype. This is my second Fulltone effect, and the other went by the way of ebay, as this one might soon. I am simply not happy with any OD I have ever used. They all sound fake and Compressed for my tastes. I have very nice gear and that gear has great tone on its own. Adding this or any other unit does not really improve my sound at all.

Its built well built...I see no problems there

No comment...

It is what it is, but it is not what everyone is looking for. I think there is too much hype around fulltone and the sound that is created. My tastes are well developed and this falls short of the mark of what I would call Good Tone...

This pedal is completely idiot proof! The controls are easy accessible and very comfy to tweak... The boost switch comes in very handy when a solo needs more "panache" on the spot...Mine came without a manual.

I use fender strat and tele, but also music man silhouette. Pedals are crybaby, boss tuner, boss chorus, boss tremolo, MXR phase 90, EH qtron+, fulltone fulldrive 2, ts909dx, mxr distortion, proco rat,EH deluxe memory man, EH holy grail reverb, boss volume pedal, VHT pittbull 45 head (tubeamp) mesa engineering 12" cabinet with EV speaker.

This pedal sounds great! It's really single coil heaven. Superb overdrive sounds, increddible blues sounds and pedal backs off nicely when guitar volume is turned down. Comp Cut function lets you come out of the mix more. This is great for rhythm tracks. It gives that extra punch!
Pristine quality!!!!

R U Kidding? This is Fulltone. These pedals will outlive you!

I mailed Mike once with a question about European prices. 5 minutes later he already replyed.

This pedal outrules every other overdrive. I played an old ts808once, and i would not give up on my FD2. not even for an old ts 808.

This is an inspiring pedal...

I needed a little time to play with and adjust the tone, distortion and boost knobs. But it is pretty simple to dial in a good tone in most situations. I love the comp/comp cut and boost options.

I find the best settings for my Carvin DC135 and Strat with the comp cut and mild overdrive. I must turn the tone knob to about three o'clock. I turn the boost up to ten o'clock and hit it for a little extra drive when I need it. With my Les Paul, I pull the volume knob up(no comp cut) and set the overdrive to about twelve o'clock. I can get a great edge on the tone with my Les Paul. I also use this setting in front of my Keeley-modified TS-9(great pedal) and Sweet Cheeta II pedals to put in a great boost and "edge" in the tone! I also like to hit the boost mode at about ten o'clock with the Les Paul to get a great power tube drive. The Full-Drive sounds great through my Fender DeVille with Svetlana 6L6's and EH 12AX7's.

I have used it a couple of years with no problems. It is well-built and will last.

I have never needed support but I trust Fulltone to stand behind such a good product.

This is a great pedal for a tube-screamer type tone for my Strats and power-drive edge for my Les Paul(and other humbucker guitars). The Full-Drive is great for Blues and Rock'n'Roll! It also adds a great boost and edge to my other pedals. Sounds great through a Fender amp. It will definitely stay on my pedalboard. Good job Mike!

*Fairly simple to use and easy to find the "Sweet Spot" suited to Guitar and the rest of the setup. *Manual was quite straight forward and easy. *No. How do I obtain the firmaware revisions and how do I tap it in?

*Fender 65Neck/54Body Strat+Orange Squeezer pluged in to A/B box loop then connected to FULLDRIVE II+Hush Pedal+Boss Harmonist in "Detune mode"then finally to Line6 DL4(Delay Modeler) and pluged in to Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue or Marshall JCM2000(DSL401) or JCM900(4100). *It get quite noisy as I use Comp before FULLDRIVE II. Noise floor gets too high due to this reason when Boost in on. So I hook up Hush Pedal to cut such noise. *It adds just the right amount of "edge" to the pure Strat sound in Crunch mode and Full and Rich Solo Drive Tone in Boost Mode yet the sound still is not muddy and I can hear the pure core tone of my Strat. *I can easily get the "Hiram Bullock" Tone that I love. *Full DriveII matches perfectly to the other effect boxes that I have in my rig. Perfect!

*Basically Yes. Only problem I found was the "Comp Cut" switching facilitated on the control pot which I tend to kick while switching the effect on/off and eventually get to somewhere in the middle position resulting in the very low output in the middle of the solo. I have stacked a sheet of rubber to the shaft of the pot to keep it to the "Comp Cut" position.*Yes. I'm using the setup al the time for the Gig.

*Didn't have chance yet to contact your service person.
*No.

*16 beat Funk/Soul/Jazz/Rock a mixture of all these
*Well over 30 years to date. Bunch of Strats and couple of Les Pauls.
*Yes. Definitely! I can't part with it.
*Killer Tone that convinced me I don't have to carry my heavy amps all the time.
*TS-9 Tube Screamer, Expandra, etc. Fulldrive II had the best "Edge" and clarity of the original Strat tone. Other ones mash them out.
*Separate Comp Cut switch
*It has been extremely helpful and helping me creating good solo licks.
*I would like to reommend all Fulldrive II users to use Orange Squeezer up in front and use Fulldrive with "Comp-Cut".

Simple to use. Will takes a bit of time to dial in that great tone... Mostly finding a niche in the signal path - to use the comp cut or not, run it dirty with a clean amp or set the amp edgy and use the pedal to push it over the edge, which pups (hum/single) sound best with the setup...those kinds of things...

For my situation, I love the FDII.

It's great with single coil pups... It's like most OD pedals and isn't an all in one box. For pop, blues, country and rock, it's great. However, it won't get that gainy/sustainy/singing kind of OD (more where the Distortion Pro comes in).

Pros: The FDII is clean/articulate, quiet and mostly transparent (will add some extra meat in the lowend).
Cons: Tends to sound a bit muddy in the low end with humbuckers.

This thing is a tank.

NA.

The FDII is a great pedal. Love it for Rock, Blues, Pop, Country and some Jazz stuff. Not a gainy pedal, but an extension of the amp to get a great creamy/smooth tube OD.

I play/tour professionally backing a variety of artists. The Fulltone lineup has proven to be reliable, quiet and toneful!!

This is the 2nd FDII I've owned...first was stolen (part of a board that dissappeared). It's a good part of the tones I use. The FDII solved my quest for great OD tones, so I'm now looking for the gainy holy grail.

www.danweller.com/

I had (and am still having) problems finding that tone...my tone, from this pedal. I know it's in there but I just haven't found it yet. Manual explains what everything does. Signed and numbered by Mike so that always makes me feel good.

I use a Fender American Series Stratocaster w/ Seymour Duncan Nashville single coils in all positions. My amp is a Traynor CVY40, that has a pretty decent drive and a better that average clean. It's not noisy (well when you crank it yeah of course!) First drive is nice its got a good crunch to it, but I've found that its missing some highs and mids in there and it sounds kind of mucky some times. When you crank the volume though, i found there is a dramatic difference in sound quality. From 4 - 5 the latter is much clearer and more defined. the distortion channel was a bit of a surprise as i was expecting a more 70's crunch that but this sings. That was surprising. Its not the best for everything but Im getting used to this kind of drive. Also, sustain is unbelievable!!! It there's anything in abundance in this pedal it is sustain... beautiful sustain and harmonics. The comp-cut is interesting as when its pulled out you get a very ... ummm... clear cut, vintage tone i guess.. very nice for soft blues or light jazz. but take mikes warning seriously though about going into distortion with the comp-cut pulled out. It could seriously damage (BLOW UP) your amp if your not carefully. I just stay out of distortion when i have the comp-cut out. Nice tones, still haven't found my tone yet but ill get there and when i do i post again and give a better ratting.

seems strong. one problem though. The volume know seems quite loose compared to the other knobs. This might be do to the comp cut but that knob does not feel very secure.

n/a

It think its a good pedal. It will be great an amazing once i figure it out a little better. Ive been playing for ten years so i know what i want...and ill find it!!!

Like any good distortion pedal, if it were anything other than boneheadedly simple to use it would likely be no good

I always thought the original fulldrive sounded great (read the reviews, so did a lot of other people). The quesion is does this sound noticeably better. The answer is a very convincing yes; more tranparency, more versatility

Well, this is a new pedal but all the other ones have been perfect over five years or so.

I have had occasion to be in touch on what I thought was a problem (but wasn't) I had on another item and the service was extremely professional. No complaints from me.

I have been playing for way too long; I have owned a bunch of gear over the years but now I think I have it down to a great tube amp and a few quality effects. The Distortion Pro is another as is the Maxon AD900, a Captain Coconut and an Analogman Bicomprossor. I went on the performance of other Fulltone units and bought this without trying it; risky but it worked out this time.

Very easy to use despite the six switching combinations. The very usable ranges of the volume, tone, overdrive, and boost controls really allow me to dial in the sounds I like. All the different combinations make it, in my opinion anyway, versatile and not difficult to use at all. The directions that Mike includes with the unit explain exactly what each function does. Brief but very understandable and concise. The only reason that I give it a 9 instead of a ten is that I would like seperate volume controls for the overdrive and boost functions of the pedal.

My current full setup: Fender Custom Shop 1956 NOS Strat -> Teese RMC Picture wah -> Analogman Germanium Sunface fuzz -> Fulltone FD2_SFY -> DLS Chorus~Vib -> Maxon AD80 analog delay -> Dr. Z Maz 18jr 2 by 10. Some of the above I like more than others but that's what I'm using now anyway.

First off, This is the first review I've written for any overdrive type effect. I have never found one that worked well enough with my setup that I felt was worth my time to write about. I am lucky enough to live near a guitar shop that has available about 80% of the high end effects so I've tryed most of them. I even tryed a normal FD2 and couldn't quite roll off enough of the high frequencies to my liking. It was the closest to what I was looking for but just not quite there. After reading on Mikes web site, and seeing that he was going to make this even more transparent, I decided I'd give it a shot. This custom FD2_SFY is much different. It is completely transparent. I love it for playing at lower practice volumes which is what I was looking for), at higher gigging volumes usually the amps own overdrive is plenty for what I do. I do use this at higher volumes when I really want to go over the top though.

As far as noise goes, it doesn't add any that wasn't already there. And that's saying alot for running single coil pickups at higher gains and volume levels.

If you are looking for that classic tube type overdrive, and not massive head crushing distortion, give it a try, I think you may be pleasantly surprised. I was!!

When I give something a ten, it means that I've found exactly what I was looking for with my setup. It drives me absolutely nuts to try to find an unbiased review on this site, or any other for that fact, where someone gives straight tens to every piece of junk that they have ever owned only to justify their purchase. Be very, very cautious. Just because someone down the block or even your favorite pro has a pedal that works well for them, it does not mean that it will for you. Try different things with your own setup; and try it at the volumes that you will be using it at. I have been doing this for longer than I like to admit and I cannot stress this enough.

I come from an electronics backround; and like all of Mike's stuff that I've ever opened up, supurb build quality. To bad not everyone is building stuff with this attention to detail. Some others are, but most are not. If they all were I'd be several dollars ritcher!!

Haven't had much contact with Mike. Only via e-mail. The questions I have asked have been answered promptly and concisely. I have read some of the negative comments but do not know the full circumstances behind them. I do know that people are in business to make a living. I believe that even the somewhat pesty customers need to be treated with respect, but only withing reason. Even for those fortunate enough to make a living at what they love, not everyday is a bed of roses.

I've been playing off and on for 22 years. I play classic rock, electric blues, and acoustic finger style. For blues and classic rock I think this is a very good match.

I really don't hate anything about it. If I could change just one thing, I would add a second volume knob to adjust the boost channel volumes. At most volume levels it's just fine, but when playing at lower practice volumes, the volume seems to jump up about 2 to 3 db's when the boost function is engaged. Under gigging situations this is what you want so that your solo's stand out. I'm fairly certain that's what Mike was shooting for. But, and this is being picky, but it's my situation; I do alot of practicing at night, and in the interests of keeping my wife happy and kids asleep, it would be nice to be able to adjust the volume to "unity" with the primary overdrive channel.

Lot's of usable tones in this box. Honestly I don't think there is a bad sound in this box. Works like a regular FD2 for those that are familar with them. It has a Manual that is helpful explaining what the controls do. Very easy to use

Used with different Strats and a PRS custom 22, with a Clyde, Distortion Pro, Ultimate Octave, Deja Vibe (old white one or new mini hammond box one), H2O chrous/ echo, Little Lanili Reverb...into a Soldano Decatone Head into a Marshall 4X12 cab.
Sometimes I use one of my old Music Mans like the 130HD 4X10 combo or a Black Face Twin reissue that we keep on the truck. Noisy?? hummm Nope Not One Bit! The Comp Cut works like on the old FD2's lot's of gain and clean as a whistle. The FM mode is like the the FD2's that have been around the last few years but is a lot clearer and seems to be more articulate then my blue one from 2000. The guitar retains much more of it's orginal tone...not that it lost that much with the blue ones. The guitar seems to sing with a cleaner tone amd sustain and feedback at the right fequencies without a much distortion at all.The Vintage Mode is a lot thicker sounding but not muddy. To be honest "It's all Good" to me anyway. I really like having the Comp Cut on the switch instead of the volume knob cause it was to easy to step on it when it was on the knob. Having the toggle switch in between the knobs seems to be a good way to protect it. It's a great pedal for Blues, Rock or even Fusion. OH Geee did I even mention the Boost Mode. If you need a more hi gain sound BAM! there it is with the Boost Mode....

All of Fulltones pedals or well constructed. I've been useing them for a few years now and never worry about them failing on a gig. I have my old FD2 but I don't even think about carrying it to a gig as a back up. If for some reason the FD2-S-FY failed on a gig I would get around it some how. Always more then one way to skin a cat.

I have spoken to Mike a few times but not in a few years. I do e-mail him with questions and he always returns my e-mails in a day....most of the time with in a few hours. Mike is a busy guy running his company, doing gigs, maybe sessions, coming up with improvments or new products. He may even have a life somewhere in there and a family ...I don't know. I do know that from doing amp repairs and tech wotk myself that we guitar players are a whinnie lot. I see why Mike has to be curt and to the point with his answers. The few times I have had a real problem he has gone above and beyond to help me out. Incredibly Kind?? He probably is a nice and kind guy, he's just busy . Helpful...Fa Sure so he still gets a ten

I play a lot of R&B, old school Funk, Blues, and I guess Classic Rock is the term for it. I've been playing for 30 years mostly in Louisiana, Texas, Missippi, Alabama, and Florida a few times. My Favorite guitarist is Hendrix, Hendrix and More Hendrix,,,Carlos Santana,,,All the Blues Great's ..T-Bone..BB..Albert..Freddie...Jeff Beck...Jimmy Nolan... Steve Cropper...Tommy Bolin...you get the picture. If it was stolen I would have to replace it somehow...This are Limited editions so I don't know for how long I could get one. I'd be pretty pissed and probably have some body even bigger and meaner then me hurt who ever took it. Fulltone pedals are well made right here in the USA..not farmed out to who know where so I don't mind paying a little more for that. Mike cares about his products and his Customers and that counts for a lot. PLUS!! The Darn things sound GREAT!! I love all my Fulltone boxs and well continue to buy and use them for as long as I can get up on a stage. THis Box is "SO MUCH MORE THEN JUST A PRETTY PAINT JOB!"

i play metall and for my semi distorion it it is awsome and when i play blues its great too, a versitile piece of equipment

i play with strats, [pauls, and esp's and it has a pretty good sound for them all but it's not very heavy great sustain not much feed when i fun thriough my marshall half stack but my fender a little itty bit awsome tone right thier buddy

for damn sure this thing is great unbelievable

5 years and i founf a damn good piece of equipment my friends love it even for my style i give a index and a pinky up to it fellows

fairly easy to use. knobs are flisy though.

Very dissappointed. I was expecting a warm, tubey overdrive. In actuality this pedal is like adding static to your tone. when the drive is "boosted" you can pick up radio stations, it is so noisy. This is a great feature if you want to catch up on the news, but not if you enjoy the sound of your guitar.

knobs are VERY flimsy. stomp switch seems fragile.

glad I bought it used so that I didn't waste $ on this crap. please look elsewhere if you want a good drive pedal.

Just as easy as a normal FD2.
After just a few minutes, it was singin'!
This is the new "Custom Shop" yellow version, with modes switchable between "Comp Cut", "FM" and "Vintage".

I've only had this a day now!! But since I've had an FD2-FM, for over 2 years, I thought I'd tell my bit about the differences between this and the normal FD2.
The "FM" setting is intended to sound like an FD2-FM, but with more transparency. And it does just that, in fact I had to turn down the tone pot a little to stop it piercing my ears!
The "Comp Cut" setting is just like the normal FD2.
Here comes the cream!! The "Vintage" setting sounds much thicker than any Tube Screamer type of overdrive that I've ever heard!
It's very mid-heavy, but it's the low-mids I'm talking about.
It doesn't "bark" at you!
When in the "vintage" mode, switching on the "boost" increases the gain a lot, and thickens up things even more, sustains for ages!
It don't make no other noises!
The switches are quiet, and it's true bypass of course.
This pedal may well put the Klon, (IMHO, the most overrated, overhyped, and overpriced piece of useless junk on the market today),
not only to shame, but maybe also out of business!
No frills or silly greek zodiac signs on this!
This is a real overdrive pedal.
Very versatile, suited to all sorts of music styles, to many to think of.
I use this with a Mesa Blue Angel 4X10 combo with Weber speakers; and Schecter Strats, for blues/rock, texas blues music styles.
Lovely tone from this pedal, how does he do it?

Just one of everything! No back-ups, never had a problem with my Fulltone pedals.
I take care of them.
But you never know............

Mike Fuller has ALWAYS answered my emails, sent me 2 of my 5 pedals personally, and has always been direct, friendly and straight to the point when answering questions.
That's customer support.
If you ever have problems with a Fulltone pedal, tell the man who made it! Not your dealer.

If this was stolen, I would try to buy another, but I don't think that would be very easy, He's not making many of these, and I live in Germany!
Before you buy an old Tube Screamer, an then get it modified etc., think about this pedal. It sounds just as good, if not better; has True Bypass, has SIX (!!) possible sound variations, and is cheaper too!!
By the way, it looks brilliant too!

I just used the Custom Shop Fulldrive2 model S-FY last night for the first time on a gig. Very easy to use - the tone control is optimized so that it's hard to get an unusable tone. The pedal gave me the channel-switching capability I wanted from this (pricy) stomp-box. The 3-way toggle offers a setting that complements each of my guitars. I like the 'FM' (flat mids) setting for my humbucker-equipped/split coil Guild Nightbird, and the 'Comp Cut' setting gives me a straight boost with just a touch of grind using my semi-acoustic Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III. The 'Vintage' setting gives single coils a nice beefy sound while preserving sparkle. It reminds me of the grind of an old Fender amp.

I have a strat (modified '62 reissue) that I'm always struggling with - it's a little thin sounding and I have to raise the action up too high to eliminate fret buzz. Last night I had two excellent guitars tuned and ready to go - but I played my 'problem child' guitar all night. The Fulldrive FD2-SFY sounded so good I didn't want to put the thing down. I used the 'Vintage' setting for the midrange beef that has always been missing. Not overly noisy. I A/B'd the pedal against the distortion channel in my Marshall DSL-401 and found that it compares very well. The DSL uses 'diode-clipping' to produce distortion in the lead channel, so I feel I was comparing similar distortion circuits. I expect I'll only use the amp's lead channel to give me feedback on cue or the occasional high gain flavor. The FD2-SFY offers nice variety but doesn't produce the over-the-top gain that a heavy metal player might want. I've always tended to go for modest gain in the various distortion units I've owned. This is one smooooth overdrive unit.

No eye-deer about this - the unit is brand new.

Michael Fuller responded within one day of an email inquiry,

I am play R&B, rock, and bluesy jazz (as opposed to 'real' jazz). My gigging band features a Hammond player and my tone has to be real organic. I made the move from digital multi-effects (ART SGX2000 Express) - to a digital modelling amp (Johnson J-Station) - and back to stomp boxes a while back, and am moving towards an even simpler setup and sound. I use a Boss RV2 reverb pedal in the effects loop of the amp and a occasionally kick on a Rocktron Tsunami chorus for leslie-like effects. The FD2-SFY has a nice light compression so I may be retiring my compressor - a MXR Dynacomp (script logo). The FD2-SFY is replacing a TubeWorks Real Tube in my live setup. I expect I would try to replace the FD2-SFY if it was stolen (ouch!). Think I covered it all - needless to say I'm very happy with my new purchase. Solid value, but I'm especially happy because it makes me want to PLAY.

This pedal takes a little messing with. Once you figure what knobs and switches go hand-in-hand you are in good shape. Out of the box you can plug in and get a great tone! Having two channels is great! I use one channel for dirty rythyms and crank the gain on the boost for a great rock solo tone!

My set-up is... D'Addario EXL110 10-46> Fender Strat Ultra/Fender Nashville B-bender Tele (Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II in the neck, Fender Texas Special in the middle, and Fender No-caster Reissue in the bridge)/ or Gibson Les Paul Custom> Purevolt Power Supply and Conditioner> Dunlop 535Q Wah> Vintage MXR Dyna Comp (modded for True-Bypass)> Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer (thinking about modding> Fulltone Fulldrive II> Ernie Ball Volume Pedal> T.C. Electronics Chorus> Boss DD-5 Delay> Fender Vibro-King + Fender 212 Cab (Celestion Vintage 30)/ Peavey Classic 30 (smaller venues)/ or Old Silverface Fender Twin Reverb. It can get a little noisy if your signal is in too much of a loop. Can't complain about it though. I use it in the compressor mode. You get more sustain that way. This pedal has true-bypass so you lose no signal in bypass mode! It keeps your amps tone so if you have a good amp it will sound great! Cheap amps will still sound cheap. Your tone is only as good as your weakest link. Use this pedal with delay or a wah and you are ready to rock!

It is built like a tank. You have to break the switchs in when you get it to keep them from popping. I gig without another Fulldrive but I always have an extra overdrive of some sort in my bag.

Never dealt with him but I have heard mixed reviews.

I play anything from blues, country, oldies, rock, bluegrass, jazz, whatever. I have been playing about 8 years but have been gigging regularly for about 2. I have tried a Boss Blues Driver, an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a few others I can't recall. If it were stolen I would definately buy another. I love everything about it! It is everything you can ask for and more. Hear one before you buy. It is alot of money but quality costs.

It didnt take long for me to figure this baby out. thers only 4 knobs, so it cant be that hard. thers a volume that goes for both channels, a tone knob for both channels, and an overdrive knob for each channel. the left footswitch is for a lighter overdrive, and the right footswitch is for a heavier overdrive. for the comp-cut all u do is pull up the volume knob. easy stuff.

I use a PRS Santana SE(sweet for price) and a Dearmond x-155 semi-hollow into an 80's Fender Blues Deville. My effects are: Fulldrive 2 - Boss DD5 - Boss CE-3 Voodoo Lab Trem- and finally a Vox Wah. the Fulldrive 2 is true-bypass, so its not noisy at all. when this pedal is off you hear absolutely nothing, and it does nothing to change your tone at all(true-bypass kicks ass). This puppy can wail. the 1st drive I use for a light overdrive for playing rhythym and lighter soloes, and i use the 2nd drive for screaming soloes and louder chord work. i love the 2nd drive becuase its awesome for feedback and has great sustain. with the 2nd drive on you do sweet stuff, like play a note and have it sustain into feedback. coolest thing in the world! the comp-cut gives the first footswitch a nice punchy clean boost, and gives the second footswitch a really punchy loud overdrive. awesome for feedback. best pedal ever! i suggest you only purchase this pedal if you have a tube amp, because solid states suck. fulldrive 2 will make your tube amp sing.

this pedal is very dependable, and is built like an old cadillac. i could hit it with a baseball bat for hours and it probably wouldnt break. solid. getting a backup would be a waste of money.

never had any problems so havent had to deal with em.

I play jamband type stuff, lots of blues, and good ol rock. this baby does the trick for all of these. if u play metal, this probably isnt your pedal, and metal sucks anyway. if it were stolen i would definitely get another, its a key factor to my sound. i love being able to hold those notes until they turn to feedback. get this pedal and have a permanent boner.

This pedal is more complex that it would seem at first. The normal and boost channels act together so if you change the normal channel it will affect the boost channel. So you do need to work on getting your sound from it.

This pedal has a lot of different sounds. The normal (flat-mids) mode has a nice distortion that is very usable and works nicely with the boost. The comp-cut is nice but the gargle of transistors can be heard at lower distortion settings. I have yet to find a transistor based pedal that has avoided this problem.

It looks well built inside and out. The switches seem very solid. I can't imagine it have too many problems.

Nice web site. Other than that who knows...

I play a mainly single coil and P90s which work well with this pedal and my fulltone fat boost. I like it better than my other non-true bypass pedals like the tubescreamer.

It came with a little manual book with a few words from Mike Fuller himself (the man who made the pedal)- has lots of good tips. This pedal is very easy in getting a good sound.

This pedal has to have one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. It's not noisy at all. I use a Fender Strat-> Dunlop wah wah-> Fulldrive 2-> Boss CE-5-> Boss DD-5-> Marshall MG50RCD amp. I can never make up my mind as to what setting I want to put the pedal to because they all sound good! You can get an awesome blues sound (especially SRV's tone), and it does wonders for rock fans as well. When plugged in with a wah wah- this baby shouts. Also, if you put the overdrive down and play with a chorus pedal, the tone is amazing.

This pedal hasn't died on me yet. I bought it back in June '02. I would rely on it without a backup- but I own other dist/od pedals- just in case any technical difficulties arrises, to play it safe.

Haven't dealt with Mike yet. Hopefully I won't have to.

I am mainly into rock 'n roll and blues (Satriani, U2, Hendrix, SRV, Eric Johnson, Ozzy). I've been playing for 7 years now and play in my church youth group band. The Fulltone does a great job with helping me express my emotions through my guitar, whether I am soloing or playing rhythm. This pedal is great and I would be very ticked off if it were stolen- I would replace it immediately!

No manual needed! very simple and easy to use and almost any setting sounds great. Just use with a good guitar and a good amp and you are in tone heaven. Just needed 10 minutes to get my sound.

I use the fulldrive with Tele's and Strat's, I have a custom build amp the Clubreverb by Marble (www.marble-amps.com)Ptp wiring, single channel, 2x10 inch jensen alnico's. The Fulldrive is my main and only effect, sometimes I use an old CE2 chorus or Carl Martin Tremovibe. I used to fancy my old original TS808 a lot but the Fulldrive starts where the TS808 ends and has a lot extra. Unbelievable experience. I don't know how it sounds with humbuckers because my sound is based on single coils. I really sticked to the old TS808 way to long. Settings of the fulldrive: Compcut engaged, volume at noon, tone at none, overdrive at 3 and boost at 2-3. Cleans up very nice when you use the volumepot on your guitar and gives that extra crunchy edge when you need it ! then use boost channel to get a very nice sustain and extra volume and overdrive for your solo's

I am sure I can depend on this very rigid build pedal, one thing I don't like is that for battery change you need a screwdriver and open the whole thing up.

no idea..... From what I heard and read must be ok.

I play blues/funk/soul. This is the pedal I have been searching for for a long time. I have owned many different pedals and still have the old TS808 and some other OD pedals, but the fulldrive is the main and only one on stage. Don't think I need a backup.
I have tried many pedals. This pedal inspires me a lot

This pedal is an all analog circuit with four knobs (VOLUME, TONE, OVERDRIVE, & BOOST), a push/pull (VOLUME knob when pulled cuts the compression) and two footswitches (ON/OFF & BOOST). The layout of the knobs are very familiar and the two LEDS tell you whether the pedal is ON or OFF and if the BOOST is engaged. This is not brain science - this is guitar.

The two page manual was useful for describing each knob's and footswitch's function. It also listed two sample settings. It has four knobs...

Did the tone fairy come to my house and grant me the wish of all tonal purists - your SOUND. The one in your head. The one in my head.

The sound....

My rig : Fender Telecaster (W/Seymour Duncan Custom Shop HOTRAILS) > FULLTONE FULLDRIVE 2 > VOX wah > 1978 MARSHALL JMP 50 watt > cabinet with Celestion 25w 4x12 . I run the amp at five and three (MASTER & PREAMP) which give me a nice clean/crunch.

My favorite setting is with the COMP/CUT engaged, VOLUME at 11, TONE at noon, OVERDRIVE at 9, and BOOST at noon. That sound in my head is now the sound rattling the windows. REALLY.

Now, my main tonal inspiration is DEAN DELEO of STP. He mainly uses Les Pauls (humbuckers) into a MARSHALL style set up for power sound, and uses a VOX AC30 for clarity. I believe his tone to be very full and crisp On sexy bitch (sorry ladies...). I always thought I would need either a VOX or a FENDER type clean running underneath the MARSHALL to give me that open clarity. That "Big Empty-ness".

No mas...I can spend that thousand on a second guitar now....or I can register my car pay my rent...

I have now attained the SOUND i have been looking for. I have it.

ButI couldn't really dial in a bad sound either. The knobs function just as they should, and fluidly. If you use this pedal and have a poor tone, you should learn to play bass. Give up.

It looks pretty solid to me. I have an old IBANEZ TS9/808 that is now a back-up. I don't think I'll need to be using it any time soon though. I hope not because I like to eat and these pedals are expensive ($199).

Mike Fuller is polite and to the point. He responds to e-mails promptly. He handles his business. It is not the nightmare a few of us speak of.

I play hard rock. My tonal goal was big-assed muscle with pristine clarity. This pedal really defines tones. And it's really two pedals in one - OVERDRIVE and DISTORTION (when BOOST is engaged). This pedal is so smooth, and it kicks ass too !

With the COMP/CUT engaged the tone opens up. It is a beautiful thing.

This pedal has done it for me. This pedal might just do it for you.

How can you folks say that Mike Fuller doesn't respond to e-mails ?
I thought that Scot Sier from Budda was quick and polite...Mike was even faster...I was getting responses in minutes. Maybe it was because of the time of day, or maybe it was because I was inquiring about buying a new product...regardless. I had contacted him before about the DP-1 I purchased, and he replied just as fast.
I think as long as you ask an intelligent question he'll respond accordingly.
I manage a customer servic edepartment, and I have a hard time getting my crew to respond as quickly and politley as Mike.

Hi all,
just a quick info for all using the Fulldrive 2, chech this out :http://www.fulltone.com/qaframe.html

Running the Fulldrive2, Bassdrive and FatBoost on 18 volts DC!

Won't that hurt them?

No, not at all, just make sure that the polarity is correct...meaning that the center pin gets the Negative (-), just like the 9volt adapter you'd use with it.

What will it sound like?

Quite different actually....the FD2 gets much more dynamic, a little brighter and a lot less compressed, more articulate, more amp-like, with more of the strings coming through....very nice!. The "Comp-Cut" mode gets a serious increase in headroom without distorting. Using 18volts DC, The FatBoost gets tons more Clean headroom, doesn't distort at all, and can get upwards of 30db of crystal clear gain. The Bassdrive just MUCH better for Bass guitar with the extra headroom and clarity.

I use a power supply, how can I get 18 VDC?

Glad you asked, coming soon are a couple of very special devices from Fulltone.....the DC-Doubler (click for photo pdf) and the Bi-Battery.

The DC-Doubler is a tiny device that attaches outside the pedal (no modification necessary) and simply snaps inline with the 9 volt powersupply cable coming from your (VoodooLab, Fulltone, generic wallwart, SignalFlex, Dunlop, or any other) 9volt DC power source and magically doubles it to a clean, safe 18volts DC.

For you battery purists.....the Bi-Battery, which is a tandem 9volt caddy with a plug on it that connects right to your DC port outside the pedal!....no modifications required making for easy AB comparison depending on the personality you are looking for out of your FD2 or FatBoost.

WARNING !

Do NOT try this on any other pedals by any other manufacturers without first determining whether they have components with high enough tolerances or the result may be fire and/or serious injury to you and perhaps your pedal. The FD2, Bassdrive, and FatBoost are over-engineered to withstand the higher Voltage.

Easy to use - straight forward controls.

Ok, I bought this to use in front of my beloved Twin Reverb along with my Gibson LP Standard, in hopes of turning it into a three channel rig, but I have to say I was really quite dissapointed with the result. Overall, I found the tones to be very harsh and artificial sounding. The green O.D. mode sounded thin and nasal to me regarless of settings. By contrast the red boost mode was too compressed and muddy for my taste - seemed to lack definition. I was able to improve this mode somewhat by turning the tone knob up about 3/4 of the way, but made the OD setting much to schrill.
Yuck!

Very well made, high quality unit. I'm sure it would be completely reliable.

Boy, I know I'm in the minority here but I just don't see why so many people rave over this pedal. Quality is outstanding, but I think the sound is at best mediocre. Overall I'd say the Fulldrive 2 is over-hyped and overpriced.

My Fulldrive2 is an original orange version, no Comp-Cut and pre-flatmids, dated 5/96 production # 425. This is extremely easy to get a good sound out of. I have no manual (I bought it used) and there is no need for one. One of my favorite things about the pedal is the physical setup. The foot-switches are far enough apart for my big foot and the knobs are large enough to tweak the settings (with the foot) mid song.

The set up I have been using for a while is a Warmoth Strat w/ a fatback neck and Lindy Fralin pickups to a Tesse Wah, to the Fulldrive2 to either a 77 modded twin or my 65 Deluxe reverb (point to point w/ a hoffman AB763 board). The Fulldrive pushes both amps (at different volumes) into a sweet overdriven sound. The pedal cleans up so well by adjusting the guitar volume I sometimes run a E-Ball volume pedal after my effects to be able to keep more overdrive at lower rhythm settings.

This pedal is solidly built I especially like the fact that I can replace something if needed, just get out the soldering iron (I do have a fair amount of experience). When I bought the pedal the volume pot was stripped so I had to replace it. It was very easy and there is ample room to do it. Also a battery lasts a good while in it.

I am sorry to say that I have had no contact from Mr. Fuller although I have tried. I attempted to e-mail him several times to inquire about how to get an OEM volume pot that I had to replace. No response on each try (I waited for a month between tries while using the pedal with the stripped volume pot). I finally just gave up and found a guy that had them. Not the most pleasant experience in the world (no hard feelings but he had the chance to get more of my business).

I play Jazz, Blues and Rock and this pedal fits well in all those and in my opinion most applications. I have been playing for 10 years and have used pedals such as a reissue TS-9 (I replaced it with the fulldrive2) the Boss DS-1 and Blues overdrive pedals and it blows those out of the water much warmer and organic. I do like the orange pre-flatmid version better although I have not A/B in the same room only played the blue version on another rig. I have not tried any other boutique overdrive pedals out there but I have my sound so I am not looking. Again I like the layout, it?s got my sound, I utilize the boost often ( a good feature). A little pricey but you get what you pay for. It's a 9 due to the service issue.

So simple to use and fun to play with!

This unit is used along side of a VOX AC 15TBX and a Diamond blue Super jet Ampeg in stereo, a variety of peddles and Zion, Hamer and
Ibanez guitars. It produces exactly what the manufactor says it does; Transparent tube sounding overdrive. Puffy to fulldrive, it has it all.

Had it a couple of years. No problem! Might be the WHITE knobs!
I don't know!

Don't know, Never had a problem.

I play contemporary music mostly. I Like the sound of Firefall's guitarist, Phil Keaggy, Mike Bloomfield, Allman Bros. Clean, silghtly overdriven tube amps at Really LOUD volumes. Unfortunately, where I play will not afford me this luxury of LOUD, so this is my ticket to this EXACT sound at an exceptable volume.
As far as other distortion peddles, I own a hugh variety of the competitions offerings. I do like the Tube Screamer and this peddle is similiar but, MUCH cleaner and not nearly as much loss in bottom end (NO MUDD). Not too much mids! There you have it!

As in my Distortion Pro review I will say that these pedals require a little experience. But everything is pretty simple to figure out.

The tones are good. The versatility of the boost, and the "Comp Cut" contribute to versatility and variety. Wide spectrum available.

Fulltone stuff is built very well.

I've tried to contact them. They never get back to me. Seems like a common theme. Not a big deal really.

Fulltone's quality is obvious. They make good stuff, more directed towards the pro market. It really is great stuff.

I found this pedal very easy to use?

I have quite a few amps,but I play this pedal through my Traynor YCV40(which sounds great).This pedal is awesome.It is so transparent. I'm thinking about buying another one.One for 2 overdrive and one for a clean boost.I probably would give it a 9, but since some idiot down the list decided to give it all 1's cause he's a baby(I got black knobs too,get over it),I'm going to give it as 10.

This thing is very sturdy.

Havent dealt with them, but will give them a 10 just cause

AWESOME!

The Fulltone Fulldrive 2 is extremely easy. There are volume, tone and distortion knobs to adjust. Nothing more. I was particularly impressed with the cutting or boosting of the presence using the tone knob. It is sensitive, so there is a wide range to play with.

I use a 1975 tobacco burst strat with matched pickups out of an '80s vintage reissue, a '99 strat with '61 pickups out of an old Harmony (killer Alnicos), and a Gibson 335 with PAF humbuckers. I run my guitars into the Fulldrive 2, and run an Akai Phaser and a Boss DD-5 Delay through an effect loop on an SK8 pedalboard. I use an Allen Old Flame amp with two Weber 10 CQs. Quite simply, my sound is killing. The Fulldrive helps me shape my sound into shades of Stevie Ray, David Gilmour, or Robin Trower, or a slightly heavier classic Marshall tone ala '70s Alex Lifeson. If you demand tone that is classic, smooth and creamy with just enough chunk, then the Fulldrive is it.

It is too early for my opinion on dependability; however, I have read reviews from others that had to have pushbuttons fixed on these units. The unit looks sturdy, but i'm not sure if it's wired point-to point. It sounds like it is!!! i would use it without a backup, but I don't gig out as often as the pros. I am going to buy another when i can afford it, because it sounds too damn good to use anything else.

The product shipped and arrived in 2 days from Musictoyz.com. The instruction guide has Mike Fuller's signature. Part of my decision to buy this pedal was due to reviews, but also due to the fact that Fuller is a player himself. He understands the importance of keeping the guitar and amp's original tones intact. i prefer to deal with manufacturers who put TLC into their product. I haven't had to deal with the company yet, but read the other reviews. They speak for themselves.

This pedal is a great match for any style of electronic performance. It is great blues and jazz pedal, but due to its ability to create a warm classic Marshall tone with bottom end (Boost), it also produces tones that would work in anything from country to rock to hard rock to metal to punk. The best part is that is sounds killer at high volumes. I have used two Tubescreamers that are modded to be TS-808s, and they don't sound as good as the Fulldrive 2. With the Overdrive and Boost switches, you get two great stages of gain in one pedal. This pedal isn't for Boss Metal Zone fans. The Fulldrive is one of the least processed sounding overdrive pedals. It's better for a meaty classic hard rock sound like Thin Lizzy, Rush, or Van Halen than nu-metal Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park tones. i just prefer a less fuzzy warm distortion with good bottom end that keeps the guitar and amp's tones intact. The Fulldrive is the best distortion pedal I've ever owned.

You can get a reasonable sound almost straight out of the box with this, but thing's star to get interesting once you begin to adjust the controls plus there's a get u started instruction sheet supplied

I'm using the FD2 with a either a Marshall JCM 900 or Carvin Nomad combo and a Strat and Tele with various other effects but this is the only overdrive type effect. I don't really use heavy distortion so I really got it because it sounded so transparent and didn't colour the tone of the amp like most pedal's tend to do making the overall sound muddy and not allowing the string's to be heard clearly, with this pedal I don't have any problem hearing the individual string's even when the drive is set fairly high along with the boost. It can be a bit noisy at higher drive level's but what pedal isn't, some amp's are noisier alone when cranked up and you don't hear it when your playing anyway. The thing I like about the FD2 is that when you alter any of the control's even slightly you hear an immediate difference. The fact that it has two channel's makes it very versatile allowing you to run the amp loud with a fairly clean setting with the first channel set for slight growl and the second set for higher drive as needed, I don't think it would suit anyone who play's metal or want's heavy distortion type sound's but it's almost perfect for my purpose and would suit bluesy style player's IMHO.

Well it's very solidly built and looks like it could withstand almost anything and after a few weeks usage it seem's ok.

Don't know, haven't as yet had to deal with Mike Fuller but I would assume that he would back up his stuff ok

If it were stolen I would be annoyed as it's not the cheapest pedal on the market but I suppose your paying for the expertise that goes into designing and building it and having had a look inside it's immpecably wired with what appear to be high quality component's. Having tried just about every make of drive pedal from mild overdrive's to massive gain type's it's definately the best I have come accross thus far and the two channel's are extremely useful giving you basically a three channel option including the amp. I would have given a 10 here however as I think it's a shade expensive and although this doesn't detract from what it does I feel that due to it's price it warrant's a slightly lower rating in this category.

It took me some time playing with the pedal to get the sound that I like, but once I got it dailed in its great.

My setup is a Custom build Strat with Rio Grande pickups, I like to play in the neck pickup, through a Gibson Goldtone Amp GA15RV, single channel, Fulltone FD2 and a RMC picture wah. I like the FD2 with the cut on (up)seems to give it alot more tone. I just use the Volume Knob on the guitar to get more bite, and than use the boost for a great lead tone.

Its built well have not had any problems at all with it.

I E-mailed Mike when I bought the pedal, thinking that the true bypass wasn't all that I thought it was, but at the time I was not using any effects at all, Mike told me that a cord from the guitar to the amp will sound different,so I worked with the pedal now I love the sound that I get out of it.

I play blues for the most part, and I like the sound of Clapton and the Allman Brothers,and I can get those sounds from this pedal, I don't like to play real loud so this pedal lets me not play to loud and get great tone. I've been playing for 36 years and play in two bands every weekend so I do use the pedal in real live places all the time.

Easy to tweak and get a nice sound

I play a PRS custom 22 through a Bogner Shiva. The Bogner is an awesome amp, and the dirty channel with or without the boost sounds great, but I find the Fulldrive 2 through the clean channel sounds even better (even amazing)

Oops. The pedal died right before a major gig. I changed the battery, fooled with the wires, but no luck. I was crushed. Turns out the on/off switch had died. New switch courtesy of Flynn Bros. Guitars and I am back in business. But now I pack a back-up.

I went through my local music store (and it wasn't cheap to get it fixed) but that sound is worth it.

It only enhances the great tone of my guitar and amp. Very warm and musical and cleans up very nicely with the guitar volume truned down a bit. I have never written an unsolicited review of anything in my life but I love this pedal.