Fulltone Full-Drive 2

It's great if you're into vintage tone. It will go from super-light to super-heavy. I don't recommend using the compressor (by pushing down the volume knob) because it makes your tone sound kind of pinched. I only use the compressor if I have to because I'm playing in a small room where I can't over-drive my amp at all. It provides plenty of boost. It doesn't sound as good as cranking up the volume on the amp (I use a '74 Fender Deluxe Reverb) but it's as good as it gets as far as pedal distortion goes. I highly recommend it!!!
For reference, I've played it with a Gibson LP Customer, American Standard Tele, and a Gibson ES-335... Sounds great with all of them.

Built like a tank.

Never had to deal with customer service. Like I said, it's build like a tank.

It takes a little while to dial in.

I don't like this pedal & have returned it.
The only mode the Boost works in is, Comp Cut.
The Comp Cut mode sounds good by itself. When the
Boost is on the tone is very Muddy.

It is built very well.

Mike is very easy to deal with.

I was looking to get rid of a couple pedals & thought this pedal would do the trick. I was 100% wrong. The Comp, FM, Vintage by themselves sound OK alone, but with the Boost on it's a MudFest. Kind of sounds like a Boss Blues Driver on 10.
I wouldn't say these pedals are all hype, but I've yet to try a Fulltone pedal I liked enough to keep for more than a couple months.
I play Hard Rock & Punk Rock most of the time thru my Bandmaster or Bassman. WIth my other pedals I can nail the tones I want no problem.
The Comp Cut feature does sound good on this pedal. But, not good enough for the price tag.

It's a snap. Plenty of options in the circuitry. I like "Vintage" mode with just a titch of grind, and the second stage anywhere from 12:00 to full out. The FullDrive 2 wipes the floor with any single-sound pedal I've ever tried, from the TS-808 on down the line. Definitely a keeper!

After playing for over 40 years, everything I play sounds the same---like me. I built the guitar (alder strat, maple neck, trad hardware, and Lawrence L-280s) and I built the amp (AX84 through a Marshall 4X12 Greenback cab). With a product like this, it's all a matter of degrees of distortion, and this pedal has so much capacity for dialing in just the right amount of it. It leaves the original tone intact, and simply adds as much punch and grind as you want. FM mode is cool, but Vintage is where I leave it. Does exactly what I need it to do and then some---I leave the green channel on all the time, and hit the red channel for leads. Or...when things get even more wiggy, I leave the red channel on all the time, and hit the Fulltone '70 went I want to go nuts. You can't beat Fulltone these days. Don't even try.

After several months, I hooked it up to a Danelectro D-2 and powered it with 18 volts. Momma! More of the same...it simply doesn't get any better. Still very little operating noise, much more dynamic response, and the same delicious chewy tones, only more of it. Try THAT with your Keeley or your Zach...but make a wish when you plug it in, because it will certainly blow your candles out.

Are you kidding? I could drag this thing to the gig BEHIND the van and it would work fine. I don't use a backup. Never have. Wouldn't be worth the transport. A surge protector is the only concession to bad karma that I use. Other than that, in the immortal words of Dubya, I say "Bring it on."

I have no idea. I am in line for the new GT-350, simply because of the great products I've already gotten from Fulltone. I haven't seen fit to bother Mike for anything. I doubt I ever would. I'd rather he spent his time building these puppies, not on the phone or his email inbox enduring my rambles and raves. Because of the design, anybody with a cerebral cortex and a soldering iron could fix it. So I don't plan on taking any of Mr. Fuller's time for any reason, now or in the future.

I'm a blues guy, but we all take trips into the rock realm once in a while. My band is insanely purist. If I showed up with a 24-fret anything, or a Floyd Rose, they'd beat me to death with it. Stomp boxes, per se, are also verboten. Fulltone products are totally blues-approved, however, even for the old-timers who don't like to see anything on the floor of the stage except feet. Yeah, Fulltone stuff costs more money than others, but they're worth it. I did use a one-off handmade TS-808 clone for a while, but Fulltone is simply a cut above. Well-made, by hand, without the stench of corporate hands upon it.

If Micheal Fuller didn't exist, we would have to invent him. And, far in the future, when Mike leaves us, he's going to go to the same heaven where Saint Leo has gone. Room service. Front row seats for all the Hendrix concerts. And a Porsche that never needs a tuneup.

I wrote this review simply because I am tired of reviewers trashing this pedal, or writing ho-hum so-so reviews. If your sound needs improvement, don't look to your tools, kids---look to your hands. Play for another ten years, and then another ten, til you bleed if you have to, and then we'll talk. When you can take a half-dead warped Kay, play it through a rusted-out Airline, and make the angels cry, well, then you'll know what I'm talking about. Until then, you won't.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it? Easy

I like natural break up. This pedal handles that sort of thing very nicely. It works fantastic with both rhythm and bridge pick ups. It really does sound way better then the other Fulldrive II's I've owned. It kind of freaked me out. I'm useing it currently with a 1x12 Ghia clone and a telecaster for the last month. I liked it so much I bought another.

He makes very well built pedals. I've owned quite a few.

He's a great guy to deal with.

My favorite overdrive.

This is a good quality pedal. When you get into this caliber of gear, all the sounds coming out of it are "good", you've just got to find what you need. For me, no pedal I've heard, even the best of them, has even come close to the "best" amp gain I've heard. Nonetheless, usually, I only use gain for my leads, and play all my rhythm clean. I feel like this pedal would be a great power trio pedal. Something to leave on all the time, if you need gain all the time. It fills a lot of room, great bass response in the FM mode, good "full" clean boost. Aptly named pedal. Ease of use? This is just what came out when I played it. You've got to fool around with it for a little bit just like any other piece of gear. Manual? I don't think a manual can tell you more than your ears can.

I don't use gear to get the sounds of other artists. Does this pedal help me sound like myself? Yeah. I play this with a US strat through an old '66 super reverb. It's not an incredible sound. It's definitely different, which is cool. It can do the tube screamer thing in vintage mode, but that's not why I bought this. FM mode or the clean boost are my favorites. I bought it because it's insanely well built, point to point hand-wired and steel chassis.

Haven't used it that much but most pedals are built solid, this is no exception. It's made for getting stepped on. Cool insides, all pt to pt. I love that.

Like I said, this'd be a great pedal for a sole guitarist in a band, who needs to fill lots of room. I've got two keyboardists in my band, so I need to cut back on the room I fill. If I do a power trio thing, which I might, this'd be what I used. Been playing for 17 years, I want to like this pedal more than I do. Currently, I use a Voodoo Lab sparkle drive that's had all the metal oxide resistors replaced with carbon film resistors, and the transistor replaced with a different brand. It crunches a little bit more but loses a lot of the bottom end that the fulldrive keeps. Trade-off.

This pedal takes some time and adjusting to find the tone in your head. Take the time, at stage volume, to set it and tweak it.

This is where I believe that anyone who says can't get a good tone out of it is having a problem. If you are using a modern alkaline or heavy duty batter putting out a ton of milliamps, this pedal sucks. Hands down. Go buy cheap batteries at a dollar store( you know the 2 for a $1 kind) or carbon zinc and watch this pedal come alive. It does not get to bright, great output. And the tone!!!! I can get SRV, Clapton, Santana, John Mayer, you name it, its there. The key is the batteries. I am using it with a 65 deluxe reverb reissue.

I gig with out a backup.

Mr. Fuller is great, always takes time to answer any questions you have.

I play in a contemporary praise and worship band. I am required to be versatile in the sounds I can get and this pedal covers 80% of my dirty needs. If it were stolen I would hunt them down and make them pay!! I spent a long time and lots of money getting to this point, and now I could not live without it. It's my goto pedal. P.S. Don't forget the cheap batteries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You will most likely have to do some extensive knob tweaking in order to pull out the sound you're looking for. This may discourage some hyperactive musicians or those that always scored low on critical thinking questions.

I'm running an American Standard Stratocaster into a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. TS-9's and other Tubescreamer clones always colored my strat sound with a mid-range hump. In FM mode, the Fulldrive delivers fantastic transparency. Comp-cut supplies the user with clean boost that does not lose bass snap/response. On the grit channel of my amp with drive set low and comp-cut + boost engaged, my Strat growled. Working the tone knob on the Fulldrive blends in or smooths out those singing harmonics: sheer sizzling tube bliss.

PS: This pedal will NOT make a bad setup sound good. Get a good TUBE amp, and a quality guitar. Provided, you have those, the Fulldrive 2 will make a good setup sound cosmic.

Built like a tank.

Never had to an issue with the pedal that merited a call.

It's not made for Metal, but if you're into blues/rock, this is your ticket to ride. A bit pricy for an OD box but then again, so are Ferraris.

Not partlcularly difficult to use, as long as you can live with a VERY trebly tone!

I ran my Godin LG with Duncan P90's into the Fulldrive, then from Fulldrive into my Alessandro Working Dog Rottweiler 2X12. I
was very impressed at first by the transparency of this unit. However, as I spent more time with it, I became increasingly annoyed by the tonal price one must pay for this transparency-- the fact that the tone control (described very accurately as a presence control in manual) is voiced in such a way that even turned down completely, the pedal adds in an awful lot of top end-- way more than I care for. I will admit that my ears are particularly sensitive to high frequencies. I tried adjusting amp, guitar, pedal, but could not achieve a setting that yielded a satisfying clean sound (w/pedal disengaged) and lead sound (pedal engaged), but I just got a headache and returned it. I read somewhere that Mike Fuller designs his pedals to sound best through darker-sounding amps, and that would seem to be the case, judging from my experience. I did not like the "vintage" setting at all-- it had the overly congested mids and "processed" tone typical of Tube Screamers that I'll admit I greatly dislike (no reflection on the designer).
Lots of people like this pedal. It's just voiced in way that MY ears don't find musical. In short, I would've preferred a tone control that allowed for more "control".

It's built like all Fulltone pedals-- very well.

No contact with Manufacturer.

I play blues, blues-rock, jam-band rock. Been playing since mid-70's. I'm going to try the fat-boost-- see if that is eq'd more to my liking. Bought the pedal online from Humbucker Music. I highly recommend them-- they are very customer-service oriented-- just great folks to deal with.

-Super easy to use.
-Incredible sound no matter what guitar/amp combo used.

There is nothing that sounds better than this pedal. I have owned every high end pedal on the market, and nothing comes close to the tone of the TR100. It is dripping with mojo!

Indestructible. Never have to worry about this unit.

Great service is what you should expect from Fulltone. Never had any problems.

Best overdrive pedal... hands down. Blues, Country, Rock, it does it all. Whether you use a Strat, Tele, Les Paul, etc. this thing overdrives your sound without taking away from the tone. Worth every penny!

It doesn't get any easier.

I heard rumors about this pedal and searched for three years before finding one. It was everything I dreamed and more! I tried every boutique pedal on the market hoping to find "THAT" sound. This is it.

Super durable. Have gigged and never had any problems. Solid construction and metal housing provide excellent protection.

Have called Mike Fuller on a number of occassions trying to get info in my search. Mike has always been courteous and quick in his responses. I know there are bad rumors floating around online, but I have had nothing but the best experience.

If you happen to find one of these, buy it on the spot. Better yet, get in touch with me, and I'll buy it. I would cry if I ever lost this pedal. It is everything I wanted in an overdrive pedal!

Pretty straight forward with 4 knobs and a toggle switch.

This is mainly why I'm submitting a review. I had high hopes for the Fulldrive, even though it appears to be a love it or hate it pedal. I was truly underwhelmed by the tone of the pedal.

The comp-cut feature makes a good clean boost, but there are probably better pedals out there for that function. Does have a tremendous amount of boost available, though.

The flat-mids function puts some gain into the mix, but the clarity of the tone goes away. It would seem that this mode over the vintage should be able to retain the original character of your tone, but it doesn't. The tone sounded like a blanket got thrown over the speaker. I compared with my Monte Allums H2O Blues Driver, and it was night and day in terms of clarity.

The vintage function was my last hope, and it definitely hits the TubeScreamer territory. The problem is that I did an a/b comparison with my Bad Monkey and I could get the exact same tone out of the BM that I could with the FullDrive. So, why spend $100 more on a pedal that does the same thing?

The boost function reacts differently depending on which mode you are in. Can be useful in the lower boost range.

I don't think that the Full Drive is a bad pedal, I just think it's pretty average, especially considering the price.

Well-built. Reliablity wouldn't ever be a concern.

Never dealt with Fulltone.

The Full-Drive isn't the greatest thing out there. If you want something that could nail a clean boost and the Tube Screamer range, it's a decent choice, except you can't use it for both, as the toggle switch controls that. My advice is get separate pedals that do the same thing for less $.

Easy to use. Takes a little tweaking to find the hot spots you like, but once you do, you're set. Manual is very helpful for basic understanding of the knobs and their functions.

Sound quality is almost transparent. Nice and full. I use tube amps only and keep it in the FM mode. Gooses small or large amps nicely into OD w/o distortion and w/o noise, and keeps your tone intact. I leave mine 'on' always (unless I'm using my '70 Pedal or OCD) and just adjust my guitar volume knob for tones and levels. I don't use the 'Boost' feature (too noisy and distorted for my use). Volume is on about 10-11 o'clock, Tone is about 1-2 o'clock, toggle set in FM mode always, Overdrive is about 9-10 o'clock, Boost is off.

My home practice set-up, when not going direct into the amp is:
'78 Fender Princeton Reverb amp (reverb on 3), Arion Analog delay (*cheap but hella cool pedal...go ahead you can laugh..heheh), Fulltone Fulldrive II, Fulltone Deja'Vibe (the older Gold one) to guitar ('78 Gibson SG Custom, '81 Fender Strat, '00 Gibson Les Paul Custom). That's it.

My stage set-up is: '81 100w Marshall 2203 or 100w Marshall Plexi re-issue half-stack or stack w/vintage Marshall cabs ('75 1982B & '76 1982A w/G12H Greenback Celestion speakers), Arion Analog delay, Fulltone Fulldrive II, Fulltone OCD, Fulltone Deja'vibe, Fulltone 'Clyde' wah to guitar (see above for models).

Sometimes I add in my Fulltone CF-1 ChoralFlange and Fulltone'70 pedal. When I want to summon the 'Balrogs from Hell', I add my '78 Mu-Tron Octave Divider into the chain. Usually I just use my basic practice set-up w/the wah added, thru a Marshall half-stack.

Tons of compliments on my tone since I've been using Fulltone.
You want to sound like everybody else? Get a TS-9. Want to sound like you? Get a Fulldrive II. Like I said, I just leave it on and forget about it.

Dependable pedal. I've always been careful with gear and guitars, so I haven't had any issues. Seems very solid, but I'd hate to have someone step on it and break the toggle.

Haven't had any need for customer support.

Regardless of what style of music you play, you can get great tone out of this pedal. Been playing for over 30 years, and I play mostly Bluesrock/Hardrock with my band. This pedal kicks my Marshall up a notch to just where I like it. It's great for your home/room practice set up (Fender tube combo), also. I would definitely get another FDII if this one was lost or stolen. Sold my '80s TS-9 and never looked back. I could do w/o a couple of the features on the FDII ('Boost' & Comp-Cut'), but that's just me.

After reading some people trash this pedal in their review, I had to chime in and set the record straight...heheh. : )

Now if Mike would make an Analog Delay pedal (reasonably priced of course), that would be great!

Love your tone and just want transparent overdrive? Get an FDII.

PEACE!

Requires a lot of fiddling and tweaking to get decent sounds of it.
Many possibilities, but only VERY FEW sweet spots.

"The best overdrive pedal in the world"??? HA HA HA!
I hate it. I had borrowed it for a few weeks from a friend of mine and this pedal totally frustrated me.

Ok, the "compcut" mode is pretty good actually. It makes a nice, brilliant sounding clean boost, not unlike a Vox AC30 top boost.

But the other modes!!! Goddamn, so disappointing.
"Flat mids" mode gives a raw fuzzy overdrive. If you like this sound, buy a RAT instead. they are a LOT cheaper too!!
"Vintage" mode is total crap. Sounds like you put a blanket over your speakers. Unless you turn the tone knob to 10, this mode is virtually inusable. With the gain cranked it sounds like a boring, lifeless fuzz. Has no nice sustain. And with gain past 2 o'clock the sounds totally farts out, like a dying duck!

No, I'm not using a crappy Squier, nor a Peavey Rage 15W!!
I have tried this pedal with my beloved Fender '59 Bassman RI and a couple of good quality guitars (PRS custom 22, Fender '62 Tele and a vintage Yamaha SG 2000).
THIS PEDAL SUCKS!!
I don't know why everybody praises this piece of crap. Because it's so expensive, right??

I HATE IT ! ! !

worst overdrive pedal ever!

only the clean boost is nice, but you wouldn't pay the price for that alone!

simple controls, but it took me a while to get what i wanted out of it. i tried it through a tweed princeton and a princeton reverb (while my other amp was in the shop) and wasn't real impressed...UNTIL i got my deluxe reverb back from the tech :) then i was a happy camper...

i'll say an 8 here because it's easy to figure out if you like it with this amp or that amp, but it's a pain to try to get it to sound the same across the board with all amps...more on this in sound quality though...

i've been playing with this pedal onstage for a year now and while i try other settings all the time to see if i like comp-cut or vintage, i always come back to flat-mids with overdrive @ 12 o'clock, volume about 11...and boost at about 2. i know if i set it there, i'll sound like i want. the pedal doesn't have a whole lot of different sounds, but the subtleties keep me tweaking...i just always go back to my old settings and it always sounds a bit better than what i just tried.

a 9 here b/c i'm always listening to other stuff just in case...joe dimaggio was married to marylin monroe and said it didn't keep him from looking!

i use a vintage '69 paisley tele or a '52 reissue tele mostly on the bridge pickup for everything. i only run a full-drive for effects and use the amp tremolo from time to time on my old deluxe reverb (weber 12f50 speaker).

i love the sound of the fulldrive with this amp, and from what i understand, mike fuller designed it to be used with blackface/scooped mids amps...other amps i've tried it with were a dr.z z28, a tweed fender princeton, and a sf princeton reverb. too middy no matter what i did to those amps or the pedal. BUT with my deluxe, it's perfectly balanced and gives me a full-bodied sound without that honky, ear-fatigue inducing mid-range that i can't stand.

playing top 40 country and a few old rock tunes, i enjoy having just a simple rig that nails clean (with a little guts to it and the volume on the guitar down a hair) like brent mason all the way to past brad paisley (with the volume up) and then on to springsteen type raunch (full volume and boost engaged).

i've had the pedalboards and twin reverb...even went direct for a few years on the road for ease of set-up and tear-down, but this rig is really organic. what i love most is that my teles still sound like my teles at every point of the set...even if the boost is on and we're rockin, it sounds like my tele only the baddest, meanest version of my tele.

i don't find that i need a distortion pedal or stacked overdrives to get some balls to my sound b/c having that little deluxe fired up and breathing really helps the pedal do its job. i know it would not sound as good with a small amp 'cause i've tried that, but i am still dying to get on a loud stage and try it with a twin just for the heck of it :) i'm sure that would sound good too! and one of these days i'm going to buy a badcat hot cat 30...when i'm rich...

definitely a 10 here...i have depended on it and never been let down. i run it on a 9v battery and just change it about every 4 or 5 gigs to be safe...lasts a while...

i bought a second one just in case one day i need a back-up.

the knobs don't look that sturdy and develop stress-type cracks around the set screw on some of them, but i don't think anything could hurt the actual function of the pedal shy of backing a truck over it.

jim weider got his ts808 stepped on by rick danko and it cracked...isn't that what they were made for??? WEAK!!!

Mike gets a 9 here in my book. he's not incredibly informative or friendly, but who said he had to be? but I definitely wanted to post this section b/c like everyone says, if you have a bad experience you tell like 9 people, and if you have a good experience you might tell 2...gotta be fair...

i only contacted fulltone one time when i needed some rubber feet for one of my full-drives (had taken them off to try on a pedalboard...didn't keep the pedalboard...lost the dang feet!) i offered to pay for the feet and shipping and kindly asked how to obtain some stock replacements. i got a carbon copy e-mail that he had forwarded to one of his helpers saying to send me four rubber feet and screws for my full-drive.

like i have heard from others, he doesn't have all the time in the world to chit-chat and discuss your take on tone or the music industry or why your parents spanked you as a child, but he is a helpful businessman that supports his product and will (within reason) do his part to make you a happy customer.

if you are really that lost for a friend, check out mike's more personal portions of the website...he's got a heck of a studio and guitar rig...you'll be jealous!

for a laugh sometime, check out his "tech, tips, answers" section and read the "e-mail of the day." i'd get sick of dealing with guys like that if i were in his business :)

i have been playing country for about 10 years...been playing guitar for 15. if it says fender on it, i've owned it...no matter what it is. to copy what the nashville guys are doing on top 40 country radio, you need this type of sound. it's everywhere! even clean tele tone isn't really clean anymore!!! if it were stolen, i'd use my spare and then shop for another spare to pop-up on ebay (i like the 2003 fm model with short toggle).

i think the best feature to me is that i can do what i need with ONE pedal. the boost feature is great for adding a thicker tone and a little volume boost. i don't like the idea of having a keeley this and a analog man that and an expandora for this sound and a blahblahblahblah...one pedal and a volume control on my tele is fine with me :)

my deluxe really sounds better all around with this thing and it helps me really dig in and play more dynamically. a guy doesn't need a ton of gear, but get a few really good pieces that sound great and then do something with them...play the crap out of that guitar and quit changing pickups. mic your amp up and see if you really need that bass knob cranked so high (you don't)...see if you can find a tone that doesn't have to be song specific (leave that to the keyboard player and his patches or the guy with a pod). find a tone that just sounds great regardless of song/style/etc and play!

i'd give it a 10 overall, joe dimaggio would advise against it...have you ever noticed how marylin's toes were kind of freaky? nothing's perfect...

Very easy to use - it's hard to get a bad sound out of it.

My setup:
- Reissue '54 Les Paul modded w/Humbuckers, '60 Relic Strat
- Silverface Vibrolux (modded to pre-CBS), '68 Deluxe Reverb, 90's Blues Jr.
- THD Hot Plate attenuator

The sound is great, but if you turn the gain up too high, the boost gets a bit muddy. Pushing a vintage tube amp that's set just to the point of breaking up with the comp cut engaged is sonic joy. Try it and see.

Built like a tank. I take backups for everything, but I don't think I'd need to for this one.

This is where I differ with a lot of folks. I've communicated with Mike on several occasions, and have found him easy to deal with and friendly. He supplied me with a 3DPDT switch before he really started to sell them to the public, and he was great about modding my original Fulldrive to the FD2 circuit some years back. Personally, I think that if you're open and positive with him, you'll get that back.

This is an original Fulldrive that was modded by Mike to FD2 specs, and has the pull switch Comp Cut. I have to be honest, this pedal sat on the shelf for a few years while I used a 808-mod TS9 and/or an Expandora for Blues/Classic Rock-type gigs. But recently, I started getting tired of the TS9's exaggerated mids, and the Expandora's squashy, kind of boxey tone. I got out the FullDrive, and bang! there was the tone I was looking for. It's not completely transparent, but it's close, and the Comp Cut feature makes it extremely versatile. I'm tempted to call Mike again and see if he'll mod this to the current 3-position switch version.

This pedal even sounds great with my PODxt. This is also a great pedal to take to open mike jams where you don't know what amp you'll be using, because it can be used in so many ways.

I'm giving this pedal a 9 instead of a 10 only because it doesn't also make espresso.

I think this unit is very easy to use and offers a lot of options, considering it has the Comp Cut, Flat Mids and Vintage settings, plus normal and Boost. It also allows you to run it with an 18-volt adapter (more on that later) that allows even more tones out of the unit.

The sound quality of this unit is very good. Not noisy at all. There are a lot of different tones you can get - all the way from clean SRV "Lenny" type tones with the Comp Cut to extremely vintage Rock 'n' Roll distortion sounds.

I have recentlt purchased a Dunlop ECB-04 18-volt AC Adapter to use with this pedal. This 18-v option allows for even more tones and characteristics to come out ot his box. Now, with the 9-v and 18-v options, I can get many different tones. The 18-volt on the Comp Cut mode really seems to fatten up my clean tones.

I play a 60's Strat with Heavy Blues pickups, an G&L Legacy ASAT, a American strat (new model with staggered pole pieces) and an Epiphone Sheraton II through a Traynor YCV40 (2 X 10) amp. All my guitars sound good with this pedal and this amp. I sometimes add a Keeley BD-2 and/or a Analogman TS-9 in the chain too. The FD2 works well with both.

I don't play "out" often, but believe this is an extremely sturdy, well built unit.

Great. I contacted them via e-mail about the ECB-04 adapter, to make sure it would be a correct choice for the 18-v option. I got a prompt reply. Good communications with them.

Great value. Many sounds and option out of one pedal. Couldn't be happier. I loved the pedal with 9-volts and like it even more after getting the 18-volt adapter.

The current vanilla version of the Fulldrive is easy to get useful tones from. It has a three way minitoggle that you can now set for a flat mids sound, and this makes a big difference from the late '90s FDs that had the pull pot. My old creme knob '99 was a terrific pedal, but I finally ran into some pedals that made it's mid hump too much for me, and I sold it. A few months ago I rethought my approaches to playing, amplification, and pedals, and decided to try the new FD II and what I consider to be a virtual twin of the old one, Olaf's Banzai Fireball I.

My amps are a pair of Dr Zs: a Maz 18 Jr NR and a Maz Studio Lead 38 with and effects loop and reverb. I run an Analog Man Mini BiComp into an old mid '80s DOD FX60 chorus, to the FD, to an OCD, and then the amp. The loop contains a Zoom 508 delay and an Everman Pot for solo boosts. Not noisy; with the overdrive at 9:00, volume at unity, tone at 12:00, there's some additional grease added to the Zs' tone, already set for slight breakup. The boost kicks in a nice sustaining lead tone that can sing with the proper settings. I generally use this for modern country and classic rock leads. Not the end all of tone, but with single channel amps a very handy tool to make them virtual three channel machines.

I've never had any real problems with Fuller gear. A switch went out on a Fat Boost years ago and he sent me a replacement within days. As far as backup, I usually carry something from TC Jauernig or the Fireball with me in a gig bag in case I need to swap or have simple ear fatigue. But in a pinch the OCD and some guitar volume adjustments can cover for the missing FD II.

I've corresponded just a couple times with the company. Got an answer on the broken switch, didn't on something else, but it didn't bother me. Fuller gets dished on a lot, but as a lifelong Customer Service rep I know that I have bad days and good days, days when I'd like to reach through the phone and shake the shit out of the best customers we have and days when the biggest whiner in the world gets treated like royalty. It shouldn't be that way, but yeah, sometimes you just can't help it. So I'll cut Mr Fuller a lot of slack, since most people seem to get fair service in the long run.

Again, not the end all of two channel overdrives, but with the flat mid option a much more versatile pedal than before and much better than most. I play in a couple bands playing a broad variety of music, from singer songwriter stuff to classic rock to fusion jazz. I've been playing for over 30 years now. If this were stolen... Yeah, I'd probably reup with another one at this point. The Fireball is a great pedal on its own. T C Jauernig now has a dual Diabolical Gristle Tone manipulator that is a great pedal, as is his Gristle King. Dave Barber's Direct Drives and Burn Units stack up well with the Fulldrive, as does Homebrew's Power Screamer. In my experience the Power Screamer is a slightly quieter BOOST pedal in front of something like the OCD, but the Fuller is a close second.

This pedal is extremely easy to use. It's virtually impossible to make it sound like garbage. Tones abound and you can go SOOOOO many places with this thing...more later.

I mostly use Fender Strats for single coils sounds and I use SG's or an Ibanez S470 for humbucker stuff. At the moment I am playing into a modded Peavey Classic 50 with a mixed set of Emenince speakers.

I have played guitar for pushing 20 years and have a lot of experience with various amps and guitars and effects.

This thing is NOT noisy. The only time it seems to get a bit noisy is when you have it turned up really loud and then you step on the boost and it's cranked all the way up on the Vintage setting. other than that it's dead quite.

I can get TONS of tones out of this thing. It's not going to give you that chugga chugga sound. IF you want THAT...you need an amp not a pedal. For lead stuff....this thing is the real deal.

There are 3 voicings for this pedal and I'd like to take time to talk about each.
1 Comp Cut. This knocks out the compression you get in a pedal. Normally I would think this would be counter productive as I like to get a good compressed sound and in the studios compression rules the day. However, this takes your clean sound to a completely different level. It's amazing and just seems to make the amp breathe a bit more. BE CAREFUL the boost on this channel is RIDICULOUS. You can get what seems to be an EASY 30+ decibal boost on this setting. Enough to kill small children at 500 yards if you so wish. I GENERALLY leave the boost around 9 o'clock if I use this voicing.

2. FM- Flat Mid. This is truely divine on a neck strat pick up. You can just get tone for days on this voiceing. My favorite distortion by far. The boost is more of a saturation thing on this setting. Adds flavor. Doesn't really add a ton of volume at all.

3. Vintage. Like an old marshall cranked up. I don't tend to use this one a lot. I use it more for rhythm than anything. I just don't play 80's metal. Boost is nice but a tad noisy....like a slight hiss. Can't here it when playing at all.

This thing is extremely transparent and does nothing but ADD tone to your tone. It's makes good GREAT. It make GREAT....unreal. It take crap and adds some GOOD stuff to it to me.

I have used it and used it and it handles anythign I throw at it. I dropped a guitar on it and the strap lock dragged against it and it RUBBED the paint. Didn't ding or knick the paint. It RUBBED it. This thing is almost mint looking after all this time. NEVER had an issue with it and I don't see having one.

I don't have to deal with them. I paid for a high quality product and got it in spades. I feel confident that if I DID have an issue I could call them up and be taken care of. You just don't make products this good and not have an easy time taking care of your buyers.

I play all styles of music and this pedal has handled everything I throw at it. I go to comp cut for country and blues, I go to FM for blues and rock, and I go to Vintage for Rock and above.

Been playing long enough to know and that should count for something. This pedal is my desert island pedal. I won't take the stage without it and I won't go into the studio without it. It's a first grab every time.

I love the TONE of this pedal. It's second to none. It never fails to impress and everyday I can find NEW stuff with it.

My fav feature is a toss up between comp cut and FM....the boost is certainly a cool feature. This pedal make a two channel amp seem like a 6 channel amp....it's THAT versatile.

What could make it better?? Hmmmmmm....it could be FREE. That's it.

It's a little silly. The drive and boost knobs behaves differently depeding on the mode you have it in. There is a flat mids option but why have a toggle determine EQ settings?

I think I made a mistake buying this pedal. I use it anyway because the sounds that come out of it are better than average but it's not the best. It hit's that 70's sound right on the head, but that's all it seems to do, as if it were a one trick modeling pedal. The character of the distortion isn't as dynamic and interesting or as versatile as that from a TS9 or an 808. Right now I'm basicly just using it to dirty up the signal with the drive real low, right around 1. The flat mids mode works pretty good as a light transparent fizz.

I can get a realy interesting tone out of it's clean boost however, I turn the volume real low so that the out put is near equal to bypass and when activate almost any degree of boost the overdrive is kick in balls overdrive. It's realy explosive. It's muddier than the normal modes but I've never heard a more agressive overdrive. It sounds like a very heavily pushed circuit.

I have a Maxon OD808 and I much prefer it's sound for the heavy lifting.

very very sturdy

dont know

You should check out the Maxon OD808 first if you are considering this pedal. It sounds much nicer.

Extremely easy to use. I small child could figure out.

The sound is the sound of your amp. If your amp sucks this pedal will suck. It's purpose it to push a good tube amp to the saturated sound it will have at 7+. But, as you all know not many in-home situations will allow you to turn your amp to 7+. And, if you play through a '65 Twin, like I do, than you know that sound your looking for is even more elusive. Of course, the Twin is all about a brilliant clean sound, which is why I bought it versus s Deluxe or Vibrolux.

Too new to tell. But I have little doubt. It's a solid piece of equipment.

Not applicable at this time.

This is the pedal that will put your tube amp (not solid state, this isn't get the real thing on the cheap) into overdrive mode, i.e., past 7, and not lose your ear drums or piss off you neighbours in the process; this is the pedal you've been looking for if that's your goal. It is designed to keep the sound (tone) of your amp. Hence why the tone control has minimal affect - it is designed to roll of the high/low frequencies created - so ignore the fools who want the tone contorl to make their inferior amp sound good. And, for those Twin Reverb owners, wondering why they didn't buy the lighter Deluxe (or equivlanet lower wattage tube amps), but know it was because the Deluxe is nowhere near the clean of the Twin, just buy this pedal and keep working out because lugging a Twin around ain't no joke.

Oh, it's easy to use... I've been using it for 3 years now and you just spin the knobs and there you go...

On the other hand, it's not really all that easy to dial in something that sounds really good. (See Below)

OK... after 3 years here's what I think...

I'm using a '62 RI Strat with CS '54 pickups into a Twin Reverb RI with Weber Speakers. The only other effects are a Fulltone SoulBender and a Teese Wah.

The thing about this pedal is that it really is nothing more than an upgraded TubeScreamer that can be used as a clean boost instead if so desired. It doesn't get noisy or bog down your signal with a buffered bypass, but it never really gives you anything more than a TubeScreamer. I thought that I'd be able to dial in a nice transparent drive on the Flat Mids setting, but it just sounds like someone cut the balls out of a TubeScreamer. I'm constantly fighting with the pedal to try to get the right sound out of it. The other thing is that there is some really unflattering farting out on anything other than the Comp-Cut mode.

The overall sound of the pedal is not what I'm looking for, but I've come to realize that it's also not what I equate with good tone. I recently had the opportunity to A/B this thing with a Banzai Cold Fusion and the Cold Fusion blew the FD 2 away for a lower gain OD sound.

I guess that this FullDrive is great for anyone who wants to cop a slightly improved sounding (but much lower noise) TubeScreamer thing... Maybe guys who are still hung up on that whole SRV thing (Though it wasn't really hitting the SRV thing either...)

It never failed me once... It's a VERY reliable unit. Always gave the same sounds and always worked.

I dealt with Mike Fuller regarding my SoulBender and he was really pleasant to deal with despite the fact that I had only imagined the problem. I don't know what a lot of you folks expect, but, it seems to me that maybe you are the problem when it comes to bad experiences with Fuller...

This isn't a good match for the stuff I'm playing... I'm looking for something that can take the chime of my Strat into my Twin and add a bit of sustain and clipping without taking over the tone. This thing just makes me into a knob tweaker and hinders the art of music making. I didn't really have much to go by when I bought it, but I already had the SoulBender and thought that based on the good stuff that I was getting from it, I would be able to set this up to do what I needed. With 3 different modes and the boost side, I thought I'd be able to dial it in. Well, it's not nearly as versatile as I thought it would be and I've been fighting it for 3 years to get something more from it. I'm done and it's going away. I'll look elsewhere for my OD.

Very easy, traditional style layout (with a non traditional boost section).

I use a Hamer Monaco Elite with Duncan 59s with a custom made 18 watt style amp that is like a combination of a 1974x and a 2061x (burrissamps.com). I run the Fulldrive at 18 volts which makes a huge difference. The tone is fatter, solid, and has more definition. Like a combination of clean boost and overdrive. I keep the volume at 1oclock, tone and gain at 11 oclock, and the toggle in the FM position for more clarity. These settings yield a killer Warren Haynes/David Grissom type of humbucker tone that is great for almost anything. The 18 volt option is really what makes this pedal for me.

Seems very well built. When you open it up it looks very organized with nice solder connections. There is a lot of space to do a repair if needed (replace a pot or a bypass switch).

N/A

I play everything except metal, this pedal is a killer vintage style pedal. Been playing 15 years and tried countless boutique overdrive pedals. My gear was actually stolen a week ago and I bought another Fulldrive to replace the stolen one (Tulsa s*cks). As I mentioned before, the 18 volt option really separates this pedal from the rest. I haven't tried a Barder Direct Drive but I've heard it also has an 18 volt option, I'd love to a/b the two sometime. The only thing I'd change on the Fulldrive would be to remove the boost and make it a clean boost instead of a gain boost, otherwise it's perfect. The pedal is under $200, killer!

It's easy to use. I hae the version without the switch. It's a good sounding pedal, no doubt, but it's just not quite enough. If only it had just a tad more gain - it may be the perfect pedal. but it just doesn't quite do it. You will still need another pedal for singing leads. It's more of a rhythm guitar pedal, imho.

the sound that it can do - it can do well. if you're going for that classic rhythm guitar sound, say around 1976 or so, then this is the pedal for you. If you're looking for a versatile - all you need is this pedal for whatever musical situation awaits - then you should get a Foxrox Zim and be done with it, because the fulldrive aint gonna do it. But don't get me wrong, what it does do, it does it well. It's a totally pro pedal.

Totally reliable, unlike the fulltone clyde wah, which I had tons of problems with. If you open up the fulldrive you can see that this is a quality boutique pedal, no doubt

The few times I contacted fulltone - it was always a pleasant experience. no complaints here.

It's a good one trick pony kind of pedal. I eventually outgrew it and moved on to a foxrox zim. You'll still need a tube screamer for your leads, cuz the fulldrive wont go there. Maybe the new ones with all the switches do that, I don't know. All I know is the one I have just doesn't have enough gain. For a long time I thought it was the perfect pedal, but over time the thick midrange tended to muddy my sound and I kept missing being able to take my sound over the top. This is not an over the top kind of pedal. Maybe that's just what you need, I don't.

This pedal is fairly easy to use, it only takes a few minutes to figure out and works well. I give the pedal a 9 because nothings perfect.

The sound quality is better than an other overdrive I have had or tried, and I played with a bunch of them. The pedal adds a little bit of noise, but at gig levels you will never notice

no problems here, I gig without a backup for this pedal. It's already a pretty expensive pedal to shell out for another one for backup.

never dealt with

I give this pedal an overall 9 because like I said, nothing is perfect. I have the cream colored custom shop version and this is hands down the best overdrive out there, in my opinion.

Easy too use, but you need some experience in overdrive/distortion pedals, specialy because of the 3 way switch.
Maybe I'd give an 8 for beginers, but this is certainly not an average overdrive box, just check the price tag!
The manual would help the young ones.

Look, I've been playing exclusively ROCK guitar (think AC/DC) for 20 years, recorded 4 records and player many live gigs. I can say I understand a bit about overdrive pedals and tube amps.

Allways a Fender Stratocaster guy (all originals from late '60 and early '70) through Marshalls (100watts JCM800 - 1 and 2 channels models - and Super Lead reissue and 50watts 1987).

Owned MXR Distortion+ ('70s script and block logos), Ibanez TS-8/9/10, Boss (all overdrivers and distortions) and Rocktron Austin Gold and Sonic Glory Overdrive. Tried Carl Martin and Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive. Some very good and some nice, but they all add noise, hiss and color the sound.
Sure the Fulltone Full Drive 2 is my very first "boutique" stomp box.

It is the most transparent overdrive I played and that is exactly why I bought it. It is very quiet, although I play very, very loud!!! It acts like a cranked amp and is very dynamic too.

I could use the amp heavily saturated, but it would be too loud for playing in a band and wouldn't have no headroom for solos (there is another guitar player in the band, playing Gibsons through Marshalls). So, the Full Drive 2 is most like a 2 channel amp for me.

I use it on FM mode with every knob on 10, but the volume (set around 9 o'clock).

The only other pedal is a MXR Dyna Comp (compressor), script logo from mid '70s.

Does it color the sound? Of course! It's something between the guitar and the amp and it is suposed to do something to the sound! BUT... THE COLORATION IS MINIMAL and you can't notice it on live gigs or even rehearsals. Please, at home or at a guitar shop nobody can really test anything musical.

It's not for Heavy Metal players, just check the name on the box!!! Besides, it's light blue, not black or red!!!
If you don't have a very good guitar AND amp, doesn't expect any pedal would save the day! It canonly make things a bit better.

Fits well Rock'n Roll, Hard Rock, Pop, punk and probably any other style where the guitar player needs more than a clean guitar. It can rock a clean amp, being it an all tube or transistor.

I totally depend on it! Must buy another for back up... maybe the 10th anniversary Full Drive 2...

Well, just wrote once but they never answered... By the way, I'm Brazilian, but I wrote them in English...

Bloody expensive but a great pedal!
I payed around US400 here in Brazil for a new one, but, hey, it is actualy 2 pedals in one (overdrive + boost)!!!
Sure makes me want to play more and more!!!
Enjoy!

Deca

http://www.barangarock.com.br

PS: I have nothing to do with Fulltone, I'm just a far away customer... and they not even replyed my e-mail... hehehe
Just ordered a Fulltone Fat Boost las week...