Fulltone Full-Drive

This is the original Fulldrive from the run of about 200 mad ein 1995-1996. It is housed in a plain silver style enclosure with hand made tape labels. Three knobs and a whole LOT of tone.

I had #34, and am still looking for it! This one is #188, from the last few made. The Fulldrive I pedals are an amazing sounding, big warm and sweet overdrive. The later ones do not sound like these, which is good and bad. The Fulldrive II is a lot more versatile, and has more options, and can be more agressive sounding. The Fulldrive I has a more "Klon-like" sort of Ts-808 overdrive. I used my original #34 Fulldrive all during the late 90s, then stupidly sold it -- if you have it, or know where it is, I want to buy it BACK! roccojewelry at gmail dot com!

Yes, these are built super well, built when Mike was making them all himself on Beethoven Street

No support really needed. if it breaks, I am sure Mike will fix it. He is more focused on running Fulltone and doing the new stuff than the old. But I doubt it's gonna break. My old one went all over the world with me, and never broke down.

This is my favorite overdrive ever. And I think it is the best TS-808 remake ever made. I bought it when it first came out, and it was the best purchase I had ever made tone-wise. if you can find one, give it a listen. And if you find #34, please let me know, I want that one BACK!!!

The Fulltone is easy to use. It's got three knobs beside the boost function. It takes some really bad ears to get a bad sound out of it. It's the pedal the Rolling Stones, the Black Crowes and Oasis use for overdrive. The overdrive is warm and articulate, and is ideal for every Fender, Marshall or Vox amp I've ever tried. In terms of overdrive pedals I consider it a masterpiece. It's not cheap, but it's more musical than any tubesreamer it was based upon. In my setup it is essential.

I'm very happpy with the sound quality. It overdrives my vintage Marshall like it does overdrive itselve on higher volume levels. I can go from Mick Taylor's sound to Johnny Marrs, to Rich Robinsons or Noel Gallaghers.

I've been using it for five years now,and it never needed a repair job.

I've never had any contact with fulltone so I 'm unexperienced about their customer support.

I play sixties R&B, still I need qome overdriven sounds, especially when we play small bars and our amps are turned to their extreme minimum. It is the best sounding overdrive pedal for the job and I've never been disappointed by it.

I keep my set-up simple. 80% of the time it's just Les Paul - tuner - Fulldrive - Deluxe Reverb. This is a fantastic sounding unit full of rich yummy overtones. I use the Comp-Cut mode 90% of the time. In that setting, the sound of the guitar really comes through. The other two settings kind of squash your signal (that's what compressors do-yuck!), but if that's what you want you want to do to your guitar, go right ahead! Actually those settings sound great for rock, that's just not my thing. Play soft and yer tone's clean, spank it and you get the drive. That's the way i set it, anyway, and it's perfect for that tube drive sound.

I've never had a problem with it after a hundred + gigs. I have had problems with other Fulltone pedal switches, where they stick and won't turn off. In a pinch, if it fails, I could make it through a gig clean. Kind of enjoy the challenge, and my Paul is hot enough to drive a super clean Fender with guitar volume at ten and with a hard attack, at least enough to put a little hair on it. I don't carry a back-up and I don't worry about it.

Here's the problem. These people are arrogant as hell. I couldn't get any of my emails answered when I needed their help, and several of my friend's have had a horrendous time trying to deal with Fulltone, including two different incidents where the president of the company answered the phone and became defensive and cussed them out! This is doubly bizarre considering both of my buddies are such easy going guys. They need to hire someone who knows how to deal with the public. This is a serious drawback to consider.

I'm a blues player mostly. I've been playing over twenty years. I own a bunch of other pedals but seldom use them. If you want my two cents, I say work on your playing because most of your tone is in your hands. Don't worry about so many pedals. They're a big distraction for the most part. If it were stolen I'd try a Sparkle Drive (Voodoo Lab) instead or an Analogman King of Tone. I think the customer service issue is severe enough that I wouldn't spend anymore more dough with these cats and I couldn't really recommend their products. Serious points taken away for customer service!

I screwed up twice...I meant to say that "I could NOT have my tone without the original Fulldrive. I am just glad I bought mine for $115 and not for the collectable prices today. It is a highly sought after pedal so grab one while you can. I have seen them cost $600-$700 recently

It does not get any easier...Volume, Tone, Drive...it is the easiest pedal to really dial in a nice tone. Brushed aluminum silver-box, stick on homemade labels, and a beautiful hand-wired interior.

This pedal is the KEY to my tone. This is the ORIGINAL silver-boxed Fulldrive, which I have had since 1995. I run it through original Blackface Fenders (Deluxe Reverb, Princeton Reverb, Vibro-Champ) with a PAF-equipped Les Paul, a '74 Les Paul Custom, a '65 SG Special, and a Barden-equipped Tele Custom. As someone else said, this pedal has the "mojo" and is the "Holy Grail" of my pedals. I could have my tone without it, and I have tried EVERY pedal under the sun. It can be a smooth boost to a hard and overdriven tone. VERY clean, quiet, and transparent.

No problems. I sent it back to Mike for a tune-up. It was just preventive maintenance. I wanted it checked out by the builder/master. He eyeballed it, cleaned it up, and sent it back.

Mike has always been great with me. I know he is busy, but he always replies to my e-mails. We have also had some nice phone conversations. See above....he cleaned up my Fulldrive for no charge except shipping costs.

As I said, I could have "my sound" without this pedal. I would hunt to the ends of the Earth in search of another if it was lost. My Fulldrive is one of the first units ever made, and it is the best money that I have ever spent on a pedal. I guard it with my life. Thanks again Mike!

With this pedal, you are a mere 3 knobs away from the tone of your life.

Main rig is a 1982 52' Tele reissue with Joe Bardon pickups into a Blackface Fender Twin. There aren't enough O's in smoooth to describe how great my tone is with the original Fulldrive. I have heard the Fulldrive 2 and it's good - but the original has more mojo than anything.

I have had this since 1996 and it has never failed me. I don't have a backup because nothing else is worth carrying.

I play a varity of styles and use the Fulldrive for crunchy rhythm and bluesy riffing. For balls-out lead playing, I use the Bi-Expandora. Other musicians are always complimenting me on my tone. The fundation for my tone has been and will be the Fulltone Fulldrive.

Continuation of previous review. . . I got cut off.

. . . and they do not sound as good as this pedal. There's simply a more balanced bass and mid tone, and a sweeter top, than any other overdrive pedal. It sounds like a permanent part of your preamp on your amp, not a pedal. You need to use this pedal with a guitar and amp that already sound good; it won't make cheesy stuff sound awesome. It makes good equipment (and hands) sound awesome. The original Fulldrive is the best overdrive pedal made any time, any where, by anybody. There are a few overdrive pedals I haven't tried, but I'd bet money they can't beat an original 3-knob Fulldrive. Truly it is a 10.

Cast aluminum box, hand wired, top quality parts. I've been stomping since 1995 with no problems. I'd rate it a nine for construction quality. The Fulldrive 2 is made even better with a heavy sheet-steel case. No backup needed.

Never needed support. Fuller answers emails but he's busy making pedals.

If something happened to it, I'd buy a FD2 and cruise on. I wouldn't frenzy out on the web trying to find another original one. But I think it's absolutely the best, even better than the FD2. This is the real Holy Grail, not the TS-808. If you want to spend big bucks on a pedal no longer made, this is it. If you find one at a reasonable price, jump on it forthwith. I call it a 10 for "fantastic value" back in 1995, but maybe they sell for more now.

This is the original Fulldrive from 1995(not the Fulldrive-2 that replaced it).
It's built in an unfinished aluminum box with stick-on labels.
It has 3 knobs, volume, overdrive, and tone. Couldn't be easier.

We all have our holy grail of overdrive. Perhaps this is it. I think only a few hundred of these were made before it was replaced by the four-knob, two channel Fulldrive 2. I have tried original TS-808s,

The unit consists of three knobs. Volume, Tone, and Drive. This model is no longer made by Fulltone. The only difference (control wise) from the Fulldrive II is, no compression knob, and no knob to control the amount of boost. There's a switch to turn the pedal on and a separate switch for the boost. Simple!

I also have a Fulldrive II, and the Fulldrive 1 (side by side) is a warmer sounding pedal than the Fulldrive II. Mike Fuller does change the electronic in his pedal from time to time. His older pedals in the original plain metal boxes clearly sound better (side by side) than the newer ones. Especially the '69 pedal. Every little change makes a difference in the sound. Everything affects the sound. I personally use a Fender Strat w/texas special pick-ups, and a '64 Fender Super-Reverb. The Fulldrive 1 sounds sweet!!! It is a little noisy, but it's really the single coils. I personally think it blows all Tube-Screamers out of the water.

I use this pedal in-line with some other Fulltone effects. I've never had a problem with it and I use it all the time because of it's warm tone. The pedal is five years old and works perfect. I use it with a Fulltone Blackbox so I don't have to worry about battery death. It's a Fulltone!!

I had to have a switch replaced once on another pedal, and had absolutely no problem dealing with Michael Fuller, or Fulltone. They are very friendly and great to work with.

I've been playing for 18 years, and played every style and use it mainly for Blues, Alternative, and Rock Tones. The Tones are easy to get with it's versatility. It's the best sounding pedal I've ever owned, and I've had them all! It's something to keep an eye out for, and keep an eye on, it's a popular item to have stolen. Just one of the costs of great tone. I'll definitely get another one when I find it for a backup, just incase it does get stolen.