Fulltone GT-500

Very easy to use. Separate eq for each channel, which is very nice (and unusual for dual channel pedals).

Mainly used this with an American Standard Telecaster with Kinman Broadcaster pickups through a Fender Blues Deluxe on the clean channel. Also played around with a Gibson SG.

First, the overdrive channel is very good (to my ears)--I can get a nice fat tubey sound--when the drive is almost maxed out, I get a nice fat sound of tubes breaking up, and it keeps the tone of the guitar pretty well (but not great). The eq is very useful, and this thing never gets muddy and always cuts through a loud mix. As a pure overdrive pedal, I'd give it an 8 or 89

The problem I had with this was the distortion side (I'd give it a 3 or 4 on this side). I just couldn't get any kind of ballsy sound out of it; everything I tried sounded fairly weak, with flabby bass and harsh highs. I could get some nice overdriven sounds with the drive on the distortion side down, and on the overdrive control all the way up, but I couldn't get seem to get great pounding distortion. The distortion pro or OCD seems to do distortion better (but neither are cranked high gain type pedals).

I think the distortion side is either something people are going to love or hate (as you can see by the mixed reviews). With any piece of gear, you should buy it from someplace that will let you return it--I did and bought a Blackstar Dual, which seems to be working better for me so far (have only had it a day though).

Took it back after 3 weeks, but it seemed like it was built like a tank.

Never used it.

Overdrive channel was good for the old-school telecaster garage rock I was playing, but as I said above, the distortion side didn't do it for me.

I've been playing for about 15 years.

Very easy to use, however the levels of the tone knobs can't be seen on stage.

Using with Genz benz Black Pearl, Fender Amps and Rivera combos.Strats and Cole Clark guitars, plus Ernie Ball Sillhouette Special.The Booster is great, the distortion is brittle and easily bettered by FoxRox ZIM.The ZIM is also configurable, with various cards that can be installed.The other issue with the distortion is that it cannot be wound back.When the Gain knob is a "zero", it still distorts.This is the ONLY pedal in 35 years of playing that does this and I ask "WHY?"...why would anyone design a pedal that does this.Guitar Players Oct 2007 review stated this is "Possibly the most musical two in one distortion box going". I hope all you guys out there test this for yourself.I think this is one of the reasons why there are so many available cheap on Ebay...in my view th MI Audio Tube Zone, MI Crunch Box & Neo Fuzz along with the FoxRox ZIM kill the distortion side of the GT500, which gets few variants and is just harsh,too harsh for Hard Rock and not enough grind for Metal.Mine is going on Ebay.I also prefer the ZVEX box of Rock, also a better unit.Fulltone should redefine this unit or get rid of it.Fulltone does not know how to do distortion, only overdrive.

Extremely reliable, but then why not?.Fulltones are always well built.But this only matters to people who will use it a lot.Not me.

I emailed Fulltone twice with a question about a GT500 mod he stated he had, I received no replys.So I would say zero for support, but given he has already sold this thing why give a toss about replying to some guy in Australia that has a question.Better to spend time on "growing the business of Fulltone"

Playing 35 years, not a good match, I wont be keeping it as it does not fulfil intended function.If stolen I would just let the turd have it.What do I wish it had?....tone buddy, tone.It gets a 4 because I paid too much for a booster.

It's simple to use, just not simple to get a sound I like.

The OD eq circuit rolls off way too much bass, so the resultant sound is pretty thin. The bass boost pushes the low mids, but still there's no real low end. The low strings tend to be flappy, lacking punch and clarity.

The dist. section tends to be on/off...no middle ground, and no dial-in with the guitar volume knob. The distortion is just plain buzzy.

On to Craig's List it goes.

I opened it up, and the construction is absolutely first rate.

Have to give it a 5. It's a beautifully built box. I just don't like the way it sounds.

This is a very simple unit to use. There isn't anything overly complicated about it.

I use an Ibanez H/S/H as my primary guitar, and a 1979 Korean made Strat with Jeff Beck hot fender replacement S/S/S for my secondary guitar. Both of these went straight to the GT 500 and from the GT 500 straight to my fender tube amp. The amp gives no real destortion even on the dirty channel with the gain cranked wide open.

My findings were that my Strat didn't have enough output to really drive this unit well. It sounded good, but both sides of the unit were lacking when used in conjunction with this guitar. On the other hand, my Ibanez sounded like a dream. I have to agree with some earlier posts that this unit doesn't give a large variation in the destortion sounds, but if you want a good tube amp sound and a very professional tone, this might be the unit for you.
My only real complaint with the sound would be that it needs more range. The overdrive could go a bit higher, and the destortion side too could deal with a boost. That being said, both have wonderful tone and great sound and offer a good range over-all.

I had always been looking for a good dynamic tone with a professional sound like a wide open cranked tube destortion. This unit provided that. I found my rig sounding like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in minutes.

This is my first Fulltone product. I've not owned it long, but I wouldn't expect any problems. It does look to be well made.

I have been playing for 27 years. I don't play professionally, but I do play in my church band as well as giving lessons to others. I have owned many destortion units, and have never really cared for them much. I've always found an amp's built-in destortion to be better and gives a wider variation of sounds. I've owned most of the Boss overdrive/destortion pedals as well as many other brands.

This is the best destortion pedal I've ever found. I could wish it had a bit more variation or a wider range on its gain settings, but I love what it provides, and it seems to provide a lot.

I play anything I can get my hands on and trick my fingers into doing, but I tend more toward rock in its various forms. Metallica and Trans-Siberian Orchestra are two of my favorite bands, and this unit really works well for playing their songs.

My only real criticism of this pedal is when both sides are turned on. With the overdrive running into the destortion, the gain goes up, but it also takes on a fizzy sound. This could be due to my not having played with both sides enough to work this issue out, however.

I run a Fender Hod Rod Deluxe and just went from using my amp distorition to this pedal. I had the pedal sounding better than my amp in a matter of minutes. It does take some tweaking, but in my opinion, great tone came quickly. Other than that, it's a simple layout.

This is a tone machine. I had my Mexican tele doing things I didn't know it could do. Great chunky low end rhythm tones. Also running that distortion on top of the overdrive gives blistering, humbucker-esque tones. I haven't quite found the exact sound I want yet, but I know it's in there. Also, due to our venue, I have to run at lower volume quite a bit. This pedal gives me great volume control without losing tone.

After 3 days, no problem!

Haven't needed any after the sale. The Fulltone website gave me way more information than I needed to know about the pedal (I'm no sound engineer), but it was very helpful in helping me make my decision.

This is a great pedal. Great blend with my amp and other pedals. It gave me the control over my distortion sounds I'd been lacking. I may eventually get a Fulldrive 2 to get more of the bluesy single-coil distortion sound, but right now, I"m lovin the sounds I get out of this pedal. The overdrive also adds just the perfect amount of dirt to that clean Tele twang!

It is difficult to get a bad sound out of this pedal, but just as difficult to get a great sound. Let me explain. You can tweak and tweak and tweak till the cow's come home, but each night in a different room, strange power, acoustics, you will need to tweak.
It never seems to interact the same from night to night.

It's an overdrive/distortion pedal. Turn the knobs and go!

My rig changes every week almost. I have a serious G.A.S problem. But for the purposes of this review I will reconstruct the rig that has lived the longest with the GT500.
Gretsch Powerjet or Strat into Hendrix Wah>Rotovibe>Boss OC3>Octavia>Tuner>GT-500>Loopstation>Analogue Delay>Orange AD30TC>Orange 2x12.
I run the Orange as clean as i can on both channels and use the overdrive side of the GT500 for a bluesy break-up and the distortion side for the high gain thing. The pedal pushes the amp nicely and i can't say a bad word about it. Though depending on the volume of the amp, i have to make a few changes. As i said earlier....tweak..tweak.

The best thing about this pedal is the ability to stack the overdrive and distortion sides on top of one another. Not only that you can choose via mini switch whether to run the OD into the Dist or the Dist into the OD. Versitile personafied.....
I play covers 4 nights a week as well as originals and wouldn't leave the house without this pedal. Real midrange control!!!!

Why would you need a backup distortion. If it failed i would just crank the gain on my amp. I guess if you had a Fender 65 twin you couldn't do that. Fulltone build the highest quality pedals and would be confident that if i dragged this behind my car on the way to the gig, it would still work when i got there.

I have never had a problem with Fulltone but i hear they take a long time to reply to emails. (Sometimes never). But again i have never had a problem, fingers crossed, touch wood, all that.

This is a Pro pedal so you need to know what you want to get out of it. I tried many pedals before settling on this one. Most don't give you enough gain or enough flexability. This delivers in all areas for me. If it were stollen i would jump in the car and buy another one.
The footswitches are perfectly spaced unlike some other dual pedal designs.
I have been gigging solid for the past 14 years and for the past 3 years 3-4 times a week. I'm the type of person the loves amp distortion but it's not alwayspossible at the volumes we are forced to play at. This is the best tool to get your amp singing.
At the end of the day it's all about taste and you got to get out and try a bunch of pedals to see what suits, but if your looking for warm tubescreamer and endless gain I'd try this one first, a few others and then come back to this and listen again.....

You have to work with it a while because of its many possibilities. The Overdrive Section is pretty simple with treble and bass control. The Distortion section is more complicate with treble, middle and bass control. Furthermore it has a switch to change the order of the two sections, Boost/Overdrive before Distortion or Distortion before Overdrive Boost.

I use it with a Haar 60 modern Strat with H/S/S, a Fender Classic Player 60 and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and a Fender Blues Junior. In combination with the two amps the pedal sounds great, not brittle or harsh if you don't want it to be. But it needs time to dial in the sound you want or it takes time to get used to the sound you get. It might not be at once the sound you expect but after a while you won't play any other pedal. The GT 500 is the most caracterfull pedal i ever played. I played Xotic BB and MI Audio Crunch Box before and they are great pedals but they sound a bit boaring like every other guitarist you like. The GT 500 is much different with its unique middle control and its amplike character. My advice: Give it time and may be you will love it. May be it is not the pedal for everybody, not the mainstream sound like a BB Preamp or the BB Plus, but it is a great pedal with lots of sound possibilities and high quality characterfull tone.

Built like a tank like every Fulltone Pedal

Don't know.

For me it is the best Distortion Pedal on the market and I tried nearly all of the 'boutique' stuff.

PRETTY EASY TO GET UP AND RUNNING BUT TRYING TO GET A GOOD SOUND FORGET ABOUT IT

BRITTLE AND HARSH , BAD BAD BAD SOUNDING DISTORTION COMES ON AT FULL STRENGTH AND CAN'T GET A WARM SOUND OUT OF IT AND MAN I TRIED I HAVE A FULLDRIVE II AND ITS GREAT I BOUGHT THIS FOR A HEAVY LEAD SOUND NOT IT

YEAH YEAH PROBABLY BUILT LIKE A TANK SOUNDS LIKE A TANK OH YEAH BOUGHT IT FROM TUNNELVISION LONG TIME CUSTOMER THEY TOLD ME SEND IT BACK TO FULLTONE THEY WOULD DO NOTHING FOR ME GOTTA LOVE THESE GUYS

THEY DON'T ANSWER E MAILS AND I THINK IF I EVER MEET THIS GUY I,M GONNA BEAT 202 DOLLARS OUT OF HIM CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS EVERYTHING I DON'T CARE IF YOU MAKE PEDALS FOR ROCK STARS I AM A WORKING CLUB MUSCIANS AND WE ARE YOU WILL SUPPORT YOUR BUSINNESS AMEN!

SOME OF HIS PRODUCTS ARE WORTH IT BUT I HAVE LOSS MY FAITH IN FULLTONE TRYING HOMEBREW AND CARL MARTIN

Ease of use eh? See, it's easy to turn the knobs and what not- and it's easy to switch from one channel to both- but, you have to be patient to get certain sounds, this pedal wants some attention, and once you give it to her, she'll rock your world!

I'm going to be writing to what a lot of people are saying: "The Overdrive is better than the Distortion"... I agree with the sentiments about overdrive, and I concur. This is one of the best overdrives I've played. The EQs allow you to cut the highs and give a little more bass response that my particular setup needs. I found that feature really lacking in the OCD and that is why I went with the gt-500, and I'm glad I did....

AND NOW, for the distortion side. I must say that I too was having a hard time getting the sound I wanted from the distortion. However, I spent a good afternoon after tweaking and tweaking for a month...and now? I'm so glad I did. I personally found the distortion side to be a tad muddy- however, the three EQs on the distortion side really allowed me to shape the sound I was looking for...albeit it took me awhile. I think this side of the pedal really needs a lot of attention and for me, I used my guitar's volume and tone knobs to further dial in the tone and sound. I have set the distortion at about 12 o'clock and the volume at 9 and I've really found the sound I've been craving- great clipping and great tone.

So, in summary to my fellow GTers out there- don't give up, keep tweaking and maybe you'll find what I have- a GREAT distortion and overdrive pedal in one!

I trust the Fulltone name- I think they make great pedals.

Never had to contact.

Like I said before- this baby needs a little loving and doting. My patience was rewarded, and now I have found a sound that I rely heavily upon. I play anything from jazz, country, rockabilly to driving rock. My guitars are all single coil and I play into a vintage tube amp- I think with the right setup and time this pedal blows a lot of the competition out of the water.

The two sides to this pedal are really Jeckle & Hyde. I really like the overdrive/boost side- but I find the distortion is really lacking. I have tried and tried to dial in the right sound, but have yet to do so. I figured having three eqs on the distortion side would help me shape my sound- but I have found that it hinders.

I have the sound is really different to me day-to-day on the distortion side. I really love the boost/OD side- in fact I was contemplating getting an OCD, when my local guitar guru- said to give the GT a ride. I wish I hadn't bit. As I mentioned earlier- the distortion side is what fails for me on this pedal. Even the toggle switch is a great idea- it allows you to switch which circuit comes first when both sides are engaged, but it really doesn't live up to the hype.

I think for me- I utilize the OD side much more- the distortion sounds very stale and sterile. I really wanted to like it- but it doesn't really inspire me. I would rate the OD side a 9 and the distortion side a 4- thus I have given the rating a 6

I don't know- it seems to me that the sound changes from day to day- I have no worries about the pedal itself- it's built like a tank.

Haven't dealt with them

Overall, I would again rate the OD side better than the distortion- I really think the sound is inferior to a lot of other pedals out there. I have really spent a lot of time tweaking and have finally settled on a sound that is just...okay.