Fulltone GT-500

Plug in and burn is easy, but with lots of EQ options , every knob and switch greatly affects the guitars tone . It's really two pedals in one , each having eq and gain controls . Now the 2 pedals can be combined , with a switchable signal chain . All of these options available and a killer sounding midrange control . This is a very sophisticated device .

This is a monster pedal , Clean spanky tele tones massive fat SRV tones , I have a perfect Holdsworth tone , Awesome ! Used with a Twin ri it seems to do it all and has allowed me to free up my pedal board of a few pedals . This pedal has a very amplike vibe to me , but all completely adjustable , vox-ish chime no problem , tele tweed bad ass , it's here , it's monster high gain lead tones are inspirational , wonderfully rich tone , with complex overtones with a ballsy low end and a rich and I mean perfect midrange with lots of control over shaping the body of the guitars voice , all of this combined . for me this is it .

so far several gigs , a few rehearsals , 1 session , going strong . Very sturdy box with a great shape that slips under the boots nicely . I have a octafuzz and that has been going strong for many years , this pedal seems equally sturdy .I like to jump right in and give a piece of gear a workout , and this pedal shines .

II emailed about a few dealers stocking the new pedal and they where very helpful in helping me locate one and giving some good info on trying it out.

This is without a doubt the finest pedal I have ever had the pleasure of kicking on . I was blow away when I read the Guitar player review with their bold statements like "This may be the finest pedal ever " and If you can't find it in this box , it doesn't exist " Well I think they could be right on with this one ! God Bless the GT-500 !

Very straightforward. As easy to use as Fulldrive, Box of Rock, Tube Screamer, Tube King, etc, and much easier to dial in than the Radial ToneBone Classic - Would have loved the same Midrange control for the boost side and maybe even a Fulldrive type switch to go 'Vintage' or 'Comp Cut', etc.

I have been building pedals for years and playing the guitar most of my life (I am 31 years old).

First off, I would like to say that I believe that people who truly LOVE Fulltone products as I do have a certain ear for tone, being a little darker and warmer.
Eric Johnson is a great example of this. He happens to be my favorite guitar player, so maybe my ears are tuned right into what Mike Fuller is doing. I front a band I don't write that style, My writing resembles Sigur Ros, U2, Doves, Jeff Buckley, etc.
I have owned close to 100 pedals and I have never bought into 'Analog' snobbery...BUT it just so happens that Analog usually wins my ear over. Ither Fulltone Pedals I have owned are:

Fulltone OCD
Fulltone FatBoost
Fulltone Fulldrive II
Fulltone Fulldrive II Mosfet
Fulltone Soul Bender
Fulltone Octafuzz
Fulltone ChoralFlange
Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe
Fullton Tube Tape Echo

And now the Fulltone GT-500

Certain people will not like this pedal, for better or worse, just what the individuals ear is tuned to (tone-wise). I do not like trebly tone, so Fulltones darker tone right out of the box is perfect for my ear.

The boost side is WAY more useful than the Fulltone FatBoost, which is another one of the many I have owned.
I can get just enough grit out of the boost side to add character to my playing.

The Distortion side makes an incredible OverDrive.
Sorry to say, but I disagree with most of the reviews posted here when it comes to this category.
I can really get an Eric Johnson or B.B. King style tone out of this pedal, Soft and Dark.

Do NOT buy this pedal and expect to play Metallica.
Do NOT buy this pedal and expect to play Creed.
Do NOT buy this pedal and expect to play Satriani.

This pedal has WAY too much character to mimic those sterile tones that the Radio feeds us.
Great pedal for BLUES, JAZZ, and especially U2 style playing (sounds phenomonal with Delay)

I am not a big fan of what I hear about Mike Fuller as a person, But I believe when it comes to tone, He is the best in the business.
My whole life I was searching for the perfect Overdrive pedals and I went through all of them (Various vintage Tubescreamers with the JRC4558D, T-rex, Radial tonebone, Ibanez Tube King, the list goes on)

I didn't find ANYTHING that matched driving an amp until I ran into FULLTONE (and Zvex)

Anyhow, Just get out there and try it. If you liked the Fulldrive Mosfet, this should at least 1up that.
You can mix the Drive and Boost and you can even switch the arrangement (Boost->Drive, Boost<-Drive)

Pedal is loud

I am playing it through an Epiphone Blues 30 (switches from 15w Class A to 30w Class A/B)
I am also Using a Zvex Box of Rock and a Pigtronix Echolution
Guitar is a butterscotch Tele Reissue (about 13 years old)

I have played other Fulltones through my former Vintage Marshall Super Lead, Orange AD30, and Orange AD30TC Combo

All Fulltone pedals are built very well. NEVER had any issues.

YES, I would use it at a gig without backup...actually, I plan to.

Never dealt with them, but they don't respond to my emails and I have heard so many nightmares about Mike Fullers head being the size of Jupiter...If his ego is huge because he makes the best stuff, then it makes sense.
They ignored a bunch of emails in reference to my Tube Tape Echo, then finally got one email that contained one sentance...My question WAS service related.

This may be the first Drive/Boost pedal to stay with me forever.

My music is here - www.myspace.com/thebusylights

This pedal is very intuitive as most distortions/ODs are. However, the GT-500 suffers from the same problem as the Distortion Pro: TOO much control. It's just as easy to get really bad sounds out of this pedal as it is to get good sounds, and that puts me off a little. The OCD, by contrast doesn't really have a bad sound unless the tine control is in an extreme position.

The OD/Boost side of the pedal sounds very good, but there are probably a couple dozen good boost pedals that sound just as good if not better. I was really hoping for more from the distortion side. I liked it at first, and it does sound good, but not nearly as natural as my OCD. It can get heavier, but to me that's not a good thing. The OCD has the ability to get even old-school metal tones, but you can still hear the wood of the guitar and the tone of your amp coming through. I know this is distorion and not overdrive, and maybe that should have been a red flag. It just doesn't sound as much like an amp as the OCD...but I'm sure a lot of players will like it anyway.

The Fulltone stuff is well made. Can't fault 'em there.

Never had to deal with it.

For the money, this pedal is a FANTASIC value, and it really is very versatile...so versatile that I sent it back. I just want a pedal that fattens up MY tone, and the OCD does just that. I was hoping the GT-500 would do all that but do it better, but I like the simplicity of my OCD into another boost pedal (RGW Bad Bob).

The pedal is user friendly, however the EQing takes a little tweaking to taste. The Distortion Midrange control is very powerful, tweak away!

I use this in a country rock band. The boost side works great to get a little more saturation for leads or thicken up a rhythm sound on my THD Flexi 50 amp. The distortion side took me a while to like, but I like it more every day I use it. This pedal has a natural harmonic sound, and it more than replaced my old HBE Powerscreamer. (a Nice Pedal).

No problems so far. Fulltone has a great reputation.

Never needed service.

This is a good (somewhat expensive) Distortion/Boost pedal. It is recommended highly for mid gain users like myself. It has a wide range of sounds and is very versatile. I like this unit.

Straightforward, easy to get a great sound instantly. My only criticism is that both sides of the pedal have a HUGE output. With most OD/distortion pedals, when the volume is set to 12:00 you have unity gain- in other words the level going to your amp is roughly the same with the pedal on or off. I found that unity gain was around the 9:00 position. Also, moving the output knobs just slightly created a huge jump in the sound level. I'd rather have a more gradual taper and more control.

Volume issues aside, this is the best sounding pedal I've owned. I was using two Fulltone OCDs (one for grit, one for full-on overdrive) but I like the GT-500 a lot better. (BTW, I'm not a Fulltone fanatic. I hate the Fulldrive and I thought the Distortion Pro was about the worst sounding thing I'd ever heard.) But the GT-500 really is transparent. The distortion side has that magical quality of sounding clear and hairy at the same time. You really CAN hear the sound of your amp, just with a LOT more gain. The OD/Boost is very clear but will also get into the vintage Marshall grinf zone with the gain maxed.

I used the pedal for two shows in a row last weekend, and most of the EQ controls were left flat (with a little bump on the distortion MID control). So, I have yet to really explore the GT-500's potential. Even so, right out of the box it blew everything else away. I can only imagine the other sounds this thing is capable of.

Don't know but I'm sure it's solid.

Never had to deal with him.

For $212 it's a steal. It really s two separate pedals, and each one is probably worth $200 by itself, if you look at the prices some other boutique manufacturers charge.

Well it's very easy to use pretty simple layout.

Oh well I can't tell you how psyched I was when I ordered this pedal - then how bummed I got once I plugged it in. 1st let me explain I am a Fulltone lover, I have a OCD, Choralflange, Soul-bender and a Clyde Deluxe. I was hoping I could use this pedal and sell my Klon which I use mainly as a clean boost and since they are going for $500+ now I figured I would use this and sell that. I consider the OCD the best OD/Distortion pedal in the world so I had high hopes for thes pedal. The Boost section is a joke - with the drive on 0 and the volume on 2-3 it creates distortion - who needs a boost that distorts with the drive on 0 - the tone is flat unresponsive with no dynamics. I play through a handwired JTM-45 clone and a 1963 Vibroverb clone and while the OCD is unreal this thing eats but !! Then we have the distortion side is very heavy and compressed sounding. After hearing the OCD which REALLY sounds like an amp - the GT-500 sounds identical to an MXR distortion + ala Rhandy Rhoads fizzy - dizzy distortion. Not my cup of tea and not the vintge vibe that Fulltone is known for. What a let down - I had such high hopes for this pedal and it really is so weak considering how well it's built and all the features it has.

Built like a tank light all his other stuff I have so far is great am sure it will last.

Don't know how to say it any better - such high hopes. With all the hype and guitar player editor pic awards - I am really bummed how poorly this pedal performed !!

This is a fairly simple unit to operate and as with all Fulltone products feels solid. The only problem which I will address in the next section is the claim that it is really four pedals that can be reversed.

Here is where I had some difficulties. First I have a Fulldrive 2 Mosfet that I love and it is the perfect complement for distortion when I want something else besides the Keely modified TS 808. Before getting the Fulldrive I tried the OCD which I found to be harsh and buzzy sounding. So if you like the OCD or at least version one (i think they are on version three now) then read no further. However if you are one of the few that did not take to the OCD then you might have the same experience that I had with the GT 500 in that it sounds harsh. In addition when you reverse the effect chain within the unit there is such a huge volume boost the sound becomes unusable. Put the GT 500 on my board for a couple of gigs and practices then moved it on Ebay. Luckily there is still a shortage so if you try it and do not like it like me you can get your money back less the fees! Put the Fulldrive back and singing the praises of Mike Fuller again

Have several other Fulltone pedals including a deja vibe and have never had any issues.

Never called. Wish they had samples of the GT 500 on their website.

I wanted to like this pedal. Did not hate it just like others better. If you have a chance try the Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and this one and decide which works best for you. Maybe when version two comes out I will give it another try. Loads of pedals out there and plenty of good choices. Fulltone makes quality gear with enough variety within their own products to suite every one

Easy to use but not much to it... a clean boost side that can get a touch of grit and a weak and anemic distorted side. Putting the distortion through the boost gives you... wait for it... yep more volume. Yay. To get any real gain at all you have to put the boost into the distorted side. Tone controls work like... standard tone controls. However backing down the mids really reduces the gain and there's not much to begin with. This is true on some other units as
well but not as pronounced as this.

Fulltone has never really had a "high-gain" pedal and unfortunately this one really doesn't change this. More gain
than their other pedals but despite the hype nowhere NEAR the amount of gain or sustain as pedals like the Radial Hot British, Tech
21's GT2 or even the Subdecay Blackstar. Disappointing.

To get any real exciting gain at ALL you have to kick the boost into the distortion side... unfortunately this shows the
worst problem the pedal has - completely flabby and farty bass response.

Dialing out all the bass in both channels won't fix this... I tried and tried hard. As you work your way down to the low A nd E strings the bottom falls apart and fizzles. Not even a usable and expected
flabby effect like from a Big Muff but an unusable incoherant fizzle. And this was with both humbuckers and
single-coils. Forget doing any rock that requires
tight rhythm... I didn't even find it acceptable for blues, etc...
no "chunky rhythm stuff" like the creator talks about. Even with
the gain set low you notice the problem but as you try to crank it
it up it's a deal-breaker. Doesn't help that backing off the mids also kills a lot of the gain.

I'm describing this as used with a completely clean amp BTW - a Mesa MK III set clean and my teaching amp... a
solid-state Peavy that has a nice neutral tone for pedals.

Seems VERY solid. Uninspiring cinder block color scheme but
well made indeed.

Never had the pleasure.

I need high gain not for metal but for smooth violin type lead work
over chord changes ala Holdsworth, Vai, etc... both the Tech 21 GT2 and the Radial offer tremendous sustain and yet keep a tight bottom
end for rhythmic parts. The Subdecay Blackstar also uses cascaded
multiple gain stages like the GT-500 yet gives far more sustain with a very tight bass response. The farty and fizzy
bass response on the GT-500 killed it for me. I really can't think of a type of music that wants or needs that. A shame
too as it has a nice clear uncolored tone that I liked.

Been playing for 30 years and teaching full-time for 20 after the "club days".
Can't get stolen as I have already eBay'ed the sucker :-P

Once i figured out that it is simply 2 different pedals split down the middle, a no brainer.

unbelievable! Easily the most natural, warm, harmonic-laden device I've plugged in to, and I am a 34 year vet with more-than-a few name studio and live gigs under my belt.
Hard to explain compared to other deistortions, which sound like CLAMP there goes all your touch, overtones,dynamics, etc.
I use the GT with everything from vintage Vox to Carr amps, and tweeds in between with the same results.
Infinite variations of sustain OD, Boost, with any frosting (EQ) you need on top. the Inductor Mid control is to die for.

Fulltone=Tank

Mike and Tech crew (Tsuguto) are minutes away at all times. None better.

I have sold more of these by merely showing up with it at all sessions. In every case, everyone there guitar-interested has run out and bought one, without exception.
Value? The world's most transparent Clean boost, sorry Klon mated with "anything you want distortion" for $200? Duh.
One downer: the wait, I waited 5 weeks to get mine, but it retired 4 pedals from my board, I swear.

It has a clear layout that makes it a breeze to work with. No cryptic writings like "Resonance", "Voicing" etc. like the Fulltone Distortion Pro. You can get the specs and its details on the Fulltone website.

There is always a catch when there are too many knobs in a pedal, though. You usually have too many options about shaping your sound, and this appeals to some players, but others are really looking for simplicity and just the basic knobs (provided that they are voiced correctly, of course).

The pedal is really versatile, since it allows for the creation of many different sounds, but I got the feeling that the versatility will be there just for finding your own preference, and not as a tool for further experimentations, since they will not sound so good. However, the rating for ease of use is a 10 from me.

I tested the pedal very thoroughly with an Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop with single coil P90s on a Mesa Express 2:50 combo set to warm clean. I compared it to the Fulltone Distortion Pro that it replaces as the company's current distortion pedal, the T Rex Swamp, the MI Audio Crunch Box, the Radial Tonebone and the Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde.

For the record, I like my distortions to range from classic (Clapton, Led Zep, Ac Dc etc) to more modern ones (Guns 'n' Roses, Social Distortion and sometimes on darker more fierce Marshall territory).

The Dist. Pro and the GT-500 are NOT pedals to provide the well known Marshall sounds (as it happens with hundreds of other pedals), but to evolve upon them, and they should appeal to people looking for all kinds of dist. shades. My personal preference between those two would be the fuller sounding Dist. Pro. Get it on Ebay, because it seems Mr. Fuller got it right the first time...

It is basically a two-in-one pedal, although neither side was the masterpiece that many people (and magazines, probably) consider them to be. The Boost / Overdrive option is a good one, transparent and detailed. Not noisy at all. However, it is not as musical as I would like, and not particularly impressive, almost one sided. The gain almost reaches up to the point that the Distortion side begins. The Distortion side was impressive, and I could set it to various famous distortion sounds, however I was really disappointed with the behaviour of the equaliser knobs.

The highs were wide ranging but harsh, and I got the feeling that it couldn't handle the bass well, something that the Dist. Pro did wonderfully. The Dist. Pro had much more musical and warm sounds, although both pedals (especially the Dist. Pro) provided "hairy" distortion, especially the Dist. Pro which had a slight fuzz kind of "hair", a very nice touch that has a love-hate factor about it.

The middle freq. knob didn't provide at all the tone shaping versatility that a wah wah inductor promises, as stated in the site. Believe me, I know what such a thing can do because I have a Keeley Nova Wah (a static wah) for altering the sounds of my pedals, and although I didn't expect it to sound similar, the tone shaping of the mids knob was somewhat poor. I am really wondering if it was a just a defective pedal (which I doubt it).

Adding the Boost to the Distortion provided better results than the Distortion side by itself (!). There was a considerable difference when I did the opposite (turn the switch to add the Distortion to the Boost), although my preference was the setting mentioned earlier.

I finally ended up choosing the MI Audio Crunch Box, which turned out to be a terrific example of what just 3 knobs (Vol - Gain - Tone) can do when voiced to perfection. Extremely versatile in the rich Marshallesque sounds it provides in the FULL range of all its knobs, without needing so many adjustments like the two Fulltone pedals I mentioned.

All in all, it would be a truly great pedal if the Overdrive side was more musical and the Dist. side had better, bassier and less harsh eq adjustments, which were the reason this pedal gets a low rating from me. It was a real pity to listen to the potential it would have if those two points were different.

I would definitely depend on it, and I would gig with it without a backup. All of its parts (including the tiny eq knobs) seem well placed and sturdy. However, since it is such a new pedal, the true feedback about its reliability should come in a year or two.

I have three of their pedals (the Ultimate Octave, the Soul Bender and the 69), and I don't have any reliability complains from them, although these days I am a bit concerned about what will happen if the germanium transistors that the two of them have will need to be changed (the two latter ones have been discontinued due to the lack of "decent sounding transistors").

Too early for that, and I don't have any experience from the customer support at Fulltone (except from an old email about waiting for ONE YEAR AND A HALF for my Ultimate Octave in Belgium, which was answered promptly but without any improvement on the time I had to wait).

I play different styles of rock, ranging from old stuff (Zeppelin etc) to modern (Queens Of The Stone Age, Fu Manchu, a bit of Gathering, Nightwish, Anathema, Guns 'n' Roses, White Stripes and a huge list of other bands, some known and some not so well known). I also play anything that I generally like listening to, from modern ballads to old jazz to metal to celtic songs to classic music (ok, the last one on my flute!).

I have been playing music since I first started going to music school, which was at the age of 8 (and I am now 29). I have been into guitar playing for about 10 years. To sum up, I found this pedal not living up to the hype, although in my poor opinion it would be a great pedal if the adjustments I described in the Sound Quality part could be made. The funny thing is, though, that I get a feeling that even if these adjustments were to be made, it would not in any way be a part of guitar history to remember.

Apart from my view, it may be the holy grail of dist. pedals for you - just DON'T buy it without playing with it yourself, and not just listening samples on You Tube or on the internet. Don't make the huge mistake of ordering it just for the sake of getting your hands on the hottest new pedal on the block. You may live to regret it, and that's something that Mr. Fuller would also say (he strongly advises everyone to try his products themselves first, which makes perfect sense).

I just received mine (low serial number) and did a gig with it. Had no time to get familiar with it and really was a bit anxious. However, I reached down on my pedal board, moved the knobs for a few seconds and got quick levels, then adjusted the gains and finally EQ on each side (Boost and Distortion). Stood up, played a few notes and the band snapped looks over to see what I was playing! More on the sound later . . . The pedal came in a box with a simple manual printed on a single sheet of paper. There was a decal (Nice) and a warning label regarding the DC Power Options "You may run this pedal on any amount between 9 and 18 volts DC as long as the center Pin is Negative... You'll be amazed at the sonic differences!". This unit is so easy to use that it really requires no more than the single page owners manual.

I was playing a Les Paul with Burstbuckers and an Eric Johnson Strat through several other pedals with this pedal being the first in the chain eventually ending up in my 1966 "Blackface" Fender Twin Reverb. The moment I heard this pedal at volume I had a huge smile on my face. This pedal sounded absolutely amazing! Very touch responsive, ear pleasing and tonally rich with harmonics and a very professional sound. When I say professional . . . I mean that this pedal gave me tone like I have always heard the pros have and wondered how they got it, always trying to mimic their setups and never getting it. I know that tone is in the fingers, I have been playing for 26 years and have tried several different amps including Budda, Two-Rock, Bogner, 65 and Zinky. Not to mention the dozens of pedal I have tried including Keely Ultra DS-1, Klon, HAO Rumble, MI Audio Crunch Box, Modded Rats, Chandler Tube , etc, etc. Seriously this pedal with my setup is the tone I have always searched for! It can sound like Michael Landau, Larry Carlton on the OD side to Vai, Satch and EVH on the other side. When both buttons are engaged I can get a jaw dropping heavy distortion sound that gives me what I need to play modern music as well. Every song I played this on sounded incrediable. It makes you realize that you can get the sounds of your favorite artists by playing the guitar a little differently, as long as you have a good fundamental tone to start with. I have always wanted to be a Fulltone fan, I have the ChoralFlange and DejaVibe but never could get a distortion or OD sound that I liked. He has done it with this pedal, I will go on record to predict that this is the top selling pedal during the next 12 months, as you guys/gals start playing and hearing these, you will all want one. A grand slam for Fulltone! Amazing and well done!

Appears to be built very well. No personal signature from Mike Fuller on the bottom anymore, just screenprinted now. Have to remove 4 screws from bottom to change out the 9volt battery. Has four rubber feet that are not stuck on with adhesive, they are screwed on. The small EQ trimpots feel rock solid. The switches are super strong. Just got it so can't say much here yet. Have had and currently do own other Fulltone pedals and have never had a single problem with them. This pedal comes with a "5 YEAR WARRANTY" in the box!!

Have never dealt with Fulltone with any customer support issues.

Once again, I predict this pedal will saturate the market as other players experience it. I play everything for Steely Dan, Tower of Power to Oldies, Classic Rock and even Prog Rock such as Porcupine Tree, Yes, Rush, etc. I am a hard working, gigging musician who plays in several different bands and does a fair amount of session work. Now that I have this pedal, I will guard it with my life, however, if it were stolen I would replace it immediately. I still can't believe the price at $225.00 on these, this pedal would still sell amazingly well at $299.99 + but regards to Mike Fuller for giving the music community a fair price for this pedal. Do yourself a huge favor and find one of these to play ASAP! Absolutely Brilliant!

There's a bunch of knobs to twiddle, but nothing unusual. If you've ever dialed in an amp or a stompbox, then you'll get by just fine.

Every sound is useable. With everthing at noon, it's friggin' loud and bright. However, once you dial it in a bit, lower the highs, raise the mids, lower the volume, up the gain or lower the gain, up the volume, you start to hit a some sweet spots, and there are many to be had. I'm running the distortion first with gain at 11:00, Level 9:00 (unity with my amp), Bass 12:00, mids 2:00, Treble 11:00. Then on the boost side, Level and Gain 10:00, bass at 12:00 treble 10:00 used as a lead boost. My other effects are a vox wah, phase 90, meistersinger chorus, dd-20 delay, into a Deluxe Reverb. I play a fender strat and a gibson les paul. I've gone through many, many pedals from vintage to modern, cheap to boutique, and this is one of the few times I've felt compelled to write a review. It's great. Lot's of sustain. The only issue I have is the lack of compression on the distortion side. I play a maple neck strat as a my main guitar and usually favor a more compressed overdrive sound which the gt-500 seems to lack. However, it's still new to me, so maybe I haven't found it yet. Oh hell, it's still a 10!

Well, I've had fulltone stuff before and have only exchanged them to get new ones everytime fulltone decides to change the components until I finally gave up on losing money. Well, I can't imaging improving on this one. I think he got it right.

Somewhat helpful, rarely friendly.

I've been playing in a cover band for a couple of years, and have been playing guitar for twenty years. I've had tons of equipment and mostly go through various overdrives. My favorite feature is the boost feature being able to follow the distortion. We are two guitarists in my band, so I needed a volume boost. I like that with this pedal, I was able to consolidate some space on my board. The only thing I wish it had was a bit more compression and maybe not so transparent sounding. I love tube screamers, and this has nothing in common with one. It's like plugging into the high gain stage of whatever amp you're playing through, and that's not a bad thing.

Pedal Number 161 replaces my Fulldrive 2 Mosfet. It comes in a sturdy case with separate Boost and Distortion channels, each having their own tone controls. It will run on tip negative AC power from 9 to 18 volts, or a battery. The battery circuit is disabled with AC power, so you can leave it plugged in on a pedalboard. A one page description and suggestions for use is included that tells you everything you need to know. Priced fairly. It's very easy to get good tones from the unit, you just have to be careful with the volume, especially when running 18 volts.

My current set up is a Dr.Z Route 66 and a Soldano 50 watt Avenger routed thru a Radial headbone amp head switcher into a 2x12 closed back cab. I use the Z for clean and rhythm and the Soldano for leads. Being a one trick pony (and a VERY good one) the Soldano does not need any boost or overdrive. The GT-500 is used to vary the tone of the Dr. Z from clean overdrive to nasty. It does the job well. Interestingly, I can make the Z sound exactly like the Soldano using the GT-500...clean, articulate notes with harmonic sustain. I don't need to do that, but it's a nice way to make your rig sound like you have a high end amp head for 200 bucks. The unit is not any noisier than you would expect. It's a versatile nice souonding improvement on my Fulldrive 2...and I really like my Fulldrive 2.

The only Fulltone product I've ever had problems with is the Tape Echo, which was related to me being an idiot and taking a tape echo to gigs when it needs to stay on the shelf in the studio next to my noisy old Echoplex. All the pedals from Fulltone have been solidly made and I have never had to call Mike about them. It runs on tip negative power. I use 9 volts because it's safer and warmer sounding, but it sounds very nice with an 18 volt AC adapter. I don't think you could fry it if you plugged the wrong adapter in (I didn't try this) but you could easily crank this unit up to the point that you could overload your amp input.

I have dealt with them for another unit and they were quick, businesslike and helpful.

I've been playing gigs for about 40 years, 35 of which as lead guitarist. I can finally afford good equipment to partially compensate for my arthritis and high tone hearing loss. Our current group has been together a long time and we play primarily R&B, blues and rock. I won't bore you with my pedalboard details, but I try to own quality, sturdy equipment that will sound good enough to allow my playing to make heads turn. We frequently record our live gigs in 16 tracks and the guitar tracks rarely need any work. The GT-500 is a nice unit and it's a bit more versatile for my needs than the Fulldrive. It's a keeper.

I found it easy to get great tones right off. The boost side is incredible. It can be very transparent in terms of maintaining the sound of your guitar and amp while boosting output. It also does a great job of taming or boosting the highs and lows a bit while keeping the overall sound just as happenning. I've had many, many, many distortion pedals and virtually all of them sound way better with a good booster pedal in front of them. Fulltone is not the first to combine the pedals into one box (Demeter's FOD pedal is one and Pete Cornish and John Landraff build duplex boxes for big money). The two pedals linked together are very, very satisfying. The ability to change the order really changes the sound. The tricky part is that adjusting the volume, gain, treble and bass can be accomplished from either side with different results. It will take some time to learn how to get the sound you might want quickly. After using the pedal for about an hour and getting very good sounds in the range I was after, I found a better way to get it by radically changing the volume controls on each side.

I have found lots of great pedals and amps and each have their own character. The best ones I've found are the Landgraff DO and MO-D, Pete Cornish P2 and G2, Bogner Shiva, Toneczar Openhaus, Badcat xtreme tone and the best bargain I've found so far is the SIB Varidrive. I've tried so many and believe most fall short one or more of the following - harmonic range and depth (low end), clarity/note definition, a pleasing dynamic response, harmonic complexity. I've tried and owned a Custom Shop Fulldrive 2, Distortion Pro and 69. The GT is way better then the other Fulltone units in my opinion. The difference is the wide dynamic range and better note definition. Harmonic content is very good and playing dynamics and volume clean up is nice. Is it the ultimate distortion pedal? For some it will be. I think it is in the upper ecehlon. I don't think it is as complex and sweet as a Landgraff MO-D but it is surprising in the ballpark and will cost less than half what a new Landgraff will run. Considering it is a two for one proposition where the boost half is worth the asking price by itself (Fulltone should consider releasing the boost side as a stand alone pedal) and the two halves combined can produce so many outstanding tones, it is a steal. I highly recommend the GT for its boost side and for its higher gain tones. This pedal shines in both regards.

This pedal is heavy. Moreso than I expected. It is so well built and intelligently designed that I can't imagine having any trouble with it.

Mike Fuller will stand behind his products. I've found them very responsive and helpful in the past. They have gotten to be a pretty big company and hopefully are still as good in this regard.

The GT really is a fantastic value. The boost is awesome and the distortion tones are the best Mike Fuller has crafted. Great for rock, hard rock and lead playing. Easy to get great tone but it will take time, patience and experimentation to find all the pedal can do. You will need to tweak and try different volume and gain levels on each side to find the sweet spots (write them down!)

There are alot of sounds in this unit, not always easy to find them but at least it is marketed as a tweaker's delight.

Really great feel on this pedal. I won't say great tone because it doesn't have very much of its own tone. Instead, I find it serves up a helping of sustain, breakup/hair or fatness (with the boost). It really stays out of the way of your guitar & amp tone. Now alot of pedals have tried to do this before, but what impresses me is the feel with which all this is done. The dynamics are insane, just as good as the OCD and volume knob cleanup is ridiculously good. Dig into the strings and the breakup gets more intense, exactly like a tube amp. I'm not just saying this! I have owned many of the top pedals in the infamous search and this unit is really a very strong performer. You want high gain, singing sustain? It's a breeze with the GT-500. What it is NOT: it is not like other pedals. The crunch tones are not like what you get with traditional opamps or even tubes. Instead, this pedal really seems to have been designed to work with your existing setup and dial in hair or girth or sustain at will. If you have a Marshall style amp, the midrange signature stays the way it is, even with extreme settings. If your Fender style amp is super clean, this pedal will not make it sound like a Plexi! It will still sound like your Fender but with mysterious breakup or sustain coming out of nowhere. It definitely is voiced bright and I took issue with that until I tweaked it just right. Again I want to reiterate that this is not a very traditional pedal at all and I think it will have a dedicated following when word gets out that it is a very flexible high-quality tool for your music. Yeah it sounds a bit hi-fi, but that only matters if your rig sounds too sterile already. It will effectively work like an eq when your amp is cooking but an eq for breakup, sustain if that makes any sense. It seems as if you can control those parameters at will for the first time using this little guy. It also does not really compress, which is odd considering the sustain that leaps out like magic.

Looks very solid.

I'm not a Fuller fan but that's irrelevant. He's putting out some real good equipment.

I tried to explain my experience with this pedal after about 2 weeks with it, playing at every volume and with all my guitars. I do think it might be a somewhat misunderstood pedal at first, but it will surely find a following because of its range/depth. I sure didn't get what I expected, I just bought it when it first came out because I was really impressed with the OCD. It is NOT an OCD on steroids, in fact they're nothing alike except that the touch sensitivity on both is amazing, and the boost is not like the Fatboost. Also the price is very low for a boutique quality pedal that can do so much! Eat your heart out Lovepedal. There's no need to spend $330 anymore!

2 pedals in one, easy to use if you think about it this way:
left side is the best clean boost I've ever played, and I'm a Klon owner and a Zvex owner.

anything you want from clean to the Highest gain, but with an unbelievable clarity, and then there's that wah inductor Midrange control!
Then there's the middle toggle that allows you to switch the order of the 2 effects. Unreal.
I can dial in ANYTHING from jangly Vox to raging Marshall, forget the Box of rock baby, it's sold.
This has retired 3 pedals off my board.

it's a Fulltone

emailed with some q's and got a clear answer in 10 mminutes...beat that

$212 for the best clean boost and distortion pedal ever? =Duh.

Relatively easy to use...although the rangeof the tone controls are a little too much.

I cannot get this unit to sound good. The tones have an almost Hi-Fi sound to them...not very natural or organic at all. It does have tons of output, but if the tone is not there, who cares. This unit might work well for a very modern tone where a bright and clear distortion is what you are going for.

The unit seems very sturdy.

I really wanted to like this pedal, but it is not to be. I own and regularly use a number of this builders pedals...namely the FD2, the Soulbender and the Tape echo. The other units

Plug in and play. It won't take long to get a great sound with this thing. The problem will be which great sound to go to. This pedal really could be all that someone needs (with a good guitar and tube amp). Instructions are direct and to the point. Mr. Fuller wants you to play with this pedal, and find your own way. He does warn you that the pedal packs a lot of power, so be careful.

Out of the box this pedal was ready to go. The variety of sounds available is overwhelming. It's new, so I will likely play around with it for a while. The boost is warm and loud. It really fattens up single coil pickups (if you want it to). I used it along with my OCD to push the OD a little harder. On its own, it also works as a nice OD pedal. No need to compare to the OCD, they are very different. Truth is I love them both, and will use both. The distortion is very versatile. The control over the mids is fantastic. You really get such a variety of sounds, it's almost difficult to describe what this pedal can do. With both sides on, the tone is rich and full (no mud). Again, each person will get a different sound out of this pedal because there is a plethora of available settings. I'm running with the distortion before the boost. Over time I'll continue to explore the different tones when I play with the series select switch.

I have Keeley Comp, Analogman Sunface, HBE Germania44, Roger Mayer Page 1 and Boss Giga Delay. I also have a Fulltone 69, 70, Deja 2, and OCD. Notice all the Fulltone stuff? These things are built very well.

Emailed Mike once with a question (re: 70 Fuzz), and he got back to me with an answer. No problems.

I play rock, blues, jazz and some metal. I've been playing 26 years. I've owned a lot of high (and low) end gear. I have two Fender CS "Time Machine" Strats and a CS "Time Machine Tele at present. I wanted a higher gain distortion, and the GT-500 fit the bill. It is far from a one trick pony. It can help you boost and round out your clean tones. You can also get a very mild drive out of it. If you want more dirt, it delivers! Great response to picking dynamics and lots of sustain (cleans up well with your volume too). As I stated earlier, it produces a lot of variety in the clean-OD-distortion market. It's a little difficult to write a review for a pedal that will sound different in every players hands.

Two pedals in a row. Everything you know about a boost/distortion and swapping order applies here. Just as expected. Plus, I thought the mid control might be annoying based on what I know about wahs, but is isn't! That was a pleasant surprise!

Wow. Different than either of the two fulldrives I have. I can't believe how much the boost makes my '65 DR sound like it's cranked! This pedal could be the cure for living room recording. The distortion is great too... but, the overdrive is very realistic. Nice.

Never had a problem with Fulltone pedals. This seems the same... but let's let it get some miles.

Never needed customer support.

Aahhh... oh well... 10.. Why not? It's only $200. Try to do better than this. Wow... what a nice pedal... ok, have to play..