Fulltone OCD

pretty standard od pedal layout. fairly easy to dial in tones.

i can see why tons of people love the OCD. very smooth, very "nice" sounding. i'm not going to say it's a bad pedal. it's just too "nice" sounding for what i need. too smooth for me(i know "too smooth, what are you complaining about?" right?). i need a nastier tone that i just couldn't elicit from the OCD.

i generally crank smaller lower wattage combos and that's where i get the bulk of my overdrive. i only use the stompbox to kick it up a notch for solos or particulaly "heavy" parts.

this is great stompbox, just not the right one for me.

very solid. very well built.

good box, well built, easy to use, very smooth sound. i simple opted not to use it because it doesn't deliver what i need personally.

current libe rig:
*70s tele with rio grande pickups
*'56 reissue les paul gold top (p90s)
*boss tu-2 tuner
*mxr distortion+
*analog man modded boss tr-2 trem
*vintage ibanez ad-9 analog delay

It's a 3 knob overdrive pedal with a switch which changes the mid peak. pretty simple stuff.

Be careful here. I'll explain my situation. I live in Australia, so when it comes to brands like Fulltone, nobody over here sells them, so the only real way for me to try it out is to buy it online from musictoyz. I bought this pedal based purely on the amount of hype it gets. I figured i couldn't really go wrong. At the very least i'd get a decent OD pedal.
Essentially this happened. I got a decent OD. It's good, not great imo. Being Aussie, I've been using MI Audio pedals and in all honesty i think my Tube Zone and Blue Boy pedals sound much better.
Now here's the catch, everyone talks about the transparency of this pedal, and it's true the overdrive is VERY transparent, very touch sensitive and responsive to volume knob adjustments, which i use ALL THE TIME, it's probably my main tone shaping device actually. The problem i had was that these qualities were excellent, but the actual overdrive sound just wasn't that good. The MI Tube Zone just has a better overdrive sound, and it's still very responsive and dynamic, doesn't clean up QUITE as well but the sound is just hands down better, and most of the time i don't really want it to clean up completely anyway. I get many many comments on the tube zone, it sounds incredible, and i know just from listening to the sound of the OCD that it isn't enought for people to actually comment on.
Compared to a Boss this thing would still totally kick ass, but compared to my MI Audio pedals, i don't think it stands up. I'll keep it, but it'll be my backup overdrive.
I should also add that it's a much better sound for bluesy lead guitar. It's not really a rhythm overdrive sound. Tends to get lost in the mix and doesn't really cut despite having quite a lot of high end. I'd rather use an OD that does both lead and rhythm, ie the tube zone.
If you can, try before you buy. if you live in Australia, well you'll just have to take the plunge like me most likely. After all, 49/50 people seem to be happy with it, odds are in your favour! (or just get a MI Tube Zone and be done with it). If you try it and like it then by all means buy it and be happy.

Oh btw i play a 62 Reissue Custom Telecaster, into a 72 Fender Vibrochamp and 66 Princeton. So don't go thinking i'm using crappy gear, cos i'm not. I know good tone, and imo the OCD is really only about a 6. I'm not using it much.

Seems to be quite solid, Fulltone stuff generally is. It's well made.

I've heard that Mike Fuller is just one helluva busy lad, and appreciates not being bothered about trivial matters. i have no need to contact him about the pedal but should the need ever arise i will be sure to omit any comments about the weather, my girlfriend or problems with my car if i don't use premium unleaded. I'm sure he would appreciate this.

Really i've said what i wanted to say. It's a decent pedal, but i can't help but feel a little bit dissapointed. Everything i'd read led me to believe this pedal would set my tone on fire, and in all honesty this didn't happen, not even close. still, i'll keep it. it does have a fairly nice tone for a bluesy lead sound with drive ~3, but it's just not as exciting a sound as the tube zone. Sorry, i really wanted to like this pedal but it just needed to sound better.

Volume, Drive, Tone and HP/LP switch. The LP setting is a lower gain more natural sound. It adds a nice distortion without changing the sound of the guitar. The HP settings has a lot of boost and makes you sound "fatter" and in someways smoother. The manual is short and to the point but the best thing to do is just get the volume setup for unity and try it out. This pedal has a ton of boost to it so be carefull

I normally use this on a lower "distortion" settings. V 10 oclock, D 10 oclock, tone 11-12 oclock and the switch on LP. With a American Strat (with Lindy fralins) into a Dr Z Maz 38 sr this things is awesome. I can set the amp up to a nice clean sound and kick in the OCD for just the right amount of dirt. It really gives the sound of a tube amp being pushed hard. The distortion fades out nicely not like some pedals that have "ugly" tails to the distortion. I own a bunch of distortion pedals (TS9, SD-1, DS-1, 69 pedal, Distortion Pro, Sparkle Drive, Full Drive 2, Bottle Rocket, Screamin Blues and a bunch of custom pedals) and this is the best by far.

I have owned a bunch of fulltone pedals and they are built like a rock. The only backup you will need is a battery because you won't want to turn it off.

I have also email Mike and he has replied everytime.

I play blues/rock/jazz and this is a great pedals for that. It probably isn't a great metal pedal but that is not what is is meant for. I would buy another if it was stolen.

This is the ONLY pedal in my signal chain now!

Simple to use. 3 knobs. A switch for a gainier smoother (somewhat) sound. You don't want to just dime out the knobs, I keep the drive turned down between 2 and 6 most of the time, the tone hovers in the middle area. I like the HP switch position a little better than the LP unless I am going for a chunkier tone

This thing sounds like the amp is just turned up and breaking up on its own. It reminds me of a BF Fender super reverb cranked. Other reviewers have called the pedal harsh or complained about the high end, and it does have alot of high end and it is gritty , it sounds pretty much like a BF fender cranked up loud, if you don't like that sound, its the wrong pedal for you. It isn't really smooth, thats not what its for. I can smooth it out with my barber compressor, especially if I run the compressor first, but that spoils the point of this pedal. Its extremely touch sensative and dynamic, and it really doesn't sound like a pedal.
If you turn the gain all the way down and center the tone, and try to use it as a clean boost, its going to color the tone a little, but thats not what its for. I think alot of people who don't like this pedal are expecting it to be something other than their tube amp turned up louder.

You could use it for a hammer in a pinch.

I use it with my 63 Gibson Scout amp, running a 57 les paul special or a 71 strat into it. Both sound great but the strat especially likes this pedal. I didn't like it as much with my late 70s twin, but I don't much like that thing anyway, i think its the speakers. Sounds really great for my blues gig on that Gibson amp. This isn't a real high gain type pedal, again , it really is more like a 60s era tube amp cranked to break up, it is very sensative to what gear you run through it, pretty transparent. It has enough extra boost to help get my 17 watt Gibson amp over the drummer. Makes that amp sound alot more full and present also.
This isn't for metal or singing Santana stuff or phishyness, it is for a gritty detailed bluesy funky power tube type breakup. I haven't heard anything better in a pedal for that.

It's the easiest pedal to get the best classic sounds.

I have a 64'Fender Deluxe blackface with a 63'fender strat and 64'gibson SG, and I'm going bad cause I didn't find a pedal to overdrive the amp, without volume at 1 o'clock, until purchase OCD. This pedal is fantastic because with the amp at lower volume you can get amount of drive to figure the zeppellin sound. It's very quiet and the setting that I used is that Mike Fuller said in the fulltone's site: vol-10 o'clock; tone- 10 o'clock ; drive-3 o'clock. I have other Fulltone pedal to get the sound of Hendrix, like the '69, and some other pedals like TC's (Chorus/Flanger); Expandora-I; vintage RAT; Ibanez (TS9- CF5); BOSS (DD2- DC2) Cry Baby Dunlop (with Dan Torres Kit) MXR (Dyna Comp)

I loved this pedal and I really depend on it to use just OCD alive with my 64'deluxe.

I play some classic rock/Fusion like (Jeff Beck, Led Zeppellin, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, Mike Stern, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson, Living Colour, John McLaughlin, etc) and this pedal is very usefull to my arsenal.

The Fullton OCD is an extremely easy pedal to use. It has a knob for level and a knob for gain. It also has a switch to change between a high output type setting they claim to be more like a Marshall and a low setting they claim tobe more like a pushed Fender. I think they both sound Marshall(which is okay with me). It can be difficult to change batteries because you have to take the case apart. Otherwise it is a tank and extremely well built.

Fender Jazzmaster with seymour duncan pickups. Seymour duncan pickup booster, OCD, keeley loop bypass with a Boss DD-2, Ibanez CS-9, big Muff. Into a Vox AC 15 with an Eminence Red Fang speaker. Very quit and the true bypass works! I really like the sound. It's not a tube screamer type pedal which was what I was looking for. I'm not a tubescreamer fan, which makes the OCD a good alternative. I really like the sound. At lower levels it can be fuzzy but this pedal really shines when the amp is pushed to the top and the pedal adds a boost and drive that enhances the natural distortion of the power tubes. I find it works best with an older type aamp where the power tubes do the work especially an AC30 or 15 or even a marshall plexi. The sound is perfect for me. I'm giving it a 10 because it was exactly the sound I was looking for. Before I bought this pedal I tried all of Keeley's modded pedals and some other boutique pedals. But this one was the one.

It's built very solid. you can tell its made with quality parts.

Havn' had to deal with them.

I mainly just play a pop/ rock style. Everything from Sabbath to U2. I just wanted something that had a good overdriven sound. It mainly helps me get my Zeppelin fix out....no really I like this pedal, but as I said it was the right pedal for me. To me it's a completely unique overdrive pedal. I haven't really found anything else that sounds like it, but it was pricey.

Easy enough to use, however I had a great deal of difficulty controlling it. To much boost and too much overdrive for me to use.

Way over rated. I found it to be almost unusable (for me) with various Fender amps. Very, very buzzy at almost all settings. Loss of definition at higher levels. Didn't act at all like any amp I've ever used.

No comment. Very well constructed but I returned it within the 5 day return period. (Thank goodness for that!)

No dealings

I don't get the hype. I have a NAU Engineering "Spoonful Overdrive" that leaves the OCD for DEAD. The NAU OD costs $30 less and has a separate clean boost section built in. Call John Nau at 1-585-594-8129. Nau also make killer custom amps. I have been playing for almost 40 years and own lots of classic stuff including various Fender and Gibson amps and guitars along with NAU and Demeter amps.

Easy, almost plug n'play. HP, Lp switch. volumue, tone, and gain.
Almost too much head room on the volume. My only "complaint", if you wanna even call it that.

I consider this a distortion pedal. Fulltone doesn't seem to really clarify this. It doesn't really seem to work as an overdrive pedal to hit your amp's distortion with. But then again 99% of actual overdrive pedals don't work that well doing that either.

Telecaster into Ernieball vp jr volume, Boss trem, Barber Tone Press(bad ass comp), slammin on the OCD into the front end of a Bogner Shiva. Choralflange and DLS Echotap in the loop. Blends with ALL my fx wonderfully, especially the Tone Press. With the gain up full, and the tone press on, IT WILL SHRED. Not noisy at all, as far as hiss and squelch,feedback etc however I keep the volume at 9 o'clock in LP mode. Tis a LOUD little guy,as far as output at least in my setup.

As far as tone goes, IT IS NOT A TUBESCREAMER. No midrange bark. Wonderful high end. Tight bottom. I could go on and on and bore you, but to make it interesting my girlfriend said its sounds very "seductive". I've since renamed it "the panty-removing pedal".

Whether or not you like the tone may be up to one's own ears, but you CANNOT dispute the fact that IT does sound and FEEL like an tube amp REALLY COOKING!! I plugged this into a little multi-effect unit I use in my apartment for silent practicing, and WOW!! It really sounded like a wall of stacks. I could almost imagine the smell of the tubes frying. They're also not kidding about the dynamics. I personally don't get a Marshall vibe out of it thank goodness, but the Bogner's dist has that covered already, and that's why I got the OCD. I don't need two Marshally tones. If you have a Fender and your looking for chunk, this may be one of your best bets. I played this through a Deville in the store,and I picked it up that day.

I depend on it to remove panties.
What's a backup??

Mike Fuller can be a real meanie I've heard, but I'm guessing on the inside he's like a motherless child who just needs a big squishy hug.

I've been a gitar-picker for 16 years now, and I've owned many a od/distortion pedal over the years,all of which were traded,sold, ebayed or destroyed. If this were lost or stolen, I might get a new one, depending on how much I missed it. I give it a 9, being a really great keeper that I'm sure won't disappoint me, and inspires me to really beat the living crap out of my tele-blaster. I'm not so sure 10's really exist, but one can alway's keep looking!

You can Dial it in quick!

Not impressed with the overall tone of this pedal.
It's not organic or tube sounding at all. The gain is
tight. But too much.

Fulltone stuff is built!

Responds to email's, Good customer service.

I play Punk/Hard Rock. This pedal doesn't do it for me.
I've yet to try a Fulltone pedal that I really liked.
I'll stick with my Barber LTD & Modded DOD 308 pedal.
If this pedal had less gain I think I might really like it.
I would never buy this pedal again, in fact it's going back.
I have friends that use Fulltone pedals & they always have good tone.
Every time I plug into a Fulltone pedal I'm unsatisfied.

I purchased the OCD 1 year ago so I have had time to play with it extensively, ( this is not a 2 day honeymoon review.) The unit is easy enough to understand having the usual 3 knob layout, the only difference is the mini toggle switch located next to the bright blue LED. I keep this switch in the up (boosted) position at all times. It is easy enough to get good tone happening right away with the OCD, it doesn't do anything so extreme that it would muddy up the tone. It always sounds musical to me.

My review for the OCD is based on (at home) use only, I am not out gigging and trying to cut through a bassist and drummer. I do record at home but at lower volumes. I have in comparison several other pedals all of which I have had for quite some time. The line up includes an Xotic BB preamp, Xotic RC booster, Direct Drive, Barber LTD silver, Digitec Bad Monkey, Boss DS1 and OD3, Danelectro Fab overdrive. These are just the (mid) grind pedals, they all sound a little different and each has it's thing that it does. I am only 2 miles from Super Sound Music and guitar Center so I have had the opertunity to try out loads of stuff. Of all my pedals the OCD would most likely be the (one) I would keep if I was told I could only have One pedal and right now it is the only grind pedal on my board. It is very articulate and cleans up real well with just my guitars volume knob..I can go from clean to blues crunch to a singing type higher gain overdrive. The OCD has actually more grind than any of the other pedals listed above, this is a good thing. Pick attack is outstanding with this pedal and it responds just like a tube amp, like others have said it is just like an extention of the amp. The bass is tight and has great tone, not loose or flabby at all. Quality sound all the way through this pedal.

Very good build quality, has never let me down. Sturdy!

I play mostly rock but dabble in a little of everything. I have been playing 41 years and have had and or sold more stuff than most people will ever own. My main amp is a Genz Benz El'Diablo C30/60 combo (tube amp.) I would buy this pedal again as nothing else I have tried matches what the OCD can do. Through (my) amp this thing sounds and feels outstanding. Would I change anything about the OCD?.. well, I really like silent switching (for recording purposes) I really like the Digitec Bad Monkeys silent pedal switch and I guess I would lose the mini toggle as I only use the top position, there is too much of a volume loss in the down position. Still a quality great sounding piece. I'll be ordeing a Zen Drive very soon so we will see if the OCD can still stay on top. What are my qualifications for diong this review?..... 41 years guitar player and recording, have had songs reviewed in Recording magazine as well as being in Giitar Player Magazine 2005 (Spotlight on Talent) and 3 full length solo cd's in 2005. When it comes right down to it though.. it's your ears and your fingers and what you want to hear as to how the OCD will work for you. I like it.