Fulltone OCD

Easy to use. Bought this in late 2005

I am a sucker for a strat or tele into a tweed bassman. This basic clean tone is the best. It's that 4 10" swirl - large sound - fills medium sized rooms just right. I need the right breakup pedal for my bridge PU and have tried a thousand ( ok - maybe 20 ) pedals over the past 30 yrs.

strat ( EJ ) or tele >>>>> Carl Martin limiter ( subtle amount of compression always on - just enough to even the transients a little ) >>>>> OCD >>>> old analog ibanez delay box ( AD 99 ? ) >>>>> bassman

Not at all noisy. Very nice OD pedal - one of the best I've tried - no mid-hump - responds to fingers / pick well. Bridge PU rock stuff is good with this box. neck PU - not bad for blues either.

Maybe 10 gigs with it - much use - very dependable.

I have ownded maybe 6 Fulltone pedals - well made - never needed tech help.

I've played 35 yrs - past 10 years in cover band - all the goofy dance stuff - R+B / rockabilly / rock / - 1-2 gigs per month.

my quest for the right OD pedal to go with a single coil guitar into a "lots of headroom" amp ( I don't know anything about humbucker, marshalls, etc - very different deal ) has included:

1. Budda phatman
2. TS10
3. TS9
4. Maxon OD ( big green box ? model ? OD 820 )
5. OCD
6. black cat OD 1
7. real tube ( years ago )
8. Keeley mod Boss blues driver
9. Carl Martin ( drive and boost )
10. Fulltone distortion pro ( the red box )
11. 3 different treble boosters - Keeley, Germania, Crispy creamer
12. Big Muff
13. blackstone mofset
14. more I can't remember


AND THE WINNER IS ! -- Keeley mod BD2 - hands down. But the OCD is a close second - also it holds it's value - decent $$ return on ebay.

I am using this pedal with a Rivera Quiana Studio 112 and a Bill Nash Strat. As far as ease of use goes it is very simple and straight forward with a very low learning curve. I give it an nine because you cannot switch from low peak to high peak by stomping on a switch you have to bend over and flick a switch. More on LP,HP below

Love the sound. I use it mostly on the fender side of my amp and 90% of the time I use it in LP or low peak. Here it does not color the sound of your amp and guitar it just gives you more. Very transparent and cleans up great when you back the guitars volume down. I usually leave the gain at about 10 O'clock and the volume on about 10 O'clock. There is a tone of gain and volume available here so you do not need to jack the thing. In HP or high peak mode it colors the sound more but..........If you turn the gain up a little say about 1 O'Clock and turn the Tone knob down to about 10 O'Clock you can get an absolutely huge fat sound for single not lines while still retaining some definition and stringiness, definitely a 10!

No problem yet. Seems to be built really well. I did get a bad PS1 power supply though and they fixed it at no cost reasonably fast. Since I am reviewing the pedal and not the power supply I am going to give it a 10

Fulltone's Customer support was great on the power supply. I bought it from Musictoyz and frankly they were unresponsive.

10. Is lost or stolen. I would shop around and see what's out there. I would like to check out their Fulltone Drive II MOSFET pedal or a Zen Drive but I would not be surprised if I ended up with another one of these. Just a great pedal I highly recommend.

3 knobs, one dipswitch. It's pretty straightforward. This thing is a time vortex though. One thing I will say is watch the hp/lp switch. The high peak sound can get mighty bright with any open back 2x12 amp.

It sounds great as a clean boost for the front end of my AC-30, and the breakup at low gain settings is extremely toneful. The higher gain settings are out of this world. The breakup is so musical I almost couldn't believe my ears. Theres a certain harmonic saturation to it that I didnt think could come out of an effects pedal. And the responsiveness to pick dynamics and volume controls is really remarkable. It cleans up nicer than any drive Ive played to date. I play a variety of instrumental space rock/alternative/indie and some heavier prgressive stuff. It cuts the mustard in all regards. Ive gotten a great SRV voodoo chile vibe out of it, and I've gotten a great early pumpkins Cherub Rock tone, too. So the versatility is there 100%. Throw in a hardwire bypass and a sweet blue LED and Im pretty much sure this guys got a permanent spot on my board, until I cant play anymore.

I work in a store that deals fulltone pedals. Ive opened up almost every one of the fulltone line of pedals, and I havent seen a bad solder, pot, resistor, switch, cap or board. The wiring is all clean as a whistle, and the work is impeccably clean. Not to mention the ridiculous steel chassis. You could use this thing to rob a bank.

Ive talked to mark and andy(?) at fulltone and theyre both stellar guys. And they mail parts really quickly.

I play a variety of rock music and a smattering of pretty awful imitation blues. Ive been playing about 15 years now, and I went to school (albeit shortly) for music. I mainly play a 70's strat or a G&L invader into an AC30 with any number of effects, though usually its something like Ernie Ball VP Jr.->BBE Opto-Stomp->Keeley Blues Driver->80's Rat->Fulltone OCD->USA Smallstone->Behringer UC-100->
Boss RV-5->Line 6 DL4->Line 6 DL4 (Yes theres two of them.) It made my rig into a rock machine. Its exactly what I needed to get the tone I was hearing but never quite getting. If it were stolen, I would curse the gods, and hunt the bastard down. I dont believe in backups (because Im poor) so it would be a nightmare to replace. I love how responsive this pedal is to input dynamics. Ive read the other reviews, and I cant see how someone wouldnt like this pedal. Unless they have absolutely no nuance in their playing. I honestly only found a bad sound with this when I dimed the volume and tone and had it set to low peak. I made every animal in a 4 mile radius pee on a rug. It was EXTREMELY bright. Ive compared this to every tubescreamer, od-1, keeley ds-1, rat 2, every drive pedal I can think of. Its the mustard on the tone sandwich.

Only three knobs and a switch, if you can't figure this pedal out you should probably be a drummer... :)

Mike should call this thing the "OMG" (Oh My GOD!). This pedal is completely natural at lower volumes, and doesn't color the sound at all. You can actually back the volume down and get an IDENTICAL clean sound from your amp and then use picking dynamics or the volume knob to go from a whisper to a roar. The pedal absolutely RIPS at higher volumes. I play it with a PRS McCarty and Custom SE, Fender Eric Johnson Strat and 52' ThinSkin Telecaster and it is extremely musical with all guitars, although arguably better with the humbuckers and a little bright with the single coils. I have used it with all kinds of Fenders and Marshalls, although the OCD through a Fender Bassman LTD is a match made in tone heaven. The pedal has a real organic sound and is the closest thing to a "Marshall in a box" that I've ever used. I currently own and use a Klon Centaur, Keeley DS-1, Keeley BD-2, Fulltone Fulldrive (3 different versions), Digitech Bad Monkey, Visual Sound Jeckyl and Hyde, Ibanez Tube Screamer and about 20 other boost/OD's and the OCD is probably the best of them all.

Built like a bunker, I have never heard of anyone killing a Fulltone pedal.

Mike Fuller is a little quirky but if he keeps putting out pedals like this I think he's entitled to be a little whacky. Guy can play like a Muthah too!

I play all kinds of music from acoustic to blues to jazz to rock. I also do a lot of session work with critical ears and need to be able to ape various styles without bringing the whole house with me. If I could only bring one pedal, the OCD is it. I am kind of curious how this pedal doesn't have higher ratings, I suppose different people are looking for different things. The only criticism I can think of is the price, but I'd pay double for another if that's what it took.

Highly recommended.

3 knobs, meaningful labels, turning the knobs actually alters the sound (unlike so many pedals...). Stomp switch is nice & solid.

This is truly what I was missing. I play an SG with a Mesa/Boogie, and Boogies have a sweet sound but are by design under-driven. The OCD gives me what I've been missing for the past 15 years. It's amazing how the OCD provides drive AND improves tone. Even if I were not looking for drive I'd still use it for the improved tone.
I bought this because Trower uses it :)

Solid & reliable - no backup pedals needed.

Never used it

Buy one. Period.

Pretty familiar setup if you have ever used overdrive/distortion pedals before. 3 knobs Volume, Tone, and Drive ??? all pretty self-explanatory and they perform, as you would expect. There is a mini toggle switch to set between LP (Low Peak) and HP (Hi Peak).
The HP setting yields more volume, distortion, and mids ??? class A characteristics, while the LP acts as the opposite (less volume and mids, etc)

Pretty easy to use and get good tones from quickly. Also, might I add that there are a variety of good settings, not just one or 2 sweet spots that you need to dig around for.

Finally! It???s over! I am done searching for an overdrive pedal that meets my ears expectations. My experience during my overdrive/distortion quest has been this: I have found so many pedals that act great as a boost and add gain and sustain. However, it has always come with compromise ??? tone coloration, loss of bass, and at times harsh ice pick mids. Also, this is the first overdrive pedal I have found to work with chords and rhythm playing. You can use this pedal like a distortion pedal over a clean amp and NOT SOUND like the bottom is cut off with an exaggeration of harsh upper mids???REALLY! This pedal makes my Fender Blues Deluxe very Marshall like (ACDC grind no problem set the drive around 2 o???clock) Here is a good test for transparency???.turn the drive all the way down, adjust the volume to match your amp, keep the tone knob around noon, LP setting ??? play something and turn the pedal on and off (repeat) Do you hear a difference??? I haven???t on my fender or my Reeves Custom 6. Now raise the volume level for solos and you have a pretty darn transparent boost. This is also the smoothest overdrive I have heard???.period ??? and at loud volume too. Never harsh, never offensive.

Haven't had it long.... but it appears to be very well made - don't expect problems but can't really rate yet.

Can't say.... Never dealt with them.

I have been playing for about 20 years on and off and am by no means a virtuoso. I play Fender strats, epiphone paul, and a frankenstrat thru either A Reeves custom 6, Fender Blues Deluxe, Peavey Bravo, or Vox Cambridge AC15 (cheapo hybrid practice amp). I played in a cover band for about 4 years, but now just for myself and campfire parties with friends. I am a solid rhythm player (singer) who is finding my way thru solo and lead work. That being said, I have a pretty good ear (they are a little big and stick out too)

This is a great pedal???. Period. It???s transparent, amp-like, and versatile as both boost, overdrive or can act as a ???dirty??? channel to you rig that won???t hurt your ears or make you feel inadequate when striking more than 2 notes at once (chords).

You know when I knew this was the pedal? When I noticed the smile on me face after about the first 3 minutes of use. I never want to turn it off! Better stock up on 9volt batteries.

If it was lost or stolen??? I???d hunt down the guy who took it and make him listen to me practice tremolo (speed) picking on the high e string thru my battery powered Vox AC-1 amp with the treble cut all the way off, then I???d slam the front of the 1 watter with a TS9 (all setting dimed out) while he holds the amp to his ear.

I would certainly replace, I am even considering buying another one ??? just in case..

I am sure there are other great overdrive pedals out there, but this one works for me, and I don???t feel the need to continue the ???overdrive??? search anymore.

I don???t know what else to say expect for here is a list of pedals I gave up on: Ibanez TS9, Keeley moded TS9, Boss Blues Driver, Boss DS-1, DOD YJM308, Snarling Dogs, some others I can???t or don???t what to remember.

Good luck to you

NOTE: I tried to submit a review a couple weeks ago and at the end I hit the wrong button and don't think it went through.

Ease of Use: Very easy to get a good sound out of this pedal. As a matter-of-fact, I think it's impossible to get a bad sound from it. I've tried every possible setting with my rig (listed below) and it just plain rocks!

Gear & Chain: American Strat w\Fralin Blues Specials> Keeley Compressor (4-Knob v.) > Keeley Java Boost > OCD (v. 1) > Keeley Fuzz Head > EH Deluxe Memory Man (stock) > Fender Deluxe Reverb RI w\Celestion Greenback speaker.

My 'sounds' I like are the sounds of the 60's and 70's (being born in 61 I guess that's what one would expect. The Classic Rock\ Heavy Blues Sound is what I'm after. Think: Black Sabbath, Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly, Clapton, BOC, SRV, etc....

As aforementioned; this pedal is very versitile and extrememly easy for me to get great tone from it. I previously have been back and forth with Multi-fx's to Stomp boxes (too many times to count). I always seem to come back to the individual stomp box pedalboard because the quality is there (and it's old school which appeals to me).

The area of Overdrive \ Distortion is one that I've never, ever been happy and satisfied with UNTIL NOW. I've been through the modded DS1's, BD 2 's, TS 9's & 808 's, and others. While they all sound good in their own right; none can compare to the OCD.

The OCD is just the exact tone that I have in my head and heart that I've not been able to translate into tone from my rig. It covers everything from light OD to Heavy OD and Distortion. When used with the Java Boost and the Fuzz Head it's OVER THE TOP.

This is a very musical pedal. I've heard other reviewers say that about the pedals they were reviewing, but never have experienced it myself until now. My Strat sounds like a Strat at any setting with the OCD! Enough Said!!!

Extememly Well built.

They are quick to respond to emails and offer good advice and help. They are a bit "matter of fact" about their stuff; but they can afford to be

Overall: Pedals come and go (sometimes on a almost daily basis) but the OCD Stays!

Super easy

okay the whole thing about this pedal is IMO is dont plug it in to a totally clean fender (type) amp with brilliant high end and expect this pedal to sound good ... its gonna ice pick in the ears ya!!!
there's no mid range hump in it at all (like a tube screamer) this is both a good thing and a bad thing depending on how you use it .... I feel this pedal sounds it best when you are playing with a "darker tone" and then you kick this pedal on and it sounds fantastic, very transparent sounding ... I've found it sounds best with my old 73 50 watt marshall and a les paul... when I use it with my 68 super reverb and tele or a strat its not that great ... its a little too thin sounding for my liking ( i prefer the king of tone pedal with the clean fender amp ) .... I especially like the ocd with a good Strat and my 69 plexi 100 watt marshall. the tone is great especialy when the "gain" on the pedal is backed down to about 2 o'clock and you ride the volume pot on the strat you can go from a great clean tone to a smokin tone ... i also prefered the hp better then the lp

This is made really well as far as I can tell ....... I dont anticipate any problems

never dealt with the company

I've been playing guitar for 31 years and I make my living playing guitar I do over 300 gigs a year and i've worked with many different artists over the years.
I play all styles of music and i have many guitars and amps too many to list here .... i like the ocd pedal. i use it occasionally for certian tone. i use other pedals more frequently like my analog man king of tone, ts9 with the silver mod, Klon and a keeley ts9 3x saturation.
overall this is a good pedal for a great in your face tone IMO ... i like it much better then my analogman modded ds1

I keep the volume at 9 o'clock, gain at 1 o'clock and the tone at 1 o'clock - I like the HP setting as it has the crunch that I like - EASY TO USE BUT LIKE ANYTHING YOU MUST DIAL IT IN BASED ON YOUR EARS

A friend of mine Randy Jacobs of the Boneshakers turned ne on to this thing and I gotta tell you - it's a fabulous pedal, Robin Trower and Jeff Golub use these as well (just a point of reference)
this pedal has a crunchy yet clean overdrive that is fat and sustainy and badass what else can I say I use it in conjunction with my FD-2 and the two of them give me a balls out Hendrixy, Trower lead tone - I don't use it for rhythm though as it too dirty in a sense - my board goes like this Fulltone Wah>Voodoo Labs Microvibe>FD-2>OCD>Boss DD-2 thru a Fender VibroKing or MB 2C+ or Marshall JCM-800 2 channel w/ reverb 65' Strat or 73' Strat, G-L's cables, planet waves pedal board cables

No probs so far I drive my board with a one-spot (which is very good I might add)

I've had Mike Fuller fix my wah several times so I don't expect to have any issues should the ocd go belly up

I play in a gigging band in San Francisco called Fog City Soul Review and we do 70's/80's soul and funk - I'm primarily a rhythm player but I do get a chance to let it rip on occasion and the OCD is my secret weapon it just rips in a musical way - it just has A presence about it that is unmistakeable - I'm very partial to Fulltone stuff as his pedals are well made, look great and tuned for Strats. I have a Dist Pro that I like too but the OCD has a unique character that is hard to explain you simply have to get one and try it...At first I wasn't sold but when I took it on a gig it came to life and I was like WOW!!! a LIVE GIGGING SITUATION IS ALWAYS THE REAL TEST FOR ME...

Basic dirtbox features. The HP / LP switch is kind of nice. It might have been nicer if the power jack was towards the top of the pedal instead of next to the output jack. I have patch cables with angled tips so that *can* be a MINOR issue.

The quality of the distortion is very good. Dynamic and complex sounding, some amp-like qualities. Not a plexi by any means though, not that you could really expect that out of a stompbox. Otherwise the sound has a very clean sort of quality that makes it sound expensive, but it sort of lacks some mojo if you know what I mean (its a little sterile). Try and turn the gain up and this thing is an ICEPICK!!! I tried it with a variety of amps and guitars. Deluxe, JTM 45, telecasters, strat, 335. The pedal is an icepick. You can turn the tone down, but the sound gets dark and mushy before the painful high end resolves.

Compared to a boss pedal the sound quality is acceptable, but given the price of this unit and all of the claims mike fuller makes regarding its performance... 5

Very solid!!

Mike fuller is kind of an @$$. If you agree with me, but think you need to suck it up and depend on him for good pedals anyways, I suggest checking out some of the other boutique pedal makers. For just about every fulltone pedal theres another, similar boutique that people claim sounds better. Plus you don't have to deal with fulltone. I guess if you like to be a suckup though, fulltone might help you out if you ever had issues.

I'm sorry to say that I ultimately had to sell this unit on ebay. I could never get the treble properly balanced without sounding dark and mushy / sterile. It was just too bright for any musical style. If your amps is VERY dark, hey, maybe you'll be alright.