Fulltone OCD

It's a classic stompbox - one in, one out. POwer input, or you can power this with an external power supply. I use the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Plus 2, so I'm feeding it with good juice. I want to give this pedal a 10 in every category, but it's actually not a plug n' play pedal. When you are working in the analog domain, your pickups, the density of the guitar body wood, your cable quality, and the amp all interact to either make or break the tone. This is a great pedal, but it's taken me a couple of years to understand it. Not that I'm a dumb _ss, but sometimes you have to step back and really listen - both while you are jamming in the bedroom, or when you have a band behind you.

The sound quality is good. LF/HF give you a lot of tonal possibilities. There is very little noise. Fulltone says it's a true bypass pedal. I'm a gear nut... so I make life harder by experimenting all of the time with different combinations. My go-to guitars are Tom Andersons and Fenders. My go-to amps are Carr, Fender (Deluxe), Victoria, DR Z, and Matchless. I have one Anderson made of Swamp Ash, the other of Alder. The reason I say this is that some of the combinations suck, others are OK, and yet others are golden. For the most part, the OCD seems to like guitars with denser body woods (swamp ash). Although, I played last night with a magic combination of Alder Tom Anderson, Victoria amp (3x10 with 2x6L6 tubes) that rocked. To cover all of the non-metal bases, I use a TS9 and the OCD. The LF setting in OCD goes to where the TS9 likes to play. So I typically leave OCD on HF and use the TS. I'll set the distortion setting low, the tone mostly high, and adjust the volume to taste. Yep, like they say, it cleans up nicely when you roll the guitar volume back.

I've played for 35 years now. I gig about 50+ times a year. You can learn new things with the same old equipment. Fun.

I have a lot of Fulltone effects - chorus, Trem, a red and blue FullDrive2, Deja-Vibe. Some good pedals, some OK. But they won't break. You'd have to do something really stupid to break these things.

I've sent them a couple of notes. There's an attitude there that doesn't thrill me, but they make good products.

I play blues, R&B, classic Rock. The OCD does a great job in this genre.

It Doesn't get any easier except the four screws you need to take out to replace the battery. I am not complaining or really mind but for you lazy bums or non- mechanical screw driver users out there you might be overwelmed.

First off I feel this is a pedal for single coils only! especially p-90's. I found with '57 humbuckers the pedal limits or lets say strangles the pickups a tad, its not bad but for $150 dollars its not money well spent for a guitar with humbuckers. AS far as single coils this brings the true tone of the guitar/amp and just enhances them. Just lets them shine I cannot live without this after using it. I Play a mesa triple rectifier and a es-135 with p-90 and one with the '57s. The OCD simply takes the Mesa and adds the tone of a marshall/ fender. For what i play I love the mesa for the tube glass sound it produces and the OCD just warms it up adding what is missing. You can use various voltages for this pedal I found the lower the voltage(9v) the warmer the pedal is. I also used it with a 12v and just found the OCD sounding Pushed, compressed. There is so much gain on this pedal that any sound can be achieved run out and get this if your a tone buff, like me

Chews up batteries pretty quickly but nothing a cable cannot fix. Besides that this baby is a WWII tank.

You do not need support except to clean your pants out after you hear this baby sing.

i do not buy junk, and do not spend money quickly but his $150 dollars made my sound worth 10 fold. ALso I do not believe in pedals I am a guitar to amp guy so to purchase this and to use it I need to see something that is missing/ needed. Metal heads may be disappointed, but if you get your kicks out of tone, and quality and love to rock like a mother the OCD is for you.

The OCD is very easy to use.
Great awesome tones.

Splawns,Fender Blackface Vibrolux.
Not at all buzzy or noisy.
Very nice, Desert Island pedal.
I love it. I think I have the Version# 3, #4 is out now.
One of the best dirt boxes I ever played.
Touch sensistive. amust have pedal.

Reliability is the best on the market.

Never dealt with Mike fuller.

Speaking for myself.The OCD is a Gem and deserve attention by
great guitarist.I'm very glad I have one and can't see being without
it. The tone is that good. I also use a Xotic BB preamp with it.
Glorious tones.

I bought this second hand with no manual and had a good sound out of it in seconds. It's really easy to use. It was easy to improve on that sound to - very tweakable. The name is very descriptive (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

I am using it on a MIA strat and a Maton JB6 (SG type guitar)through Faesel Crybaby>Marshall compressor>OCD>Marshall trem> Mesa Nomad 55.

Quite a quiet pedal unless its wound right out. Dam site quieter than the Boss SD-1's and DS-1 it replaced.
To my ears, this pedal sounds awsome. It produces everything from a smooth vintage sounding light o/drive to a nice thick sounding distortion. At light/moderate settings it is quite touch sensitive and cleans/dirties up nicely off the guitar volume. It is quite transparent (hey its an OD predal its not supposed to be squeaky clean)and certainly allows the character of the pickup being used to come through. I find the hp switch setting works well on single coils and the lp on humbuckers. It really interacts well with my compressor to produce mellow blues tones.
As mentioned, I have used it to replace a standard Boss SD-1, an SD-1 with a Keeley type modification and a Boss DS-1 and i AB'd with the Bosses before I sold them on. It has a far superior sound and was a definite step up tonewise.
I think the sound character would suit those who like more traditional guitar/amp sounds (most genres 50's-70's), but it still sounds good and heavy when its pushed (in an early Black Sabbath sort of way).

Built like a tank.

Never had to approach the manafacturer or agents. The thing seems bullet proof.

I love to play jazz, ragged blues, rock and old school heavy rock. Certainly covers all those bases. If I am playing modern metal I just use the high-gain channel on my amp - the OCD is redundant in this mode. If it were stolen I would be quite angry really - and slay the bastard, flay the person, sell the skin and use the money to buy another.

I love the sensitivity, tone and versatility of this pedal. For me its a real gem and suits my ears down to the ground. I'd rate getting this pedal alongside getting your first good tube amp and decent guitar. It made me think alot harder about my playing style - principaly because you can hear tonal nuances through it.

Using this pedal, especially with higher gain settings, is like putting the sound of your guitar and amp under a magnifying glass. If you have a really great clean sound dialed in to begin with, clicking on the OCD will sound great, but if your basic sound is harsh on the treble side, or too muddy, the OCD will magnify that harshness or muddiness. Working the pedal itself is a piece of cake, but it might take you to school as far as reworking your guitar and amp settings to get them to sound good to begin with. I'd say this is probably a very good thing!

It's all relative - I give it a 10 measured against other pedals, not against the sound of real tube amps like Dumbles, Marshalls, etc.

It is f________ great. The main thing here is expressiveness. It's true - like a Dumble, it responds beautifully to picking technique. Dial in a good dose of overdrive, then back off the guitar volume about 1/4 to 1/3, and you have this blistering attack when you hit it hard, or smooth, singing sustain with medium attack, or an almost clean sound with very light playing. Then crank it back up when it's time to really wail!! The playing feel BLOWS AWAY ANY MODELED AMP FROM ANY MANUFACTURER. ANALOG RULES!!!

No, it does not have all the same tube-frying tone of a real amp, but the overdriven sound rages in a way that is pleasing to the ear - more pleasing than some real real amps! If your amp sounds good to begin with, you will love it.

This thing really, really helps in open-jam situations, where you don't know what amp you'll be playing through - just bring your battery powered OCD and you can relax in the knowledge that when it's your turn, you can pretty much just go up and play without having to screw around trying to figure out an unfamiliar amp. Unless the amp is total crap, you'll at the very least have a very enjoyable sound to work with, and maybe a really great sound!

I rate this based on their enviable reputation as well as the obvious industrial-strength materials used.

My first Fulltone product, no opinion.

I give it a 10 for overall value because, even though there are a slew of decent-sounding overdrive pedals out there for a lot less money, none of them comes close to this kind of feel or expressiveness. Fulltones are nothing like the cheap stuff out there, and I can see how you will find yourself still enjoying the OCD long after having grown tired of the sound of the cheap pedals - the OCD really is a blend of its own sound plus the sound of your guitar and amp. It allows the great sounds of your carefully chosen and dialed in guitar and amp sounds to really shine, while adding a generous dose of shine to put it over the top!!

3 knobs: vol/tone/drive. It's easy and the manual gives some suggestions. The volume boost is pretty significant. I have to keep mine at about 10 o'clock.

I love it. It's great for blues and rock. If you want smooth, rich distortion like you might get from a mod'd SD-1, this is NOT the pedal for you. I mostly play a Strat with noiseless pickups, but it sounds great with the 57s on my Gibson ES339 too. My amp is a Silverface Super Reverb. My board goes like this: (guitar) Area 51 Wah -> HBE CPR Compressor -> Fulltone Octafuzz -> Fulltone FD2 Mosfet -> Fulltone OCD -> Fulltone Deja Vibe -> Keeley mod'd AD9 -> Boss DD6 -> Boss Tu12 tuner (Super Reverb). I recently got rid of a Lovepedal for this OCD and I'm very glad I did. The Lovepedal was built like something I could have soldered up in my garage.

It's new. But one reason I love the Fulltone pedals is that they are built like a tank. Very Solid Construction--seems like it will last forever.

I've had good luck with Fulltone. I send emails and I get an answer back that day or the next. Typically my emails have been pre-sales, like pedal recommendations, but they've been quick to reply.

I put this up as 10 - fantastic value - because for a boutique pedal, it's very reasonable. This was cheaper than my Boss DD6, and it's built VERY well. Again, if you play blues or blues/rock, this is a great pedal for you. If you need high, smooth gain, I'd recommend the FD2, or something else.

Very straight forward, Volume,Drive & Tone. Plus a two way switch, HP/LP.

Well I think this is the best Overdrive/Distortion that I've ever owned. I went to a music store to try out the Fulltone GT500 {in the never ending search for the holy Grail, sound familiar?} I thought it was really good, but the store owner suggested I try the OCD also. Well it was just perfect for me. Sounds great through my vox AC30 with a tele or strat! Set the micro switch to the HP[high peak] which has more bass & upper mids and it's a joy to behold. Neck pickup sounds reminiscent of Ritchie Blackmore's Machine head tone.It let's the guitar tone shine. Very uncoloured punchy sound. Using a Marshall & a Les Paul I set the Micro switch to LP{low Peak}i.e less mids & bass, as the Gibson has more of this anyway. Great power chord rock & lead tone in the vain of Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend. Is any pedal a 10? this is as close as it gets.

It seems really well built. I Have plenty of other Fulltone pedals such as the Fulltone 2,Soulbender & Octafuzz all excellent as well.

No dealings with them.

It's very versatile. Halfway between a overdrive & distortion sonically which is great, not honky or too gritty, very amp like. I play Pop/rock in the 70's style, that's my era. I would rush out and buy another one if lost/stolen at the drop of a hat! I've had it for about 4 months now, done a few gigs and am still suitably impressed. It's the sort of pedal that makes you want to play and give it all you've got, inspiring!!

This thing sounds awesome through Deluxe Reverb reissue, and that's saying a lot. I plowed through a list of pedals that incluced a Keeley modded Tube Screamer, a ToneBone Classic, a Fulltone Fulldrive II, and a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, and all those pedals sounded fizzy through both channels of the Deluxe, especially the tremolo channel (which still has the notorious "bright cap" in place on the input). The OCD really pairs up with with the Deluxe Reverb, particularily for higher gain stuff. Hat's off to the folks at Fulltone on this.

Do these guys exist? I've tried emailing a few times and never received a response.

Best OD I've found for the Deluxe Reverb. Gave me a damn good gain channel to go with the spanky clean tones you get out of the reissue.

Just like any other overdrive effect, but with an extra switch.

What an effect. WOW. The sound is big and dimensional!

Seems to be built to a very high standard.

I have emailed Fulltone in the past and was responded to within a day.

I am in a cover band doing everything from The Eagle to Tom Petty to Metallica to Finger 11.

He is my set up

Musicman Sihouette -> Bad Horsie wah -> Fulltone OCD-> MXR EVH phase 90 -> Fulltone Choral/Flange _Boss DD-3 -> Mesa Boogie Dual Recto

Between the channels on the amp and the OCD I have it all. I have never been happier or sounded better!!!!!

The OCD does something special on each channel. I LOVE THIS OVERDRIVE!

One of the things i love about these type of stomp boxes is the ease of use. This has a drive knob, a volume knob, a tone knob and a switch to go between two different types of overdrive settings. How much easier than that can it get.

I have only done one review before and that was on the Boss GT-8. I try to be as objective as possible as i know what one person likes others will hate, however if you are thinking of buying this pedal i think you will know what sort of sound you are after.

I use this pedal straight into the front of my amp (as i do all my pedals) my set up at the moment is-
Fernandes Ravelle Elite
Boss TU
Fulltone Clyde Wah
Fulltone OCD
T-rex Tremster
MXR Phase 90
Line 6 DL4
Marshall Mode 4.

I play prog rock in a sort of Alterbridge meets Pink Floyd meets Porcupine Tree way.

This pedal i use in two ways the first is to help balance the really distorted sounds i use, not to boost but just to add a little top end.
The second to give me a really nice blues tone on the clean setting.

I have to give this thing a huge thumbs up as it does both jobs really well.
The best thing about this pedal is it does not colour the sound of your guitar but only adds its own sound on top of how your guitar already sounds.

When using this on the clean settings it gives you a good 60's-early 70's vibe (think The Who live at Leeds or early Zep.) I like to use this on the Hi frequency setting with the tone at 10 o'clock, the volume at 12 o'clock and the drive at 1 o,clock. if like me you like to back off the guitars volume and tone and control things that way this pedal will be perfect for you because it really does respond to what your doing. If you back off the volume on the neck pick-up you can get a good jazz tone (think Ronny Jordan.?
If you use this on the distortion channel be careful about how much gain you add on, like i said i only use it to add a little more cut and top end but it does its job very well once again without changing your tone dramatically.
the two distortion types work well one gives you quite a bassy deep overdrive kind of like Albert Kings the other gives you the Who type sounds.

In short its all good!!

Not sure but you do get a 5 year warranty!

Its a small company so i hope they still use those ethics but i have not had to deal with them.

If you play out and out metal its a big no
If you play Grunge its a no
However if you play just about anything else you will find some setting you like.
Personally this is the best overdrive pedal i have owned, I will not protest to have used all of them out there but this is better than my old TS9 much better than the Boss BD and better than the Marshall Bluesdriver.
If it was stolen? Without a doubt i would get another one.

It's a plug and play pedal, tipical easy of use of a little OD box. Mine was the second version, more mid-range oriented than version 1, the other one that I've heard.

I've runned it with a Fender Pro Reverb 73' - Fender Stratocaster USA and Ibanez S2020. The best sound I reached was with humbuckers, it was more plenty of power....but this box lacks basses in power chords. Great tone for vintage rythms and combined with a BB Preamp it was very easy to dial a good sounding violin-tone. This pedal is very transparent and respects the tone of your guitar, that's something most of the guitarist like. For Marshall sounds I prefer it against the Plexitone of Carlmartin but I thing it's not the definitive Marshall sound in a box. Anyway, a high category stompbox.

It's built very consistently, no problem with this.

Didn't have any problem with it.

I play rock, blues, jazz, funk and sometimes more heavy stuff. It suits very well for rock and the styles that need less gain, for heavy rhythms I thing it's not the best choice becouse the definitin of bass notes. I used it for AC/DC riffs and things like that, combined with the BB Preamp I ghot a killer tone for soloing. I've sold it because I wanted another type of OD, a more Dumble oriented, but I thing it's a great buy for the money it costs.

Just 3 knobs, so how hard can it be?

Well, it took me a few weeks of experimenting to find the sounds I liked with it. It never sounds bad, but this is a pedal you want to work at, and when I did, I was rewarded. I can flat out NAIL Page and Hendrix with this thing. Think Page 1973 The Song Remains the Same Soundtrack. Yeah, that. Awesome. Roll off the volume on the ol' Les Paul, still got tone! Plug in the Strat, step on the wah and it's Jimi time a la Band of Gypsys. I run this pedal through a Marshall DSL401 all tube combo with a Les Paul, a Strat & a Tele. It does it all. Best distortion pedal I've ever had.

So far so good. 1st Fulltone pedal I've ever owned.

Never had to deal with them.

Pricey, but worth it. Every penny. I would buy again. It makes me want to buy more Fulltone stuff. And I will soon.

Simple pedal this is what drew me to it. just volume tone and drive with the helpfull hp/lp switch. this is stock version 3 brand new.

Sound is such a hard topic to discuss but you have to believe the hype with this pedal i have used many pedals over the years and i was and still am set on the maxon rod-881 witch is a tube based distortion/overdrive pedal. i was looking for something a bit diffrent with a more simple plug in and play attitued and the ocd has done that. without being obvious it sounds just like it says like a cranked up marshall early fender. I play through a victoria 5112 and with that cranked the tone of the ocd is very similair just with more versatility with tone and gain (the amp has just one volume knod and thats it simple!!!) i was very happy to hear that there is plenty of gain on tap for good old fashioned classic rock and some new stuff as well and it really does clean up nicely. great pedal and best of all now i can officially say all my gear is made in the USA.

so far so good but what i read about i should be fine i baby all my stuff anyway.

I play mostly good classic rock and early 90's rock this bad boy handles everything exeptional. think Zep meets Sabbath and the who the stones with a bit of pearl jam neil young and you can see what i play. like i said earlier i play out of a victoria 5112 with a Gibson LP Classic Antique with 57 classics, Gibson LP Jr with Jason Lollar P-90 (super pickup) and a American Ash tele. all great guitars through the amp and pedal great stuff here I just with I bought one a while back i would have saved a bunch on useless pedals.

It is easy to use since there are only three knobs and one toggle switch. It is not easy to get good sound of it though. The tone knob is EXTREMELY sensitive around 10-1 o'clock so getting that sweet spot tone is difficult. I am comparing this to other boutique pedals. If its boutique you should be critical and these little things should be done right. This is not done right. The drive and volume knob are done right.

A VERY VERY Fizzy product. I own a V1 and my friend has a V3 and they are different but not different enough to make it sound GOOD. There is this overlap of booming bass over the fizz so there is not middle ground and the treble sounds like a cheap pedal. Humbuckers are the worst for this pedal, single coils work best. The best tone out of this pedal is when the drive is down all the way, just like a dirty boost/drive that barely drives. This way the pedal isn't doing too much driving which then reliefs the fizzyness.
I am comparing this sound quality to other pedals that produce (or try to) a amp like gain/od sound. The Cmatmods "Signa Drive" does this sound way better (and more sounds as well and its cheaper). Robert Keeley has a few as well that does this sound better.

This is a very very dependable pedal. Built like a tank and has lasted me a long time.

I contacted them to convert my V1 to a V3 (my friends sounds slightly better) and after 7 E-mails and no responses (I tried 3 different E-mails listed on their website) I have waited over 6 months and I give up. I have done mods myself, I may just do it by myself. I used to deal with Fulltone years ago, they were very helpful but now that they are getting to be a big corporate company...well, they stink with customer service. You can get way better treatment from other companies.

Fizzy sound, terrible customer service but its a reliable pedal as far as durability goes. The tone knob is obnoxious and is very fizzy pedal overall. I am musician who has plenty of boutique pedals and I am being very realistic with my review. I am not bias just because I blew $150 on this pedal. I have had this pedal for 3 years and I am being truthful because I know many people buy it and just have this "oh this pedal is awesome" feeling because they just bought it. Fulltone has won't return any E-mails and now I am going to mod this pedal myself. There are plenty of other companies to look at before just buying this one. Frantone, Cmatmods, Robert Keeley, Mojo Hand, Barber, G2D, Menatone. All of them have pedals cheaper or at the same price. Good luck!

Just a drive pedal, three knobs for Drive, Gain and Tone plus a HP/LP mini switch. Doesn't get much simpler.

In order to give you an idea of what this pedal is great for, I need to explain a little about my tone and the history of my gear.

I play mostly strats into non-master fender amps (silverface vibrolux and super and a blackface twin). I usually set the volume to just below the break point and use my drives as a boost to saturate the tubes.
For a while I was making my own pedals and at that time I purchased a bunch of overdrives to use as a reference like Analogman's TS9/808 mod, Keeley's TS mod, Keeley's Rat, Fulltone FD-2 and so on. I still use my Mojo Drive but I rotate other drives in my pedalboard, depending on what makes me twitch at the time. Then a friend of mine came across with the OCD and I thought I'd give it shot. Man, was I surprised. This is the best pedal I have ever tried (for the purpose I use it for). I have read others saying that it's only good at the low drive settings. Well, I agree. I'd only add that at higher drive settings it is not any worse than any other drive pedal I have ever tried. I just don't like that type of tone and I wasn't expecting anything in that department.

Now here comes the best part: after I got my OCD, I called the above-mentioned friend and we put both drives in a row. This is where it absolutely knocked me down. We tested it with a 62 strat and a Fender Vibrolux set at around 5 (this is where my amp just starts to break). The settings on both OCDs were approximately - level at 2 o'clock, drive at 8 o'clock and tone at 1 o'clock. Pure heaven.
The clean was just that - the clean the only gets a bit over the top if you play really hard. The "crunchy" sound (one OCD) was what already blew me away a couple of weeks before. Excellent saturation and really nice musical drive. Now the "lead" setting (both OCDs) is something that made me buy another one as soon as I got home. It sings so sweetly and no matter how overdriven it is, you could still hear every single note, the tone of the guitar shines through and it's balanced, not middly, PLUS, it's dynamic as hell, if you play a little softer, it gets cleaner and if you play really soft, you get back to the clean department. Amazing. After our little testing session I had a rehearsal and I tested it with the band and it works in the noisy rehearsal setting, not just on its own. Well, now I am eagerly awaiting my second OCD. You won't see my other pedals on E-Bay, I love them all, but this one really IS special.

Don't expect any problems. Never had a pedal die on me, except for the cheap plastic ones.

People bitch about Mike a lot. I once asked a question (on FD-2) via email and got a prompt answer. No problems there.

OK, the questionnaire part.

I play mostly blues and soul, but I also work with some pro rock bands and use the same setup with them, only they have to supply the Marshals for the big stages :)

I have been playing for (almost exactly) 30 years. As I said earlier, I play mostly strats (a 62, a 69 reissue, a 76...) and Les Pauls (72 Custom, 72 Ibanez LP Custom). No matter what guitar/amp configuration I use, I use the same pedalboard and work from there.
If this (ugly looking but great) pedal was stolen, I'd get a new one immediately. No wait, I got a new one even before it was stolen.

As I said above, I loved the fact that the guitar tone was not screwed up, if anything it got richer. (and I LOVE my primary tone). I use it on the LP setting. To me it seems that it sounds less harsh and more adjustable on that setting.

I A/B'd it with a bunch of other great overdrives. Every single one of those is great but for what I need the overdrive for, this one is the best.

It absolutely does its job and improves my tone.

Anything else I'd like to share? Well, did I mention it was ugly? The cheap cheesy font doesn't do it justice :) Did I also mention it didn't really matter?
It is a bit pricey but a serious musician should be able to sacrifice couple of hundreds for a good pedal, especially if it lasts. I have had too many useless pedal in my life to be picky about the price. If you settle for a TS7 or the like, this is definitely not a pedal for you.

This overdrive was recommended by several Fulltone dealers. It is very easy to use, no instructions are needed.

I am using the OCD with a MIM & MIJ Strats and an American Tele and a Deluxe Reverb RI. The only other effect being used is a Boss CS-3 compressor. The OCD adds very colorful harmonics along with the OD. Combined with the compressor and sustain, I can get feedback on just about any note and then shake it into a new harmonic! This effect is addicting. I had a JTM 45 RI and this sounds better without going deaf. I also have a new Fulldrive 2 Mosfet which is very good but it is so clean and transparent it isn't as much fun as the OCD even though it is more versitile and nicer looking. I'll give it an 8 because it colors the sound, I'll give it a 10 because it colors it well.

Nicely hand made in America

N/A I feel very confident in the quality.

I'm not crazy about the color. I would definitely replace it if lost.
PS: Pot the pickups in those Mexican Strats. What a difference.

The OCD is actually pretty easy to use: Just three pedals and a High Peak/Low Peak (HP/LP) switch. But it doesn't get a 10 in this category because it takes a bit of time to get dialed in. I require different kinds of distortion depending upon the song, so I had to spend a bit of time actually documenting knob and switch positions for different songs. That's not a bad thing though because I spent a few hours sitting in front of my amp fiddling around with the different sounds it can produce depending upon the knob and switch positions.

First off, for gear, I play out of single, modded Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. For guitars I use a Strat with TexMex pickups, and an ES-335. I only have a couple other boxes: Ibanez TS-808, Boss CE-3 chorus, and a BBE Sonic Stomp. While I love my Tube Screamer, it's mostly a big midrange booster. It's a great sound, no doubt, and it will always have a place in my signal chain, but I needed something "different," and OCD fulfilled that want in spades.

The OCD should be called the "schizo," but in a good way. It can scream with pleasant, creamy distortion in one setting, but a flick of a switch, and a turn of the knobs, and you can get crunchy, preamp tube breakup; another turn and it'll give you a FAT compressed tone. This is what I love about this pedal: It can produce a plethora of distortion effects, though I have to admit that you have to take the time to mess with it, but that's half the fun.

As another reviewer mentioned, this pedal works best driving a single channel amp, or in my case, driving the clean channel of a two-stage amp. I tried it with the drive stage of my Hot Rod, and the break-up was plain ugly. But in the clean channel, WOW is the only word I can say.

The touch and input sensitivity of the OCD is nothing short of incredible! Lighten up your attack and you get a clean, sweet, but edgy tone on the edge of breakup. Lay into your strings and the OCD will resound with rich overtones and harmonics. Similarly, back off your volume, and you change the character of the distortion; crank it, and the sustain and scream you get out of the pedal will put a smile on your face!

Finally, the OCD does all this without muddying your tone and losing dynamic range! I was flabbergasted when I took it for a test run at my local gear shop. Some distortion pedals I've tried in the past seemed to add a lot of compression and make my tone sound flat, but the OCD acts more like a tone enhancer. This pedal rocks!

I haven't brought it to a gig yet because I've only had it for short period of time, but from what I can tell, reliability should be no problem. The build quality of the OCD is very high. It has a solid, metal casing, and the switch is pretty heavy-duty.

Haven't had to use 'em yet.

Now that I've got the OCD, it won't be leaving my chain unless someone steals it. At that point, I'll definitely buy another. I know I was rather long-winded in the sound quality section of this review, but to sum up what I like about it, I just dig its versatility in producing a variety of distortion sounds. Twiddling with the knobs and HP/LP switch might seem a bit tedious to some, but to me, exploring what sounds this pedal can produce has been an absolute joy!

I'm not giving it a 10 because of how much I had to tweak it and document the settings, for the different songs I'll be using with, but consider my 9 more like a 9.75.

It took five minutes to go from good on first try to great on third try. Three knobs K.I.S.S. beauty in action. My expierence in pedals and amps is fewer knobs better tone. This has both .

For me this is the holy grail baby. I have 30 years of vintage gear strats,marshalls,fender,vox plus vintage pedals like the TS9 and crybaby etc. I love my TS9 but always wished I had a second option with more sustain and bottom end. Man this puppy has it and great tone to boot. I instanly put my Radial Classic on EBay. If you like to play the amp with touch dynamics this does what others like tonebone and boss fender65 claim to do! and there is no comparison in tone the OCD is the bomb.

If it isike my past Fulltone pedals it wil last.

Good price , simple , small, cool looking, great dynamic tone umm lets see here is my dream lineup . BosssCE2 chorus(tried em all still my fav), BUDDAh Wah, OCD, TS9, Goodie Delay, tonebone/switchbone.

I am blues soul rocker plug into any non master vox/fender/marshall and turn it up. Smile....

Very simple...3 knobs, high pass/lo pass switch. Easy to use for sure.

This pedal is the best solo boost I have tried! My old one was a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, and I hated it. Too flabby....no cut. Well, this thing cuts like a knife! My setup is pretty crazy, but the rundown is: guitar>Peterson Strobostomp>MXR Blue Box>GCX switcher input. All my pedals go in it's loops, in this order: BYOC Overdrive>OCD>Boss Heavy Metal>BYOC Chorus>MXR EVH Phase 90>ISP Decimator. I control the pedals, my Marshall JCM800 2210 amp and an Alesis Quadraverb with a DMC Ground Control pedal. My guitars are a white Gibson Explorer and an Ibanez RG520QS. This is used in the chain to get more distortion for leads, and man does it smoke! Reminds me of the old George Lynch sound or Van Halen. Crazy pick attack, harmonics and sustain, but VERY clear. I set it to "low peak" with both level and tone set full, and drive on about 3 or so. It's a very inspiring sound.

It seems very reliable, but it's in my rack so I'm not worried about the thing at all really.

No experience with them.

I play death/thrash metal in one band and "old-school" swedish death metal in the other. If it got stolen somebody is gonna PAY with their life, I can tell you that. I would buy another, even though I traded stuff for this one. I love the tone it gives when used as a clean boost. It's distortion alone.....not so good. But I'm not a blues or old rock dude, I play metal, and do care about tone a lot. That's why I use an old Marshall and some good pedals. These Fulltone pedals are a ripoff though.....most can be built for about $30 if you source the parts and wire it yourself. The overdrive and chorus I built rival anything out there, including Fulltone. But this pedal has a special circuit that is a bit harder to clone, so I just use it. Overall, it's my fave pedal from these guys.

Pretty damn easy to dial in a tone...three knobs and a gain switch...by the way I am reviewing the V2.....

First of all I'll explain my current set-up...I play an American
Fender chambered-ash Tele with stock p-ups (usually run in mid. pos.)and a reissue Strat w/ a dimarzio humbucker in the bridge (cant rememeber the model)I run it through a Hot_Rod Deville biased pretty hot w/JJ Tesla tubes (the best on the market for the price imho)
My Pedalboard goes as follows for the moment..
Toadworks Mr Squishy Comp>Fulldrive 2 Custom Shop MOSFET(usually run it on Comp-Cut mode all the time and use boost for clean leads)>OCD (Dirty Rhythm some lead) >Radial Tonebone Classic(For distorted leads)>Guyatone Micro Delay 3>Fulltone Supa-Trem>AMP
This thing IS very responsive and has some harmonic richness.......I have a love/hate relationship with this thing...This thing sounds great for dirty rhythm..my Tele seems to love this thing more than my strat...but for leads I find it a bit thin and harsh on the high end.. while I have run it at 18 Volts via a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus(which I highly recommend to fellow pedal junkies)and special cable..It seems more harsh, but may be better suited for a Marshall or Mesa when used at that voltage, I find it sounds warmer when I run it at 9V and use the SAG feature on the Voodoo Unit...

This thing, like all Fulltone stuff is made very well, very dependable...anything electronic runs the risk of malfunctioning at some point....but this thing is solid

IM NOT EVEN GOING THERE....NEVER HAD TO DEAL WITH THEM...

To be honest...NOTHING could live up to the hype this thing had surrounding it...at first I thought it was gonna be the end all of stomp boxes...and while a bit let-down after shelling out 2 bills, it still sounded pretty good ...a year later im still using it...and it has a rightful place on my pedal board....I think this is more of a staple pedal among drive pedal enthusiasts...it holds up to other pedals in its class....you really cant go wrong with this,it may work better or worse in your set up and to your ears, depending on how you wanna use it.....but dont let the hype con you into thinking its the supreme pedal........

Perhaps a bit more complicated than the standard drive boxes - just getting used to the sweep of the knobs - but you'll be rockin' in no time. Has a High Cut/Low Cut switch designed to emulate more Marshally/Voxy tones vs. Fender type tones. Manual is helpful, actually. I dialed in my favorite tones before reading it, though.

This is a nice pedal. This pedal bursts with harmonics! At higher levels I found it a bit too much, to my ear. For me worked best with the drive below 11 o'clock. Beyond that became less usable - just too much. Nice tube type grind. Not thrilling, but nice. Has a nice balanced output. Not too midrangey, but not scooped either. They did a good job with keeping this "natural" sounding. Cleans up nicely with a rolloff of volume - just like a regular amp. Drive boxes come in lots of flavors. This one just isn't mine. But judging from their sales, and other reviews here, it is a lot of peoples'! Just personal taste. Certainly nothing deficient about this.

I tested this with my PRS hollowbody and a '74 tele w/ Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pros. Amps were a Victoria champ and a Carr Slant 6V. OCD Seemed to like the Carr best on the "blackface" side. Seemed a little less clear with the tweed. It didn't seem to prefer singles over humbuckers. Did thicken up the singles, and it didn't oversaturate the hummers.

Lots of people drone on about things being "built like tanks." In my experience, only the Rat is truly built like a tank. This is close though. Very nice build quality.

Haven't dealt with him. Heard varying stories. Company is growing so he's probably pretty busy. Can't blame him for that.

Mostly a blues/jazz/rock guy. Played for about 15 years. Generally, I like a guitar straight into an amp. Use drive pedals for alternate sounds and drive at lower volumes. I am getting to the point that all the good drive pedals are similar enough that most will work. (Good is fairly subjective - I don't consider stock Boss good.) I don't think you could go wrong with this one. I'm lightening up my load on drives. Selling my Boss/Analogman DS-1Pro. Selling my Analogman TS9. Selling my Rat. Selling my OCD. Keeping my AC booster, and my RC booster. Now, the RC booster is an unbelievably great pedal!

Pretty easy pedal to use. Gets a bright really quick, and has such a wide range of great sounding tones.

manual is short and sweet, and gives you some good starting tips on how to use the beast.

This pedal is a monster waiting to be awakend! I bought one of these a LONG time ago (last summer) and I decided it was junk because of my highly complicated rig, and sold it. Then I got my hands on a V2 OCD for $80 and it has never left my new and improved simpler rig.

before:
Gibson 335/LP -> Sennhieser G2 wireless -> Radial Dragster -> Ernie Vol Jr. -> Vox V847UJ Wah -> BBE Exciter -> 2 GCX's Switcher setup for two amps.
Amp side A (dry) -> MXR 10 band EQ -> Marshall JCM900 50w 2x12
Amp side B (wet) -> MXR 10 band EQ -> OCD -> Hotcake -> Hotcake Bluseberry -> Sparkle Drive -> Emma Reezafratzit -> Phase 90 -> MXR Flanger reissue -> Voodoolab Tremolo -> Dr Scientist Woofer Wailer -> Dr. Scientist Tremolessence -> Maxon AD999 -> TC Electronics VDP Delay -> 1973 AC30

now:
Gibson 335/LP -> Vol Jr. -> Vox V847UJ Wah -> Fulltone 10th Anniversary Fulldrive 2 -> Xotic RC Booster -> Hotcake bluesberry -> OC -> Phase 90 -> Tremolessence -> AD999 -> Vox AC30


This HUGE change in setup has fixed my problems with the OCD tone, and my tone overall... (it sounded good before, but was way too bass heavy!)

Now I get searing high gain tones without the saturation of other high-gain pedals that delivers smooth distortion for chord work, but cutting tone for leads.

Keep in mind the pedal gets brite very fast in either HP or LP modes... I'm running it in HP mode with the tone around 10:00, volume around 1:00 and gain around 11:00...and I have now found my 'signature' tone. I mix this with my Xotic AC booster to fatten up my tone and it's just beautiful!

does give me a lot more feedback than any of my previous distortion pedals though...

no problems, no issues, well built. no rating

no rating

for rock, blues, and metal this pedal can really dish it out. It's very responsive to pick dynamics and your volume control, and it can provide such a wide range of tones you can't even begin to get them all after a few months!

The OCD will always be on my board, and would be repalced in seconds for any reason. hell I might buy a backup for each guitar case just in case...

Extremely easy to get a good sound out of the Fulltone OCD. Just plug in, play, and just keep turning on the 3 knobs.

Indeed, there is a manual for it, it just tells you what everything does and all, but yeah, I have the version 3 model of the OCD,...and i couldn't be any happier!

A beautiful pedal visually, and even more tonally.

I can get MANY tones out of this pedal. I play through a Esp/Ltd Ec-1000 w/ BKP Mules and It goes straight through into an Orange Rocker 30. Sounds amazing in both HP and LP channels. Also, I can play it through the clean and get a very classic/rockish tone, and keep in mind, this pedal can be used as a VERY heavy booster. I mostly play it through the dirty channel to get those hard, thick, smooth distortion tone I always crave, and this thing definitley delivers!

It goes as smooth as Slash's/Brian May's tone, and can get as brutal as Mustaine's tone as well. I was sort of surprised on how top notch the quality was for this pedal! Definitley was worth it...and for only what? 150 USD!?


Steal.'

Also, one more thing, this is great for a lot of bluesy/classic rockish tones (as I've stated before), such as cream, Trower (who actually uses the pedal), and a lot more.

It does get quite noisy though, but it's most likely because I play at home where all my cords get tangled up...and everything buzzes in my house!

I would definitley depend on this baby. Looks very sturdy...just don't smash it when you go to turn it on or off.

Never had to dealt with them, but I emailed fuller once. Very nice guy! :)

Fantastic Value, I must say. For only 150 bucks, it's definitley something you should have in your pedalboard if you're tone crazy!

I play everything from blues to classic/hard rock to classic metal. And of course, this is a great match, really saturates the tubes and makes my amp sound like it's on ten on volume 1!

I've been playing for nearly 4 years, but have been playing seriously for only 1.

If I were to lose this pedal (and I really hope I don't) I would of course purchase another one! Maybe try some other pedals out (just for the heck of it) But this pedal is defintley at the number 1 spot in OD's.

I just love the look and tone it brings out! Really makes my tone a huge amount better! Sounds like someone's taking a blanket off of your amp, it's huge sounding!

There's nothing more I really want from this pedal... and it really motivates me to play more.

If you're here reading this (as I was a while ago), just try it out, it's worth it if you have a great amp and you know what you want.

Cheers. :)

It's very easy to use and dial in...IF you realize that it goes best in front of a single-channel amp to bang the front end.(Translation: classic Fender, Marshall,etc.)

Just as an observation, I've seen inexperienced kids...of all ages...put these in front of a modern amp with a cascading gain pre-amp,channel switching, and wonder what in the world the problem is.
That's not what this box is designed for.

If you choose & apply your tools properly, you shouldn't have a problem. The instruction sheet spells the basics out in plain language.

I'd heard Robin Trower was using the OCD is very happy with it.In fact, he talks about his good experiences with the OCD on his website...

Now for my own experience with it:

Matching up with a Strat,Les Paul,JEM777 & a Fender Blues Jr. for a test,it delivers some very tasty & toneful overdrive/distortion with a good amount of boost.And for once the hype is right; there are some nice harmonic overtones that you only hear when you crank up a really good tube amp.

No RF hum or noise.

It cleans up well by using the volume knob too.

The HP/LP switch is a nice touch too if you want to clean things up a bit.

You may have to "adjust for taste" a bit depending on the Guitar you use; single-coils may react differently than humbuckers.
...But that's no different than having to adjust amp settings when switching guitars during a gig.

Moral: Don't blame the effect. Fulltone doesn't make them idiot-proof!

I popped the back off to take a peek. Very nice & neat job! Sturdy box; BRIGHT blue light. (Did I mention the blue light is BRIGHT?)
No problem seeing this baby on stage!

I always have a box of back-up stuff; but this is one of the better made effects boxes I've seen.

That being said, Stomp box problems (of ANY brand) are frequently due to bad runs of Carling switches...that is,the little pushbutton your foot stomps on.But I think Fuller is hip to this by now and took appropiate measures.

Just a few thought here:
Ever call up BOSS or Ibanez to complain about one of their stomp boxes? Ha! Didn't think so.
"If" you can find a support number, you won't get much sympathy.
...Or you can always try taking it back to the Music Store for support.(Sound of weeping violins and more laughter from audience.)

That being said, many professional & working musicians (Trower, Billy Gibbons, Satriani) buy Fuller's products,and rave about them.

It baffles me how whining weasels out there feel that buying a pedal gives them a license to pester a small designer who's making good products for working musicians.Grow up!

If this box broke, I *might* call Fulltone. But ya'know what? I plan on purchasing several more of these soon,and probably wouldn't bother. Anything broke goes in a "to be fixed" box anyway.

I've been playing for almost 40 years...(Yikes!)Besides gigging for years, I've played on a CD or two that ingloriously made it to the bargin bin.

Over the years, I've had to be able to cop a lot of different styles:
Jazz, Blues, Hard Rock, Country, Metal, and recently backed up a Hip-Hop artist.(Disclaimer: I will NEVER play Disco.)

I have quite a few guitars: Fenders,Gibsons,Ovations, rare ones like the Dan Armstorng Plexi,and even some of the 80-90's Ibanez & Kramer shredder Axes. As for Amps: Marshall, Mesa, Fender. Plus several boxes of effects.

This pedal RULES! I had a similar revelation that a few others have had;I eliminated several other dirt boxes in favor of the OCD. It does everthing they do and more.
I rarely rave about a stomp box, but this one is truly an exception.

Like I said above, I plan on buying several more.

I have OCD Version 1. The paperwork is helpful for getting a basic understanding of the knobs and their functions. Like most Fulltone pedals I own, the slightest turn of a knob results in more than just slight changes. Takes a little time to find the hot spots, but you will.

My first thought after plugging in my OCD (V1) and Strat into my '78 Fender Princeton Reverb was...where's the midrange? That was until I plugged it into my 100w Marshall Plexi and played my '78 Gibson SG Custom. THEN I was floored at the slinky funky nasty tones that were dripping from my guitar and amp. Fat lows, sparkling highs and a wicked midrange growl. I couldn't stop smiling.

It is cool on the LP setting with a Strat, SG or Les Paul for clean to slightly dirty tones. But the HP setting gives you the incredible sustain and "open sound". I've read up on the differences between V1, V2 & V3. But I'm happy with V1.

I gave the FDII very high marks for what it does. Kicks your amp gain up w/o changing your tone, very full sounding. And I do love it, but the OCD is a different lady. OCD tone = sexy.

It seems very solid, but I wouldn't want someone to step on it and break the toggle, etc. Would prefer it to be a little bigger and the input/output/power-out to be on the front, like my other Fulltone pedals. I would get another OCD if something happened to this one, but I use my FDII & '70 Pedal as a back up on gigs.

Haven't had to contact them.

Very cool pedal. Get one and plug into a Marshall Plexi. You'll love it. Plus, the blue light is hella cool...heheh. ; )

Cheers.