Fulltone OCD

easy as pie to use. use your own imaginative and creative mind.thats why we buy different effects right? im a high gain kind of player and it seems most boutique pedals are geared for that (vintage tone). anyone notice that? anyway, the OCD is an awesome pedal for high gain usage. and not so high gain. i emailed Mr. Fuller about the use of the OCD with humbucking pups. his reply was (the OCD works perfectly with hums).

he was so right.

what an awesome pedal! again, i like a high gain pedal and this is great for that. and also it can be tamed down nicely as well. very tweakable. i use it through a modded hot rod deluxe, and a soldano astroverb. it kills with both amps.

no noise that i could detect.

im a 27 year player and electronics maniac. everything i have ever bought i tear open to check out the build quality. the OCD is a heavy pedal. that is because its built super solid! the inside is awesome as well. top notch components and excellent workmanship!

Mr. Fuller if you read this, thank you sir for building a superior pedal with the OCD.
im as anal as anal can get with my gear. the OCD was perfect right out of the box. also the guys at Humbucker music for which i bought it from are fanatastic people!

havent had to deal with customer support. but i can tell you that Mr. Fuller will answer your emails pretty promptly if he can. he did mine! and i ask some to the point questions! Fullton also puts mods and other tech tips on his website. thats a fantastic gesture.

27 year player here. i know my gear and guitars. Fulltone products are an example of (made by musicians for musicians). superior build qaulity and components. the OCD is a fantastic pedal for high gain and not so high gain distortions. and the high/low switch rules like perfectly! as with most products you get what you pay for. the best 160$ U.S. i have ever spent!


thank you Mr. Fuller! you rip man!

The manual was pretty much a waste of paper not because of the content because this pedal is so easy to get a good sound from.I bought the ocd without listening to it purely on the say so from my supplier and he wasnt wrong

I plugged it in and it gave me the sound that I have been looking for for a long time,it crunches it drives it gives that edgey dry vintage blues sound from my Marshall jcm900 and drives my boogie dc-3 into lonestar status.One thing that has really made this the one pedal everyone should have is it does`nt change the sound or character of my guitars,I have a Parker Nitefly and a Levinson blade they both have single coils , strum a chord and every note can be heard clearly not a mish mash as with the tube screamer,swithch to the humbucker on my nitefly and the sound is just warm and lush and again no colouration,you can change the tonal colour by playing with the guitar volume .this pedal is good ...no this pedal is sublime and if I had to keep just one this would be it

Can you depend on it? its built really well solid and time will tell if its reliable

havent needed it yet

I play everything from blues to folk to rock and back,I use to much gear to get the sound I want and this pedal has theoretically reduced the need for two amps...will I do that? NO cos I'm a gear freak but I will say that I would replace it,I have tried shed loads of overdrives and this is the only pedal that makes me want to write about it that puts it in a high value for money although its not the cheapest tart at the party it give the most bang for the buck

Pretty easy to use, some cool features are included, and the manual (while short) gives you more info than a Boss manual, and its' easier to understand!

The most beautiful thing is it will work with pretty much ANY adaptor between 9v and 18v. Sure the sound changes, but it makes it killer for gettting it running in a snitch.

Oh..and it's uber easy to get a great sound...not just good, great!

It's pretty killer that this pedal provides almost no mud, no matter where the dials are set. In the LF mode, it really dosn't effect your input signal all that much, but boosts things instead. Very transparent, and probably the most useful for me.

When you thorw it into the HF mode, it really opens up! The gain you get is very comparable to Plexi...bright but dark. And it is incredibly balsy and deep! It takes me AC30 and puts it right up there for high-gain agression!

All in all, I'm running this thing w/18v's, in HF mode, with just enough gain for it to still be smooth with my normal heavy handed attack, but when I really dig in it gets crunchy with some amazing mid-range!

seems more rugged than any other pedal I own

can't afford a backup...yet

Mike Fuller is an interesting character... fun to talk too!

This is a real kick ass pedal! I've been searching for a long time for a pedal that is smooth, and full sounding, with a lot of defintion for nice dirty jazz chords, but not too bright. The only other box that I've found that provides this is the Crowther Hot Cake, and that I like better for my lead, high gain tones, so I needed something for 'bluesy' drive...and this is it!

My rig is a stereo setup of an AC30 and a JCM900, acompanied by a Gibson ES-335 w/burstbucker pros, and a Gibson SG Suprmem with P94N and Superdistortion

Step on it and leave it on. It loves yer volume knob, responds beautifully.

With a little tweaking it sounds gorgeous. A Paul sounds like a Paul, a Strat like a Strat... you get the picture. Doesn't color yer sound at all.

100%

Haven't had to contact him.

Buy it now and leave it on. You won't regret it.

Very simple to use. You have your basic : Gain, Volume and Tone. Also you have a HP/LP switch. I'm sure all the previous reviews have covered this.

I had heard about this due to the hype surrounding it so I went ahead and bought it.

I play a number of guitars but mainly a Richie Sambora Fender Strat Mk II, Tom Anderson Classic T and a Gibson Historic '59 Les Paul Reissue. These are played through the following amps : Fender Twin Reverb (Silverface), Fender Blues Junior (this is what the majority of the review will be on), Fender Tonemaster and a Cornford Hurricane.

I play Classic Rock/Blues/Pop and the occasional bit of metal.

As for the gain this thing has a TON of it on tap. This is the first pedal I've actually been able to get a really decent metal sound with. It really is incredible, just crank the gain and blast out some Iron Maiden, it does it !!!

As for low gain stuff I don't think it's so great as with the gain off it still has too much gain. I guess it's more of a Distortion than an overdrive but don't let that put you off as it does a good low gain just not low enough. Hopefully my incoming Fulldrive 2 Mosfet will settle my needs there.

The pedal is also very amp like in the fact when you turn the volume up you get more gain so if you turn the gain up the volume needs to go down on the pedal. It can clean up very well with your guitar too.

Haven't really got much more to add but it covers everything from low/mid gain territory up to metal territory (Iron Maiden/Metallica not insane drop stuff) and is VERY quiet unlike most other pedals I've tried.

Built like a brick shit house. You could drop a million bricks on this thing and it'd still work.

Haven't dealt with Fulltone.

On a whole I think this is definetly one of the best pedals ever made so if you're in doubt about the hype just go an try one out and see for yourself how good it is. However if you really don't need high gain maybe take a look at the Fulldrive 2.

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.

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.