Fulltone Soul-Bender

Very easy to use 3 knobs DUH.. start off with 12 o'clock and mess around till you find YOUR sound

I use this with Fender voodoocaster through a vintage fender amp fulltone cables (they are great too) its true bypass soo no noise you can get the sound of the artist you admire but its about finding whats great for you I guess it adds fuzz... if you play good it'll sound good... Mines number 684 soo its an early one

built heavy duty.. I mean you step on it..

Every time I e-mailed mike or scott they have responded within 24 hrs

It does its job it gives fuzz can I say its the best i dont know i havnt played every fuzz out there but it will be a classic that I wanted to get my hands on before they were gone...

If You Can't Get A F****** Awesome Sound Out Of This Pedal You Don't Know S*** About Guitar Sound, Or Your Not Using Your Volume Control!

Any Way You Set The Knobs On This Effect It Sounds Great!

Sweet! I Got Sounds I'd Been Wishing For Since I had Started Playing. Beautiful Lead Sounds! Creamy Smooth, Harmonic Sounds. When I First Got It, I couldn't Hardly Put My Axe Down! Back Off Your Guitar Volume and It Gets a Spectrum Of Other Sounds. It Cleans Up Nicely Too. It's Also Very Quiet.
The GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS Give This Jewel Its Sweet Tone. Tony Iommi, Richi Blackmore, David Gilmoore, and Brian May, all used veriations of Germanium Circutry To Get There Classic Sounds. The Cat Is Out Of The Bag and This Circut Is Back In The Spotlight!

Very Well Made! True Bypass, AC Adapter or Battery Opperated.

Don't Know

An Expensive Device At $160.00, But Well Worth The Money!
I've Been Playing Over 40 Years and I Am A Profesional, I Was On RoadrunneR Records. I Love Metal/Hard Rock & Hedrix, Stevie, Trower!

Deluxe Strat W/Rio Grand PU - Charvel W/EMG 81 Active PU - BC Rich Mockingbird W/Seymour Duncan Distortion & Screamin Demon
Marshall Amplification W/ Vintage 30Celestions Cab.
Worked Well With My Other Effects: Boss SD-1, Boss Metal Zone, EH Electric Mistress, DimeBag Cry Baby From Hell Wah

Easy as can be.....

This thing sounded alright, i guess....nowhere near as advertised....this "creamy" tone everyone speaks of was rather harsh and not very usable....it had one sound and one sound only ...very "tinny" sounding, i may have purchased a dud.....I know its a fuzz and its not supposed to be nice, but it lacked any "smooth" quality whatsoever...i found a soviet big muff to sound much more "wooly" fat and creamy than this...i play fender guitars (i used a tele and a strat to test it)through fender amps...maybe a marshall would do it more justice, i dont know...

I own like 5 or 6 Fulltone pedals and they have all been extremely reliable....

never had to deal with them....although when i returned it to the local guitar shop,where i have spent a few grand , i was met with some apprehension...i made the mistake of buying into the hype of most of the reviews hear and a few word-of-mouth reviews...and also of not trying it out in the store.....then again....it always sounds different playing with a band than it does at the store....so whatever....its always a trial and error scenario on the endless quest for tone..../

Of course bear in mind this is just my opinion....but from reading all these reviews you'd think this pedal would turn any shmoe into the next Jimi Hendrix , Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton....Ive been playing almost 25 years and have toured the U.S. playing professionally.....i play alot of styles and dig vintage tones...i have a plethora of boutique pedals, and actually found the Keeley Fuzz Head to be much more usable and versatile fuzz..( check out one of those as well as the Java Boost if you dig vintage tones)... , therefore blowing the Soulbender away....at least as far as my needs go....i wouldnt discourage anyone from trying one of these out...it may work with your current set up, hell it could be just the thing to jettison you into guitar God-dom....but to be brutally honest ,often times i find alot of these reviews to be more of a justification to gloat over blowing large sums of cash on overhyped products...

At first it seemed pretty easy to deal with, and then it just got easier as everything about this pedal is great, after listening a lot of possibilities I finally found my setting, and this was hard once all settings had an unique sound and added a special blend to my overall tone, very impressive! Manual very simple and helpfull to get started, but once you mess around with it for a minute or so you??ll pretty much have your answers. I give it an eight because of the trim pot inside the pedal, I know it??s a special feature and I??m very pleased with the results of it, but it??s a pain to remove the plate and leave all the parts hanging while you tweak it.

This is where it all comes down to, no matter how hard you try, there are just no possibilities of going wrong on this one. At first it seemed very brittle, not in the bad way, very frampton like, and hey it??s a fuzz, that??s what you??re supossed to hear from it, it has a very classical tone to it, brilliant! But the real magic is when you turn the guitar??s volume down, it cleans up very nicely and creams everything in your way, literally CREAM! I decided to leave the volume at 12 o??clock, tone at 1 o??clock and dirt at 1 as well, works great for me, once I wanted silky solos and I use it in front of a sparkle drive to give it even more body, what a set up. I??m using it with a lp std loaded with seth lovers, and didn??t tried it with my original V??846, but I??m sure it will do the job just right. What I really like about it is that despite all of its rage and power, it is very quiet and when it??s off it really is off. I definatelly found the right fuzz for me and recomend it to anyone trying to get the best out of your equipment, regarding vintage tones, and more than that when I tweak the tone knob all the way CCW it gives me a very modern sound, wich really shows its versatility.

Built like a tank, very thick layer of paint, everything put very well together, like anything I??ve ever seen on a pedal. Would definatelly gig without a backup.

Never dealt with them and hope I??ll never have to.

I play a lot of stuff, funk, blues, classics. When used properly and well set goes with anything, wich is a great feature for a fuzz, the other ones I tested really didn??t fill this much gaps. Would definatelly buy another one if lost or stolen, it??s the best fuzz that ever came my way, all the qualities on its sound make it really a must have and I think I wouldn??t sound complete without it. Very inspirational and very enjoyable to play with, makes want me to get out of work just play with it.

It took me quite a while to figure out how I use this pedal best. I was looking for a special kind of artificial dirt that brings more life into my sound and a variation for the non-everyday tunes. I ended up turning the tone fully counter clock wise and putting dirt and level both at noon position.

The fact that it has inverse polarity for the power supply is annoying as my trex fuel tank doesn't support the two polarities.

Wow! Wow! Wow! As mentioned before it took me a while as i was mainly playing the pedal through the clean channel of my amp. However now I am running it Guitar=>SoulBender=>RMC3Wah=>BognerShiva.

It is awesome, especially with the Wah BEHIND the Fuzz, there are SO MANY awesome sounds available. I can easily do violin like fluid leads with endless sustain or mega dirt filter like sounds with chords that scream when I crank the Wah. As mentioned before I close the tone pot (which means full treble) and put the dirt and level at noon, into a pretty much overdriven amp.

This is absolutely addictive!!

Seems sturdy and built like a tank. I'll tell you more in 10 years.

I play rock of all sorts, from Dire Straits through to Metallica. Mainly I am in the Zep ballpark, or try to be :o) Played guitar sine 17 years with interruptions. I own many many pedals, guitars and amps. Currently I only do SoulBender, RMC3 Wah and an MIAudio CrunchBox as well as a bit of delay in the loops (Lexicon). I have found a very good setup that I don't intend to change. If this pedal was lost I'd get another one. In fact I might get another one anyway.

I wish it would have the same polarity as most other pedals. And I wish the case was smaller. Other than that, nothing else needed.

Three knobs: one for volume, one for tone, and one for fuzz. Came with a letter-size sheet of paper for "instructions". No manual needed. Very easy to dial in a great fuzz tone. But like all fuzzes, they reward extra time spent dialing in. As fuzzes go, it's very easy.

I usually use only Strats and Teles with fuzz, playing them through a Fender Blues Jr., Germino Custom 6, Germino Classic 45, Matchless Lightening, Marshall 18 watt, or Peavey Delta Blues.

I added this to my fuzz collection because I've been obsessed with fuzz lately. I had just picked up a D*A*M 1966 and wanted to see if this fuzz gave me a different but equally raspy type of 60's fuzz (thinking Clapton with Cream, early Beck and Page, etc.). I already have both the Fulltone 69 and 70 fuzz pedals.

The Soul Bender does a very wide range of fuzz tones and is very quiet, especially for a fuzz. With the tone knob fully counterclockwise, the Soul Bender gives up a raspy type fuzz. Just what I was looking for. Full clockwise, the tone is woofier and more full sounding. I like both tones really. I also like running this with the fuzz at minimum sometimes, as it gives up a grainy type of fuzz that is right for some situations. It doesn't clean up as well with the guitar's volume knob as the 69 does, but does a better job at this than the silicon 70 Pedal.

Overall, I'm surprised at how much I like this fuzz. It's way more versatile than I would've imagined. Compares very favorably to the D*A*M (which cost nearly twice as much) for raspy tones and does some nice Jimi flavors as well.

I would've given this a 10 except for it not cleaning up as well as I'd like.

I have numerous Fulltone pedals. I've only had problems with my Fat Boost not being able to take batteries (I think this was a manufacturing flaw). All my Fulltone's are solid; they feel like quality pieces of gear. The knobs on the Soul Bender are tough to turn, but in a good way. Footswitch is solid. Finish is excellent. I can depend on this pedal, as I can my other Fulltone pedals.

When my Fat Boost went out, I was issued a return authorization quickly by Fulltone. I shipped it back with a $10 check for return shipping. The pedal was back to me in about a week and their tech emailed me asking me to let him know when received. Very cool. I've had good and not-so-good experiences with Mike, but I'd say my experience getting the Fat Boost fixed brings the rating up a few notches.

I play classic rock from the 60's and 70's mostly, with lots of blues and Hendrix and Clapton. I've been playing for over 20 years and have gigged (but not this year). My equipment's already been listed. This pedal is perfect for this kind of music. Inspirational tone in my book. I'm very glad I picked this one up. It's a great addition to my fuzz collection. A little pricier than standard gear, but Fulltone gear is a cut above.

Takes me around nearly 5 hours of playing to find the sound i was looking for. Need to tweak the internal trim to reduce the gain.
In a certain way it's a good point, it shows that this pedal is a true tone machine !

I bought this unit to catch a king of Led Zep sound, like in The Royall Albert Hall DVD.
After tweaking the internal trim, i finally get a good sound.
This thing takes really care of your guitar natural soud. Very sensitive to pickup change, and variations from tone knob.
Here's my setup: Fender tele / Gibson LP > SoulBender > Vox Wah > Marshall Bluesbreaker ri. Works well with all my gear.

But i just wished it could clean up more precisely when you roll of the volume knob. It also wish it hab more headroom, it lacks of bass (just a bit)

It's a Fulltone so ...

Ask em some questions, they replied very quickly.

Well well, it a really good fuzz pedal. Works well to play 60's rock n roll and alson a bit of stoner rock :)

This pedal sounds a lot better than the crapy SoulBender ri. I previously owned a Fuzz Face ri / RM Axis Fuzz / RM clasic fuzz / Solasound Tonebender ri / DOD classic fuzz / EH Big Muff ... and this pedal burry them all.

But i dont know if i will keep it for a long time, i think replacing by by a D*A*M MKII in a few months ..

pretty damn east

three knobs....

but finding a spot that suits u-- with the tone and fuzz...can be tricky...it seems to frequently change for me.

I've played an original vox tone bender-- it sounds awesome
the fulltone sounds awesome too...but not the same

I like it equally with single coils or humbuckers....sounds cool with my les paul-- thick an meaty....with my tele..it's a lil more searing..really cool too

they're verys similar...a lil different...but equally cool.

I'd rather play out with a fulltone-- more reliable (cause it's new)

I'd rather record with an original

fulltone..awesome

I play blues... a lil rock on ocassion...it's awesome
I like it...original has a lil more appeal...I played a BSM fuzz...it's a lil but..but it's 300 bucks...and when I say a lil better..I mean marginally

fulltone products are great though

I play a 62 AV Custom Tele, a Les Paul with seth lover pickups...a silverface deluxe reverb with an alnico blue speaker.

my pedal are three fulltones: tonebender...dejavibe 2 and clye wah

don't use them all them time..but those are the three pedals I own.

Tonebender is an integral part to my tone...love it.

This is one hell of a pedal. It should be, considering the price tag. But, for true-bypass with fulltone quality, you'll have to dig into your wallet. It's well worth it though. Anyway, this little baby has an internal pot switch that you can tweak with to determine the amount of gain or fuzz that you would like. That makes it exceedingly versatile. The "volume," "tone," and "dirt" controls are incredibly responsive. You'll have trouble getting a bad sound out of this pedal, no matter what setting it's on.

I am currently using this pedal with a fender hot rod deville 4x10, a fender american standard strat, a brian moore i1 electric guitar, and a 2002 electro harmonix memory man (missed the true bypass model by a couple of months). I always put this pedal first in my pedal chain because it is true bypass. I also leave the memory man on all the time to provide a minescule amount of echo a la eric johnson (this also serves to negate the lack of true bypass switching from the memory man). I always put the drive and tone contols to the max. By adjusting the internal trimmer, you can make this pedal sound like an all out fuzz pedal. However, I actually rolled the internal switch down slightly to get a thicker, cleaner tone, reminescent of Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin 1 and 2. Yeah, I know, you're thinking "how could this pedal sound like Jimmy's tricked out 150 watt marshall through a fender amp?" Well, trust me, the tone through humbuckers is killer. This thing provides thick, syrupy lows and mids. It has a real "woman tone" quality about it. I needed this pedal because I absolutely hate the stock distortion sound of the deville. The distortion channel sounds hollow, has very little sustain, and is voiced way too high on the trebles and mids. I bought the fender amp because I had a last second gig to play, and my main amp, a lemon of a tsl 122 that spent more time in the shop than it did on stage, fizzled out. And, to my ear, the deville offered better clean sounds than the marshall, with slightly better classic rock tone. Anyway, when I got into a band setting and cranked the amp, I was not completely satisfied with the tone. So, I checked out the fulltone ocd, and the soul bender. The soul bender has the thickest sound I have ever heard out of a pedal. I am absolutely in love with it. The next amp I buy will only have one channel, because I am going to use this pedal for my distortion sound. It is incredible. It makes single coils on a strat sound like a humbucker, and it makes hot humbuckers squeal. I love it. It's not for everyone, but if you want a sound similar to page on Led Zeppelin 1 and 2, or if you want to have tones like Hendrix on the BBC sessions, this pedal is for you. Oh, a word about noiseness. If you turn the internal trimmer to its highest setting, it will have lots of background noise. However, if you keep it on the stock settings, or even turn the trimmer down, you will find it to be virtually noiseless. Oh, and before you start cranking this pedal, make sure your amp can handle the low end. I cranked my 60 watt deville at a gig and I blew a fuse. It just couldn't handle the lower frequencies of this pedal.

This thing is built like a tank. Heavy metal casing. Quality. I have been using this pedal about 3 or 4 hours a day for two months and the stock 9 volt battery is STILL WORKING!!! It's a super reliable pedal. No problems whatsoever. However, I never ever do a gig without a backup.

Haven't dealt with the company, but fulltone is known for its excellent customer relations.

I play rock. I have been playing for about 7 years, and I would definitely buy another soul bender if this one were stolen. I love this pedal. My favorite feature is the internal trimmer, because with it, you can use this as a fuzz or a distortion pedal. Compared with the fulltone OCD, this has a much fatter low end, and it's more syrupy, meaning that it's not as bright, but it's not muddy either. This is a great pedal. Everyone should check it out.

Pedal is very easy to use. Volume, tone, and "dirt" I wish there was a way of changing the internal trim pot from the outside. But once you find your sound you should be all set. It took me a second to realize that the tone works oppposite most other devices I've used with the bassier sound being clockwise.

My setup is nothing fancy. American Strat with Gold Lace Hot Gold PU's into a wah and then the sould bender coming out of a Fender Special Edition Hot Rod Deluxe. I love the sound the soulbender gives me. I'll use it as a straight fuzz/distortion on the clean channel and sometimes in conjunction with the amps overdrive for an over the top overdrive. The sounds I get from the pedal are great. My whole band has commented on it. We play mostly straight rock and blues. You get totally different sounds as you back of the volume know as well giving you a lot of control over the sound. So if you're experienced and know how hard to hit the strings to get certain sounds, the pedal adds to your tonal possibilities. I usually leave the tone full right and the dirt almost full right. This is the best distortion/fuzz I've owned and I've hada few over the years. Some others might be better if you're a metal player, though. But I think most rock and blues players will be able to find a sound they love with this pedal.

Pedal is very sturdy. I have stomped on it quite hard at times as well and it has held up. I would use it at a gig without a backup, but I'd miss it.

My experience with the commpany has been 100% satisfaction. I broke off a soldering joint from the volume pot and emailed them. I recieved an email the next day and they fixed the pedal for $25 , inspected it, added some ties to the wires so they wouldn't be loose, and kept me updated, and shipped it back to me from California, to Massachusetts within 10 days. The repair would have been free, but I bought the pedal used. Very very happy with customer support.

The pedal is a great match for me since I love rock/blues and this is kind of a Jimmy Pageish sounding pedal...sort of...who knows what that drunk bastard was really doing. I would definitely buy a new one if lost. I compared with the Fuzz Pi, Mxr distortion, and Ibanez TS 808 (which is great but not fuzzy enough for me personally). Actually a friend offered me a hundred dollars for it. I did get it for a steal at $65. I do wish the internal pot could be tweaked externally because it took me a while to sit there with the cover off trying all the different sounds I could get. I guess fulltone has an internal trimmer on many of their pedals, maybe they'll make it easier to use someday. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Overall, it's a great, rich sounding pedal and it also adds sustain and some harmonics to the sound.

Three knobs for Volume, Tone, and "Dirt". Very easy to use, but also has an internal trim pot for more advanced tweaking. The pedal comes with a one page instruction sheet, with an understandably brief description of the controls and some sample settings.

The sound of this pedal is simply brilliant. It has a distinctively 60's British tone to it, reminiscent of the first few Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Sabbath albums, and perhaps heavier Jethro Tull ("Benefit"). You can also get a more poppy fuzztone, found on some Kinks or Beatles songs. Add some reverb or delay and you can even get a Dave Gilmourish sound. The tone works best when playing power chords or lead parts, as full chords and arpeggios tend to muddle together. It is definately a lead guitar pedal, and the sound it delivers is seriously searing.

The pedal has a tough steel case, and looks like its built to last. It was about five years old when I bought it second-hand off of eBay, and its worked fine since. The internal work seems to be clean and well-done, although I dont know very much about electrical wiring and soldering. I would definately gig without a backup.

No experience with customer support as been necessary so far, which i guess is a testement to the quality of the product.

My style is mostly blues-based psyche, and this pedal nails the sound I have been looking for. I started out with a overdrive pedal, moved onto a more mianstream fuzz, and finally decided I needed something more serious. I've doubled my pratice time since I bought this pedal, just because its so damn fun to play with. In todays world of 300-effect digital processors, some might think that shelling out over a hundred bucks for a pedal that only does ONE THING is silly. That one thing it does do, however, it does exceptionally well. I normally play with only this fuzzbox, but occasionally add a wah or delay pedal to the chain. The soul-bender really is the foundation to my overall tone and playing style

totally easy to use. volume (duh), fuzz (duh), and a single band eq (actually reverse...clockwise is warmer, counterclockwise is brighter). it has a proprietary power suppy connector, but oh well, its worth it.

i use it with les paul specials (P-90 pups), les paul standards (PAF pups), ES-330 (P-90's), and an SG/les paul (PAFS)...plug it into top hat king royale, vintage ac-30's, vintage marshall plexis, fender pro junior. of course its noisy, its a fuzz pedal....but its got a lower noise floor than most fuzzes. it's the only fuzz i use...mainly for solos and other leads....however, the pedal is incredibly responsive to the guitar's volume knob. turn it down and the fuzz almost begins to sound like natural amp overdrive....then crank the guitar wide open and it gets compressed and sustainy. very rich legato fuzztone....very 60's psychedelic. jimmy page is probably the closest reference point for this tone.

never had a problem. been on my pedalboard for years (professional world touring) and i dont even bring a backup. again, don't lose that proprietary power cord.

never needed it.

i play rock. im in a band on a major label, ive toured everywhere and received great compliments on my tone. i prefer this style of fuzz (based on the colorsound tonebender) to the ole' fuzz face hendrix style that lots of players go for. this fuzz is distinctly ENGLISH sounding. im a californian, but i like to pretend. you have to learn how to work the guitar's volume knob with this pedal. the effect is bombastic so its up to you to tame the beast. i love my soulbender!

Piece of cake to use. 3 knobs.

Beautiful, compressed smooth sounding fuzz. It's like chocolate cake. Sexy. A little noisy when the volume is cranked, but it's fuzz!

Rock solid.

I haven't needed it.

I am fond of 60s, smooth psychedelic fuzz and this is my pedal. It's my one and only fuzz.

I like the fact that this little mutha has just 3 knobs and one internal trimmer for further sound tweaking. Very easy to use!

I only use my Fender Strat that is equipped with the EMG David Gilmour single coils with the Soul Bender. In my opinion, this pedal does not compliment my Les Pauls at all. The Les Pauls sound terrible when routed through this Soul Bender. Go figure on that one. Single coils just sound better with this particular fuzz unit. I run this pedal, along with many others on my pedalboard, through a Line 6 DuoVerb Combo. It sounds really good when I use a split of the Marshall 100watt Plexi model and the Budda Twinmaster model. It is a bit noisy, but I have the tone and the dirt set to max and the volume at about 2o'clock. I can handle the noise as long as the end result is GREAT.

I would gig without a back up. All of the Fulltone pedals that I own are very dependable. They do build a great product.

Can you say Jackarse? These guys are FOS of themselves and they know it. I suppose that sort of attitude comes with the territory when you build a great product. I bet that is why they no longer sale to the public on their site. I would bet money that they could no longer handle things in a professional manner. If they ever did for that matter.

Great products that are signed by a JackArse. Keep up the good work team.

It's probely harder to use than it looks. To match the inside port with the tone control takes some time cause tou have to open it every time.. Its still hard to dial in the perfect tone when you done with that. Don't get me wrong to tone is there but the tone control is really sensitive.

Smooth creamy sounds. The first time I heard it, it soundet just like Prince(before the symbol) sound on the purple rain album. It's great.

My switch broke after a cople of months. It's temp. fixed and still working.
But I guess that I just got unlucky.

Don't know.

Pretty good. not so versitil pedal.

Relativamente sencillo. Tres potenciometros (volumen, tono y dist.) y un trimmer interno para controlar el nivel de fuzz.

Mi setup es American Deluxe Stratocaster> george custom lead 50 (sonido jtm45)> wah VOX847 (redfasel)> soul-bender> ts9 (TS808MOD) > distortion+(Thundertomate). TCelectronics G-major(en bucle de efectos ampli)
El pedal es asombrosamente silencioso. Aun a pesar del nivel de ganancia se oye muy poco ruido de fondo. Es mi primer fuzz pero sinceramente puedo conseguir con exactitud el sonido de Eric Johnson. Espectacular!! Lo uso con un george custom lead 50 que me hizo jorge bueno www.amptek-es.com con sonido tipo Marshall JTM45 y suena de miedo. El ampli a medio de ganancia +o-. Con el nivel de ganancia a tope para solear es increible, mucho cuerpo y definicion a lo EJ. Si bajas la ganancia perfecto para ritmos a lo Hendrix. Es un pedal muy versatil. Es calidad fulltone, true bypass, suena de miedo y me encanta su aspecto. Que mas se puede pedir

Very easy to use, clone of the sola sound tonebender.

I'm using this mostly with a Jimmy Page Les Paul and into a vintage Fender tube amp. If you're looking to get Jimmy Pages sound from the late 60's, early 70's, this is the closest I've personally been. I own an original tube screamer (totally different sound), several modern distortion pedals, a Fuzz Face, etc. I have not played the original sola sound grey box tonebender so I can't offer a direct comparison between this pedal and that one. This unit has the distinctive germanium transistor fuzz face type of sound. If you don't like the fuzz face you probably won't like this pedal. That said, if you like Jimmy Pages sound, this will get you very close...so close that your playing ability is the only thing that will separate you from his sound to the vast majority of people's ears. I turn the internal trim pot to about 2 oclock and tend to prefer fullers recommendation of fuzz on full and tone rolled off completely. This is the best fuzz face type of pedal I have used.

It's sturdily built. Steel enclosure. Large gauge internal wiring. Full bypass, the right way with a 3pdt switch. I don't expect problems. It's built to a much higher standard of quality than a "mainstream" pedal. I agree with other reviews that it's close to mil spec. That said, the enclosure does have seams so I wouldn't recommend pouring beer or sand on it. I'd give it a 10 if the circuit board was mounted with screws (it's hot glued) and if the enclosure was beer/sand proof. I'm being picky though. Under ordinary use it should last decades even with road use or until the pots wear out...which is always the first thing to go (along with the jacks) on a pedal.

No idea.

If you'd like to sound like Jimmy Page, early Jeff Beck or most any other late 60's early 70's British rockers, get this pedal....then practice a lot. FYI Sola is still in business and they still manufacture the pedal this was cloned from...but it's expensive and you have to order it from the UK. Plus to my knowledge it doesn't have the internal trim pot which is an excellent feature of this pedal to tweak the sound.

It's three exteranl knobs and an internal trim pot. I I had to play around with the trim pot for a while to get it just where I wanted it, but once I got it there it became impossible not to get a good sound out of it. Excellent, usable controls -- these things actually do something, unlike a lot of other pedals out there.

Read the instructions! The polarity of the power supply is different than 99% of the other pedals made by any maker. It won't work with a Boss/Ibanez power supply -- in fact, if you hook it up to one you'll fry the thing. The instructions are very clear about this. The instructions also point out that the pedal can't go before one in your effects chain that's not true bypass -- the sound gets killed by the buffer in pedals that aren't true bypass. This is 100% true -- so much so that it was suprising when I tried it.

Righ now, I'm playing an American Strat. Usual effects chain is the Strat > Budda Bud-Wah+> Emma Transmorgrifier > Menatone (4 Knob) Red Snapper > Pharaoh Class A Boost > SIB Mr. Vibromatic (or a Boss PH2) > Guyatone MD3 digital Delay > Songworks Spring Reverb into a Laney PTM30MV Sereis II (all tube) head with a Carvin Legacy 2 x 12 cab.

The instructions point ot that putting this pedal before a non-true bypass pedal will suck all the sound out of the Soul-Bender. Most of my effects are true bypass, with the exception of the delay and phaser, but if I put it in my signal path, it would go before these two pedals so I can't use it on my pedalboard right now. Now, I'm just running the Soul-Bender straight into the amp witout the other effects -- which is fine with me. My amp does have an effects loop, so I just need to strart experimenting with running my pedalboard through there. Or I could just get a true bypass delay and phaser. Hmmmmm ... DLS Echo Tap and Red Witch phaser. Back to the business at hand.

Anyway, this pedal is a qualified amazing. It totally depends on what type of quitar you're playing. I went through a bit of a time that filled with second guessing -- is the pedal broken? Could it be a hunk of garbage? Did I get screwed by the seller on eBay? Here's what I found: Late 80s American Tele -- sucked. Jackson SL3 -- worse than I could ever imagine (this thing had Seymour Duncans). Early 70s SG -- could my pickups be broken? American Strat -- NIRVANA! With the Strat, it's the most utterly incredible, best sounding, most versitile fuzz/distortion pedal I own. The instructions recommend tone and "dirt" (FUZZ) all the way up and volume on 1/2. I play my amp with the preamp on 10 and the volume relatively low, making the amp dark, so backing the tone up to about 3/4 works best for me. It's not just a fuzz sound, it's like a distortion, too. Very hard to describe, except that it's loud and aggressive in the best way imaginable.

I love Zeppelin, James Gang and early Sabbath and this pedal nails that sound.

One little secret about this pedal, and my jaw dropped when I tried this -- you can use it like a booster that can just slam the heck out of the front end of the amp. Set your amp to a place where you can push it pretty easily into overdrive, and have the Soul-Bender set with the volume on 10, tone on a little more than 1/2, and Dirt around 1/4 and suddenly you're into a completely different tonal realm than just fuzz. I got a Brian May type sound. While this is a nice, happy-accident,buy this pedal for the fuzz/distortion -- it's incredible.

This thing's a tank. Everything about it just oozes qualiy. The knobs rotate smooth and evenly. Best made pedal I own. I'm sure my grandkids will enjoy it.

Got mine off eBay, so I can't really comment on Fulltone's customer service.

The thing I love most about this pedal is the sound. For the last 20 years, I've been trying to get that classic early '70s "sound." You know it when you hear it. This pedal is that sound. This pedal doesn't even compare with any other fuzz/distortion pedals I've owned or heard. It's just such an aggressive and polished sound -- absolutely incredible.

I'm glad I own a Strat. From what I observed, the Strat was the only guitar it worked well with -- just something to keep in mind if you're thinking about getting one. I've been playing for close to 20 years now and have owned tons of gear -- guitars, pedals, amps, etc -- everything from run-of-the-mill to boutique. This pedal just blew me away (once I ran the Strat into it) and is by far the best made piece of equipment I've ever owned. I would definitly get another one if it was lost or stolen.

Don't buy this pedal off eBay unless you have a Strat. If you get it at your local music store, definitly try it out with the guitar you play.

I gave this pedal a 9. The pedal does take a little bit of tweaking to find the sound that will work for you. You may need to use the internal trimer to help fine tune you're sound. So there is a little
work that will have to be done.

The Manual is great and the samples are a great place to start. You may find, sticking with Mike's suggestion Volume at noon, Tone & Fuzz ide open will do the trick.

This pedal is awesome. I run mine with the preferred sample setting
Volume at noon,Tone and Fuzz wide open. I prefer to use my guitars volume pot to alter the sound of the pedal. This pedal is very reactive to you're volume & tone controls. Take the time and discover all the useful sound's this pedal will offer.

I prefer to use the Soul Bender for more of a "Over the Top" type of fuzz sound. I play in a cover band and need to cover a ton of ground. I can go from old skool fuzz to modern day Fuzz sounds. Once again this is where you volume control play's a huge part. I do run a large pedalboard but 75% of my sounds are still generated from just the guitar and amp. This pedal is transparent and retain's the sound of youre guitar and amp, while not adding any cheese to you're sound.

Note: This pedal is senseitive to where it is placed in youre effects Chain. I run mine 4th in my signal chain. Everything is true bypass but I still found the SB was a little picky before or after certain pedals. You will want to try a few differnt setup's to see what sounds better for you.

Setup... PRS Custom 22 & Fender Custom Shop 1960 Relic strat. Bogner
XTC 101B & 2x12 Bogner closed back cabinet. Pedalboard...
Clyde Wah- CCII Octavia - CCII FuzzFoot NKT275 - SoulBender - BIComp - FDII - CCII Provibe - FR Paradox Flanger - Supertrem - Clone Chorus -
DL4 - Bogner

I make full use of all three channels in the Bogner and the Soul Bender work's well with all three, including the Boost functions. I have come to use the Soul Bender more than any other OD/Fuzz effect in my setup. This pedal reacts very well to both guitars, single coils and low output humbuckers.

You can depend on Fulltone effects. I have been using Fulltone effects for years. I manage 2 gigs a week a 1 rehearsal. That makes for a ton
of use in a year. Not to mention be bounced around in a roadcase to and from gigs.

I would gig without a backup.

Fulltone takes care of there customers if there product fails. Be straight and to the point with Mike Fuller and his support department. You will get the results you desire and a product that will bring you years of enjoyment and use.

This pedal can cross most musicaly boundrys, take the time and get to know and use the Soul Bender, you'll love it! I have tried a ton of pedals, some more than I would care to mention. This pedal work's great
in my setup and my playing style.I had to spend allot of cash twice to get to were I am today, so hopefully this will help you save a little cash and long nights awake.

Easy to use. 3 knobber. Tubescreamer style setup, I gave it a 9 because of the complexity inherhent in having an internal trimpot, which if you're anything like me you have to break into and fiddle with and of course can never remember where you started it at. Even at that, it's just finding the right combo for you.

My rig consists primarily of a Fender telecaster (Rio Grande Muy grande @ bridge and a Duncan '59 humbucker @ the neck running through a Tophat Club Royale. I'm definitely an effect pedal junkie, so usually an array of 7 or 8 pedals running as well. As most of you probably know this pedal is true bypass. This fuzz is a little different than a fuzz that you may be used to hearing. Lots of people are used to the Hendrix fuzz face style pedal, but this is based off of the old 'tonebender' pedals. Not as smooth as a fuzzface. A little nastier and more in your face. When I first got it I hooked it up to my Fender hot rod deville and played Jeff Beck's 'Shapes of Things' for hours trying to replicate that tone. It never worked, but at the same time I wasn't playing through the same rig as he was. It tends to be very rig dependent which is why it may take a while to set up what's good for you. When you roll the tone knob clockwise the lows increase and the highs dissapear. Quite obviously the best sound on the pedal is tone and fuzz both cranked all the way up. In practical band situations though, sometimes this is more difficult because you won't necessarily be cutting through. You can roll the tone down and think "who would want that piercing high end?" but if you're using a bassy pickup (like the Duncan '59) it can come in handy. Also sounds great in conjunctions with boost pedals (Keeley Time Machine, Fireman FX Baron Boost are what I've used). It is my opinion that this pedal really shines when going through an amplifier that is mildly breaking up or at least close to it. And a proper dosing of volume doesn't hurt!!

So being a fan of Page and Beck that was definitely a motivator for getting this pedal. I've come close enough, but still haven't nailed their tones. But some tones I have been able to get very close to were Mick Ronson (Spiders from Mars!!), Marc Bolan of T-Rex (Everyone points out that he never used one but I promise if you play 20th Century Boy on this you'll fall in love), Kinks, Black Sabbath and Sweet. You can also get a lot of cool modern stoner rock band sounds out of it, although a lot of times they tend to be more "big muff-esque"

I would say this pedal is very dependable. Put together very well, I've never had a problem with it. In fact, I'm still using the same battery as when I bought it! It should be mentioned that if you do want to use a power supply, that these pedals are reverse tipped so you'll have to act accordingly. But with batteries lasting the way they do I see no reason to plug it in.

My wife bought this for me as a gift for college graduation so I did not deal with Fulltone. She called Mike Fuller to order and he informed her of where the best place locally to her she could get one and was very cordial. This goes against what a lot of people say about Mike but I have to judge according to my experience.

I play an extremely wide variety of styles, but mainly powerpop in the vein of Big Star, Matthew Sweet, David Bowie, Butch Walker and Jellyfish. Although I'd still love to have a Fuzzface type pedal, this pedal fits very well into what I do. I also play some alt.country where I can use it for some fuzzed out Wilco and Jayhawks type tones. And if I'm in classic rock mode and playing Zeppelin, Allman Bros. and Black Crowes it works as well.

3 knobs, not much to it really! Make sure you have the appropriate adapter, as you cannot use standard "boss" type ac adapter. Also, you it messes with the pedal if you put it after a pedal that is not ture bypass.

Here's where this pedal does its thing! I got it to try and re-create some of that Jimmy Page magic. This thing does it dead on! My effects chain goes Fulltone Deja-vibe>Soulbender>Crybaby wah (modded for volume and true bypass)>Boss DD-2 Delay> Bad Cat Hot Cat 30 combo. Right now I'm down to just my Les Paul, so I don't know what this pedal sounds like with single coils. I'm anxious to try it! What I do know is this thing has that horn like "honk" on the neck pickup that is all throughout Zeppelin recordings.

Fulltones stuff is built like a tank--5 YEAR warranty!!!!!

I've e-mailed fuller a couple times, he always gets back quickly.

It's a no brainer. Three knobs -- turn 'em until you find something you like. If you can't handle it then you are brain dead.

Excellent. I have a Fulltone '69 as well and was amazed that this peddle sounds much different. It really is an aggressive mother when you crank it but it can be subtle as well. The '69 is not as in your face. If I had to have only one, I'd take the Soul Bender. Just seems to rock out better and harder.

Sounds great through just about any amp I have. Like it especially through a boogie and a Dr Z.

Built to last. Doesn't get any better when it comes to build quality.

I never want to have to send something back to the factory. That's why I like Fulltone. They are built to take abuse and keep on cooking.

I own several fulltone effects and have never had a problem with any. Have only had the Soul Bender a few weeks but I'm not anticipating problems. Mike Fuller builds them with so they never fail. I appreciate that.

This has got to be one of the best effects boxes I own. I prefer it lots of time over the tube distortion I get by overdriving my amp. If it got stolen, I'd buy another one. Of course.

AIN'T NO PROBLEMS WITH THIS PEDAL!
THIS IS VERY EASY TO USE...
IT HAS 3 KNOBS AND AN INTERNAL TRIMMER THAT CHANGES CLIPPING OF THE SOUND FROM SOFT TO MORE SQUARE WHEN TURNED COUNTERCLOCKWISE


1- VOLUME
TURNING THE KNOB CLOCKWISE YOU WILL INCREASE THE LEVEL OF THE EFFECT


2- TONE
IF YOU TURN IT CLOCKWISE YOU WILL MAKE IT SOUND MORE BASSIER AND SMOOTHER


3- DIRT
IT WILL INCREASE THE GAIN (SO THE DISTORTION) WHEN TURNED CLOCKWISE

I PLAY WITH A GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD VINTAGE SUNBURST, AND I THINK THAT SOUL BENDER IS A GREAT FUZZ, COMBINED WITH MY GUITAR...
IT'S LIKE.... A "SMALL EEL"...
THIS PEDAL HAS 5 YEARS WARRANTY AND USES GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS LIKE THE OLD "VOX TONE BENDER" AND THE OLDER "SOLA SOUND TONE BENDER"...
SO I CAN SAY: "ORIGINAL VINTAGE SOUND WITH PRESENT ACCURACY".
BELIEVE ME BECAUSE I GOT ONE AND I PLAYED WITH THE OLD "VOX TONE BENDER", THAT SOUNDS NOISIER, BUT THE SOUND, ALL OVER THE YEARS, IS REALLY THE SAME.


IF YOU TURN THE "DIRT" KNOB ALL THE WAY UP YOU CAN HAVE A GREAT FUZZ BITE, CLEAR AND SHARP ON DEFINITION, BUT AT THE SAME TIME GRANULOUS AND CREAMY ON THE EXPRESSION AND VERSATILITY.
OBVIOUSLY, NOT SATURATED LIKE THE "FULLTONE '69 FUZZ" BUT HOWEVER SMOOTH.
INSTEAD IF YOU TURN THE KNOB 3/4 UP YOU WILL GET A BLUESY, CREAMY LEAD SATURATION... I LOVE IT...
I ALWAYS HATED TO USE FUZZ BOXES WITH THE GAIN NOT ALL THE WAY UP, BUT THIS ONE HAS MORE VERSATILITY THAN ALL THE OTHERS I PLAYED WITH... ("ELECTRO-HARMONIX BIG MUFF PI (REISSUE, USA MADE)", "SOVTEK BIG MUFF PI (REISSUE, RUSSIAN MADE)", "JIM DUNLOP FUZZ FACE", "T-REX MUDHONEY"...


A LITTLE THING FOR "FUZZ FANATICS"... DON'T TRY TO USE A GIBSON WITH THE "FULLTONE '69 FUZZ"... THE HUMBUCKERS WILL BURN OUT ALL THE MID-HI FREQUENCIES, MAKING UP A WEIRD, FOR ME "BAD" SOUND....

Reliability: 10
DESPITE THE SMALL DIMENSIONS, IT'S REALLY HEAVY!
IT HAS A TRUE BYPASS CIRCUITRY: WHEN THIS PEDAL IS TURNED OFF, HIS SIGNAL WON'T EXIST ANYMORE ON YOUR PEDALBOARD.
DON'T USE REGULAR NEGATIVE CENTER PIN "BOSS" OR "IBANEZ" ADAPTER WITH THIS UNIT, BECAUSE THE GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE SYLICON ONES, TODAY NORMALLY USED ON DISTORTION PEDALS, SO YOU MAY DAMAGE THE PEDAL.
I USE BATTERIES, BUT PREFERABLY NOT THE ALKALINE ONES, CAUSE THE CHEAPER ZINC-CARBON ARE WORKING BETTER ON FREQUENCIES.

Customer Support: N/A
THIS PEDAL HAS 5 YEARS WARRANTY.
IS HANDCRAFTED AND ALL THE PEDALS ARE ONE-BY-ONE CONTROLLED, SIGNED BY M.FULLER, AND HAND NUMBERED.
MY SOUL-BENDER IS THE NUMBER 1911.
WHO OUTBID THAT..?

I JUST LOVE PEARL JAM, THE WHO, SOUNDGARDEN, LED ZEPPELIN, MUDHONEY, SMASHING PUMPKINS, KULA SHAKER....
...AND OF COURSE... SIMPLE CHOICE!
go to "www.simplechoice.com"

AIN'T NO PROBLEMS WITH THIS PEDAL!
THIS IS VERY EASY TO USE...
IT HAS 3 KNOBS AND AN INTERNAL TRIMMER THAT CHANGES CLIPPING OF THE SOUND FROM SOFT TO MORE SQUARE WHEN TURNED COUNTERCLOCKWISE

1- VOLUME
TURNING THE KNOB CLOCKWISE YOU WILL INCREASE THE LEVEL OF THE EFFECT

2- TONE
IF YOU TURN IT CLOCKWISE YOU WILL MAKE IT SOUND MORE BASSIER AND SMOOTHER

3- DIRT
IT WILL INCREASE THE GAIN (SO THE DISTORTION) WHEN TURNED CLOCKWISE

I PLAY WITH A GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD VINTAGE SUNBURST, AND I THINK THAT SOUL BENDER IS A GREAT FUZZ, COMBINED WITH MY GUITAR.
THIS PEDAL HAS 5 YEARS WARRANTY AND USES GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS LIKE THE OLD "VOX TONE BENDER" AND THE OLDER "SOLA SOUND TONE BENDER"...
SO I CAN SAY: "ORIGINAL VINTAGE SOUND WITH PRESENT ACCURACY".
BELIEVE ME BECAUSE I GOT ONE AND I PLAYED WITH THE OLD "VOX TONE BENDER".
IT SOUND MORE NOISIER, BUT THE SOUND IS REALLY THE SAME.

IF YOU TURN THE "DIRT" KNOB ALL THE WAY UP YOU CAN HAVE A GREAT FUZZ BITE, CLEAR AND SHARP ON DEFINITION, BUT AT THE SAME TIME GRANULOUS AND CREAMY ON THE EXPRESSION AND VERSATILITY.
OBVIOUSLY, NOT SATURATED LIKE THE "FULLTONE '69 FUZZ" BUT HOWEVER SMOOTH.
INSTEAD IF YOU TURN THE KNOB 3/4 UP YOU WILL GET A BLUESY, CREAMY LEAD SATURATION... I LOVE IT...
I ALWAYS HATED TO USE FUZZ BOXES WITH THE GAIN NOT ALL THE WAY UP, BUT THIS ONE HAS MORE VERSATILITY THAN ALL THE OTHERS I PLAYED WITH... ("ELECTRO-HARMONIX BIG MUFF PI (REISSUE, USA MADE)", "SOVTEK BIG MUFF PI (REISSUE, RUSSIAN MADE)", "JIM DUNLOP FUZZ FACE", "T-REX MUDHONEY"...

A LITTLE THING FOR "FUZZ FANATICS"... DON'T TRY TO USE A GIBSON WITH THE "FULLTONE '69 FUZZ"... THE HUMBUCKERS WILL BURN OUT ALL THE FREQUENCIES, MAKING UP A WEIRD, FOR ME BAD SOUND....

DESPITE THE SMALL DIMENSIONS, IT'S REALLY HEAVY!
IT HAS A TRUE BYPASS CIRCUITRY: WHEN THIS PEDAL IS TURNED OFF, HIS SIGNAL WON'T EXIST ANYMORE ON YOUR PEDALBOARD.
DON'T USE REGULAR NEGATIVE CENTER PIN "BOSS" OR "IBANEZ" ADAPTER WITH THIS UNIT, BECAUSE THE GERMANIUM TRANSISTORS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE SYLICON ONES, TODAY NORMALLY USED ON DISTORTION PEDALS, SO YOU MAY DAMAGE THE PEDAL.
I USE BATTERIES, BUT PREFERABLY NOT THE ALKALINE ONES, CAUSE THE CHEAPER ZINC-CARBON ARE WORKING BETTER ON FREQUENCIES.

THIS PEDAL HAS 5 YEARS WARRANTY.
IS HANDCRAFTED AND ALL THE PEDALS ARE ONE-BY-ONE CONTROLLED, SIGNED BY M.FULLER, AND HAND NUMBERED.
MY SOUL-BENDER IS THE NUMBER 1911.
WHO OUTBID THAT..?

I JUST LOVE PEARL JAM, THE WHO, SOUNDGARDEN, LED ZEPPELIN, MUDHONEY, SMASHING PUMPKINS, KULA SHAKER.

A Monkey could get this thing to sound good. Just crank the Fuzz and Tone all the way to the right (For My tastes) and you are off to the races.

This is a GREAT fuzz. It has more detail and overdrive qualities then the 69 or 70 fuzzes. I would not say it's better - it is just different. My gear is comprised of the usual suspects (Les Paul Classic - Custom Shop 60's Strat - Custom Tele - etc. JTM - 45 / VHT 50st / and Vibrolux Reverb Blackface.) I love it with the JTM 45. I have a feeling that most of Mike's Fuzzes are really meant to be matched to 4 input Marshalls. While it sounds great with the VHT - it really shines with the JTM-45.

Also keep in mind that most fuzzes don't (IMO) sound as good through an open back Cab. I play through a VHT 2X12 closed back. Through my Fender - the low end gets sloppy.

The internal trim knob is very helpful indeed. As far as it sounding like a Tone Bender - I have no idea - I have never owned one - but it gets a very nice buttery fuzz - ala Eric Johnson.
Oh yeah and its quiet!!

Not much to say other than - Mack Truck

Mike and Scott are pros to the core. They believe very strongly in their stuff and it shows. I had a nice phone conversation with Mike and he was a gracious as they come.

I bought my Soul Bender over Harmony Central. Recorded a few solos with it and really like it. I then traded it for a Distortion Pro. Realizing that I Made a Big Mistake - (NOT TO SAY THE DP1 SUCKS Cause I still have that too). I looked on Ebay and found the Exact Soulbender I traded (go Figure) . I cliked buy it now and back it came. This pedal will be me for as long as I play guitar.