Fulltone Ultimate Octave

Very easy to use.. Just 3 knobs and a bright/fat switch.

This pedal nails the Hendrix octave up sound.. Gets plain nasty when playing more than one note at a time..(In a good way) I like the fuzz on this unit but 90% of the time use the Octave effect becasue it sounds so great.

To me this is a great Octaver that has a good fuzz for a bonus.AIf I used fuzz more often, I'd probably have a dedicated pedal. I've been using this for about a year and a half and it is the frequently asked about at gigs from other guitarists..

I give this a 1o based on the Octave effect..

I have had ZERO problems with this pedal in the yar and a half I've had it.. Very ruggedly made.. I don't expect any problems. I don't use a backup (too expensive)

Never dealt with them at all.. though the MP3's on the site are cool and represent the pedal very well..

I love ths pedal and ditched a Prescripton Electronics "Yardbox" for it .. Alot of times you buy guitars, pedals amps etc.. and while you are happy with what you have you still look for something better. I can't say that's the case with this as it is exactly what I was looking for !

I would definiely buy another one if I had to.. You could obviously buy other brands for less but I thought this pedal was well worht the $$ based on the qulity of it..

This is a follow up to my previous review about a year ago, and a response to the post below from Stefan from Sweden. I'm still enjoying the heck out of this pedal, and am getting even better tones after I upgraded my AB165 bassman head to a Fuchs Overdrive Supreme. Still would stick with a 9 on ease of use, in that, it is a pedal for experienced fuzz users. Not as easy to plug in and use like say a fulldrive, but probably easier to work with then vintage fuzz pedals if you know what you're doing. I have gotten better at it in the last year or so that I've had it.

Sounds killer with my old strat ('68) and even easier to use at gigs with the kinman pickups which are very quiet. I like the bridge pickup with the tone control rolled back a bit (non standard wiring, middle knob controls tone for the front two pickups and the back knob is tone for the bridge only. I dont have any use for standard strat wiring anymore. There are so many cool things you can do with the 3rd knob, like I described above, or master tone and blend or bridge pickup, etc.

When using the octave up button, I sometimes will kick in the fulldrive 2 to darken and boost the sound a bit. Very fat, searing tones happen.

A lovely box, no problems there. Regarding Stefan's issue with the power. One, include your email in future reviews this way folks can contact you with your concerns. I bet Mr. Fuller himself would email you if you provided the link. Set up a free web-mail account and check it every few weeks if you don't want to put your real addr on the net... Anyway, 1) are you running off a wall-wart (single 9v) supply with a link cable? I have one that's in parallel and I only use it with effect I don't use at the same time. 2) If you have a U.S. style power supply like Voodoo Labs, is your European voltage converter designed for audio use? 3) If you have a Euro version of a pedal power supply, is it a high quality one? As in a Carl Martin product vs. a cheapo like Nobels. You get the idea, I think it's a regulated vs. non-regulated power supply issue, the more pedals you use with a non-regulated the worse it gets. You should contact Mike Fuller and ask what his European customers do about this.

Contact Mike if you still have a problem with it, or feel free to email me at the addr below, let me know how you made out anyway.

10 on sound, but not for casual "boss" type pedal stompers.

With just 3 knobs and 3 switches You would think that getting a good sound out of the pedal would be easy,and it sort of is,but then I started turning the knobs and and suddenly things started to get more complicated!.Don't get me wrong,the sounds I'm getting' are great,but it might take a while to get the most out of the unit.

I bought this pedal to use it as an octavia substitute,and it turned out that this was the sound that I've been looking for ever since I bought my first Jimi Hendrix record.What I didn't realize when I bought it was that I also got a first class fuzz pedal,this pedal actually eliminates the need for an extra fuzz-unit.

I've used it for almost 3 months(about 25 gigs),and I've had no problems with it whatsoever,both the knobs and switches seem very rugged.One strange thing about the pedal is that it makes a loud buzz when I run it on my DC-supply together with other pedals,it works fine on battery or if I just use this pedal by itself on DC,STRANGE!

The Ultimate Octave is definitely one of my favorite pedals,and it's one that I would never get rid of.I'm still confused about the buzz when running the unit on DC-power together with the rest of my pedalboard,but other from that I love the thing.

Easy enough to operate.Good sounds are already there.

This pedal has the most delicious fuzz you will find. Refined and large or sinuey and blistering.It kicks ass as a fuzz,but wait till you hit octave.Soaring ,sustaining and creamy fat lead lines with as much or little ring modulator weirdness as the situation requires.The pedal is just refined and tasty.

Very reliable as all Fulltone effects are.

Mike is a great boon to tone freaks and hard to please folks alike.He's fixed any problem I've had very quickly and professionally.He deserves a higher rating than 10.

Best octave and most usable sweet fuzz in one box equals and alltime great effect designation in it's category.

A wickedly good and versitile sounding Fuzz. You can adjust it from a huge sounding multi-purpose, bass heavy distortion/fuzz, with a high cholesterol mid-range, to a wild all treble fuzz with a bacon frying sizzle. On top of this you get one of the best tracking octavia, octave up sounds available, that can be switched on and off independant of the Fuzz function - cool!

see above. Not quiet, but low background noise for what it is. Much quieter than vinatge octavia fuzzes. I am using this with Fender Super and Deluxe reverb amps. It sounds awesome with these amps

This Fulltone UO dates from may of 1997. It has been switched on and off more times than I can count. I don't truely 'stomp' on my pedals, but at 235lbs
I don't exactly tippy-toe on them either. Anyway after 4 years the on\off switch
started with this problem where there would be a volume loss when activated.
Not everytime but 1/5-1/10 times. Mind you this was after 4 years of regular
use. it was 10/10 dependable until that time.

I hear people ragging on Mike Fuller all the time because he didn't take time
to chit-chat with them. I get the impression that Mike has his hands Fuller (pun intended) than a one man marching band. He runs a business, still builds and tests his own pedals, plays out and records CDs- and you can still get him on the phone- amazing!. He will handle business contacts but he doesn't have time to shoot the breeze with everyone of his 10,000 customers. I wasn't hoping Mike would be my best friend because I've bought some of his product, I wanted to find out what the warrenty was worth.
I E-mailed Mike about the problem. He promptly E-mailed me back with questions to clarify the failure. He asked me to ship him the Pedal. When it was in his hands it was difficult to fix. Again I must mention that it was one of those bad VooDoo things where it didn't happen everytime. Mike replaced the
on/off switch and the Volume pot and sent it back to me sounding better than
ever. If you want to do business with a company that backs up their products, I can whole heartedly reccomend Mike Fuller at Fulltone.

A wicked Good sounding mutli-purpose Fuzz/octavia, with customer service as good as it needs to be. And to all those people who bash mike because he doesn't have time to gab with them, if you really need some one to listen
to you talk , dial a 1-900.

Easy in that it has three knobs-volume, tone, and fuzz. One switch turns the unit on, the other turns the octave device on. Finally, one switch that alters the fuzz from bright to fat. I had a difficult time getting a good sound with the bright switch activated, but by altering my amp eq and using my fulldrive II in conjunction with the Ultimate Octave, I got a pretty decent sound with the bright switch. There's no manual-just a suggestion on where to place the effect on your chain (before the distortion).

Excellent-I'm a Fulltone nut-I have the 69 pedal, clyde wah, fulldrive II, supa-trem, and now this pedal. The 69 fuzz is a bit more musical however I like the midrange on the Ultimate Octave. Pretty fierce sounding fuzz but not noisy. A LOT EASIER to control than the Z-Vex fuzz factory which is too out of control for my tastes (I recently sold it). The octave effect is really cool-I thought it sounded better than the Octafuzz (I compared them side by side at the store). I don't like giving 10's so I giving this a 9.

As I've stated, I'm a Fulltone convert. I haven't had a fulltone break down on me yet (I've had the 69 for almost 2 years). I noticed that here on Harmony Central, people have complained about the foot switches-I haven't had problems (knock on wood). I like the solid metal box that supports the guts of these effects-super heavy, it breeds confidence in the reliability department. Based on my past experiences with Fulltone, I have to give reliability a 10 even though I hate giving 10's.

People either have a great opinion or low opinion of Mr. Fuller. All I can really say is that if there are problems, and you bought it from a dealer, than the best way to alleviate potential problems with him is to go through the dealer. That's why I support my local dealer-Dan's Guitars in Hawaii-you might have to pay a little more than gaspedal.com or whatever, but when it comes to good and friendly service and trustworthy recommendations, you can't beat the local dealer when problems do arise.

I play rock, pop and alternative and have been playing for 15+ years. Guitar is just a hobby. I use this effect for the fuzz and if I want to full around a little or add a little color to my solos, I then use the octave effect. Very versatile. I own other than the other fulltones listed above, a Voodoo Lab Chorus, a Guyatone Slow Volume, Boss DD-3, and a SIB Varidrive. I like the 69 fuzz better in that I think the 69 is more musical and has less midrange. However, that is not to say the Ultimate Octave is bad. It has its own unique fuzz tone quality and I like the fact there is a fat/bright switch that makes this effect very versatile. The octave effect is fun-going above the 12th fret with the octave fuzz on sounds very spacey. In general, if you are looking for an octave device, you can't go wrong with Fulltone-in my opinion, Fulltone makes the best pedals period (I just wish the distortion pro would come out soon). Some people are turned off by the price-however Fulltone has true bypass, and what would you rather buy-a made in Taiwan Boss pedal that sucks the tone out of your amp and guitar like my DD-3 (I just sold my DD-5 which was even worse sounding than my DD-3) or a made in the US pedal that is reliable and has superb tone???

Here's how easy it is to get a good sound out of the Ultimate Octave: keep it on the fat switch and you can't get a bad sound out of it. The bright switch takes more work, and I'm still not sure how useful it will be. This isn't to say that it's not useful, just that I haven't spent quite enough time with the pedal on that setting.

I'm using this pedal with a Tom Anderson Droptop, a Tom Anderson Cobra S, and a PRS Singlecut, playing through either a Mesa Tremoverb, Mesa Blue Angel, or Egnator TOL 50. This thing not only sounds good, and can get a range of tones, but it's just plain fun to play. The Egnater is a very quiet amp, and I'd hear the noise if it had any, but it's pretty quiet for a fuzz pedal. Speaking of fuzz, this one sounds better to my ears than anything except the Fulltone '70 pedal (a tie there, they do sound different, the UO is more midrangey, and it sits in a track well, too. The thing I like best about it is that I can get it to satisfy my own ear and tastes, and I don't get stuck sounding like a clone of someone else. I'm not completely sold on the "bright" setting, but I can see that it would be fun if you wanted one of those filtered sounds, and would work great in certain kinds of tracks.

I don't gig, I only do recording sessions. However, it's built like a brick outhouse, right down to the bulletproof paint job, and I wouldn't spend one second worrying about its reliability. I'm giving it a 9 because nothing is perfectly built, but really, I'm pulling that out of the air.

I have not had a problem that needed addressing, so I have no opinion on this.

Since I do sessions, I have to play in a lot of styles. But I could see this thing fitting in well in any rock style, fusion, techno-influenced stuff...really, it's quite nice and you can do a lot with it in that way. It's the most sheer fun I've had with a pedal in the 30 years that I've been playing, it just gets so many interesting tones with my guitars and amps, and I love it coupled with a TC chorus pedal, oddly enough. I have a studio full of effects, both rack mount and pedals, but really, the Fulltone stuff gets it better for guitar than anything else I've tried. I also use the Fat Boost, and Fulldrive, with a Budda Wah and the TC pedal. One other nice touch is that it's a kinda tall pedal; you can stick it in the back of your pedal board and still be able to work the footswitches, and like the other Fulltone stuff, the workmanship and look of the thing are cool. Even the knobs have a nice smooth, damped feel when you adjust them. I admit that I'm a sucker for nice hardware on equipment. In any case, tone is what matters, because tone inspires you to think of new things, and to play better. This thing has tone, and it has certainly affected my playing in a very short time. To my way of thinking, spending a couple of hundred bucks on inspiration is a no brainer.

Really a 10 if you are a seasoned vintage effects guy or a former octavia owner. If you are among the (all too frequent) guys doing the boring wah-ts9-delay-amp-thing you might need a little practice at when and how much to use of this effect. I started out as the latter back in the 80's moved to digital crap for a while around 1990.
Then went back to the boring thing, but added another silicon type pedal and used them together to get more interesting lead sounds. And separate for two different rhythm (or tamer lead) sounds. Guys, I don't mean to offend about the boring part, it was a great sound, just a little too commonplace and not adventurous enough anymore for my tastes. I'd like to think that musicians are a little more open-minded then most, but man there are a lot of fuddy-duddies out there on the weekend club scene (I admit I was like that for a while). If you're not that type, and enjoy some occasional use of wild effects, well let's have some fun then....

I use a 68 strat with harmonic design single coils, and early 80's hamer special and dean Z for HB sounds. I have almost all fulltone effects now except for echo and tonebender sounds. I have an SKB board which will eventually be upgraded to a nice two tier board like NGM's. The effects go: clyde - deja - Ult Oct - fulldrive2 - yardbox - choralflange - analog delay. (Sorry Mike, got a good deal on a used yardbox, but I'll come around eventually :-) The pedals go to a bassman AB165 (yeah I know) head and marshall cab. The fuzz itself is excellent, not sure how to classify it but I think it's supposed to be more fuzzface then tonebender. The octave up sound reminds me of Jeff Becks ring mod sound. I haven't been able to get the Jimmy Page "fool in the rain" sound or the subtle purple haze lead sound. It's me not setting something right, not the pedal. The sounds are in there, and the sound quality is excellent, just takes some practice and experience to get the magic out of it. But, fear not, I'll find it. I find that right now, I've been using it most as building a climax in solos i.e. kicking it in for a short burst. An example might be soloing with the fuzz part on and the volume rolled back a little on the guitar. Then bringing the volume up for a sustained part, then doing a short phrase no more then 4 bars with the octave, then out. It's a lot of fun, but as the poster before me said, beware of over using it!

All his stuff is made well. Plus, it's so pretty with the nice paint job and off white knobs, that I hate to have dust and grime from some dirty bar get on my pedals. I'm kind of wierd like that, I put it on my kitchen table when it was new out of the box and looked at it while I was eating dinner (before it gets dirty). But they are made to be stepped on and played, not seen, so on my board it went.

The first time I used on my board I was getting lost in the mix with it and was having problems maintaining levels even with my other effects. NOTE: I only like a little boost, I don't like my OD/fuzz sounds to be much louder then my fender clean sound, my motto is let the amp do the work. So I emailed Mike and asked him if it was intentionally a low output pedal. He responded (quickly) no way, the UO is one of the loudest fuzz/octaves around. He told me to send it in and he'd look/fix it. I told him, I'll sit tight and look over my setup, I didn't really think it was the pedal. (The first time I used it, to test if it worked, I played it through a champ using the battery and no other effect so I didn't have a sense of relative output levels). Anyway, it turned out that it was this stupid power supply thing I have, the ADA Batt-Man. It's supposed to have some feature where you can turn down the voltage and get the "sag" of a carbon battery. I don't think this feature worked right, it made the sound too wimpy. I mean it's a germanium fuzz, right? that's the main time you'd want that feature!! I turned it back to alkaline mode, and the sound quality and output was much better. The ADA power thing will get demoted to rehearsal gear when I get a new and improved pedal board.

I chose this one because you can use the fuzz separately. Also, because of the quality of other fulltone pedals I own. Some people say here on HC and in usenet that fulltone pedals are "nice but lack character" or something to that effect. I don't think it's really true about most of his pedals, certainly not this one. Maybe the fulldrive 2, but that's the intention not to color the sound. Also, the clyde isn't as versatile as a post-1980 crybaby. I think the crybaby of that era was meant to work with higher distortion levels. Assuming the dunlop had true-bypass for a minute... You can use the 80's crybaby more often, but it doesn't sound as good as the old vox tone. I had to rethink my wah playing, but I'm having more fun now.

P.S. I'm not giving 10's on sound quality on my first post anymore. If it stays with me, and becomes a staple, I should come back and update anyway.

Put simply, the Ultimate Octave ("UO") is an octave / fuzz pedal.
The UO is quite simple to figure out: 3 knobs - Volume, Tone and Fuzz. I have seen these knobs enough on different pedals to understand what they mean and do. There are two switches. One switch turns the pedal on and off, the second switch activates the octave effect (switches between fuzz and octave/fuzz). The pedal comes with a nice one page overview of the pedal and how to use it as well as the recommended placement in the signal chain. There are no suggested settings (like the Choralflange or FullDrive2 manuals), but the reality is, there is no real need for one. I personally enjoy finding all the settings I like myself.

I forgot to mention that there is a fat/bright switch which toggles the amount of mid-range in the sound. The bright setting has the mids completely scooped out. Personally, I keep it on the fat switch most of the time but will eventually experiment with the bright settings. Personally, if you do not know your pedals inside and out, why own them? I have owned the UO for only a few weeks so I am still experimenting with it.

The UO is an amazing pedal for the superior tone generated by both its octave settings and its fuzz. Personally, I find them both to be very useful. I will gladly elaborate on each. Before I do, please note that I have been experimenting using the following setup: a 1962 reissue Stratocaster, a Budda Wah, a Fulltone Deja-Vibe (with separate foot controlled speed pedal), the UO and a Fulltone FullDrive2 (got yesterday) into an Oahu amp (1x10, 18 watt hand-wired boutique combo-amp - excellent tone). I will also experiment further with my late 70's early 80's Marshall JMP 50-watt 2x12 combo and a Fender Hot Rod Deville 60-watt 4x10 (getting re-tubed at the moment).

Octave: When I was shopping for an Octave pedal, it recommended I consider the UO or the Octafuzz (Fulltone's superior-sounding version of the Octavia). I had them both plugged in at the same time and was alternating between them and comparing them. While I was able to get similar tones out of both, the UO was a little more controllable and versatile with separate tone and fuzz controls. This is not a dig on the Octafuzz, an awesome pedal in its own right.

In experimenting with the octave effect (one octave up for those who don't know), I've been able to come up with can give you tones anywhere from Band of Gypsies (Who Knows) and Purple Haze to some absolutely out-of-this-world ring modulation / synth tones to sounds that resmeble a shaken reverb tank (springy sounds) and crashing sounds (depending on my pick attack, pedal settings, etc). When my Deja-Vibe is activated (medium speed, medium intensity), the UO also picks up on the harmonics of the DV and the results are absolutely amazing and these sounds can kind of linger around as a result. Also, I use this in front of a FullDrive2 though I have not used them together much (I got the FD2 yesterday) but I most definitely will.

The other beauty of this pedal is that it has a great, smooth fuzz. In my opinion, the only real competition this pedal has in the fuzz category is from the other Fulltone Pedals. Personally, I like the aggressive sound I get through my UO with the tone knob set all the way down, fuzz all the way and my bridge pickup on ("Fat" setting). It is a smooth distortion that doesn't muddy up on the lows nor sound harsh on the highs. The harmonics are well defined across the guitar and I can actually get a little crunch with my Strat. It almost sounds like playing through an old Marshall. As I experiment more with the pedal. I will find more things I really like. Some people could get away with this simply as their fuzz box.

As I said before, I have not done a lot of experimentation with the "bright" setting, but with fuzz, I will probably go more with the "fat" because I really like it. However, note that the "bright" setting's scooped-mid tone is warmer than anyone else's. Most pedals, when dialed in to have a scooped-mid type distortion, generally sound cold, harsh, metallic, processed and outright bad. This one is everything the competition is not. Therefore, do not let my lack of use be a deterrent. It is simply a matter of personal taste.

I did forget to mention this pedal has true bypass, meaning it does not load your signal even when the effect is off. After dealing with the tone loss problems associated with the Dunlop Crybaby and the "on even when it's off" issue with the Electro-Harmonix Small Stone (the background noise coming out of my amp would phase even when the pedal was not on), I have learned of the virtues of true bypass. If you have not, I suggest you do.

I take very good care of all my pedals. I keep them in their boxes when I am not using them and I use them rather than abuse them.

That being said, I think that I would not have to worry much. The pedal is very well constructed and housed in steel casing. All the switches (including the small fat/bright switch located above the octave switch) seem put together real well and will likely withstand the type of use I put my pedals through.

I can definitely foresee gigging without a backup, I can not see this pedal having problems on stage. Between the amount of use I will put this pedal through and the way I take care of my effects, I foresee this lasting a very long time. My bet is that this pedal can take some heavy road abuse.

I do not have an opinion on Mike Fuller's customer service since I have not dealt with him.

I picked up my first guitar about 8 years ago but I have really gotten into it over the last two plus years (balanced job and school and guitar is not easy). I have learned so much about great tone in the last 6-8 months. This is why the UO has found its way into my setup.

Personally, traditional blues is my love but I like to play some rock, funk, a little jazz and fusion so I do have some pretty useful applications in which to apply this pedal.

With my "new and improved" setup, I am finding that I can do a lot with this pedal and come up with many new and exciting sounds of which to come up with song / jam session ideas. The UO sounds great for both chord usage and single notes.

In my opinion, this pedal has everything I need when it comes to an octave effect. I suppose that if there is anything that is missing on this effect, it would be the option to have either octave up or down (belive me, I'm really reaching here). Personally, I am not a big fan of the octave down effects (i.e. Boss).

In short, the UO is a hell of an effect. If I lost it, I would replace it immediately. There is no issue there. Anyone looking for an octave effect should seriously consider Fulltone's UO. If the UO is not as chaotic sounding as you'd like, check out the Octafuzz. Personally, I can not be any happier with the pedal than I already am.

Man, I don't know what the big deal is here in this category. It seems that a lot of people seem to think this is a super computer compared to most pedals. Hmmm, let's see, it has controls for Fuzz, Tone, and Volume (count 'em, three knobs), a small switch for choosing between the Fat and Bright settings, and TWO foot operated super sturdy switches (that scream "jump up and down on me"), one to turn the effect on or to bypass it, and one to activate the Octave effect (which will only work when the fuzz is working). It's nice to have an Octave/Fuzz pedal that you can use as a fuzz without the screaming octave on all the time (elimates the need to, say, have both a FuzzFace and an Octavia).

Now that doesn't seem to terribly complicated, does it? I will say that, for me, it's easy to dial in pedals, because I already know beforehand that I'll need the turn the Tone control down a good bit, as they're usually kind of shrill. But even on this pedal, the Tone is still useable to me in higher registers than I would normally venture into. I pretty much had a killer sound right out of the box. Now, dialing in the octave part requires some playing around with, but that's just for anyone new to octave effects, mainly just finding what registers on the guitar will get the most scream, and with what pickup configurations.

My setup changes, seemingly, from week to week, so I won't waste your time telling you about what amp it sounds the best with, because it sounds incredible with every amp I have used, all types, kinds, shapes, and sizes. Even with amps that really did not like pedals, this unit still sounded very musical (and, when necessary, very nasty).

First off, I just have to say, MAN, WHAT A KILLER FUZZ!!! This is the best fuzz pedal I have heard, and I have heard all of them. Believe it or not, I even like this better than Mike's '69 Pedal (I bought a 69 Pedal for a friend on his birthday, and he loves it, especially for studio work - and it just looks killer with the red paint and white knobs). Though the 69 Pedal is supposed to be very tubelike in its response, but the Ultimate Octave (from now on referred to as simply, the "Ultimate") has a low end that seems to hold togather better, and it has a sparkle that the 69 doesn't seem to have (and it's still just as warm and fat). I would have probably bought this pedal for the fuzz alone. Compared to Fuller's fuzzes (and especially this one), all the other fuzzes I tried sounded like rat droppings in a frying pan (nasty and not in a good way, flubby, farty bass, gritchy, etc), or they were like the Big Muff and had that horrible lower mid "scronk" and sounded like Smashing Pumpkins (stuffy, reminds me of an upset stomach). To give you a good idea, think of Eric Johnson's fuzz leads on Venus Isle, especially on "All About You".

Now, for the octave effect. It is only a slight bit different than the Fulltone Octafuzz. It's a little smoother and more controllable. The octafuzz kind of reminded me of a ring modulator (but not as chaotic). Don't get me wrong, you can still get every bit of that Hendrix Band Of Gypsies screaming, ripping fuzz out of the Ultimate, but you can decide when you want a smoother tone and when you want it to scream, simply by how you play and what pickup you are using. I like that screaming sound that I get with the neck pickup, and for using fuzz alone, I like the sound of a bridge single for that warm and fat and smooth overdrive-like fuzz (with a bridge humbucker, it sounds almost too smooth, like it's compressed or something).

And for the Bright/Fat switch, I always use the Fat setting, as the bright makes it sound a bit ratty. I guess you could call Fat the "Normal" mode.

I can't imagine this pedal going out. I would definitely (and do) use this pedal without a "backup" (though I always use a fresh battery before every gig). I have other overdrives, but no other fuzzes. My only complaint is minor, in that when you change the battery, the battery cable wire is at first awkward to fit back into the box properly, but I have a technique for this, and now it's no problem. I will say that changing the battery on fulltone stuff is probably easier than anything else, in that you actually twist off the rubber feet around the screw, rather than having to always hunt up a screwdriver, which was kind of a pain in the butt. Very nice. I wish everyone did it that way.

Also, someone complained about the bright/fat switch being small and an accident waiting to happen. That's not a problem for me, as it seems to be out of the way of your foot action. Come to think of it, since I only use the Fat setting, I would probably be happy if it broke off on the "Fat" side. No Problem.

Okay, this is starting to look like an "all 10" review, so bear with me here. I have heard some people voice the opinion that perhaps Mike Fuller is a bit "full of himself" (ha! - corny pun not intended). I did not get that impression, he seemed pefectly happy to answer any of my questions. I dunno, maybe they caught him on a bad day or something. He seems to be very helpful and straight with people.

My Ultimate is serial #688, I believe (I don't know why I felt it necessary to include that bit of info). I've been a hard rock and modern rock guy (in high school - history, really), then I was into jazz fusion, then I was heavy into blues big time (and not just SRV, I was really into Albert King in Memphis, and am still a huge Albert Collins fan). Hell, I've even had classical lessons, from some of the best. Now, I'm moving away from straight blues a little, and want to do something different (into the Eric Johnson, Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Storyville, Ian Moore, and the classic vein, like Hendrix, Cream, etc). I've never been a fan of fuzzes really, but always held out hope that one day someone would make one to my tastes. It appears my hope and faith has been rewarded, in spades. If this was stolen, I'd cry for a minute, regain my composure, and head to my nearest Fulltone dealer (in my case, Speir Music in Garland, TX) and attempt to pick up another one.

Comparing this pedal to the 69 Pedal again, other than the slight tonal differnces, is that the 69 Pedal gives you a wider variety of fuzzes to choose from, the Ultimate gives you kind of a standard fuzz sound (plus octave, I like that trade). Besides, the 69 Pedal can't get this fuzz sound, and after playing with both of them for a long time (side by side tests, and only for fuzz), I have to say I like this much better. But that's just my cup of tea, others will no doubt like the versatility and sound of the 69 Pedal.

I guess an apt comparison between this and other fuzzes, I guess, would be that this is the Rolls Royce of fuzz (or Ferrari, if you prefer). This is the classiest fuzz I've heard, very dimensional and rich and organic, and the octave effect will knock you over, then kick you, and for some reason you beg for more. It's kind of like finding the proverbial dream woman, she's real classy, good looking, friendly and easygoing and fun, and whenever you want, she can be kind of lowdown and sleazy. I just wonder if the crowds sometimes get tired of my octave-up scream sound. I guess I'll be one of those guys that, well, kinda like Robin Trower is known for using the Univibe effect a lot, I guess I'll be the same way with the Ultimate. That really screaming, raging octave sound is too much fun to not play with. Try it sometime, but be careful, you might get hooked.