Fulltone Fulldrive 2 v2?

**Stringswinger** · 03-20-2019, 01:27 PM

I have been thinking of adding a dirt pedal to my gear collection and the new version of the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 has caught my eye/ear from some online demos. I have owned many distortion/overdrive pedals over the years and am ready to try another one. I like a dark, creamy tone. Of the many distortion pedals that I have owned, my favorite was the Big Muff. Of the many overdrive pedals that I have owned, my favorite was the TS-808 Tubescreamer.

Can anyone here comment on this new pedal? Or if you like, feel free to tell me about other pedals to consider.

I am not looking to play in a metal band anytime soon.

I just want a dirt pedal for a different sound on an occasional tune (a blues perhaps).

**pcsanwald** · 03-20-2019, 02:15 PM

I have the earlier, blue fulltone fulldrive, and it is hands down my favorite overdrive pedal ever. I've never found anything that I like nearly as much, especially for a hollowbody. it's a fantastic pedal.

**Longways to Go** · 03-20-2019, 03:36 PM

I had the Fulldrive III and I loved it. I only sold it when I realized I hadn't used my pedalboard in over a year so I sold all of my pedals. But it was great sounding. Only downside I thought was maybe too many options -- you know you could tweak and fiddle around with knobs and switches forever as opposed to playing . . . I like Fulltone stuff in general.

**John A.** · 03-20-2019, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

I have been thinking of adding a dirt pedal to my gear collection and the new version of the Fulltone Fulldrive 2 has caught my eye/ear from some online demos. I have owned many distortion/overdrive pedals over the years and am ready to try another one. I like a dark, creamy tone. Of the many distortion pedals that I have owned, my favorite was the Big Muff. Of the many overdrive pedals that I have owned, my favorite was the TS-808 Tubescreamer.

Can anyone here comment on this new pedal? Or if you like, feel free to tell me about other pedals to consider.

I am not looking to play in a metal band anytime soon.

I just want a dirt pedal for a different sound on an occasional tune (a blues perhaps).

I've never tried any of the Fulldrive variants. I do have a Fulltone OCD, though, and I love it. Its main thing is that it doesn't color the guitar sound much, and when you turn the guitar volume down, it really cleans up, so it's more like playing through a cranked amp then most other OD's. All of 'em claim this, but the OCD actually delivers on that claim. It also offers a big range of gain (much more than a TS), so it can go from essentially a clean boost to screaming Marshall tones. I have some others, but I only use the OCD.

These are the others I've got (PM me if interested; I'd let any of 'em go cheap):

Butler RealTube -- uses a 12AX7 tube; sounds great, but fairly gritty/colored sounding. If you've ever heard a Tube Driver, it's the same thing, except the power supply is built in, instead of a wall wart. The big negative for me is that it has to run on AC; can't run on battery.
T-Rex Crunchy Frog -- a Tubescreamer with an additional level of clean boost available.
Danelectro Daddy-o -- also very Tubscreamer-like, but with a 3-band eq instead of a tone control and somewhat more gain.

John

**ruger9** · 03-20-2019, 05:29 PM

Keeping in mind this comes down PURELY to opinion....

I've had all the Fulldrives starting with the "toggle switch" version, so:

-custom shop fiesta red toggle switch
-powder blue toggle switch (2 of them)
-10th Anniversary MOSFET 1st run (with a breadboard inside)- this one sounded just like previous verisons
-10th Anniversary MOSFET later run (with the green PCB inside)- this one was brighter than previous versions
-newest MOSFET version (metallic blue)
-Fulldrive 3
-Fulldrive 1 (the newest one, only 1 footswitch)

...and my favorite, is the CS fiesta red/powder blue versions. The Fulldrives started getting brighter with the 10th Anni. PCB version, and the metallic blue version, then he went back to a warmer sound with FD3 and FD1.

Just my $0.02

My ONE problem with the Fulldrive circuit (the one I like, the pre-mosfet toggle switch version), is that there is not a whole lot of volume on tap... they aren't great as "dirty channels" (into a clean amp), but EXCEL at goosing an already-sweating tube amp. I had high hopes for FD3 and especially FD1 because I don't really use the boost feature, but nothing sounds as good to me as the old pre-mosfet/toggle switch version.

**jaco** · 03-20-2019, 08:13 PM

The only pedal of Mike's I didn't like was the UniVibe. But that's quite a different flavor.

**Stringswinger** · 03-20-2019, 08:25 PM

I have heard great things about the OCD and am considering that one as well, but the tone shaping possibilities of the new Fulldrive 2 have my interest. Most gigs are with one of my Solid State amps and so I want a pedal that does not need a tube amp to work well. On at least one of the Soundpure/Buscarino video demos, they use a Fulldrive 2 with an AI Clarus and it sounds pretty gig ready.

I am picturing ES-175 into the Fulldrive 2 into my AI Ten 2. Anyone foresee a problem with that rig?

**takauya** · 03-21-2019, 04:15 AM

Hmm, I don't think FD2 is meant for using with SS amps. You might like the tone (kinda harsh) but it's essentially a boost pedal for tube amps like any of TS type pedals. I didn't like the overdrive tone by itself (FD2 into a clean amp). Used ones are cheap enough so you might wanna try and see if you like. BTW, its boost function is useless when you turn the gain above 10 or 12 o'clock. I don't remember clearly but with the setting I used there was literally no volume bump with the boost on. And also as someone says it's a quiet pedal, not much volume.
I'm not a pedal guy so cant recommend any but many people seem to like Timmy with SS amps.

The one I had was an earlier pull boost version. I know the newer versions have different modes so they may do it better with SS amps.

**BComp61** · 03-21-2019, 10:07 AM

I've had an OCD for years as my main drive pedal and love it. Another pedal you might look into is the Rockett Blue Note....it's a pretty flexible OD.

**ruger9** · 03-22-2019, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by BComp61

I've had an OCD for years as my main drive pedal and love it. Another pedal you might look into is the Rockett Blue Note....it's a pretty flexible OD.

The Blue Note is quite possibly my favorite overdrive of all-time. But it has to be the "Pro" version (not the tour version) with the "Hot" switch... I use both low and high gain modes. I suspect the low gain mode is really just removing the clipping from the circuit, like the Fulldrive does in comp-cut mode.... and high gain mode isn't high, it's just standard (like the Fulldrive in FM mode)