8 out of 10
"Feature-packed overdrive with boutique quality at a great price"
Feature:
As far as overdrive pedals go, the Fulldrive offers many different useful features. The pedal offers typical level, gain, and tone controls, as well as a separate control for the boost function. The pedal has two switches; one, which offers a choice of Comp Cut, FM (flat mids), and Vintage, and another switch that chooses between Standard and Mosfet modes. The pedal also offers true-bypass switching. All of these features allow for many, many different flavors of overdrive.
Quality:
Fulltone is an exceptional effects company. All of their pedals are hand-built in the United States. I have other Fulltone pedals, and they all live up to the same quality expectation. The Fulldrive is extremely well built. The chassis is solid metal, and the switches feel very sturdy. The unit that I tested had great pots, and all of the knobs had a very strong feel to them.
Value:
The pedal is a great value. It offers very many features for its price. In the boutique market, it's rare to find hand-built pedals that offer the same level of quality in the same price range.
Sound:
The Fulldrive 2 Mosfet is an overdrive pedal with a ton of options to shape the sound. The foot-switchable boost is great for adding gain and a bit of volume to the standard overdrive circuit. The pedal is very flexible, and provides many different overdrive sounds. The overall characteristic of the pedal is similar to that of a Tubescreamer, but there are other options for changing the characteristic of the signal. The Mosfet switch adds some volume, and a bit more extension in the bass and highs, which tends to make the characteristic midrange hump of a Tubescreamer less prevalent. Overall, the pedal is great for coaxing low to medium gain tones.
Ease of Use:
The pedal is very easy to use. It does require some tweaking to get the sound that you are going for, but almost every setting is usable. If one is at all familiar with other overdrive pedals, then one should have no trouble with the Fulldrive.
Support:
N/A; I have not had to deal with Fulltone, but I have heard that they are flexible and offer prompt support if needed.
Overall:
The Fulldrive 2 Mosfet is a great choice for anyone who is looking for a versatile, feature-filled overdrive. I've had a Fulldrive 2 (non Mosfet) for the past couple of years, and I intend to replace it with the new Mosfet version. The Mosfet switch adds a lot to the sound, and really gives the pedal a lot more versatility.
Submitted: 08/17/2009
Style of Music: Alternative, Electro, Shoegaze
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