Discovering old friends again. Fulltone Content

[JasonE]

Since I have been off of work and playing with my new guitar, I have also been playing with some newer as well as older pedals I own. I have been on this journey of playing and plugging a bunch of things in these days. I pulled out a Fulltone Secret Freq pedal I have not had plugged in for a while. I remember not seeing many of these pedals around after it came out. Looking on Reverb, there are only 5 of them on there. I forgot how good this pedal is. I have had some good fun playing with this pedal today. I am glad I opened up the case to my backup pedal board. That is where the pedal was. I haven't touched that board in good while.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Since I have been off of work and playing with my new guitar, I have also been playing with some newer as well as older pedals I own. I have been on this journey of playing and plugging a bunch of things in these days. I pulled out a Fulltone Secret Freq pedal I have not had plugged in for a while. I remember not seeing many of these pedals around after it came out. Looking on Reverb, there are only 5 of them on there. I forgot how good this pedal is. I have had some good fun playing with this pedal today. I am glad I opened up the case to my backup pedal board. That is where the pedal was. I haven't touched that board in good while.

Tell me about it. How you use it, how it sounds, etc. I came VERY close to buying one. I bought 3-4 other models a couple years ago and had that in the cart more than once (buying direct and many times his “seconds).”

 

[JasonE]

Tell me about it. How you use it, how it sounds, etc. I came VERY close to buying one. I bought 3-4 other models a couple years ago and had that in the cart more than once (buying direct and many times his “seconds).”

I was playing it straight into a clean amp along with the Halo. I was running the gain at about half way up. I had the Freq at about 1 o'clock. The High at noon. I would have to pull out my OCD to compare the two but my first impression is this has more gain than the OCD. I was playing around with both the Freq and High settings through two different amps. It cleans up nicely with a guitar volume adjustment. It also does things I like when the gain is down around 8 to 9 o'clock. I find the pedal to have nice tone through the gain knob.

I tend to use my drive pedals into a clean amp. The amp I have gigged with pretty much exclusively for the past 8 years is a Marsh The Springfield. It is a hand wired Vibrolux Reverb with some modifications to the circuit. It has a fantastic clean tone to it. That is what sold me on it. I heard it in the shop and immediately fell in love with the clean tones it has. It has a pair of 10" Ragin Cajun speakers in it. I had thought about trying a set of cream backs or green backs in the amp but these speakers just deliver the goods. I figured anything else would be spending money on something I am not sure I would like any better.

I did run the pedal into my Twin Sister as well. It did well in that amp but sounds different due to the nature of that amp.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

Fulltone was pushing it's ability to do a "cocked wah" sound, the way it sounds when you cranked up one freq. on a graphic EQ, and referenced the Boston sound in the ads for this pedal. Thoughts on that aspect?

 

[JasonE]

Fulltone was pushing it's ability to do a "cocked wah" sound, the way it sounds when you cranked up one freq. on a graphic EQ, and referenced the Boston sound in the ads for this pedal. Thoughts on that aspect?

I think it actually does that fairly well. If you crank that Freq knob it definitely takes on a bit of that wah sound. I may have to give that a drive again to get a real reminder of it. I played around with about everything the pedal did over the weekend.

 

[Bogner]

I Love When That Happens. It Is Like Free Shopping With No Shipping Concerns.

 

[JasonE]

I Love When That Happens. It Is Like Free Shopping With No Shipping Concerns.

I should definitely pull out some OD pedals that I haven't had out for a while. I have a policy that if I bought an OD and I really liked it I keep it. I know that even though I decided to go with something different today, there will be a day when the sound that pedal makes is the sound I am looking for. I have cycled back through my Red Dirt a number of times. I have one of the earlier versions. I seem to rediscover that pedal ever so many years. I run 3 to 4 OD pedals on my board most of the time. I like having the different sounds on the board as well as stacking them.

I have one OD that I was not getting along with at all. I was going to peddle it but then I plugged it into the front of my Mesa Roadster. Wow! This peal was made for that amp. I can't stand it in front of my Fender circuits. I recently pulled it out again and plugged it into the front of my Marsh. Yep, didn't like it. I still have it out. I will try it with the Twin Sister to see if it works with that amp. If it doesn't, I may actually sell it this time around. It is the VS-XO OD from Visual Sound (TrueTone). I dug it out to compare it to the KOT clone I built. I haven't done that yet.

 

[MDD59]

I should definitely pull out some OD pedals that I haven't had out for a while. I have a policy that if I bought an OD and I really liked it I keep it. I know that even though I decided to go with something different today, there will be a day when the sound that pedal makes is the sound I am looking for. I have cycled back through my Red Dirt a number of times. I have one of the earlier versions. I seem to rediscover that pedal ever so many years. I run 3 to 4 OD pedals on my board most of the time. I like having the different sounds on the board as well as stacking them.

I have one OD that I was not getting along with at all. I was going to peddle it but then I plugged it into the front of my Mesa Roadster. Wow! This peal was made for that amp. I can't stand it in front of my Fender circuits. I recently pulled it out again and plugged it into the front of my Marsh. Yep, didn't like it. I still have it out. I will try it with the Twin Sister to see if it works with that amp. If it doesn't, I may actually sell it this time around. It is the VS-XO OD from Visual Sound (TrueTone). I dug it out to compare it to the KOT clone I built. I haven't done that yet.

Love the VSXO! Tweaked Tube Screamer and the Nobles ODR-1 in one box!

 

[László]

Since I have been off of work and playing with my new guitar, I have also been playing with some newer as well as older pedals I own. I have been on this journey of playing and plugging a bunch of things in these days. I pulled out a Fulltone Secret Freq pedal I have not had plugged in for a while. I remember not seeing many of these pedals around after it came out. Looking on Reverb, there are only 5 of them on there. I forgot how good this pedal is. I have had some good fun playing with this pedal today. I am glad I opened up the case to my backup pedal board. That is where the pedal was. I haven't touched that board in good while.

It's a great pedal. I had one.

 

[Tucson Thump]

Fulltone was pushing it's ability to do a "cocked wah" sound, the way it sounds when you cranked up one freq. on a graphic EQ, and referenced the Boston sound in the ads for this pedal. Thoughts on that aspect?

They did have a pedal called the Wahful which allowed you to dial in a frequency via knobs, although you could plug in an expression pedal to make it act like a regular wah. Robin Trower asked for it and they created some.

 

[JasonE]

Love the VSXO! Tweaked Tube Screamer and the Nobles ODR-1 in one box!

Is the left side the Nobles circuit? I have a build in progress that is a clone of the Nobles. I have not had one of those yet, well, at least I didn't think I did.

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

They did have a pedal called the Wahful which allowed you to dial in a frequency via knobs, although you could plug in an expression pedal to make it act like a regular wah. Robin Trower asked for it and they created some.

Yes, I considered that one as well because as much as I've tried, I've never been much of a wah user, but like some of the things you can do with it. The Michael Schenker thing is what I'd use that pedal for!

 

[JasonE]

Yes, I considered that one as well because as much as I've tried, I've never been much of a wah user, but like some of the things you can do with it. The Michael Schenker thing is what I'd use that pedal for!

I got to see him in Detroit many years ago. I worked in a neighboring town from where I lived back then. All of the musicians were very into Schenker back then. The guys in the town I lived in almost didn't even know who he was. It was a strange thing. The towns were only about a 30 minute drive apart.

 

[Bogner]

I should definitely pull out some OD pedals that I haven't had out for a while. I have a policy that if I bought an OD and I really liked it I keep it. I know that even though I decided to go with something different today, there will be a day when the sound that pedal makes is the sound I am looking for. I have cycled back through my Red Dirt a number of times. I have one of the earlier versions. I seem to rediscover that pedal ever so many years. I run 3 to 4 OD pedals on my board most of the time. I like having the different sounds on the board as well as stacking them.

I have one OD that I was not getting along with at all. I was going to peddle it but then I plugged it into the front of my Mesa Roadster. Wow! This peal was made for that amp. I can't stand it in front of my Fender circuits. I recently pulled it out again and plugged it into the front of my Marsh. Yep, didn't like it. I still have it out. I will try it with the Twin Sister to see if it works with that amp. If it doesn't, I may actually sell it this time around. It is the VS-XO OD from Visual Sound (TrueTone). I dug it out to compare it to the KOT clone I built. I haven't done that yet.

Get A Peper's Dirty Tree For Your Roadster. It Is Absolutely Incredible For Rectifiers. I Hear You On Saving Stuff You Like For That Day When It Comes. Those Key Tones We Discover And Love Usually Never Leave Us Even If We Do Wander Away From Them Every Now And Then.

 

[JasonE]

I have a Fulltone PlimSoul around here in the box somewhere. I should pull that out and plug that one back in too. I remember really liking that pedal years ago for some of those Skynyrd sounds.

 

[László]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I just found out Fulltone is back, now partnering with Jackson Ampworks.

I was the last to know that Fulltone ceased doing business, and I guess I'm the last to know they started up again. Nonetheless, I'm delighted they're back!

There are lots of great pedal companies doing new, interesting things. There are lots of pedal companies making gear that's perfect for most of my studio work. My pedalboard is loaded with that stuff.

But you know what?

Sometimes I want to kick on an old-school pedal that reminds me of those great records and that great gear I grew up with, and no pedal on the market does old-school as well as Fulltone. They sound great, they're well made, and they kick serious ass.

So now I'm going to rectify the error of selling off some of my Fulltone gear, put together a small board with a selection of the stuff I miss owning, and run it alongside my current board. It'll be choice stuff, but I haven't finalized my thinking yet.

"You'll be adding another Schmidt Array then, you maniac?"

"Certainly."

"Why?"

"Because I can."

"But Mike Fuller..."

"Just stop. All of my interactions with Mike have been friendly and positive. I like the guy. He also has the best ears in the business for the classic gear he builds. I'm more than happy to buy his stuff."

 

[SteveGlitch]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I just found out Fulltone is back, now partnering with Jackson Ampworks.

I was the last to know that Fulltone ceased doing business, and I guess I'm the last to know they started up again. Nonetheless, I'm delighted they're back!

I laughed a bit when fulltone went out of business and people scrambled to swarm and poach Fulltone pedals. It was just a funny thing to see and interesting how it all went down. I remember telling you guys about the pedals I tried to get back from my church, a few of those were Fulltone pedals. The only Fulltone pedal I really bonded with was the Fulldrive 2 Mosfet. In fact, I still miss that thing, I feel like there's nothing I played like that since then.

Anyway, from the moment Fulltone announced they were closing the doors, I pretty much knew it was only a matter of time before they were "back in business" so to speak.

You see, we are living in an era, a generation, where comebacks are the king of marketing. Just look at Cobra Kai, it started this whole trend in the TV shows/movie industry so now we get a whole bunch of revivals for stuff we watched when we were kids. Top Gun, Mortal Kombat, GOOD Burger, etc.

There's no way companies like JHS, Wampler and Jackson Audio will let other pedal companies go out of business. They can put together 1 fund raiser at this point and probably figure out how to fund that company for 3 years. They're smart people with resources.



I have no interest in Fulltone pedals anymore, they're just so much on the market that I couldn't really care less if they're here or gone. I guess if one pedal from them did interest me, it would be the Hi-Mu Distortion pedal, which has a unique sound to it

 

[László]

You see, we are living in an era, a generation, where comebacks are the king of marketing. Just look at Cobra Kai, it started this whole trend in the TV shows/movie industry so now we get a whole bunch of revivals for stuff we watched when we were kids. Top Gun, Mortal Kombat, GOOD Burger, etc.

Steve, for all I know you're spot-on about the marketing thinking, but that stuff doesn't affect my life. On the other hand, if I meet a client's expectations, it's a win.

Some of the gear I've used over the years has made working with my ad music clients a little easier. They can be pretty picky about the tone they want, even if they can only put it into words by referencing a song they like.

Mike's pedals have been a great choice on countless ad music tracks I've done over the last 30-odd years.

As you might expect, they're not the only solution, but in my line of work, it's good to have Fulltone back.

 

[SteveGlitch]

Steve, for all I know you're spot-on about the marketing thinking, but that stuff doesn't affect my life. On the other hand, if I meet a client's expectations, it's a win.

Some of the gear I've used over the years has made working with my ad music clients a little easier. They can be pretty picky about the tone they want, even if they can only put it into words by referencing a song they like.

Mike's pedals have been a great choice on countless ad music tracks I've done over the last 30-odd years.

As you might expect, they're not the only solution, but in my line of work, it's good to have Fulltone back.

I loved the Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and the OCD back I'm the day. I'm nearly 45 now, thatmust have been when I was in my early 20's maybe

 

[László]

I loved the Fulldrive 2 Mosfet and the OCD back I'm the day. I'm nearly 45 now, thatmust have been when I was in my early 20's maybe

When I was in my early 20s music hadn't been invented. In fact, speech hadn't been invented.

If we wanted something, we just pointed to it, jumped up and down, and said, "Oooot, ooot!"