Fulltone 2b Vs Ep Booster

[Hasan Fogg]

Ibought a fulltone OCD a while back because I am desperately in love with the LP mode on it. This pedal made me decide to start using pedals again. Anyway, my amp of choice these days is a Rivera R30. I know this is not exactly a true tube amp since it does have a SS rectifier or whatever but I'm having some issues with the OCD when the gain is cranked.

My settings are something like this; OCD is set to the LP mode with Volume at 2:30 and the gain is set at 2:30. I like to keep my dirt really warm and smooth so I set the tone knob somewhere between 11:30 and 12:30 typically. On the Rivera R30 I'm typically set fairly clean. Something like a blackface deluxe when it starts to compress a bit but way before it begins to break up. When I turn the OCD gain up to like 3:30 or higher it makes the amp like loose all definition and clarity in the highs and lows. Actually it takes on a kind of fuzz like sound but lacking the kind of buzzy highs--thats the best way I can describe it.

Anyway, I have decided that I like the OCD enough that I can live with it as a part of my rig even if this is some flaw in using this amp and pedal combination. The way I want to remedy this is by running a booster in front of the OCD so that my SRV strat will really hit the input a bit harder and give me a bit more sustain. I know Boosters are a pretty hot boutique kind of pedal right now but I'm considering a couple of options.

I wouldn't mind using a compressor to get the signal level boosted and evened out a bit before it hits the OCD. I don't actually have one to give a whirl with but I've tried out a Dyna Comp before and though it's not the most transparent pedal I could use it in the chain before the OCD without much hassle.

I guess what I'm really scared of is getting another boutique pedal and finding out that boosting the input on the OCD might still lead to the same mud/loss of clarity that occurs when I turn the gain knob up.

I know does seem a bit crazy to be doing that--I've been running my YJM 308 into the OCD when I'm horsing around in my bedroom but on a gig I think it just sounds to censoredty to be doing that. The 308 just has this bass cut thing going on I hate. Makes whatever you plug into it sound so thin that you'd swear your speakers were made of notebook paper.

how bout a Fulltone Fulldrive II w/Mosfet or a Bad Monkey? Both are pretty decent. The FFD II will cost you about $161 and the Bad Monkey about $50. A lot of guys run two tubescreamers at the same time to get a different type of distortion. I think the main reason is because it boosts your sustain quite a bit and is a clearer type sounding distortion...

Well I appreciate all the advice. I think I'm gonna pickup a compressor first just because I'd like to have one available on the board anyway. Later on when I get the dough I'll get myself a fulldrive II or maybe even a tube screamer. I have never cared for the tubescreamer all that much, but running the OCD after it may not be so bad. BTW I have the version 4 OCD.

FD2 and other TS clones sound great in front of an OCD. So does the Zendrive. However, placing the pedals the other way around - the OCD before the other pedal - lets you clean up better when backing off the gtr vol knob.

A fatboost/Katana will work great after the OCD. I agree about using an ts808 type pedal in front of the OCD. Set the TS to high level and lower gain and it'll push the OCD into a thicker tone with endless sustain. The Fulldrive II in compcut was great for that.

The input capacitor is a .001 which limits much bass going into the pedal. Try changing it to .003 or .005 for a fuller sound. You can also roll off scratchy highs by putting a capacitor across two of the legs of the volume pot. Try a .002 for that.

I'm using the HP mode now and that seems to have helped with the problem. Part of my beef is I used to be more of a shred type player and I've been making the transition to more bluesy territory. Correct me if I am wrong but high gain makes it so easy to play a guitar. I go through phases where I'm like why don't I have any sustain!

The HP setting sounds really good with a strat through my rivera set to a clean tone. I don't have any of the farting problems, can run the gain at 10 and use the tone controls to get a consistent tone even when the pedal is off.

Look at my gear list and ask me if I care if it's solid state or not. SS rectifiers do make the amp react differently to dynamics. I guess thats not really tonality but dynamics. Regardless--I prefer tube warmth and could care less if the amp has an SS or Tube rectifier provided it gives me the dyanmics I like.

I picked up a used Fulltone Fulldrive 2 last week (one of the new-ish ones with the three-way toggle for Comp-Cut/FM/VIntage), and tried it out at a gig on Friday night. Now, I love the basic OD tone from this - sounds very natural, doesn't suck all the bass out, and it's very responsive. However, I was a little disappointed with the Boost setting, in that there's not really much of a volume increase when you kick it in in FM or Vintage modes. A GAIN increase, yes, but very little extra volume, and certainly not enough to lift it for solos.

If the boost circuit comes before the OD circuit, this is pretty much what I'd expect, since it's the OD circuit that feels the effect of the boost, not the amp, whether it's boosting volume or gain. Since the OD has its own volume control, that will end up regulating how much of the volume boost comes through- crank it right up and there will be some volume increase, but not as much as if you were to switch the order and put the boost after the OD (but no, I don't know whether this is possible with the FullDrive). Some OD/Boost pedals allow you to switch the order- the GT-500 does it, as does the Toadworks Death Rattle...

In order to make this happen you cannot run the 1st stage much higher then 10 o'clock, otherwise two things will happen, you will not get much more gain out of the boost mode and the volume will not be that much louder.

ANother thing you can do is play with your guitar volume around 7, and if you find you do not have enough volume still at least you can add some on the fly. I used to be a player with everything on 10, I have learned over time and getting frustrated that having the tone and volume controls set a bit lower allows for more flexability, especially when playing live.

The fulldrive is a very similar circuit to the TS-808, with a clipping diode switch that goes between 3 settings, the FM (mosfet clipping) Vintage (regular silicon diodes) and comp cut (no diodes) this is a very common mod to 808 circuits, landgraff made this popular, although he used LED's instead of the mosfets.

Another common mod done to 808 circuits is to replace the standard 500k gain pot with a 1m, doubling the value and basically doubling the gain. On the fulldrive, the standard part of the OD circuit contains the 500k pot, while hitting the "boost" stomper switches to a 1m gain pot. This does give more volume, but it's not really "output" volume, it's just an increase in gain.

If you set the boost knob to 12 o'clock (roughly, if it's an audio taper pot it might be a little before or after 12) and crank the gain knob all the way up, they should sound basically the same when you switch between the two.

It's not really a bad feature, but it is a bit of a gimmick, or at least the marketing of it as a "boost" is a gimmick. It just allows you to switch between two different settings of the gain knob, it's not a true boost.

Actually I'm running the 1st stage at around 9 o'clock, but still not seeing much of a volume boost - there's a little, but not enough for a solo boost. I also own a Carl Martin Hot Drive and Boost Mk2, plus a Dano Wasabi AO1, both of which have more than enough headroom to boost for solos - I guess they must be post-OD. I prefer the OD on the Full-Drive though...

That sucks. Mine has a huge boost but then again I have the original version so perhaps they made them differently back then. Actually, mine is one of the first blue ones and instead of a pull comp cut feature it has a pull boost for only the boost channel. It is so loud however that I never use it as it works fine without it. I think this was a short run (a few months max) before they switched to the comp cut version.

That was the reason I sold mine...but as irony finds me...it's the reason why I want another one....so if you don't like your mosfet fd2, I might take it off your hands...or if you know anyone that is looking to sell theirs.

It's one of the reasons I've kept my FD2, you can use it as a double overdrive or a light od/solo boost. I've even used the comp cut boost mode as a solo booster for other overdrives (leave it in comp cut red channel on all the time and hit the footswitch for solos).

All this talk has me wanting to go fiddle with mine some more. I mostly use comp cut and it's great by itself as a much clearer tube screamer or as a boost after another od. I'll try setting my knobs lower and see what that does. So far I really don't use fm or vintage much.

If your setting the 1st stage around 9, try setting the level to about 12. You should either be at unity gain or slightly above it. Set the boost side to about 10 or 11, I'd really be surprised if it doesn't tear your head off.

A rangemaster - there's more than a few versions and variations kicking around - this one gives you 8 selectable input caps (use the ones in the build docs or add your own flavours!). A really versatile treble booster than runs on a stand 9V Negative ground input (just like 99.9% of all modern pedals!)

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