Fulltone Ocd Overdrive
Ivan Milenkovic
Oct 5 2009, 09:32 PM
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Hey everybody, welcome to another review from me, this time Fulltone OCD pedal. This pedal is gaining on popularity ever since it came on the market, and it is already becoming somewhat of a standard and point of reference for many players because of it's unique tone.

so let's see what's all the fuss about shall we?


Brand: Fulltone
Model: Obsessive-Compulsive Drive (OCD)
Version: 4
Price: ~150$ (5.10.09 reference date)
Picture (version 4 on picture)




How did I get this pedal:

First I bought Fulltone FullDrive 2 MOSFET, which is a nice pedal, but for the price, it's overrated, too strong mids, very low distortion and boost isn't working nicely. Then I swapped with some guy for this one, and I was glad I did, it's a keeper, and let's find out why..

OCD versions:
This pedal was made in 4 versions, each having some improvements in the circuit, and slightly different tone. The initial version was too bassy and edgy, with somewhat scooped mids, version 2 corrected the problem a bit, version 3 got even stronger mids, and version 4 has the transparent sound of all with greatest amount of harmonics. Cosmetic changes include red LED in version 4 as opposed to the blue one in past version. Two version that are considered best are 3 and 4, so definitely check them out if you have the chance.

LP and HP modes:

Fulltone makes and advertises this pedal as a tube emulation overdrive pedal, that can really nail a solid emulation of the the good old 18W Marshall combo's tone from the golder era of Marshall. I think this stomp's circuit is made to "remind" us about vintage amps when they had normal and bright channels on the amps. This pedal also has 2 mods similar to that concept:

- "LowPass" mode is more transparent and with bigger headroom suitable for boosting
- "HiPass" mode is more trebly, with more overdrive, helps cut through the mix better

Sound


Let's talk a bit about the sound of the pedal. If I could describe the sound in one word it would be "rich". Rich with harmonics, fat, greasy sound that really makes wonders on a good all tube amp. This kind of design is definitely made for all tube amps, cause they bring out the best out of it. I think this pedal is extremely versatile one and can be served for boosting (+30dB), limited EQing (one tone knob x 2 modes), mild smooth overdriven tones, awesome gritty distortion tones and heavy fuzz-distorted tones on highest of settings. Pedal is true bypass as you would expect from a manufacturer.

What doesn't work well:


One thing that really doesn't work well on the pedal is when you push the gain knob past 3 o'clock. If you go further than that, it will add up the bass, become muddy, undefined, with a floppy low end. This is the only thing that this pedal is not very good at, but far from being bad. With proper control and some tweaking of other gear in the chain you can make some awesome interesting lead tones can be found for experimental/progressive music.

What works well:


The rest of the stomp's tone arsenal is awesome considering the price. Wetter you use it as booster, or overdrive pedal it will shine. Transparency of sound and dynamics response of the pedal is outstanding, giving you the full control over the tone. Pick light, OCD will clean up, pick strong, OCD will bark. Roll off the volume - instant clean; feed it with some booster/hi output pickups - get even more saturation.

Voltage:


OCD can run anywhere from 9 to 18V or DC power. This kind of a stretch is practical out of two reasons:

1. you don't have to think about voltage when connecting various voltages, OCD will accept any voltage from almost any stomp out there, so you can daisy chain to it (since the current draw is minimal)
2. (but not less important!) higher voltages enable OCD to have more headroom, so experimenting is definitely worth it.


Overall impression:


Great boutique stomp, a keeper, should be in every players arsenal. Hi quality pedal extremely versatile, rich in sound and responsive. The higher gain settings have and issue with a bit floppy low end, but if you control it well and adapt your gear a bit, it will behave nice. This pedal is not made to be cranked all the way all the time anyway, it serves to run your tubes even hotter, and it does hell of a job.

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Sensible Jones
Oct 5 2009, 09:34 PM
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Great review again Ivan!! I'll add it to the Wiki tomorrow!!!
biggrin.gif

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Ivan Milenkovic
Oct 5 2009, 09:51 PM
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Cool Jones, thanks mate! smile.gif

More reviews coming up

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ZakkWylde
Oct 5 2009, 10:04 PM
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Awesome in depth review Ivan!

I tried the Fulltone and it sounds great, really worth the price. One thing it's not good at is boosting an already hardly overdriven amp, it makes the sound thinner imho...

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Ivan Milenkovic
Oct 5 2009, 10:07 PM
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QUOTE (ZakkWylde @ Oct 5 2009, 11:04 PM) *
Awesome in depth review Ivan!

I tried the Fulltone and it sounds great, really worth the price. One thing it's not good at is boosting an already hardly overdriven amp, it makes the sound thinner imho...


Could be that it didn't work well with that particular setup and settings, usually works great as booster. But if the OCD was high on gain and so was the preamp on the amp that could lead to clashing of the two drives and producing unwanted sound.

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This post has been edited by Ivan Milenkovic: Oct 5 2009, 10:07 PM


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ZakkWylde
Oct 5 2009, 10:32 PM
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QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Oct 5 2009, 11:07 PM) *
Could be that it didn't work well with that particular setup and settings, usually works great as booster. But if the OCD was high on gain and so was the preamp on the amp that could lead to clashing of the two drives and producing unwanted sound.


Nah, I know how to set an overdrive up to just boost the signal biggrin.gif

I was testing it against a good old fashioned Tubescreamer and the OCD blew the tubescreamer away when crunching up a clean channel but I liked the boost of the tubescreamer more over a distorted amp.

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This post has been edited by ZakkWylde: Oct 5 2009, 10:32 PM


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- Ibanez Rg 8527 J Custom 7-String with DiMarzio Evolution and Air Norton

- Peavey 6505+ head with Marshall 1960AV 4x12 cab
- Peavey Vypyr 30 Practice Amp
- Dunlop Crybaby From Hell, Maxon OD808, Boss TU-2, MXR CarbonCopy, ISP Decimator, MXR Custom Audio Electronics Booster

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Ivan Milenkovic
Oct 5 2009, 11:01 PM
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QUOTE (ZakkWylde @ Oct 5 2009, 11:32 PM) *
Nah, I know how to set an overdrive up to just boost the signal biggrin.gif

I was testing it against a good old fashioned Tubescreamer and the OCD blew the tubescreamer away when crunching up a clean channel but I liked the boost of the tubescreamer more over a distorted amp.


Yeah, these two pedals are very different, this is why they react different. What was the distorted amp on the test?

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ZakkWylde
Oct 5 2009, 11:04 PM
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QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Oct 6 2009, 12:01 AM) *
Yeah, these two pedals are very different, this is why they react different. What was the distorted amp on the test?


A Marshall JVM and a Peavey 6505

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- Gibson Les Paul Custom Arctic White with EMG 81/85
- Ibanez Rg 8527 J Custom 7-String with DiMarzio Evolution and Air Norton

- Peavey 6505+ head with Marshall 1960AV 4x12 cab
- Peavey Vypyr 30 Practice Amp
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Ivan Milenkovic
Oct 6 2009, 01:14 AM
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QUOTE (ZakkWylde @ Oct 6 2009, 12:04 AM) *
A Marshall JVM and a Peavey 6505


I tested OCD on 6505+ as well, and I really didn't like the result too. These amps are too preamp-focused, very little headroom and with lots of overdrive there isn't any real need to add any extra grit, otherwise the sound will be too "all over the place", that's one of the ways I can describe it.
I think OCD really shines on vintage amps, but haven't had the chance to really test it on many amps so far. I know that both Marshall JMP's and Hiwatt DR103 work great with it, Fender Deluxe runs great with it as a booster too, but cranked Fender don't like the drive section of OCD neither as far as I could tell, cause Deluxe gets dirty very quickly.

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Alexiaden93
Oct 7 2009, 07:52 PM
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Very interesting and informative review, Ivan ! smile.gif I haven't really got down to buying pedals and effects yet, as I'm still working on my guitar (going to buy Seymour Duncan SHR-1 Hotrails for bridge and neck pickups) whose nut and truss need some tweaking.

Hopefully I will be able to experiment more with effects later in life when I have an income biggrin.gif

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Fran
Oct 7 2009, 08:09 PM
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Really cool review there Ivan smile.gif

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JVM
Oct 7 2009, 08:21 PM
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QUOTE (Ivan Milenkovic @ Oct 5 2009, 08:14 PM) *
I tested OCD on 6505+ as well, and I really didn't like the result too. These amps are too preamp-focused, very little headroom and with lots of overdrive there isn't any real need to add any extra grit, otherwise the sound will be too "all over the place", that's one of the ways I can describe it.
I think OCD really shines on vintage amps, but haven't had the chance to really test it on many amps so far. I know that both Marshall JMP's and Hiwatt DR103 work great with it, Fender Deluxe runs great with it as a booster too, but cranked Fender don't like the drive section of OCD neither as far as I could tell, cause Deluxe gets dirty very quickly.


Man, you're making me want a Deluxe all over again. With a nice OCD in front of it, few pedals, ooh thats sounding nice right now...

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Ivan Milenkovic
Oct 7 2009, 09:28 PM
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QUOTE (JVM @ Oct 7 2009, 09:21 PM) *
Man, you're making me want a Deluxe all over again. With a nice OCD in front of it, few pedals, ooh thats sounding nice right now...


Yeah man, I agree, Deluxe has a cherry sound.

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Ivan Zecic
Dec 6 2009, 12:58 PM
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Now I might want to try that pedal biggrin.gif

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ItsMe
Dec 9 2009, 01:55 PM
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Have it, love it

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Santiago Diaz Ga...
Dec 10 2009, 06:07 AM
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This pedal is awesome. I tried it some months ago and, MAN!, its versatility is amazing

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sted
Dec 10 2009, 10:30 PM
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I use one of these in front of my fender deluxe, its a great crunch sound that really sounds like brit overdrive, I use it on the clean channel and its great for stones, hendrix stuff, a real winner. It cant really do the really high gain thing with my amp so i have another true distortion pedal for that, maybe i should do a review on that pedal?!?

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Ivan Milenkovic
Dec 11 2009, 01:44 AM
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By all means do it mate, I'm interested to hearing your opinion about it. What's the pedal?

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