Fulltone Mosfet Bass Drive

thetawaves · #1 04-11-2009, 10:37 AM

Did a search and I don't think anyone's done a review as such for it yet, so here goes!

I was lucky enough to get this for christmas, my folks had gone to New York (with money & shopping list for some new strings/leads etc.) for a seasonal holiday when the exchange rate was about 2:1. Imagine my surprise when I opened up a "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE OUTSIDE OF USA" pedal. I'm quite surprised they don't sell it over the pond but hey, it's nice to be a fortunate minority

First impressions: This thing is hellish substancial, the knobs are well set and potentially large enough to be altered by foot on the fly. The foot switches are well placed at the bottom of the face and the finer switches (put betweet the knobs at the top) are best set before a gig and left.

I set everthing flat and plugged in (Warwick corvette $$ and a trace elliot combo) and was astounded at the bass response once you start putting up the gain. The most infuriating thing I have found when using distortion pedals at gigs is that all the rich bass tone you've painstakingly cultivated suddenly disappears in a world of fuzz and treble...leaving the drummer wondering where his rhythm buddy has gone and the guitarist wondering why he's suddenly got a lower-octave double. Definitely not the case for this pedal, and from various reviews of the original, I'm guessing Fulltone should be given a hug for a job well done.

There are actually two channels of distortion (notice the two footswitches). The first channel is a straight overdrive, with the left hand (compcut/vintage) 3-way switch allowing you to switch between a none-compressed “CompCut”, a light/medium overdrive or a full vintage tone for a more clipped low-mid/bass sound. The right hand (standard/mosfet) 2-way switch gives you a choice between germanium and silicon diodes (soft or hard clipping distortion respectively) which is oddly dubbed “mosfet” or “standard”. The tone knob gives a sound ranging from low-down growl to piercing high end for those harmonic squeals, whilst the overdrive knob gives a full range of gain from a slight grit to all out distortion. Then there’s the boost function, this is interesting in that as soon as you hit the right hand foot switch you have increased sustain, overdrive and potentially unwanted feedback. This is adjustable via the “boost” dial, and a wee bit of toying with both this and the tone control swiftly eradicated the feedback. The boost function struck me as being quite a nice feature for being able to go between two completely different sounds without having to mess about with settings mid-gig.

Personally I opted for having the pedal set at vintage/mosfet as CompCut sound seems to let loose a hoarde of horrible feedback (this may be due to the high-output on my bass, but crikey it was an earful) and the standard added an over-harsh higher end to my sound.

There is some serious fun to be had sticking all the gain on full and pulling endless harmonics, but even with a mere touch of distortion this adds a lovely texture to my tone (think Audioslave: Tim Commerford) definitely a keeper, and sounds incredible with a decent wah pedal!

I found this to be quite a handful of options from a single overdrive pedal, so tinker to your hearts’ content and there’s bound to be something for you here.

b to g is yummy · #2 04-11-2009, 11:53 AM

Thanks for the review bud. I just got this pedal a bit ago, but it's just the Bassdrive, not the Mosfet model.

Do you use the Mosfet mode, or just the Standard toggle setting?

It does seem to me like mine sucks some low end, which I don't like. Other than that, this thing is groovy. It like to hear Mosfet/Standard A/B'ed to know whether it'd be worth the extra cash for the Mosfet model.

Thanks all

thetawaves · #3 04-11-2009, 12:09 PM

I use the Mosfet mode usually, I must admit I haven't tried the original pedal but I've found the low end is pretty well intact with this pedal...even in Standard. I'll get some sound clips up once I get home! Pretty excited because I should have a newly arrived Boss BF-3 waiting for me as well

b to g is yummy · #4 04-11-2009, 12:13 PM

Awesome! Sound clips would be super. There's a lot of talk in this forum, and not enough walk

JimmyM · #5 04-11-2009, 08:40 PM

You didn't have an option for "pretty good," so I chose "carrots." Fell a little short of brilliant but it was much better than so-so.

b to g is yummy · #6 04-14-2009, 03:10 PM

Does anybody know if the Bassdrive and the Mosfet versions are exactly the same in normal mode? Could it be that the Mosfet's normal version holds down the lows better than the older model or is the Mosfet just a bassdrive with an extra option?

mtto · #7 04-14-2009, 03:35 PM

I really like mine. I have the Mosfet version. So far I've only used it with a battery. Has anyone tried different voltage power supplies, 18v instead of 9v?

thetawaves · #8 05-28-2009, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b to g is yummy

Awesome! Sound clips would be super. There's a lot of talk in this forum, and not enough walk

Unfortunately I seem to be having a 9V battery shortage and in noodling around with my new Boss Flanger I slightly scavenged them from everything. I'll get one up as soon as I get to my local

fitz420 · #9 05-28-2009, 12:57 PM

sounded great in my garage by myself. as soon as i got it into a mix, it seemed like it got lost. i felt like it lost some low end, imho. used it for a month on maybe 8 gigs and sold it.

b to g is yummy · #10 05-28-2009, 02:34 PM

I'll be patient

burno70 · #11 05-28-2009, 05:29 PM

I had one of these for a year or so and loved it. I thought I could hear low end loss with the other settings but comp-cut is outstanding.

In the end I sold it on to free up space for more pedals and replaced it with a HyperPak which I felt wasn't any where near as good.

Crabby · #12 05-28-2009, 10:21 PM

I have a non Mosfet version. it does lose a little lows but I find this is not noticable at all if the volume is up at least halfway. I use the FM mode and my bandmates love it. Seems like its not as popular as was a few years ago bit I have yet to try another bass overdrive that sounds as good.

Fetzu · #13 05-29-2009, 07:14 AM

The Fulltone is a great, versatile pedal. I, too, did notice slight low end loss. I used mainly CompCut and FM modes, with 9v of power. Great tone.
My only negative is its size, takes up to much space on a smaller/PT Mini-type board.
FWIW I love my Electronix GeminiDrive. Small and BadAss!

paul_s · #14 05-29-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtto

I really like mine. I have the Mosfet version. So far I've only used it with a battery. Has anyone tried different voltage power supplies, 18v instead of 9v?

18V works alright. I was A/Bing it and a 9V transformer, there didn't seem to be much difference to my ears. 18V seems a bit clearer or something; any difference is pretty subtle.