Fulltone OCD vs. Catalinbread SFT

[CopperheadLXXIX]

Yes, did a search, listened to youtube & player clips and still undecided. Just wanted to get that out of the way.

Basically, I want a pedal that can do several things: I need a relative clean boost in case I just want to drive my amp's preamp into distortion territory. I would also like the pedal though to stand as its own overdrive/distortion if necessary. I'm after something smooth and tube-like, something that breaks up in a sweet kind of way, asymmetrical distortion and all that. No need for fuzz territory, I already have that covered. Low end retention isn't actually a factor here, although I hear both handle that well.

Anyway, I've pretty much narrowed it down to these two (OCD & SFT) but maybe need a little more input before deciding. Opinions? Anyone ever A/B'ed them?

[mr.bigglesworth]

The OCD is pretty heavy compared to the SFT.

[Valerus]

You want the SFT.
It goes from clean boost to tube-ish overdrive. The OCD is more harsh, meant for more balls-to-the-wall distortion.

[Jman2089]

I had the same problem. I spoke with Mike Fuller from fulltone. He suggested the fulltone fat boost 3. I picked one up. Perfect. I play a fender custom shop 5- jazz bass. My problem was going wireless to my pedals.
- octave
-envelope filter
-comp
-chorus
I lost the top end and the comp sucked the low end (keeley 2 knob)
I put the fat boost at the end. great tone, great bottom. nice little dirt to fat b-15 breakup. Almost didnt need my comp, but the jury is still out on the comp. I think you'll be very surprised as I was. From clean boost to a little dirt. Fat boost 3

[kenstee]

The only way you will know for sure is to A/B them with your own equipment. While other players opinions are nice input their taste, rigs, etc. are probably not identical to yours. So, it's of limited value to you. What you should do is get both of them from Tone Factor (tonefactor.com) or some other place. Then A/B them at your leisure and return the one you don't like as much for a full refund. There are plenty of places that carry them but Tone Factor has a 1-year return policy - just in case you are slow to make a decision. Other places typically have a 30 or 45 day return period. Obviously, "the loser" must be returned in mint condition. Your only cost for trying them both is the return postage for "the loser." In fact, if you time it right for your credit card billing cycle and make a fairly fast decision you'll have the refund for "the loser" on the same credit card bill as the original charge. Net..no out-of-pocket charges and no refund to wait for. Not a bad deal.

[Laurent]

I have tried both of these pedals and did not like them. To my ears the OCD is a guitar pedal and did not give me enough distortion. It just gave me a boost.
I did not care for the tone of the SFT.

What I would recommend is the Homebrew Hematoma.
It has a boost switch that does just this and it's got a distortion switch that just does distortion from mild to hot. The Fulltone bass drive does kind of the same thing but the two functions are not independant as they are on this pedal. In other words the boost of the Fulltone only works when the distortion is on.
I own both and they are quality products. The Pork Loin is tonaly very close to the Hematoma and that's a great pedal I would recommend.

Good luck with your quest!