BB or Fulltone ???

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Geiri

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Has anyone tried both the bb preamp and the fulltone fulldrive. Can anybody give a rundown on the differences.

Thanks

Geiri
 
I've never tried the bb preamp, but i have tried several overdrives, and trust me when i say you wont be disappointed with the ocd.
 
I've got both. The Fulldrive is more traditional Tube Screamer, BB is more crunchy with pronounced low mids, sort of a Marshall voice. I like them both. I tend to use the BB more for rhytym and the Fulldrive more for leads.
 
Have you been using YouTube to check out pedal demos?

These are my favorite guys....

OCD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ3iumBEvCE

BB:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt8h_r_DIUk
 
For those bringing up the OCD.....the poster is talking about the Fulldrive.



I am going to suggest the Fulldrive....it has a nicer midrange to my ears.
 
I can't speak to the BB, but the Fulldrives I have experience with. First, it depends on whether you are talking about the Fulldrive, the Fulldrive 2, or the Fulldrive MOSFET versions. The MOSFET's circuitry can also be found in the overdrive section of the GT-500, another Fulltone pedal.

Usually when people talk about the Fulldrive these days, they are referring to the Fulldrive 2 version, which is the biggest seller. fjs1962 mentioned that he thought the BB was more Marshall-esque, but that it had pronounced low mids. I found that statement a bit confusing to me, since Marshalls are known for having pronounced high mids, versus, say, the Rectos, which are famous for more low mids than are useable sometimes.

The Fulldrive 2 is a very warm sounding pedal, meaning the highs are not particularly overpowering and lending more of a beefier tone to higher notes during solos without sounding harsh or brassy like a Recto on Modern can. I noticed that your signature states that you have a Stilletto Trident, so this shouldn't be a problem for you anyway.

The Fulldrive 2 can also have too much in the low mids if the tone isn't dialed in carefully, though on a Stilletto, again, this won't be as much of a problem. For EL34 amps, the Fulldrive 2 can actually provide a nice balancing tone for those who find the brightness of the EL34's a little too stark. This is especially true for those interested in playing full, rounded blues and jazz tones on their EL34-equipped amp.

Two potential drawbacks of the Fulldrive 2 (as opposed to, say, a Tube Screamer variant) are that: 1) it won't tighten up your bass, and may even add more mud, meaning that really heavy, powerful chugs are harder to achieve with it, and 2) the solo tone can begin to sound a bit "smothered" if you're playing through a darker-sounding guitar like a Les Paul or certain PRS's because of the Fulldrive 2's lack of punch in the mids and high mids, roughly 700 Hz to 3 KHz. It's nothing an EQ can't easily fix.

Overall, the Fulldrive 2 is an extremely warm and natural-sounding overdrive when the gain isn't maxed out. It might just be the perfect solution to someone playing a thin-bodied ash or maple guitar through an EL34-powered amp, where the lows can lack fullness and warmth and the highs can be a bit strident. It also works phenomenally well through the clean channel when set to provide a modest boost with just a smidgen of gain. In fact, the pedal alone when used this way can sometimes produce a better-sounding blues tone than many tube amps' crunch channel set up the same way.

If you are wanting something more typically Marshall-sounding, the OCD is a very nice choice. However, it, too, like the Fulldrives, produces more of a full-range response than any of the more common Tube Screamer clones, so sometimes the bass frequencies of the pedal have to be tamed a bit to avoid mud. Also, be aware that the OCD has enough on-board gain to function both as an overdrive and as a flat-out distortion pedal, so the gain must be used judiciously if you are running it in front of your amp's dirty channels.
 
Thank you guys and especially you chris.

Very thorough and informative. I have tried the ocd with the stiletto and didn't like it due to it's lack of punch in the mids. Then there is the sparkle drive. Any one have any expirience with that ? I'm currently using a mxrZW od and well I could do with something a little less brittle. But I found the ZW better suited to my playing style than the ocd and thus am curious about the voodoo labs sparkle drive. I've read nice things about it as I did the OCD but never actually tried it.

All comments and knowledge are welcome.
 
I am really digging my BB recently. The OCD is better than most and I have it on my pedalboard but I have been defaulting to my BB more and more lately. If you get a BB I think you'll find that it adds a lot of overdrive even with the gain dialed low.

I like the OCD and BB better than my Analogman KOT and my Tubescreamer but I go in cycles with the tubescreamer so next month I'll be raving about it but today my ears have TS9 Fatigue. The KOT pedal has a 2 year waiting list to order and I like it but not with a DR.
 
I really don't want to thorw you a curve here but I am using the Full Drive 2 Mosfet and OCD together. For me this has opened up a whole new overdrive zone. Not only do I get some amazing sustain but the end result has given me the best of both worlds. They DO work well together.
 
The BB Preamp seems more compressed to my ears in comparison to the more open sounding Fulltone Fulldrive or OCD in my opinion.
 
I have the BB Preamp and the OCD v4 in my rig. If I could only have one it would be the BB but I use both for different things. The BB is VERY transparent when set with the gain at about 9:30. Makes a great boost for clean and gain channels. I use the OCD with more gain to get AC/DC - like sounds ( works very will with Channel 2 on the roadster )

Good Luck
 
I have both and I find they go to similar territory in terms of single note lead playing. The BB strangely (to my ears) seems a little more versatile than the FD2 even though the FD2 has a boost and compcut.

The BB doesn't sound as mushy overall and has more chime to the sound, but the FD2 has a certain openness and clarity in single note playing that I haven't yet heard in another overdrive pedal.

Get them both and you can cover pretty much most overdrive sounds.
 
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