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Ol’ reliable Fulltone Full-Drive 2 gets rebooted
The Full-Drive 2 V2 may be smaller, but it’s every bit as awesome as its predecessors.
Over the years we’ve seen many iterations of the Full-Drive pedal, and we’re about to get another one—not that we’re complaining. Based around the classic ’90s-era Full-Drive 2 and the JRC4558 chip, the new Full-Drive 2 V2 offers versatility in a compact chassis.
Right off the bat you’ll notice that this stompbox has two overdrive channels, both of which have individually adjustable “Volume” and “Drive” knobs. The former takes the form of a tiny black dial on the right side of the unit—not the most intuitive placement, but it contributes to the smaller size of the FD2 V2.
However, the new pedal beats out the older variants where versatility is concerned.
Where the iconic blue box has one channel with an additional boost stage, this unit removes the latter altogether. Instead, you have a separate channel as well as six mini toggle switches to voice your OD.
The left switch offers: Comp-Cut (removes clipping diodes); Flat Mids (feeds signal back onto the clipping diode); and Vintage (traditional ’90s asymmetrical clipping). And the right switch offers: Wide (combines MOSFET and Schottky diodes); Standard (traditional Full-Drive 2 tone); and Half-Clipped (clips top of waveform). It’s a decent step up from the Full-Drive 2, which only provides four sound options to pick from.
No surprises where footswitches are concerned, either. The right toggles between drive channels and the left offers true bypass. The latter uses Fulltone’s “No-Pop” circuit, too, which eliminates most of the popping sounds associated with such pedals at high volumes. And, running at either nine or 18 volts, the FD V2 ought to fit seamlessly onto most pedalboards.
The Fulltone Full-Drive 2 V2 is estimated to launch later this month. More information at fulltone.com.