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MusicChad · October 30th, 2009, 03:18 PM

Hey all!

I've been running a V4 OCD at 18 volts for quite a while now and absolutely LOVE it... I picked up a new Full-Drive2 Mosfet edition (newer sparkly blue one...) and have been completely surprised by how dark it sounds... I found that I was having quite a bit of trouble cutting through in the mix. The overdrive alone sounded pretty good, although I kept feeling like reaching down to turn up the "tone" knob. The problem was that as I rolled on the tone knob, a lot more upper-mids seemed to come through as well... I realize that this pedal is somewhat like a tube screamer. I was playing this side by side with a modded TS9DX... The TS9DX seemed to have a more pronounced hump but at the same time sure seemed to feel like it had more "clarity" at the same time... With both, the more I turn up the "tone" the more upper mids and highs I get... However, I thought the tone knob on the Full-Drive2 was supposed to be like a high cut or tone that only effected presence...

I play a Peavey Delta Blues with a single 15" speaker which undoubtedly isn't the "brightest" setup in the world, but even so... The OCD is always kind of on that edge of having too much presence, while the full-drive2 always seemed to be buried beneath a blanket...

Has anybody else had this experience? Is there a chance that if a tried a different unit that I would find it to be brighter? I sure don't remember the pedal I tried at the store being that dark...

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

ProfessorBeard · October 30th, 2009, 03:46 PM

It's interesting, I just picked up the FD2 the other night, and had the same feelings when I first set it up at home. Sounded too dark and muffled.

I also have an OCD, and it's by far my favorite OD pedal, but I was looking for a darker drive pedal that would bring down my Blues Jr.'s high end. Not sure what tubes are in your Peavey.

I found that the FD2 really responds to your amp's volume level- that is, if your amp's volume is low, the FD2 will sound pretty muffled. Pedals like the OCD are more forgiving because they're so transparent (I think of the OCD as an excellent clean boost-to-mild OD pedal). I would try bringing up your amp's clean volume to as loud as possible without bothering the neighbors, then set the FD2's volume to just a touch louder than your amp.

Might also want to play around with FM mode, and make sure MOSFET is on, as that brings up a little high end. I'd say spend a little more time with it- it took me a while to find a setting I really liked. In any case, you can return it, and I'm sure some other folks around here can recommend a different pedal. Hope this helps!

MusicChad · October 30th, 2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfessorBeard

I found that the FD2 really responds to your amp's volume level- that is, if your amp's volume is low, the FD2 will sound pretty muffled. ... I would try bringing up your amp's clean volume to as loud as possible without bothering the neighbors, then set the FD2's volume to just a touch louder than your amp.

Might also want to play around with FM mode, and make sure MOSFET is on, as that brings up a little high end.

Thanks for the suggestions! I did prefer the MOSFET mode as the symmetrical clipping, etc. sounded more "clear". I also preferred the FM mode because again it sounded a tad "sharper" or cutting again with hopes of cutting through the mix a bit better...

As far as amp volume, I had played the pedal quite a bit at home and then was running it through a rehearsal... I was running about "4" which gets me into a little bit of power tube saturation. (I do run an attenuator as well so our singers don't cry but tried the pedal with the attenuator bypassed after rehearsal was done with the same results)

I'd certainly concur that that with the volume on the amp way down (below 1 or maybe 1.5) the pedal got significantly darker... I didn't notice much difference in the tone of the pedal above that basic threshold and did try it with the amp wide open for kicks... The pedal did sound really good pumping into the already overdriven amp, but not day and night better than any of my other overdrive pedals... Obviously at that point, the tone of the amp really starts to almost take over whatever is fed to it anyway...

ruger9 · October 30th, 2009, 05:03 PM

Can't help you with that, I've always felt is was almost too bright, my tone knob stays on the lower 25% of the range. If you think the mosfet is dark, don't ever get an older FD2... they are even darker.

I guess it's possible there's something wrong with THAT pedal... starnger things have happened...

Radspin · October 30th, 2009, 08:21 PM

Hmmm--I never thought the FDII MOSFET sounded too dark. I used to run mine with the tone at 12:00. I don't have it anymore--not because I didn't like it but because I like my Jetter GS3 better--it's extraordinary--and I had to sell the FullDrive to help finance the Jetter.

pinkspider · October 31st, 2009, 03:06 AM

I usually set the FDII's tone knob at 1:00 - 2:00, flip it to flat mids mode and mosfet on, plenty for cutting through the mix, never found it too dark, always warm and sweet with lots of harmonic overtones. I set the OCD's tone knob at 12:00, it sounds just nice also. Both pedals adore my telecaster, especially at the neck pickup.

MusicChad · November 5th, 2009, 05:12 PM

I ended up returning this to the original owner... It just wasn't a good fit for my rig or style of playing or something... It just seemed pretty dark, especially compared to the OCD and even my tube screamer... Too bad, because I really LOVE the OCD and was hoping to like this pedal just as much and thought the boost would have been incredibly useful.

JTM45blues · November 5th, 2009, 10:43 PM

I've also found that Fulldrive's don't like cheap amps. However, it likes my Victoria amps just fine.

dalandan · November 6th, 2009, 03:04 AM

your set-up may have had too much mids already which is why you like the OCD and not the FD2. It's not that the FD2 is dark but maybe because the mids it adds to the amp makes it muddy.

MusicChad · November 6th, 2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalandan

your set-up may have had too much mids already which is why you like the OCD and not the FD2. It's not that the FD2 is dark but maybe because the mids it adds to the amp makes it muddy.

That could be possible... Hadn't thought about it that way...

October 30th, 2009, 03:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
MusicChad TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Posts: 60	Full-Drive2 MOSFET too dark? Hey all! I've been running a V4 OCD at 18 volts for quite a while now and absolutely LOVE it... I picked up a new Full-Drive2 Mosfet edition (newer sparkly blue one...) and have been completely surprised by how dark it sounds... I found that I was having quite a bit of trouble cutting through in the mix. The overdrive alone sounded pretty good, although I kept feeling like reaching down to turn up the "tone" knob. The problem was that as I rolled on the tone knob, a lot more upper-mids seemed to come through as well... I realize that this pedal is somewhat like a tube screamer. I was playing this side by side with a modded TS9DX... The TS9DX seemed to have a more pronounced hump but at the same time sure seemed to feel like it had more "clarity" at the same time... With both, the more I turn up the "tone" the more upper mids and highs I get... However, I thought the tone knob on the Full-Drive2 was supposed to be like a high cut or tone that only effected presence... I play a Peavey Delta Blues with a single 15" speaker which undoubtedly isn't the "brightest" setup in the world, but even so... The OCD is always kind of on that edge of having too much presence, while the full-drive2 always seemed to be buried beneath a blanket... Has anybody else had this experience? Is there a chance that if a tried a different unit that I would find it to be brighter? I sure don't remember the pedal I tried at the store being that dark... Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

October 30th, 2009, 05:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
ruger9 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Hackettstown, NJ Posts: 2,051	Can't help you with that, I've always felt is was almost too bright, my tone knob stays on the lower 25% of the range. If you think the mosfet is dark, don't ever get an older FD2... they are even darker. I guess it's possible there's something wrong with THAT pedal... starnger things have happened... __________________ "I've got callouses, from all those nights, spent playin' a Telecaster, 'till my fingers bled Bud Light" - Travis Tritt

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October 30th, 2009, 03:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
ProfessorBeard NEW MEMBER! Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 5	It's interesting, I just picked up the FD2 the other night, and had the same feelings when I first set it up at home. Sounded too dark and muffled. I also have an OCD, and it's by far my favorite OD pedal, but I was looking for a darker drive pedal that would bring down my Blues Jr.'s high end. Not sure what tubes are in your Peavey. I found that the FD2 really responds to your amp's volume level- that is, if your amp's volume is low, the FD2 will sound pretty muffled. Pedals like the OCD are more forgiving because they're so transparent (I think of the OCD as an excellent clean boost-to-mild OD pedal). I would try bringing up your amp's clean volume to as loud as possible without bothering the neighbors, then set the FD2's volume to just a touch louder than your amp. Might also want to play around with FM mode, and make sure MOSFET is on, as that brings up a little high end. I'd say spend a little more time with it- it took me a while to find a setting I really liked. In any case, you can return it, and I'm sure some other folks around here can recommend a different pedal. Hope this helps!

October 30th, 2009, 08:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
Radspin Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: East Northport, NY Age: 54 Posts: 721	Hmmm--I never thought the FDII MOSFET sounded too dark. I used to run mine with the tone at 12:00. I don't have it anymore--not because I didn't like it but because I like my Jetter GS3 better--it's extraordinary--and I had to sell the FullDrive to help finance the Jetter.

October 31st, 2009, 03:06 AM	#6 (permalink)
pinkspider TDPRI Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 72	I usually set the FDII's tone knob at 1:00 - 2:00, flip it to flat mids mode and mosfet on, plenty for cutting through the mix, never found it too dark, always warm and sweet with lots of harmonic overtones. I set the OCD's tone knob at 12:00, it sounds just nice also. Both pedals adore my telecaster, especially at the neck pickup.

November 5th, 2009, 05:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
MusicChad TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Posts: 60	I ended up returning this to the original owner... It just wasn't a good fit for my rig or style of playing or something... It just seemed pretty dark, especially compared to the OCD and even my tube screamer... Too bad, because I really LOVE the OCD and was hoping to like this pedal just as much and thought the boost would have been incredibly useful.

November 5th, 2009, 10:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
JTM45blues Tele-Holic Join Date: May 2003 Location: Iowa Posts: 581	I've also found that Fulldrive's don't like cheap amps. However, it likes my Victoria amps just fine.

November 6th, 2009, 03:04 AM	#9 (permalink)
dalandan Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: philippines Posts: 463	your set-up may have had too much mids already which is why you like the OCD and not the FD2. It's not that the FD2 is dark but maybe because the mids it adds to the amp makes it muddy.

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