Fulltone Fulldrive 3 - Manual

2014 FMP Inc.
Manual Version 1.0
In 1993 I started developing a dual mode overdrive called the Fulldrive. It was stuffed into a raw aluminum die cast enclosure with a
sanding-disc polished top, and had graphics done via a Brother P-Touch label maker. It got into the hands of some great players and it
soon took off! A little later it became the Fulldrive2, and graduated to a bright orange steel enclosure sporting a BOOST footswitch that
simply increased the distortion, and along with that added a little bit of volume boost.
The FD2 has been a tremendous hit for me over the years, but when I realized that the Fulldrive was about to turn 20 years old, I decided
to do a limited-run orange “20th Anniversary FD-3” out of the Fulltone Custom Shop. I reduced the FD2’s size by about 15% and set out to
capture the exact sound of the circa-1996 Orange FD2 that everyone loves, but also offer something more with a few key features.
It was an instant hit, with all 5000 units sold out within 7 months. I wasn’t expecting that, and so out of the many, many requests I’ve been
getting to buy a CS-FD3, the new black standard FD3 is born!
Sporting the same N.O.S. (new old stock) JRC4558 chip as the 90’s FD2, set the pedal’s 3-way CLIPPING toggle switch to 90’s and you’ll
get the familiar 1990’s FD2 smooth, symmetrical clipping, with ample midrange. Set the switch to WIDE ASYM (wide asymmetrical
clipping) and more sweet highs and lows come through, along with chimey, Class-A style even harmonic overtones. Lastly, I have included
COMP-CUT mode, which is a popular Fulltone invention offering a not-so-clean Boost that’s pure opamp-overdrive, with no diode clipping
assistance. Aggressive, cutting, and (be careful) capable of a huge volume boost to help you pop out in the mix.
Next, I totally redesigned the FD2’s BOOST channel, making it a completely separate pedal on the FD3 so that it could be used either on
its own, or in conjunction with the OD side of the pedal for an infinite amount of sound combinations. To further enhance the versatility, the
BOOST channel in the FD3 can be routed to be positioned before the OVERDRIVE side of the pedal, or after it...either giving the
OVERDRIVE channel a lift in distortion (BOOST-->OD) or lift in volume (OD-->BOOST), depending on where you set the ORDER switch.
The BOOST side of the FD3 is the finest clean boost I’ve ever encountered, dialing up its DYNAMICS knob (a Fulltone-exclusive Germa-
nium diode Limiter circuit) starts to drastically alter the feel of the notes being played as well as subdue the transient spikes which can
overload your amp’s input. Those spikes can be fatiguing, as well a damaging to the ears, the amp, and its speakers! Similar to using a
limiter on the mixdown of a song in the studio, the FD3’s DYNAMICS feature helps you keep your place in the live mix.....like a very smart
compressor. This feature can make even an “ok” amp feel responsive and juicy, and will keep you from distorting the amp’s input, a
problem plaguing virtually all other clean-boost pedals.
I hope you get a lot of use out of your new FD3, I sure had fun designing and making it, and I believe it truly pays homage to the Fulldrive
legacy while raising the bar for overdrive design in the process!
Play on!
Michael Fuller / President
Congratulations on the purchase of your