• Registered: 2009-10-10
  • Posts: 438

Topic: Fulltone RTO

Hello Folks.  I am a new member but I have been hanging around for awhile and have gained a lot of useful tone tips here.  I hope to contribute.  Anyone else here using a Fulltone Robin Trower Overdrive? I have had one for about a month now and really like this pedal.  It has great sustain but sounds very natural.  I have never bonded with tube screamers (I play strats- please don't hold that against me!).  They have always sounded  raspy to me and seemed to remove some of the "tube" sound from my rig. Of course, Joe gets a great sound out of his and several of you forum members do also.  They just never worked for me.  But this Fulltone RTO works very well.  It is a little more mid based and smoother than an OCD, and it cuts much better.   However, it combines extremely well with an OCD if you run a clean amp with a dual overdrive pedal set up.  And as I mentioned earlier, great sustain, and it will clean up with your volume knob.  A friend and I did a side by side test with a Keeley Tube Screamer, Keeley Blues Driver, and a Cusack Screamer.  We both preferred the RTO.  Just more natural sounding than the Keeleys and a little thicker than the Cusack.  This pedal also has great feel.  You can still feel the steel in the strings when you kick it on!

  • From: Florida, USA
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 1,420

Re: Fulltone RTO

Very cool, I'm a big fan of Fulltone's fuzzes/overdrives/distortions.  I think when Robin Trower designed the pedal he wanted to take the best parts of the OCD and Fulldrive and combine them into one pedal.  I have heard that it's like a slightly warmer, more "tubescreamery" OCD with less gain.  Kinda expensive for what it is but it IS cool owning a rock legend's signature overdrive pedal.  I sure wish Joe would get together with some pedal guys (kinda like what Satch is doing with Vox now) and come out with some signature pedals.  I've always wanted a killer reverb/chorus/delay pedal that is compact and amazing sounding (analog preferred).  I also bet that with Joe's ears he could whip up an overdrive pedal that would sound amazing!

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.
  • Registered: 2009-10-10
  • Posts: 438

Re: Fulltone RTO

It does have less gain than the OCD, but more clean sustain.  I am running clean amps now (Fender Blackface heads) and using pedals for my drive tones.  I use the OCD for crunch/dirty rythm.  Then I can hit the OCD with the RTO for leads.  But for most of my lead tone, I shut the OCD off and hit the RTO with a Barber Small Fry and it gets me in the Dumble ballpark, especially with a little delay and chorus in the mix.  Smooth singing tone that still cuts through the mix.