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Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → fulltone fulldrive 2 or Fuchs plush drive?
Hey guys I sold some gear and am looking for an new overdrive pedal. of the 2 I mentioned in the topic heading which one would you guys go for. I'm looking for a great bonamassa type tone. PLaying through a marshall class 5 at home. Iwon;t get the chance to try these so will be buying based on review and recommendations here.
Fuzz.
Hey guys I sold some gear and am looking for an new overdrive pedal. of the 2 I mentioned in the topic heading which one would you guys go for. I'm looking for a great bonamassa type tone. PLaying through a marshall class 5 at home. Iwon;t get the chance to try these so will be buying based on review and recommendations here.
Fuzz.
I haven't played either so take this with a pinch of salt, but the Fulldrive is basically a two channel Tubescreamer (but a great-sounding one) whereas the Plush drive is more of a Dumble-inspired pedal along the lines of the Zendrive as used by Robben Ford. I would say (probably a huge oversimplification) that Joe's tone is something of a Dumble/Marshall hybrid so out of those two, the Plush is probably closer to that tone. Just to be annoying I would throw another contender into the mix - the Barber Direct Drive is very much in that vein but with enough variation to do 'Marshally' or 'Dumbley' (cool descriptions eh?) - I DO have one of these and it's a great pedal - very smooth fat overdrive.
The Zen is cool but like I've posted a hundred times on here, please check out the OceanEFX Pearl Drive. Nice 'D' tone with a little more fattness and gain if needed.
I, too, have a Barber Direct Drive in my rack. Sounds fantastic with certain amps. It didn't sound good with a Fender and it hates the Fuchs but worked very well with my Boogie.
A simple Tubescreamer would do the job perfect. Especially with the class 5.
I tried it and you can archieve this trademark middy Joe sound easily
without buying a super-duper botique pedal. I think any decent drive pedal works well
with the class 5.
Good luck
Alex
Might I suggest a Luther Drive from Gearmanndude. He's got loads of videos of this pedal and his time bomb boost. he sold me both for $200 with shipping. Luther Drive is a modified Tube Screamer that has just a tick more gain and less mids for a tighter bottom end, unless your like me and get the loud mod which makes the gain go down a bit but the volume could blow your 5 watt amp up. The TBB or time bomb boost is a vintage DOD 250 Black and Yellow pedal. He suggests turning the gain down all the way and the level all the way up so its a good clean boost. I never listen to recommendations so I use the gain up on both pedals. Oh yeah they are hand wired so your getting a better pedal then a store bought one for less! You can email him @ Gearmanndude@hotmail.com if you want one. If your doing the TS808 thats what I would do.
I think either would work fine, if you had the chops to cop a Joe like tone. I think the bigger ingredients are the hands + Les Paul + Marshall = the tone. I've gotten great Joe-like tones from many different overdrives, but the easiest that I've run across was the new Fulldrive 2 Mosfet. I can literally plug into any amp and get that big mid-rangey tone that Joe is famous for. I've heard that the Plush is very nice, but for my money I'd go either a TS9, TS808 RI, or Fulldrive 2. 
I have both pedals.
The Fulldrive i use all the time. Its my favorite pedal that I own. It sounds fantastic with a Les Paul or 335 or gretsch duo jet. I love that pedal. That said its not the heaviest thickest gain out there.
For a Joe B type thick lead tone go with the Fuchs Plush drive. It is an awsome lead tone. You should not be disappointed. I play thru a Vox AC30 and a Vox AC15 depending on the gig and it sounds great no matter what setting the amp is on.
The Fulltone is by no means worse its just different. It can be a great lead tone however you may consider turning up your amp a little and using it to boost your amp. I dont do that I keep my amps clean and use the overdrive on top of that.
My advice is go to guitar center and try out a Fulldrive as they carry fulltone now, And find a dealer who carries Fuchs pedals and try it out. We can tell you what we like but really its what you like that matters.
Can't talk about the Plush. I've had a Fulldrive 2 (not mosfet) for 7 years. I've used it with Fender Bassman 59RI, Marshall Bluesbreaker RI, Fender Vibroverb 64 RI, Fender 57 Twin and Cornell Plexi 45/50. Hits the spot every time. I don't use much overdrive - have the setting at about 9 o'clock. Love it. Smooth overdrive - very compressed. Strat, Les Paul, Tele, 335. All great with it. I thought about getting a second a few months ago and tried a new one in a music shop and didn't get on with it! I also have an OCD v2 but that's variable. It didn't work well on the my old Vibroverb -too much treble. Works great on my 57 Twin with LP, Strat and 335. But my Cornell Plexi, which is fantastic on it's own just wound up, doesn't like the OCD with my LP or 335. Again too bright for my ears. However, with my Strat - oooh missus. It's just great. Very rich sounding. Go figure that one out!
In summary, I play through my Cornell Plexi 45/50 (and am having to selling the 57 Twin) and use OCD with my Strat or Fulldrive with my LP or 335. I tend to use the Fulldrive when I can't drive the Plexi loud enough to get it's own overdriven sound.
@ all those Fulldrive 2 users: do you have it on "FM" or "Vintage" setting?
I use the FM setting. Its crisper and more articulate than the vintage setting.
Joe Bonamassa Forum → Joe's Guitars, Amps and Gear → fulltone fulldrive 2 or Fuchs plush drive?
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