Well, new to me, at least.

I recently made a minor change to my pedalboard. I actually started out looking for a buffer, but when I saw this pedal come up in my search, the wheels started turning in my head. I needed a buffer in front of the Wampler Triumph pedal on my board, because even engaged it has a relatively low 330 kilohm input impedance and with the 15’ cable I use, I need to have a high input impedance or I’ll lose some highs.

On this pedalboard I have an Earthquaker Devices Plumes overdrive up front, which has an astounding 10 megohm input impedance and an equally astounding 100 ohm output impedance, this is the perfect front end device, but being an unbuffered bypass, the Plumes exposes the low input impedance of the Wampler Triumph if it switched into bypass. So. Buffer between them is the best solution, IMHO.

The Fulltone 2B Booster turned out to solve my buffer problem, and also offered a solution to another problem. What I realized, when I saw the specs to this pedal, is that it offers an impressive 1.65 megohm input impedance, and an excellent 300 ohm output impedance, and being buffered bypass, it can work as a buffer, and with those specs, it’s an excellent buffer at that. Ideally, you want a sawtooth pattern of high input impedance and low output impedance from device to device on a pedalboard, and this is especially important at the beginning of the effects chain.

This pedal also offers a 20 dB clean boost, which is completely transparent. It also has a limiter, which can be dialed in as desired. This lets me match volumes, so that I can dial a subtle boost into the Plumes, and when the Plumes is bypassed, I can match that level of boost in the Fulltone, or the Triumph. The limiter in the Fulltone is pretty good, but probably won’t get much use, only because I have that base otherwise covered.

In any event, I just wanted to share this find with the forum, in case anyone is looking for a nice boost pedal and would appreciate some great impedance specs and a useful limiter, as part of the bargain.

Here’s the Fulltone in situ.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

chiba wrote:

Is the limiter the dial marked "Dynamics"? Cool little pedal, will have to check one out.

An interesting choice of words, on the part of Fulltone. I like limiters, but feel that it’s easy to misuse. As I understand it, Stephen Stills makes liberal use of limiters and presents an interesting sound which is clean, but has dynamics which have much in common with heavily overdriven sounds.

Limiters are basically the first half of a compressor. Limiters affect the attack, but allow the note to decay naturally. Compressors affect the attack and can flatten the decay curve. Compressors have their place, but I prefer limiters.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Boomerang wrote:

Fulltone makes good stuff. I’m a huge Hendrix fan so I bought the 69 pedal probably 15-20 years ago and it’s my favorite pedal. It’s basically a germanium fuzz face with all the Roger Mayor mods. Also have his Distortion Pro pedal which has been discontinued. I was just looking at that 2B boost the other day because my old MXR Micro Amp needs to be replaced so I’ll probably wind up getting one. I’m also fixing to order his Deja Vibe univibe clone. Is that Ross compressor an original or a reissue? I’ve still got my original from 1981 I paid $30.00 for brand new. It still works great and looks like new. I was shocked when I saw how much they were going for on Reverb. Same with the 69 Pedal.

You’ll find the 2B to be very clean and transparent. The quality is obvious, from the weight of the enclosure to the circuit boards. It’s a nice piece.

The Ross compressor is a reissue. The very first pedal I ever played through was an original Ross compressor. When Josh Scott came out with his RI, I couldn’t resist. The reissue has an added bright switch, of sorts, that boosts the upper frequencies and makes it a bit brighter. The Ross makes its presence known and is not transparent, but sounds quite good. I have several pedalboards, and this one is the one I use in my living room, and I use it to experiment. When I play gigs, which is rare since the lockdown, I tend to use a different board, and at gig volumes, I don’t miss having a compressor.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Fady wrote:

I’m a return / repeat buyer. Had one of the very early originals (SN 0018), and for some reason I don’t recall sold it after a few years. Eventually realized I missed it when many class OD’s with drive low or off just weren’t getting it.

I do still keep a low/very low/no gain OD used sparingly in the front of a real simple chain and now have the 2B at the very end - after G-Spring, before Surfer for when I just need to keep up with the boys in the band by a few decibels. I find the Dynamics mini-knob is particularly useful when the reverb is on blast and the top end is on the verge of too bright. It does something that the tone knob on the G-Spring nor tone & presence on the Surfer do. All the full, lively and vibrant glory with just an ever so slightly smoothed tippy-top end. Can’t imagine ever letting go of the 2B again.

It strikes me as being a very straightforward, competent piece of gear. It doesn’t promise any magic, but it does deliver its capabilities reliably.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Did you buy it recently from the reboot “Fulltone USA” Jackson Audio partnership/licensing entity? (Wondering if their product relaunched with reset/new SN’s?) Or perhaps you picked it up used or a mom-n-pop shop NOS find? My rebuy a year ago was a used one that had a few years on it. It’s #687.

Regardless, it is under appreciated as a boost, IMHO.

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation

Last edited: Oct 20, 2024 18:18:37