*****Review: Fulltone Mini Deja-Vibe*****

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 8:53 pm

I recently ran into a Fulltone Mini Deja-Vibe unit on eBay for $195 and i simply could not resist the super deal. These things usually go for $275 new and i wasn't gonna pay that. So in other words... I SNATCHED IT UP! However, i may be jumping the gun here because i'm not getting the thing till around this Tuesday, but i'm real excited about it and have got to get everyone's attention here that love vintage style effects. I already own a Fulltone Fat Boost and have found a great new voice with my SuperLead set on a volume of 6 with the Fat Boost's knobs all at 12 o'clock. Think of it being really FAT and lightly overdriven. I'm loving it. But whatever guys... till Tuesday.

gnugear · Post by **gnugear** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:41 pm

Man, I just got my Mojo Vibe and I love it! I'm really curious what you think of the Fulltone ... I hear they're all great vibes.

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:49 pm

I'm pretty sure i'll love it too. I'm hoping it'll get me some great Trower/Hendrix vibes swirling around. But anyway... ONE MORE DAY TILL REVIEW!

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:26 pm

I've got that bastard! I finally got my Fulltone Mini Deja-Vibe in the mail!

Here's the review...

First thing you'll notice about any Fulltone product is how well built these things are. On the outside it features heavy duty steel, well placed knobs, and a great a great ease of use. On the inside you are not gonna find any cheapie parts. Mike Fuller makes sure only the best components are in his pedals and the most important elements of this pedal are the photocells. Here is what Mike has to say about his photo cells.

The mini-DV's photocells were knocked-off from 4 of my Best Vintage Univibe's Cells. This makes all the difference in the world because it's not just about correct resistance. The original 1960's Vibe's (and our) photocells have tall sides and a glass top which react differently according to how much light actually gets let in. The photocell properties/physical layout, correct bulb, and correct mirrored shroud all are key components to getting the right Throb, thickness, tone

The simple vibe has some very easy controls to come around. The volume knob is pretty self-explanitory and i usually had it maxed out. The intensity knob controls the depth of the vibe you want mixed into your signal. The speed knob controls the rate at which the unit "vibes". The MDV also has an extra bonus by having a switch that switches between "Modern and Vintage" vibe and another switch that changes the sound from "Vibrato" to "Chorus". Also, this pedal is true-bypass. Why get a pedal that is not? Pretty easy and even the greatest neophite of pedals could figure it out.

I've heard a lot of vibes in my life and the tone i've always considered to be the holy grail of vibe-dom is Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsy's tone on "Machine Gun". The test was on!

Well i hooked the sucker up and set the volume on my '69 Metro/Marshall Super Lead to these settings:

Presence:0
Bass: 5
Middle: 10
Treble:10
Volume 1:6
THD HotPlate: -8dB

I got my LP ready and pulled out my neck volume knob to split the neck pickup to single-coil and got ready. With the volume on the MDV maxed, intensity at about 10 o'clock, and the speed at about at the same position, i had the Hendrix thing going... and in a MAJOR way! There is no other way to describe it but my face just lit up and i got so into it! When you nail a tone you know it, and i surely did!

I kept the pedal mode on "vintage" and "chorus" because those setting seemed to make it sound the most authentic. Switching the pedal to "Modern" made it sound a little bolder, but i liked the "vintage" setting the most. This setting would probably work best if my amp volume was around 4. Switching the pedal to "vibrato" stopped the chorus-like sound that was coming through the pedal and i could see if someone wanted to do this just for the heck of having more control over your sound. I mostly liked it switched at "vintage" and "chorus".

SOLO TIME!

I flipped on my Fulltone Fat Boost (all settings at 12 o'clock) and started soloing in the mood of "Machine Gun". I kid you not, i could not stop playing! It sounded so righteous and gorgeous like i could have never imagined! Simply breathtaking.

Other songs i was messing around with were Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs" that just had the intensity knob boosted up a bit. Once again, NAILED IT! Also went and tried "Little Bit of Sympathy" which had the speed at a crawling rate but the intensity maxed out. Again...NAILED IT.

Obvioulsly, Fulltone has been really impressing me lately with thier attention to detail and quality workmanship. Mike Fuller is a great player who designs great products for guitarists and that's what he loves to do. You can depend on him to have the upmost focus in his work unlike other companies who would rather dick around in other fields as well. It could just be that i'm gonna be a bonafied Fulltone junkie in the future! No other's i tell ya!

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McGoogle McDougal · Post by **McGoogle McDougal** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:09 pm

I have a Captain Coconut right now, but would still like to get a Fulltone Deja II (the one with the built in pedal speed controller). I haven't tried a Fulltone pedal I didn't like and as you say, you can't argue with the build quality. I love my 69 and Soulbender, both truly great pedals. Congrats!

Eamon

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:55 am

I have a captain coconut as well. I had a Deja a while back and I never was satisfied with it personally. Actually, Im the opposite of everyone here. Most Fulltone pedals Ive tried had something about them that turned me off. But I do like the fuzz. Ive kept a 69 and 70 for years. I do like my CC better for Vibe though.

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 10:33 am

I've been looking at Klon Centaur's (just for the hell of it) and can say i'm pretty impressed that they build only one pedal...ha. It can't be that much more better other clean boosts though...

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 12:41 pm

Ive almost bought a Klon like 18 times but something usualy stops me. Either a money thing comes up or something with my car etc... I dont know if Im into the OD/Clean boost thing enough to spend so much on a pedal. I may try the Analog man KOT pedal if he ever starts making it again. I hear so many good things about it in the - OD pedal with clean boost mode - arena. Ive tried others that I really didnt like. FD2

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:41 pm

Holy crap man, did you see the review of the Klon on Legenary Tones? Supposedly, the Maxon overdrive smoked it in the Les Paul department!

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Review: Fulltone Mini Deja-Vibe

Review: Fulltone Mini Deja-Vibe

Yup, Fulltone makes great stuff!