Fulltone Plimsoul

The Plimsoul is the latest offering from Fulltone in the realm of Overdrive pedals. "Plim" means full.

The main idea behind it is to bridge the gap between Soft Clipped and Hard Clipped overdrives.

Soft clipped are typically found in lower gain overdrives, those that add a little grit, typically some compression, usually a smoother sound. To learn more about clipping you can go to the below links.

http://www.gmarts.org/index.php?go=217

http://www.tyquinn.com/2009/lead-tone-part-3-distortion/

Hard clipping is mostly found in distortion pedals.

This pedal offers 2 channels, one for each type of clipping. These can be controlled seperatly. But you also have the ability to combine these 2 types of distortion in any ratio you want. The Plimsoul offers symetrical Hard Clipping which gives a little more focused sound. The pedal offers all the other typical great characteristics of overdrive pedals. It cleans up on lower volumes and softer picking. It distorts as you play harder.

So lets get down to the controls.

Level: This controls the volume and there is a lot to be had with this pedal. Unless you are insane (which you may be) You wont even crank this up half way. I usually keep mine between 8 and 11 o'clock for an even/slightly boosted volume when the pedal is engaged.

Sustain: This controls the soft clipping portion of the pedal or "stage 1" This stage provides aysemetric clipping. This enriches harmonics and overtones which is great for lower gain overdrive. Even in stage 1, this pedal gets awfully dirty. I'd probably keep it definatley below 11 o'clock for a soft clipped overdrive sound. With the Stage 2 knob turned all the way counter clockwise, it isolates only this stage of distortion.

Hi-Cut: This controls the treble frequencies. Basically a tone control, but with less control on the bottom end. I can say, for my ears, this is all you need since the most you are usually looking to do is roll off the treble anyways.

Stage 2: This little knob controls the second stage of distortion, the hard clipped. This offers a tighter low end response. You can roll back the sustain knob counter clockwise all the way to isolate this channel. The Stage 2 LED shows how hard you are hitting the second stage of the distortion when you're blending the two, or even if your not.

Power: You can run this on a 9v or 18V adapter or 9V battery. I love this about all Fulltone pedals OD pedals as running either gives different dynamics.

This pedal offers a slight boost on the mid-range. Not overbearing, but it is noticeable. This increases the presence. There are several good demo's of this pedal online. However as I've found out. Nothing compares to live application.

Official Site

http://www.fulltone.com/plimsoul.asp

gearmandude

demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCwA0Ho8Tvw

gr8bluesgtr

demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3zGMagIS48

Some Other Online Reviews
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Oct/Fulltone_PlimSoul_Pedal_Review.aspx

I really love the fact that every Fulltone OD/Distortion pedal I've bought all sound natural and works with my guitar. It sounds like a very natural distortion as oposed to just using a distortion pedal to click on and off. I love all of the Fulltone OD pedals I've bought, so I wont be stating this is any better than the others. But I will say, if you're looking for a gainier pedal, this is the one I'd suggest going with if you are debating between the others.

The variations of Soft and Hard clipped distortion is very fun to mess around with. I'm typically a guy that likes harder clipped type distortions, with more gain. So having this ability is pretty priceless to me.

Sample Settings: