Fulltone Fat-Boost FB-3 User Manual

Congratulations on your purchase of the

Fat-Boost

Model FB-3

The Fulltone Fat-Boost 3 is a Discrete, Class-A, FET (Field-Effect-Transistor) pedal offering up to 35dB of non-distorted Gain without

changing your signature sound ...unless you so desire You can fatten/distort your tone, brighten or mellow up the sound, add or subtract

Bass, and add even-order harmonics! The FB-3 has True-Bypass switching (using the finest switch made, the Fulltone 3PDT) and

incorporates a super-bright LED without the loud popping sound thanks to our proprietary anti-pop circuitry.

FET’s can behave like Tubes in a properly designed circuit. They can “clip” (distort) in a pleasing way instead of being buzzy or spiky

sounding (like a Transistor) and can also add a subtle Limiting to the signal which can even-out the volume making your Live and

Recorded tones more pleasing to the ear....that‘s why you’ll see Recording Engineers using my Fat-Boost on everything from

Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Electric Bass, and even Snare drums.

The Fat-Boost 3 works great in front of non-Master-Volume Tube amps to goose them into submission, as well as through Master-Volume

amps to drive them much harder than possible with just your guitar alone. It also works very well on Bass, Acoustic Guitars (with Pickups)

and is the best thing you could put at the end of a pedal board effects chain to completely eliminate the tone loss caused by long guitar

cable runs back to your amp. Doing so will allow the use of 50’ (or longer) cable lengths with no signal degradation whatsoever.

This final version of the Fat-Boost (Model FB-3) incorporates all of the things that people have loved about previous versions of the

Fulltone Fat-Boosts without any of the shortcomings, and brings back the 11 step FET Bias “Drive” Knob that was missing from the FB-2.

You‘ll notice that the “Drive” knob makes a slight scraping noise when you turn it...not to worry... that is totally normal, and is simply the

sound of the Bias changing and settling on the FET MuAmp. The Fat-Boost 3 gives you the feeling that your amp is Cranked at living

room volumes so your playing is more dynamic and notes hold on longer without being distorted. It makes up for all the tone loss that

(even True-Bypass) pedals impart to your sound, especially if you‘re like me and have a lot of pedals on your pedalboard...

I rarely turn the FB-3 off....you may not either!

2009 FMP Inc. All Rights Reserved

DRIVE Knob: This adjusts the gain of the first 2N5457 FET....treat this like a Preamp knob on a Master-Volume tube amplifier. You may hear a little scraping noise when you

turn this knob....that’s ok, it’s just the sound of the FET’s rebiasing and NOT a Potentiometer (Pot) noise problem at all. Setting this Pot lower (for pristine Clean Boost sounds)

by turning the knob CCW (counter clockwise) yields very neutral, honest tones and very little thickening of the original notes. Setting this Pot higher by turning the knob CW
gently clips the FET’s (like cranking the output of a tube amp) and adds fatness, even order harmonics, and a little more Treble. (hi-end frequencies) You will achieve more
overall volume with higher Drive knob settings.

BASS Knob: This unconventional (low loss) “Pan-Cap” BASS control allows you to avoid flabby low-end by cutting Bass frequencies while not affecting your Treble content.
Generally, the higher you set the DRIVE and VOLUME controls, the lower you set the BASS control. this is particularly the case when playing on the Neck pickup and/or
through a bassier sounding 4x12” cabinet.

TREBLE Knob: This is a passive high-end (Treble) roll-off in case you want to “Brown” up the sound without affecting the Bass content. Turned full CW takes the tone control
out of the circuit, turning it CCW will attenuate the Treble...neutral really depends on many factors including Drive knob setting and Amp volume & settings. I find 12 O’clock to
be good setting most of the time.

VOLUME Knob: This knob determines the Volume only when the pedal is turned on.

Sample settings

Clean Boost (you, only louder)

DRIVE @ 11 o’clock
VOLUME @ 1-5 o’clock
BASS @ 12 o’clock
TREBLE @ 12 o’clock

Overdriving the Amp’s Input (adding a little hair)
DRIVE @ 1 o’clock
VOLUME @ 10-12 o’clock
BASS= @ 1 o’clock
TREBLE @ 11 o’clock

Specifications

Input Impedance= 1 megaohm
Output Impedance= 10k ohms
power consumption= 5 ma (milliamps). Extremely low current draw, the Battery should last for months if you unplug the guitar cable from the INPUT jack when not in use.

Blues Strat Neck Pickup sounds
DRIVE @ 3 o’clock
VOLUME @ 10-12 o’clock
BASS= @ 8 o’clock
TREBLE @ 3 o’clock

FAT lead tone (bridge pickup)
DRIVE @ 5 o’clock
VOLUME @ 1-3 o’clock
BASS= @ 2 o’clock
TREBLE @ 11 o’clock

Battery Included to access the battery remove all four Thumbscrews from the sides of the pedal and pull the housing apart. Replace battery, put housing back together

and re-tighten all four screws. Battery life should be somewhere around 20 hours of use, and always unplug guitar cable from INPUT when not in use to prolong battery life. If
you have an adapter plugged in to the DC outlet of the OCD there is no need to unplug the guitar cable from the INPUT because our DC outlet is True-Bypass and
disconnects the battery supply line, thus keeping the battery fresh.

DC Power Options You may run this pedal on the (supplied) 9 volt battery OR on ANY voltage between 9 and 18 Volts DC as long as the adapter is (standard) 2.1mm x

5.5mm barrel plug with “Negative to Center Pin” configuration. (as illustrated by the following diagram)
You'll be amazed at the sonic differences using 18VDC, it’s cleaner, louder, and more dynamic. For standard 9 volt operation, the Fulltone FPS-1 is a great 9VDC regulated
wall wart adapter. For 18VDC, make sure that you buy a “regulated” adapter and that it has the same Negative Center Pin configuration as above.

Warranty Fulltone products carry a Limited 5 year Warranty to the original owner with proof of purchase that the product was bought from an Authorized Fulltone Dealer.

There is no need to register your product, simply keep a copy of your original sales receipt. The Warranty covers failure due to manufacturing errors only and is void if any
mod or repair is performed by anyone other than Fulltone AND/OR if we deem that any operator-caused abuse or damage has occurred, for example; the use of an incorrect
power supply, a dropped pedal, water damage, etc. Batteries are not Warranty-covered and Customer is always responsible for all shipping costs both to and from Fulltone.
Do not attempt to call Fulltone, instead, all Repair issues are handled by an email ([e-mail]) to troubleshoot the possible problem and (only after troubleshooting)
for the scheduling of Warranty Repair. After we have deemed that a repair is necessary, we will email you an Acrobat PDF copy of our Return Authorization Form (RA Form)
and you will print it out, fill out all information, and include it with the device you are sending. Fulltone Musical Products Inc. is not responsible for and injuries and/or damages
related to the use of our products.

Fulltone Musical Products Inc.

11018 Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232

for more info and expanded information/videos go to http://www.fulltone.com

Sales related questions email [e-mail]

Repairs/Technical related questions email [e-mail]

2009 FMP Inc. All Rights Reserved