Fulltone OCD Settings Guide
Obsessive Compulsive Drive — the most versatile single-channel overdrive pedal ever made. Works as a clean boost, overdrive, or distortion depending on HP/LP switch and Volume/Drive positions.
Used by: John Mayer, Eric Johnson, Brad Paisley
The best Fulltone OCD settings start with: Drive at 4/10, Tone at 5/10, Volume at 6/10, HP/LP at 1/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Blues: Drive 3/10, Tone 5/10, Volume 6/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | 4/10 | Boost → Distortion |
| Tone | 5/10 | Dark → Bright |
| Volume | 6/10 | Silent → Loud |
| HP/LP | 1/10 | LP (Low Peak) → HP (High Peak) |
These are universal starting points. Adjust based on your amp, guitar, and room. Scroll down for genre-specific settings and artist-documented positions.
What Each Control Does
Recommended Starting Settings
Safe starting positions for any style. Adjust from here based on your amp and room.
All values on a 0–10 scale. These are starting points — fine-tune by ear.
Settings by Genre
HP mode, Drive below noon — the OCD at Gain 3 with HP adds harmonic richness without heavy saturation. Responds to picking dynamics — the same setting cleans up with a lighter touch and drives harder with aggressive picking.
Moderate Drive, LP mode, slightly bright Tone. The OCD at Drive 6 in LP mode suits Marshall-style amps as a front-end boost. Adding its own clipping character on top of the amp's natural saturation produces thick, harmonically dense rock rhythm tone.
High Drive produces distortion character — the OCD at Drive 8 is a different pedal from the overdrive character at Drive 4. Into a clean amp it produces its own distortion; into an already-driven amp it creates layered saturation.
HP mode, Drive near minimum, Volume above unity — pure clean boost with slight harmonic enhancement. The most transparent the OCD gets. High Tone and Volume for Telecaster bright boost application.
Artist Settings
Documented settings used by professional guitarists on this unit.
Mayer has used the OCD as a light-gain overdrive into Fender and Two-Rock amps. Low Drive in HP mode — the transparent quality of the HP switch on clean amps produces the amp-like pushed tone he values. He's also used it in stacks with Tube Screamers for layered drive.
Johnson uses overdrive pedals very selectively — the OCD at moderate Drive in HP mode gives his Stratocaster playing a harmonically rich edge without the mid-push he typically avoids. His tone is focused on clarity and harmonic content rather than heavy gain.
HP mode, very low Drive, bright Tone and high Volume — pure boost character for country lead. The OCD as a transparent amp-driver for Telecaster picking. The HP switch is essential for preserving the low-string fullness his country technique requires.
Also in Our Rig Database
Guitarists who feature this gear in their documented rig — explore their full setup.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The HP/LP switch is the most important choice — try both before adjusting Drive and Tone. LP suits darker amps; HP suits bright amps.
- The OCD responds dramatically to the amp's character — into a clean Fender it produces its own saturation; into a Marshall at moderate gain it adds more complexity without dominance.
- Drive above 8 produces hard clipping that is fundamentally a different effect from Drive 4's soft overdrive. Use below 7 if you want the characteristic OCD tone.
- The OCD is very sensitive to input impedance — it sounds different after a buffered pedal than directly from the guitar. Keep it as the first (or early) pedal in the chain.
- As an always-on boost: Drive at 1–2, Volume at 7, HP mode. The OCD in this configuration adds the same subtle harmonic richness that expensive amp-booster pedals provide.
FAQ
Fulltone OCD — Common Questions
Best starting settings for Fulltone OCD: Drive at 4/10, Tone at 5/10, Volume at 6/10, HP/LP at 1/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Blues: Drive 3/10, Tone 5/10, Volume 6/10. HP mode, Drive below noon — the OCD at Gain 3 with HP adds harmonic richness without heavy saturation. Responds to picking dynamics — the same setting cleans up with a lighter touch and drives harder with aggressive picking.
For Classic Rock: Drive 6/10, Tone 6/10, Volume 6/10. Moderate Drive, LP mode, slightly bright Tone. The OCD at Drive 6 in LP mode suits Marshall-style amps as a front-end boost. Adding its own clipping character on top of the amp's natural saturation produces thick, harmonically dense rock rhythm tone.
Drive: Gain amount. At Drive 0–3: clean boost character. At 4–7: overdrive. At 8–10: approaching distortion territory with hard clipping character. (Boost to Distortion). Tone: Treble content. More useful than most Tone controls — the OCD's Tone is smooth from 0 to 10 without harsh extremes. (Dark to Bright). Volume: Output level. The OCD can produce significantly more output than input — use for lead boost or amp-driving applications. (Silent to Loud). HP/LP: Low Peak/High Peak switch. LP adds more low-end body and is warmer; HP is more open, transparent, and brighter. HP suits Fender amps; LP suits darker amps like Marshall. (LP (Low Peak) to HP (High Peak))
The HP/LP switch is the most important choice — try both before adjusting Drive and Tone. LP suits darker amps; HP suits bright amps. The OCD responds dramatically to the amp's character — into a clean Fender it produces its own saturation; into a Marshall at moderate gain it adds more complexity without dominance. Drive above 8 produces hard clipping that is fundamentally a different effect from Drive 4's soft overdrive. Use below 7 if you want the characteristic OCD tone. The OCD is very sensitive to input impedance — it sounds different after a buffered pedal than directly from the guitar. Keep it as the first (or early) pedal in the chain. As an always-on boost: Drive at 1–2, Volume at 7, HP mode. The OCD in this configuration adds the same subtle harmonic richness that expensive amp-booster pedals provide.
John Mayer settings: Drive 3/10, Tone 6/10, Volume 6/10. Mayer has used the OCD as a light-gain overdrive into Fender and Two-Rock amps. Low Drive in HP mode — the transparent quality of the HP switch on clean amps produces the amp-like pushed tone he values. He's also used it in stacks with Tube Screamers for layered drive.
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