Fender Full Moon Distortion review

High moon

  • £135
  • €125
  • $169

MusicRadar Verdict

A versatile source of heavier distortion with the practicality of two onstage levels.

Pros

  • +

    Defined heavy tones.

  • +

    Footswitchable boost.

Cons

  • -

    Won't do low-gain - but that's not the point!

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Fender says that the Full Moon Distortion is its first ever high-gain distortion and that’s exactly what it delivers running all-out, although it’s also capable of raunchy overdrive at lower gain settings. 

It’s a dual-footswitch pedal with up to 12dB of post-gain boost available with the second footswitch should you want to kick the volume up a notch. The basic voicing of the distortion is set by the Texture toggle switch, which selects between symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping (most apparent in the thickness of the midrange), while a top row of four knobs provides plenty of EQ’ing options. 

These include a nice interaction of Treble and Hi-Treb knobs - one adjusting the presence, the other tweaking the top-end sheen. In addition, a Bite switch delivers a shift in the upper midrange emphasis, which is great for bringing out more harmonics and pick attack. 

Rod Brakes

Rod Brakes is a music journalist with an expertise in guitars. Having spent many years at the coalface as a guitar dealer and tech, Rod's more recent work as a writer covering artists, industry pros and gear includes contributions for leading publications and websites such as Guitarist, Total Guitar, Guitar World (opens in new tab)Guitar Player (opens in new tab) and MusicRadar (opens in new tab) in addition to specialist music books, blogs and social media. He is also a lifelong musician.