Hamstead Soundworks New EQ-Shifting Comet Interstellar Driver Delivers Both Overdrive and Fuzz Voicings
I’ve had and loved the Hamstead Odyssey Intergalactic Driver pretty much since the start, and was for a long time considering acquiring the Low-End-Focused Subspace Intergalactic Driver follow-up - which hasn’t quite happened yet. That added a Parallel Dry Path - which made it ideal for bass players in particular. It also somewhat re-voiced and re-engineered the Odyssey to deliver overall more of a bass and low-end / body frequency profile.
The Comet is kind of a stripped-down affair compared to those other two more feature-rich examples which have respectively 8 and 9 controls - including 3 x 3-way toggle switches. Where the Comet has 5 controls, including one 2-way toggle switch - which places the EQ stack ether before or after the gain stage - unlike the Redbeard Effects Angry Rhubarb - which allows you to apply pre and post-EQ gain simultaneously via separate controls.
So the Comet’s toggle-switch is EQ>Drive / Drive>EQ, while on the previous pedals there was a 3rd middle position which simply worked as a clean boost. The other two toggles on the Odyssey and Subspace were Clipping Options and Gain Structure.
The Comet is a new circuit with a distinct voicing, and as mentioned - somewhat simpler than its siblings - and possibly slightly less versatile therefore, albeit easier to set up. If you crank the Gain on the EQ>Drive setting you get some cool saturated Fuzz tones, while in the down Drive>EQ position the pedal delivers more traditional Overdrive flavours.
In terms of appeal and priority I possibly still need to get the Subspace ahead of this one - in any case you pretty much seemingly pay per number of controls - with the Comet being priced at £199, the Odyssey at £229, and the Subspace at £249. All 3 of course available currently from the Hamstead Soundworks Webstore.
I've obviously picked up a lot of new overdrives this year, and particularly in the last couple of months - so I've yet to decide whether the Comet is a must have for me or rather a nice-to-have. I will ponder that at my leisure over the weeks to come, while I look to capture a Subspace rather more opportunistically! I should also mention the highly appealing British Racing Green colourway of the Comet - it certainly looks the part!
For sure a decent sounding pedal too, but boy is there a lot of competition right at this moment. I need to decided where this sits within the overall pecking order - and indeed also versus the Odyssey and Subspace.
Are you readers considering one of these, and do you have either of is predecessors?
Demos
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
