Hamstead Soundworks collaborates with That Pedal Show for the ultimate versatile Redwing Analogue Stereo Modulator
I’ve known for a while that Hamstead was working on a secret artist projects - initially due to launch around Easter this year, but evidently it took quite a while longer to perfect - which timing seems somewhat easily explainable now based on what has been achieved here.
I did not know that the artist in question was TPS’s Dan Steinhardt, and I had no idea that the project was based on a flanger. I know Hamstead has been working on its own take of Harmonic Tremolo - which has been going on for a good couple of years now - I assume it will be in largely the same kind of format as the Redwing - and yes that one’s stereo too!
At its core this dual 3207 BBD Multi Modulator started off as a Stereo Dual Channel Flanger but evidently evolved quite a bit along the way - and whose combination of controls now yields not just various superior Flanger voicings, but amazing Chorus and Vibrato too, and almost equally superb Ring Modulation and Rotary Speaker style effects alongside other more minor modulations.
There’s all kinds of routing possibilities for this Redwing device - whose name derives from Peter Hamstead’s Aviation Engineering heritage. Peter and Dan have seemingly set quite the agenda here, and presumably this evolved considerably along the way.
There are other smart delay-line modulators already out there - like say Spaceman Effects’s Meridian Time Modulation, and Fjord Fuzz’s Loke to a degree - but both of those are mono only. The Redwing is full stereo, and has quite the comprehensive control interface with 13 controls on the top face, and 2 more on its rear. To say that this is a comprehensive Multi-Modulator is somewhat of an understatement.
And it’s not just the superior fidelity of the all-analog electronics here, it’s the very nature and uniqueness of those combined controls which yield such spectacular outputs. Of course all of this has to come at a price as such, and that price is £429 / $599 - which is fairly high, but eminently justifiable. I’m fairly certain in saying that there is nothing quite like this out there - and its stereo prowess - which can be set as regular Stereo or Wet/Dry - is what really makes this device essential for me.
Controls - Gain (Makeup Gain > +6dB), Blend (Wet Mix - Full Dry > Full Wet), Active Bass ±15dB, Active Treble ±15dB. Manual Delay Time, Modulation Width, Regen / Feedback, Speed | Hi/Lo, Manual Offset Switch | ± knob, Wave Shape : Asymmetric / Sine / Triangle | Shape (Wave Symmetry).
Rear Controls & Ports - In (Stereo via TRS and internal dip-switch), Control EXP (Speeed), Phase : In / Out, Hold Remote (Max Regen), Stereo Mode : Stereo | Wet/Dry, Right Out, Left Out, 9-24V DC [-] 350mA.
Internal Dip Switches - Default Power Up Mode : Off / On, Input Mode : Stereo / Mono, Bypass Mode : Buffer / Tru.
I really love what I've seen an heard of the Redwing so far - and I much admire both Peter and Dan, and am familiar with their work and attention to detail. So there is no question that I will be adding this device to the Reference Collection. While I always take a hiatus from gear acquisition during December - so this one will need to wait until the new year.
It's currently exclusive available from the That Pedal Show Webstore - up until the new year where it will go into more general distribution. It is a high quality proposition with a price tag to match - £429 / $559. I will be doing my best in January to acquire one in the most efficient manner possible! I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in then. You can read up more on the Hamstead Website and scan through the Manual.
If I had been involved in the development I wold have introduced a second Footswitch for Max Regen (Hold) and Slow/Fast Ramping - that's pretty much the only change I would have made - perhaps that can be a consideration for the eventual V2! A really cool device in any case - you just need to decide how best you prefer to deploy it!
Demos
