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
