Hamstead Soundworks Comet

Hamstead Soundworks Comet: Interstellar Driver

Overdrive Versatility with its own Voice

Comet is a meticulously voiced overdrive pedal, that opens up a vast range of tones from a simple control set. Representing Hamstead Soundworks’ pursuit to push analogue drive circuitry to new heights, it can be moulded from boutique sounding overdrive with a vocal midrange, right through to a rich and creamy fuzz. Both transparent and character drive tones are accessed via a deceptively simple, but incredibly powerful switch. Furthermore, your tone can be shaped via an intuitive two-band EQ, for additional tone sculpting.

Main Features:

• Incredibly versatile tone shaping from a simple control set
• From tone-enhancing ‘always on’ preamp gain, to boutique overdrive and all the way to rich, creamy fuzz
• Transparent and Character drive voices
• Multifunction Pre/Post switch:
  • Changes the order of the Drive & EQ circuits
  • Switches between two distinct clipping circuits
  • Adjusts the gain structure for a wide range of drive sounds
• Active EQ with +/-15dB of clean Treble & Bass boost & cut
• Up to 30dB of Level boost
• High Gain mode (via an internal switch)
• Global Hi Cut adjustment (via an internal pot)
• All-analogue design with silent optical switching and OptoKick footswitch
• Powered by 9 – 12 V DC PSU
  (Centre -, 2.1 mm, 65 mA current draw)

Hamstead Soundworks Drive, EQ & Gain Structure

The Pre / Post switch sits right at the heart of Comet, providing two distinct tonal paths. While on the surface it may appear to be just a simple physical switch, it’s much more than that. By selecting DRV>EQ or EQ>DRV, you not only change the order of the Drive and EQ circuits, but also the type of clipping and gain structure circuitry. The design uses complex analogue engineering on the inside, to be simple and instinctive to use on the outside.

With the DRV>EQ position selected, this gives you a very dynamic and transparent clipping circuit and places the EQ after the Drive Circuit, for studio style EQ sculpting. While if you switch over to the EQ>DRV mode, this moves the EQ in front of a more raw, yet organic clipping style that boosts the input gain into the drive circuit. Doing this provides a wide range of character drive tones that can be pushed all the way to into super saturated fuzz tones.

Hamstead Soundworks Global Gain & Tone Control

From pre-amp boost and right through to fuzz, Comet has a very wide range of gain available onboard. However, to push the circuit even harder into high gain territory, we’ve also added an extra gear. Selectable via an internal switch, Hi Gain Mode can open up heavy crunch and distortion or even highly saturated fuzz tones.

While Comet is voiced to work excellently with any guitar or bass set-ups straight out of the box, we wanted to add a little extra flexibility for those players who really want to fine tune their sound. With the internal Hi-Cut pot, you can tailor the high frequencies to suit any rig or tonal preference. An all-analogue circuit designed by Peter Hamstead that’s built at the Hamstead labs in Cambridgeshire, Great Britain.