Hamstead Soundworks Odyssey

The Hamstead Soundworks Odyssey is an all-analog overdrive pedal from the Cambridge, UK maker Hamstead Soundworks, designed by Peter Hamstead as the company's debut gain pedal¹². It is a single circuit that covers a wide stretch of gain territory: Hamstead describes it as a journey "from clean boost with tone shaping, to classic rock, through to heavy metal, and all the way to oversaturated fuzz"¹. Guitar World's distortion buying guide puts it more simply: the clipping settings allow it to go from a pure, transparent clean boost to heavy distortion³.

It is also, according to Guitar World, "the highest-gain pedal Hamstead do"⁴, and GuitarPlayer has called it "the Swiss army knife gain stage from British ampmaker Hamstead"⁵.

What the Odyssey does: from clean boost to saturated fuzz

The Odyssey's range comes from its three clipping circuits combined with a two-part control layout. Premier Guitar's 2018 launch coverage described the pedal as divided into interactive Drive (Tone and Gain controls) and EQ circuits, with "no less than three clipping circuits, on-board guitar and amp tone-shaping"⁸. The EQ section offers 18dB of clean treble and bass boost and cut².

Delicious Audio broke the pedal's range down into named modes, which give a picture of how far one box stretches²:

• Transparent Overdrive
• Mid Boost Overdrive
• Medium Gain Overdrive
• Rock Overdrive & Distortion
• Metal & Doom Distortion
• Fuzz
• Clean boost with tone shaping

At the low-gain end, MusicRadar's buying guide noted "a dedicated boost setting that bypasses the gain control entirely," and found that with the three-way clipping control in symmetrical mode and the gain knob down, "it's a very capable boost for smashing a tube amp"⁹. At the other extreme, Premier Guitar's reviewer summed up the range as running "from pristine boost to myriad classic-rock tones, raging blizzards of nails, and even a limited range of fuzz"¹⁰.

The controls and three clipping circuits

The core of the pedal is the C1/C2/C3 clipping switch. Premier Guitar's review explains what each position does¹⁰:

MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen particularly liked the C2 setting for crisply-defined low gain drive as a complement to a natural amp sound¹¹. On the demo side, That Pedal Show's Dan and Mick walked through the pedal in a 2017 Pick'N'Mix episode, combining it with other drives and noting "you've got the three different clipping diode options as well"¹³.

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Power: 9V or 9 to 12V, depending on serial number

The Odyssey's power requirement changed during production, and the serial number is what tells you which version you have¹.

Both versions are DC only with a center negative plug¹.

History and versions

Hamstead Soundworks unveiled the Odyssey in March 2018 as a stand-alone drive pedal, with a launch price of £219 inc. VAT in the UK and £182.50 in the USA⁸. Stefan Karlsson at Guitar Pedal X dates its first introduction to 2017 and calls it "one of my all-time favourite overdrives"⁶. Delicious Audio reported it as the company's debut in the realm of gain pedals². The current maker price is £255 including 20% VAT¹; a 2021 MusicRadar feature listed it at $279⁹.

The pedal has also appeared under the name Odyssey Intergalactic Driver, reviewed by Pedal of the Day in 2019 with the same three clipping circuits, EQ routing toggle, input gain toggle and OptoKick bypass switch¹². That version is covered on its own page: Hamstead Soundworks Odyssey Intergalactic Driver.

The Odyssey's circuit is the work of designer Peter Hamstead, who describes it as an all-analog design built to push the boundaries of what a drive pedal can be¹. One practical change came at serial number 681, where the power requirements changed and a different manual applies: Hamstead's own documentation splits the manual between units up to serial number 680 and later units¹.

What reviewers said

Published reviews of the Odyssey have been largely positive, with a few reservations.

Reviewers noted that the Odyssey's C1 clipping mode offers symmetrical clipping, which lets a player dial in a sound in the territory of a Tube Screamer-style midrange overdrive¹¹.

Curwen also described the pedal as "an original design, it doesn't seem to be based on any particular drive pedal"¹¹, though a MusicRadar buying guide by Alex Lynham observed that "the general circuit topology has some things in common with the humble ProCo RAT," and that when wide open at higher gain settings it has some tonal similarity to a dimed RAT⁹.

Published coverage of the Odyssey has been limited, but Hamstead Soundworks says the pedal was extensively tested with a large range of familiar guitars and amplifiers to ensure that it will work great with any setup¹. Reviewer coverage of its clipping modes notes that the C1 mode offers symmetrical clipping¹¹, one of the options that sets the pedal's character apart from simpler fixed-voice overdrives.

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Questions