The Holy Island Audio Abracadaver is a transformer based octave up boost and overdrive pedal, covering three effect types at once: booster, octaver and overdrive. The circuit is analog and runs on 9V DC center negative power1. It sits in the wider family of boost pedals, overdrive pedals and octave and pitch pedals.
What it does
The pedal was designed by Holy Island Audio itself, whose developer describes the goal in the first person on the product page. The idea is not to be the main drive on a board, but a companion to other dirt pedals1:
"The main goal I had in mind when developing the ABRACADAVER was to be a simple way of adding a sprinkle of chaos to your other drive pedals."
The maker gives two ways of using it with a fuzz pedal:
- Before the fuzz: for a fuller, more harmonically rich sound.
- After the fuzz: to turn it into a wild octave fuzz in the vein of an Octavia1.
Because the octave effect is produced by a transformer based circuit rather than digital pitch tracking, it responds to what the pedals in front of and behind it are doing, which is what makes its placement in the chain the main creative decision1.
Price and availability
Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, reviewing the related Spectral Fire overdrive in June 2026, mentions "a version of the Abracadaver @ £100"2. That figure is in British pounds as stated and is not converted here.
Demo
The maker points to a demo by Theo And His Pedals (in English) on the product page1.
Videos
HOLY ISLAND AUDIO
HOLY ISLAND AUDIO
Pedals and Tea
Sources (2)
- Abracadaver by Holy Island Audio, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Guitar Pedal X, Guitar Pedal X, 2026-06-10