The Seafoam Pedals Harpoon is a mini overdrive pedal released on August 12, 2019. It is designed to push your guitar's midrange into smooth, touch-sensitive drive that cleans up or screams depending on how hard you play, and it offers up to 15dB of boost through internal voltage doubling and what the maker calls a console-quality preamp1. Guitar.com describes it as a pedal built to help you punch through the mix with smooth, mid-focused gain2.
The Harpoon was handmade and designed by Dave Denton in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and carried a street price of $179 at launch13. It sits alongside earlier Seafoam drives such as the Low Tide Overdrive.
What the Harpoon does to your sound
Seafoam designed the Harpoon to push the guitar's midrange into smooth and extremely touch-sensitive drive. Premier Guitar's announcement describes it as a pedal that "cleans up or screams depending on playing dynamics"1. Guitar World likewise reports it is designed to clean up or distort depending on playing dynamics4. In practice, that means backing off your picking hand or rolling down the guitar's volume takes the sound toward clean, while digging in pushes it into drive.
The pedal also delivers up to 15dB of boost, courtesy of the internal voltage doubling and a preamp the maker describes as console-quality. Premier Guitar notes the pedal keeps impressive clarity even when overdriven13. That boost makes the Harpoon usable as a straight boost pedal as well as an overdrive.
The controls: level, drive and a three-way range switch
The Harpoon keeps its control set simple: two knobs and a switch.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Standard level control, sets the output volume13 |
| Drive | Standard drive control, sets the amount of gain13 |
| Range switch (3-way) | Selects between high-mid, narrow-mid, or low-mid voicings1 |
The notable design choice is the range switch. Seafoam replaced the typical tone stage with a three-way switch tailored for an optimal high-mid, narrow-mid, or low-mid voicing1. Guitar.com's Daniel Ong describes it as functioning like a tone knob, letting you select between those three midrange options rather than sweeping a continuous tone control2. Where a conventional tone knob rolls off highs, the range switch shifts which part of the midrange the pedal emphasizes, which is central to the Harpoon's mid-focused character.
Power and bypass
The Harpoon runs at 18 volts internally from a standard 9V DC plug1. That internal voltage doubling is what supports the 15dB of boost and the clarity the maker claims for the pedal at high drive settings13. The pedal uses a soft-click true bypass switch, so the signal passes through unaffected when the pedal is off, and the switch engages without a loud mechanical click13.
The Harpoon's 18V internal operation comes from a standard 9V DC supply, so no special high-voltage power supply is needed. A standard 9V DC plug is all the pedal requires1.
Where it came from
What the press said
The Harpoon's launch was covered across the guitar press in August 2019, and the coverage was consistent on the pedal's main features1.
"The new Harpoon Overdrive from Seafoam Pedals packs a lot of power and versatility into a small footprint."
Videos
Seafoam Pedals
Questions
Does the Seafoam Harpoon have a tone knob?
No. The Harpoon replaces the typical tone stage with a three-way range switch that selects between high-mid, narrow-mid, or low-mid voicings. Guitar.com describes it as functioning like a tone knob, but it is a switch rather than a continuous knob.
Is the Seafoam Harpoon true bypass?
Yes. The Harpoon uses a soft-click true bypass switch, so your clean signal passes through untouched when the pedal is off. The soft-click action means the footswitch engages without a loud mechanical click.
How much boost does the Seafoam Harpoon give?
Up to 15dB of boost, achieved through internal voltage doubling and what the maker describes as a console-quality preamp. The pedal runs at 18 volts internally from a standard 9V DC plug, which supports that extra headroom.
Where are Seafoam Pedals made?
The Harpoon is handmade and designed by Dave Denton in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Premier Guitar's announcement also lists the pedal as hand-made in the USA.
Sources (4)
- Seafoam Pedals Unveils the Harpoon Overdrive, Premier Guitar, 2019-08-12
- Seafoam Pedals’ Harpoon OD helps your tone pierce through the mix, Guitar.com, 2019-08-15
- Seafoam Pedals launch the Harpoon overdrive, MusicRadar, 2019-08-13
- Seafoam's Harpoon mini pedal is a whale of an overdrive, Guitar World, 2019-08-13
