The Sitek Freya is a dual pedal that combines a low to mid-gain overdrive with a transparent, high headroom boost, each with its own footswitch. It was designed in collaboration with British YouTube guitarist Joss Allen and announced in July 2020 as Sitek's first dual pedal, part of the Polish company's Sound Muses line1. RockBoard's PedalPedia describes the overdrive section as a focused mid-push with a vast amount of headroom and clarity at the bottom and top end, smooth on a clean channel and tightening things up on a dirty channel2.
What the Freya does
The pedal splits its two jobs across two footswitches. The overdrive side is a low to mid-gain drive with what the maker calls a focused mid-push, and the boost side is a full range, transparent booster providing up to 12dB of clean boost3. Guitar World describes the booster as a transparent high headroom design, while gearnews.com calls it "perfectly clean boost"14.
"The boost section provides up to 12 dB of perfectly clean boost."
The two sections can operate independently, and their order is switchable, which RockBoard's PedalPedia says opens up more tonal options2. Delicious Audio notes that a toggle between the two footswitches changes whether the overdrive or the boost comes first in the chain3. That matters in practice: running the boost into the overdrive drives the clipping stage harder, while running the overdrive into the boost lifts the whole driven signal, a common trick for pushing an amp's front end.
The controls
The overdrive section carries drive and tone knobs, plus a three-way clipping switch5. The clipping voices are:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Drive knob | Sets the amount of overdrive in the drive section5 |
| Tone knob | Shapes the drive section's frequency balance5 |
| Clipping switch (3-way) | Selects one of three clipping voices4 |
| Order toggle | Swaps the order of the overdrive and boost sections3 |
| Two footswitches | Engage the overdrive and boost sections independently4 |
The three clipping voices are described the same way by the maker and the press: a smooth, bluesy breakup sound; an open and more focused boost to push the front end of an already dirty amp channel; and a mid-rich lead tone214. In other words, the switch moves the drive character from gentle breakup, to an amp-pushing voice, to a lead voice with the mids brought forward.
The pedal uses high quality DeMont Smooth-Click footswitches1, and gearnews.com's reviewer liked its pedalboard-friendly top-mounted jacks4.
History: the Joss Allen signature pedal
Sitek is a family-run pedal company based in Poland that focuses on hand-building gain pedals3. In July 2020 the company teamed up with YouTube guitarist Joss Allen on the Freya, a signature pedal designed around Allen's style and technique42. Allen announced the partnership over YouTube with a demo of the pedal's sounds5.
The name comes from the Viking goddess of beauty and war, which gearnews.com reports mirrors what Sitek calls the pedal's "captivating and powerful" personality4. At launch Guitar World listed the Freya at $2401, while Guitar.com reported it available at €210 through sitek.rocks5.
Delicious Audio positioned the pedal broadly, describing it as a versatile dual pedal that could become a pedalboard staple for players from blues through heavy metal3. Since the drive side is low to mid-gain rather than a full distortion, heavier players would likely use it the way the clipping switch's second voice suggests: as a focused push into an amp channel that is already dirty.
Videos
Peter “Danish Pete” Honoré
R.J. Ronquillo
Alberto Barrero
Questions
Is the Sitek Freya true bypass?
Yes. Both Guitar World and gearnews.com report that the Freya uses true bypass switching, so with both sections off the pedal leaves the dry signal path alone. It also uses high quality DeMont Smooth-Click footswitches for the two independent sections.
How much boost does the Sitek Freya give?
The booster section provides up to 12dB of clean boost, described by the press as a full range, transparent boost with high headroom. That is enough to push the front end of an already dirty amp channel harder without changing the pedal's own character.
Can you change the order of the boost and overdrive on the Freya?
Yes. A toggle between the two footswitches switches the order of the overdrive and boost sections, and both sections can also run independently. Boost into overdrive and overdrive into boost give noticeably different results, which effectively doubles the pedal's tonal options.
What power supply does the Sitek Freya need?
The Freya runs on 9V DC with a center negative plug, the standard arrangement for most modern pedalboard power supplies. The maker lists the circuit as analog, and no battery operation is mentioned in the available specifications.
Is the Sitek Freya good for metal?
It was designed in collaboration with metal guitarist Joss Allen, and Delicious Audio describes it as a dual pedal that can serve players from blues through heavy metal. The overdrive is low to mid-gain rather than a full distortion, so metal players would mainly use it to push a dirty amp channel.
Sources (5)
- Sitek teams up with YouTube guitarist Joss Allen for the Freya Overdrive/Booster pedal, Guitar World, 2020-07-27
- Freya by Sitek Guitar Electronics, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Sitek Freya (Joss Allen Signature) Boost + Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2020-10-06
- Sitek Joss Allen Freya signature Overdrive/Booster: Love and war in one pedal, gearnews.com, 2020-07-27
- Sitek partners with Joss Allen for the Freya Overdrive/Boost pedal, Guitar.com, 2020-07-28
