Spaceman Spacerocket II

The Spaceman Spacerocket II is a silicon octave fuzz pedal from Portland builder Spaceman Effects, reworked and reissued in 2024 as part of the company's 15th anniversary celebrations¹. It is a sequel to the original Spacerocket, released in 2011 as the second pedal Spaceman ever made, and it keeps that pedal's core character: in the maker's words, "The signature voice of the Spacerocket is a fat, compressed fuzz, with notes that uniquely sustain into an octave as you draw them out"².

Spaceman describes the II as "an otherworldly fuzz. A wide variety of unique and inspiring tones live within its minimalist control layout, from traditional octave-fuzz effects to thick layered waves of fuzz"³. The circuit is a discrete, all-analog design built with through-hole components, and Guitar Pedal X counted six silicon transistors visible on the circuitboard²³.

A fat, compressed octave fuzz

The Spacerocket II is an octave fuzz: a fuzz circuit whose upper harmonics emerge as an octave-up as notes sustain. On the original Spacerocket, Spaceman describes the hottest Fuzz setting as "a blistering compressed fuzz bomb, with layers of sustaining fuzz," with harmonic octaves appearing on the sustain tails⁴. The II refines that voice with tighter lows and smoother highs, and a more pronounced octave effect in the Oct position³¹.

How it behaves depends on what you play through it. Delicious Audio found that "It shines when used for single-string lead lines, with a saturated multidimensional fuzz that blooms between notes," while "With chords and multi-string playing, you can achieve a variety of tones, including intermodulated, metallic, and noisy robotic fuzz"¹. At the other end of its range, Spaceman says turning up the Fuzz control in the Chimey Overdrive setting boosts your tubes for amp-like overdrive².

The controls and the three-way voice toggle

The control layout is minimal: Level, Tone, and a Fuzz control, plus a three-position toggle for voicing²⁵. The toggle is the heart of the pedal. Spaceman explains that it "simultaneously adjusts compression, gain and bass for three launching-off points"². Guitar Pedal X lists the three positions as Fz1, Oct, and Fz2⁵, and Delicious Audio notes the toggle "can deliver a variety of sounds ranging from thick fuzzes to classic octave-up tones"¹.

Beyond the knobs, the EXP / Control Voltage jack accepts a 0-5V DC TRS input for external control, with over-voltage and reverse-voltage protection². Input resistance is 40k Ohm².

What changed from the 2011 Spacerocket

The original Spacerocket came out in 2011 as Spaceman's second-ever pedal, following the Rumblefuzz²³. The II keeps the same basic design but adds:

• An average noise-floor reduction of 15dB versus the original²³¹
• Tighter lows and smoother highs across the voices³
• A more pronounced octave effect in the Oct position¹

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson, who owned the original, framed the II as "a further improvement of that," and in his year-end roundup called the MKII edition "only very subtly improved from the the MKI edition"³⁵.

Editions and availability

The Spacerocket II launched as a handmade, limited release in three signed and numbered First Editions²³:

All three were priced at $299²³. The Blue and Black Editions carry a vintage indicator light², and all sit in a cast-aluminum enclosure with an engraved vinyl faceplate². The First Edition batch is now sold out on Spaceman's webstore, and a later limited White Light Edition was made available only through stores². Guitar Pedal X expected at the launch that a few units would reach UK dealers Andertons and Pedal Jungle eventually³.

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