Hamstead Odyssey overdrive/distortion/fuzz pedal

John_P

lovebuzz said:

Wazmeister said:

lovebuzz said:

Wazmeister said:

Which fuzz do you reckon are the best you have played ? 

me?    well, i'm not the one making claims about pedal X, but if you insist....
i've played more than handful.
there are many that are 'best'.   fuzz comes in many flavours.   it's like asking me to choose a favourite child.

True enough... but which are your faves ?

i dont want to ''de-rail'' the thread.

why are you so interested in my opinion 

You’re doing a fairly decent job of something you don’t want to do.   

Edit.   For some reason half my post disappeared but I would be interested in comparisons with other Pedals and real world experiences.  

lovebuzz

Wazmeister said:

You see, and this is my last attempt, its a forum. So, we learn from each other along the way...

Now, my fuzz knowledge is poor, and yours seems better. Hence, the questions...

Ive been limited to Analogman White NKT (loved it) and Wampler Velvet... oh, and a few Bearfoot which always sound good to my ears.

Id appreciate your recommendations.

I am happy to talk about fuzz pedals, I'm just not sure this thread is the best place for a general discussion on fuzzes.  I don't want to get into trouble, and I'm suspicious that you're trying to get me into trouble (you PM'd a few days saying that you want me to get banned* - i dunno why). 
I'll say a few very concise things relating to fuzz, though:
- you mentioned a Wampler fuzz.  Wampler can't make a decent fuzz pedal for toffee.  both efforts so far aren't good.
- i'm not very familiar with BFT's fuzzes.
- the best sub £100 fuzz pedal currently, at new prices, is arguably the Dod Carcosa. very versatile, too.
- if you like vintage fuzz tones, but nothing nasty buzzy, try a clone of a ToneBender Mk2 Professional.
- you might like to try a silicon fuzz to companion your AM germanium fuzz face.

* p.s. (3.45pm)
@Wazmeister has PM'd me asking me to quote in this thread exactly what he wrote to me, because he feels that I misrepresented him above.
What @Wazmeister ;PM'd me a few days ago saying, was, verbatim, "[I] Can't wait till you get banned... he he he".
He feels that carries a sentiment and meaning different to that I paraphrased above. 

Wazmeister

@lovebuzz ;In fact, let me state here I never said I wanted to get you banned...

For some reason, I find you very difficult and at this point, Im out and will not be conversing or dealing with you in any way.

I think you are difficult and antagonistic, at best... although it could be completely me.

Just out in the open so all know...

Lebarque

It's not just you, Waz. IMO, Lovebuzz has broken 'rule 1' several times during this thread already...  

Cabicular

What do you make of Sharptone pedals @lovebuzz ;;

tone1

lovebuzz said:

tone1 said:

An optical OptoKick footswitch from our friends at TheGigRig.
Did Dan have full disclosure about his financial involvement when he was raving about it?

in the video he mentioned his 'amazing' footswitch being used on that pedal. what more do you want?   the business contract?

Yes... I asked a question (? Used) Did he mention???...I didn’t sit through the entirety of the video and I like to know what vested interest someone has when giving a review before I spend £200...I take it from your response that he did mention his involvement...I am no longer in a state of wonder. I’m glad Dan mentioned it.. and no, I don’t need to see the business contract thanks..

Sassafras

At least one of us on here is @Ro_S .
At least one of us.

Wazmeister

Sassafras said:

At least one of us on here is @Ro_S .
At least one of us.

I agree mate

rico

Wazmeister said:

Sassafras said:

At least one of us on here is @Ro_S .
At least one of us.

I agree mate

Thirded

lovebuzz

Cabicular said:

What do you make of Sharptone pedals @lovebuzz ;;

I dont know them.   

lovebuzz

Lebarque said:

It's not just you, Waz. IMO, Lovebuzz has broken 'rule 1' several times during this thread already...  

what have i done?  i made a point of not '''de-railing'' the thread even when encouraged to do so.

Cabicular

I’m getting an incredible feeling of Deja Vu..

TTBZ

This seems like a really cool usable pedal and just what I like - I can never get on with a full-on fuzz so need something with more overdrive/distortion qualities like a Rat. Would love to have a go with one of these - waiting for more demos to come out with playing more my style.

TonyGTR

just had first shipment.. great sounding and super versatile goo.gl/rMLqah

timbuk02

Some proper demo's if you've not seen them yet...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUW171LgtbI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8CkqI0pcTw

rico

The second demo is a very good representation of what it can do but in reality, the variety of tones is almost infinite!

lukedlb

Mine has finally arrived at home. A quick 30 minutes play indicates the odyssey is a great drive shaping pedal. The optokick is impressive too. I found myself switching it on and off as an effect in itself. 
More later in the week when I find time to play it properly. 

Wazmeister

lukedlb said:

Mine has finally arrived at home. A quick 30 minutes play indicates the odyssey is a great drive shaping pedal. The optokick is impressive too. I found myself switching it on and off as an effect in itself. 
More later in the week when I find time to play it properly. 

Lookimg forward to this mate...

lukedlb

Right I managed to get in a quick 45 minutes with the odyssey. First insight was the bass and treble control: set to far left and increase to taste. This is particularly important with the preEQ. I discovered that I needed little treble. This allowed me to use the Tone control more (which adds highs to the drive section) for more harmonic resonance  rather than shrillness.
I was rather disturbed on how good the clean boost sounded. I mean, that's the last thing I need, another boost. It easily competes with my Ryra and cali76.
On to the tubescreamer style, the reason I went for the pedal in the first place. I don't get on with tube screamers. Nevertheless I can't ignore their importance in the music I listen to, so a more malleable tube screamer seemed appropriate. I was a bit disappointed with the foxrox zim T9 card. This is much better and I can see its potential finally.
Moving on to the low gain: sounds great with lots of room to experiment.
I skipped mid gain and metal and went straight to saturated fuzz: ok, this is not the vintage fuzz I'm used to, rather the OTT low saturated fuzz that cuts out as you hit the low E. Sounds good and lots of room to experiment.
My main impression is this is a pedal needed to play in a band where you can adjust it to your heart's content to stand out in the mix. Hard rock and up is not my playing genre so I can't comment and how it competes against other high gain pedals. Everything below that has impressed me. I am not an overdrive player and get the little grit I enjoy by pushing the amp with boosts or with a volume down fuzz.
As for aesthetics, it is a very beautiful pedal with lovely knobs.
The pedal takes fuzz or germanium treble boost well and sounds great hitting a ryra. 

rico

I used it today in clean boost setting with neutral bass and full treble boost and it was sounding great hitting a dirty Klone. 

Next I had it on clipping circuit 3 with bass and treble just knocked back and tone at about 8 o’clock. Gain and volume (x1) at noon and it was a thick, articulate, juicy drive.