Hamstead Soundworks Subspace

First thing about Hamstead: Let me sing the highest praise for their manual!
They explain the knobs in a short manner, then give you a list of sample settings, then give you the start setting for your own exploration and then explain the knobs in greater detail and tell you what to do with them to best experience their function with your own ears.
It is not exactly a simple drive pedal, sporting 6 knobs and 4 switches.

Talking about the Pedal itself, it’s a solid brick with a reassuring weight and a superb craftsmanship.

I’ve played it for a while and I feel like I have only scratched the surface.
I also understand why that manual is going into that much detail. Those setting suggestions really make good starting points for exploration.
As an experiment, I did dime everything and see how far this can go, and I’d say that roaring spluttery fuzz is where it can get those who dare. From there I spent most of my time in the low gain region and playing around with the EQ & blend as well as the switches for EQ pre/post and clipping options.
That’s a lot to take in and I am at that point where I can’t decide if the pedal has way too many controls or not nearly enough of them.

However, I got that beautiful amp like breakup tone after a while. The notes felt like the core is solid, but its a but fuzzy around the edges, that kind of drive that softens rather than makes it punchy and harsh. I reduced the gain a little bit and the result felt like if I was playing rock, harder blues or any kind of metal, this could easily become an always-on pedal; In this regard, it reminds me of the Fairfield Barbershop.
You can set it to a very subtle setting that feels really good under the fingers and invites you to play with the dynamics, and when you switch it off, your clean tone feels boring.

What I feel worth mentioning is that this pedal is somewhat of a sandbox for dirt.
You can access some parameters that usually are fixed, most importantly the EQ which can be set pre or post clipping. Having that in a single pedal lets you really get what pre or post EQ means and what it really does.
This is one of the few pedals that can do it all. From low gain drive sound to solid overdrive – both the push-back kind that reminds of an amp and the push-forward kind that reminds of an overdrive pedal – through distortion well into fuzz – and it’s really good everywhere.