Hamstead Soundworks Ascent Amplitude Controller

THE IDEA

The concept came to us when trying to think of ways to directly help some of the people in the live music industry that have lost their work and livelihoods. All major festivals this summer and most, if not all, gigs for the rest of the year have been cancelled, leaving the future very uncertain.

Ascent has been designed to be made remotely by backline technicians who we can pay for their time and skills, creating a really special pedal, built by the pros, in the process. This amazing group of techs includes those from AC/DC, Iggy Pop, The 1975, Mumford & Sons, and Queen. Each and every Ascent will be hand soldered, signed and dated by the tech that built it.

Every pedal sold enables us to give financial support direct to the builders and also give 10% of the profits to the helpmusicians.org.uk charity to try and help as many people in the industry as possible.

Ascent features our standard OptoKick footswitch from Daniel Steinhardt and the team at TheGigRig. They are also partnering with us to contribute 15% of the cost of every footswitch to the cause.

Another key part of the concept is to give techs who are suddenly out of work a project to be creative, providing a distraction from the sad state of the industry that we all know and love. The Ascent project is not just a quick fix, but designed to offer both financial and mental health support to people that make live music happen.

WHAT IS ASCENT?

Ascent is a pure clean boost pedal, offering a huge 20dB of gain with near-zero tonal colouration across the whole frequency range. This is of course coupled with Peter Hamstead’s usual design refinements including ±15v internally isolated power for super high 30v headroom and a VCA-based design for an incredibly linear and transparent boost.