Interstellar Audio Machines advertised its original Octonaut Hyperdrive as, “The only overdrive you’ll ever need.” Well…

The new version offers boost based on the Klon Centaur; its secret sauce is Germanium diodes that blend dry signal with drive. With knobs for Volume, Drive, Ton (treble/tone), and an internal switch that alternates between true-bypass and buffered, the Octonaut is easy-peasy. In a small housing, it’s also perfect for placement alongside other pedals.

Designed to add low to medium overdrive (not high gain), the pedal adds muscle to blues solos, heats up a clean amp for heavy rock, or pushes a high-gain rig to glory. Armed with a superstrat and a crusty Marshall combo pushed to a dirty sweet spot, the Octonaut delivered a narrow (but useful) range of gainy analog flavors nestled between ZZ Top and early Van Halen, while adding poppin’ fresh harmonics with cozy midrange. This pedal is perfect for aggressive blues-rock with a bigger, more-open sound and bigger headroom.

The Octonaut Hyperdrive delivers semi-transparent overdrive tones and expressive dynamics with inspiring richness – that, and it puts guitarists in the Klon church at a fraction of the cost.

This article originally appeared in VG’s September 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.