It turns out I was a lucky fella: 1 of only 20 people on the planet who secured the latest “Top Secret Mission” pedal from our friends over at Spaceman Effects. As it turns out, this mystery pedal is an unlabeled (and therefore, extremely rare) version of the Voyager 1, an optical tremolo that was just released. This one is WAY cooler, however, as it has no labels and no indication of how it works – even the instruction manual is blacked out! Another fun and clever idea from the gang in Portland, this pedal was way fun to play with, and tricky to figure out as well.

I’m going to go by the specs on the actual Voyager page of Spaceman’s site, so I can try to explain this slick pedal a little better. First, there are 2 small controls located in the top middle of the pedal. The left one is Level, which is the overall output control. The right one is a really cool feature, a Gain knob, which allows you to mix in a little or a lot of analog overdrive into your tremolo sound. It’s like having a second pedal, pretty much, and you can create some super-rad, slightly crunchy drive sounds with a smooth tremolo wash over the top. A great feature to have, and one that really makes this thing stand out.

The Left side of the pedal boasts some controls we’re all pretty familiar with. The top Frequency knob is your basic speed control, moving from a slow, muddy pulse to a rapid-fire tremolo machine gun. The bottom Strength control is the Depth of the effect, again from a slight sonic presence to a full-on, almost menacing pulse, and a nice range in between. There’s also a toggle switch over here, which lets you select between the typical Triangle and Square wave shapes.

The Right side features a couple of unique controls, in addition to a second toggle switch. The Filter knob acts as a tone control of sorts, moving from a warmer sound when turned to the right to a brighter, sharper tone when cranked to the left. Again, great range in this control knob as well, something for everyone to be able to use. The Envelope is a special feature on the Voyager 1, in that it reacts to your playing dynamics to control different parameters by adjusting the overall sensitivity. This is further fueled by the toggle switch here, which goes between Freq, which allows you to control the speed of the LFO based on how hard or soft you play, and Fade, which fades your effect out the harder you pick, and brings it back in when your playing becomes lighter.

All of these options make for an incredibly unique tremolo pedal, one that is extremely versatile and full of endless sonic options. The indicator jewel, a Spaceman staple, actually has 2 different lights, too: orange one for the bypass, and flashing white for the tremolo speed. Completely hand-soldered, true-bypass switching and only the finest interior components available, the Voyager 1 Optical Tremolo is the top-of-the-line in trem effects. I’m just lucky enough to have gotten a special edition version, which makes it that much cooler. Don’t forget to check out Spaceman Effects’ other gear, and get your Voyager today!

Submitted by Mike B, Website