Hermida Audio Technology Mosferatu

Simple controls, easy to use once you tweak in your setting.

I play Fender blackface amps, teles and strats. I was looking for a pedal for that "Marshall" sound on a couple songs. It does an okay job but I sold it when I found a better CHEAPER pedal. Read on.

No problems while I had it.

I ordered a Zendrive(sold it right after I got it) and a Mosferatu and talked to Alf a couple times. Nice guy.

been playing 45 years, mostly roots rock, blues, and country. It does the Marshall thing pretty well. I realize I base this review on my using 6L6 and 6V6 amps. It did sound more like I was looking for through my Dr Z Maz 38 with EL34s. Then I got an M.I.Audio Crunch Box for $130 and sold the Mosferatu. My opinion only, but I think it blows the Mos away for the plexi thing.

Very straight-forward controls. Volume, Tone, Gain, Voice.

Simply put, the best overdrive pedal I've ever played. It stacks up higher than the following pedals:

Fulltone Fulldrive 2
Fulltone Distortion Pro
Fulltone OCD
Fulltone Fat-Boost
Durham Sex Drive
Durham Mucho Boosto
BBE Boosta Grande
Toneman Rangemaster
Krank Distortus Maximus

If you want silky smooth, Marshall Plexi violin tones, run this pedal through a Germino Lead 55 and let'er rip!

Nuff said!

So far, so good :)

Haven't deal with Alf. I've heard he's trying to keep up with enormous demand. I'm on the waiting list for a Zendrive ... hope I can get one ...

This is the overdrive pedal to get. I think "Mosferatu" is probably a combination of MOSFET and Nosferatu. You think? It works for me.

easy, just turn the knobs

i dont try to imitate any players, although im influenced by a zillion great Guitar players from most to all musical idioms, i most like playing blues to rock to bebop to FUSION. This is one crazy pedal. it turns my hot rod deville into a fat sounding tube amp with yards of thick juicy sustain riddin sounds. Trust me, this pedal is a chunk of genius. I havent even gigged with it yet but just playing it in my living room gives me the chills, i can play it it extremly soft levels thus not waking my wife late at nite, too cool, i play a limited edition strat ash body ebony neck with maple underneath its called a bad boy blue, this guitar becouse of the ash body tends to sound darker then your regular alder wood body, almost a combination of single and humbucker sounds, so i turn the tone control to at lest 2 o clock with gain up it reacts to legato type hammer on and tapping style fast playing very well, will test it for right hand picking responce soon, im sure this pedal will kick hard when i boost it with my xotic r/c booster or my keeley time machine or thru the various gain channels on my amp or turning the volume and gain up or down via my volume control on my strat. this is a great pedal for a strat, it fattens the sound up into humbucker heaven

havent thrown it against the wall yet, ill let ya know?. lol

Alf is one freakin busy dude, hes back ordered cause every freakin guitar player who is tone conscience wants one, if he doesent get right back to you, just CHILL. Believe me, his pedals are worth waiting for, just go practice some scales or arpeggios until you get yours. I understand hes working hard to catch up on back orders , and he hired a helper to achieve getting pedals to everyone that wants one

Blah Blah Blah just go buy one, good things come to those who wait. I cant wait to get my zen overdrive pedal which im on line to get one. with all the great reviews and hype, this ones a classic. I heard somebody on a chat line about the mos pedal say it makes you stand out and sound like the chairmen of the board. I agree. Now just practice , you know its not the pedal that makes the guitarist but the guitarist who makes the pedal, peace

This is one of the three-knobs Mosferatus, small case (1590B).

Some interesting things happen in the last fifth of the tone pots way.

Other than that, it's really easy to set up and rocks in about every combination. The distortion knob operates super smoothly.

I'm starting to think that distortion and tone knobs should be used in the opposite direction -- turn the gain up, turn the tone down.

This is a distortion, less of an overdrive. Low to higher -- but not insane -- gains. The tonality is more oriented towards the higher end of the spectrum, but stays neutral enough.

The Mosferatu seems to let some of the original sound through. It really sounds great either alone or into a dirty amp. The pick attack is kept intact and chords ring out in a beautiful way.

The only drawback is the noticeable bass loss that I experience with my 7-string and the slight tendency to pick up or increase hum from the powerlines.

I'm using this with a 1969 Marshall Super Lead 100 W and a Ibanez 2027VV 7-string. The cab is a 1960B.

It looks very solidly built, however parts of the circuit are gooped and I'm not sure how these could be repaired.

Wrote an email a couple of days ago. No answer yet, but I'll keep waiting.

I play Metal, Death Metal, dirty stuff generally.

I've been playing for 10 years now. I have some other dirty stuff, mostly old fuzzes.

If Mr. Hermida would increase the bass response and look after the hum issue, it would truly be awesom. This way, it's "just" great.

This piece is very easy to use - 3 knobs

This is the reason for this submission - this thing sounds like my 68' 50 watt Marshall Plexi dimed through my Weber Mass. I throw a Cornish P-2 after it and I have one of the best high gain tones through any amp I put it through. I know this is a tall order - just grab one and listen/play through it.

Well made; chassis mounted pots, jacks, hand wired, True bypass.

Email Alfonso and he replies that day.

Like everybody else, I've looked for 'My Sound' for the last 10 years in a much easier pedal format; I found it.

Volume, Tone, Gain controls - quite easy to find a great sound straight out of the gate. No manual, but Alf is easily reached via email or phone if you need any help. I started out with all of the controls at 12:00 and was so psyched at first play that I forgot to tweak the knobs for the first 5 minutes. You gotta love that...

I'm using my Mos with single coil Strat and Tele pickups, mini-humbuckers, full-size humbuckers, Lipsticks, and P-90s into several vintage 6V6 combo amps - usually set for clean to edge of breakup. Each guitar retains it's voice even at max gain, which is roughly somewhere between a Tube Screamer and a Rat. The beauty of the Mos is that you don't need a lot of gain to get a fat, sustaining overdrive tone with plenty of harmonic overtones and clarity. There is some amount of compression added, but it never smothers your picking nuances or dynamics. I use it as my highest gain pedal (a Keeley TS-9/808 handles the lower gain stuff) and I find that I hardly ever feel the desire to set the gain past 3:00 - the sustain and harmonics are present even at lower gain settings. I don't really care for the Mos's lowest gain settings (anything under 10:00), but thats not why I bought it. As a medium gain OD, this thing rocks. Very smooth, but not muddy. Bass strings sound clear and round without being tubby. Complex chords retain their individual notes even at max gain - that's pretty cool IMO. The overdrive voice is somewhere between a plexi Marshall and a D*mble - you can set it to be very smooth and round or dial in some more grit with the tone control after 3:00. The tone control is fairly subtle, but is voiced well and is effective - almost like a presence control. The Mos adds some nice upper mids - almost like EL84 style tube overdrive. Definitely makes my 6V6 amps sound more aggressive - which is what I was after...

It's true-bypass - no noticeable affect on my tone when it's off. There is a small amount of hiss when the gain or tone are set past about 1-2:00 - my other ODs have similar noise levels. I haven't tried it with an adapter, I only use batteries in my pedals.

The pedal certainly looks solid, and quality parts are used. Alf is one of those guys who stands behind his products and is happy to answer any questions. If I had an issue, I feel confident that Alf would do whatever it took to make things right.

Again, a great guy to deal with. Super helpful and knowledgeable, and answers emails promptly - I've never waited more than 6 hours for a reply.

The Mos is the first 'boutique' overdrive that I've owned that wasn't a copy of anything I'd previously owned or heard (like a TS, Distortion +, or Rat etc.). It's got it's own thing going on, yet it's a familiar sound. I think it's best feature is the fact that you get a big fat complex overdrive tone with lots of harmonic content and sustain - but it still retains it's clarity and definition, all while keeping your pickup's inherent voice intact. It makes me want to play more - so it's already paid for itself, IMO. Definitely one of the best purchases I've made yet - and I've bought LOTS of gear in the 27+ years I've been playing. Great pedal, Alf - thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

Mine is the mini version, which is the standard smaller size pedal. He also makes a large size on and a double pedal. Pedal has three knobs, one for gain, one for tone and one for volume. Very easy to use. This pedal is pretty easy to dial in a good sound with.

When I first got this pedal I thought it sounded too dark and would not cut through. But from reading other's posts about this pedal and emailing Mr. Hermida I figured out how to get around this. I find that you have to keep the tone at at least 3 o'clock, and this makes the dark sound go away. I also run the gain up at about 1-3 oclock and the volume around noon. I play both single coil guitars, (G&L, Grosh and P-90 Hamer) and humbuckers (prs, Heritage) and it sounds great for both. I think this pedal covers medium gain sounds well. It is very smooth and musical. Definately no harshness here! Great for singing type leads and helps give a lot of sustain!

Have had no issues with pedal.

Alfonso Hermida is very nice to deal with. He answers emails pretty fast and is very helpful and has good communication with customer. I would definately recommend his stuff.

I would definately recommend this pedal to anyone wanting a nice smooth, singing type of pedal. Highly recommended!

It's as easy as it comes to get instant gratification. I opened the
box, plugged the steel in, and the sound I heard in my head was just
THERE! No manual needed.

Lap steel to Mos to DI to PA. It's Very quiet even at full gain. You
get the most dramatic tone & volume changes in the last third of the
knob(s) travel. The description of the Mos "sound" seems to be
universally..."smoooth", add my name to the list of me-too users.
No fuzz, no buzz, no graininess...it's #%&*ing beautiful!

I have'nt had it long enough to judge it's roadworthiness, but it sure
seems well-built/simple. I intend to buy another for backup just in
case some jealous fool steals this one.

Got it from Tonefrenzy (A Hermida distributor), but I did ask Alfonso
a question and he answered within 5 hrs...amazing! His reputation as
an honest & caring builder & businessman is widespread.

I've played guitar for 38 years & am now experimenting with 6-string
lap steel (great fun). The Mos is perfect for overdriven sounds from
slight to raging...all the while preserving the tone/clarity of your
clean sound. (How many times have we heard that phrase?) I've tried
numerous OD pedals for steel use and the Mos has simply sounded the
best by far...Fat and Musical. Alfonso did this one right...period.

This pedal has a lot of tone in a small box! Three knobs,level,tone
and gain. The stomp switch is top drawer and there is a bright led to indicate operation. Very nicely made.

I am using warmoth strats,maple necked one w/Kinmans,the other
Lindy Fralins and an 81 Les Paul Custom. The pedal has more than enough gain for my purposes. It has consistantly good tone,through
the entire range. I am using an Allen Accomplice,a Prosonic or a Pro
Reverb, and it sounds great through all. I use a Keeley Comp before
the Mosferatu, but at a low level of compression. The pedal really brings the guitar pick-ups focus. It has an incredibly fat sound,
which makes a strat sound so more rich. I often run the pedal for most of the night with volume at 9 ,tone about 3, and gain at about
8-9 o'clock. For heavier drive/distortion, I'll crank the gain and lower the volume. At those lower gain levels, it really enhances the
overall tone of the guitar without coloring the tone. I'm finding some pinch harmonics, I've never heard prior. Just great tone!

This unit was built by someone who cares about quality and longevity. It has top quality switches,jacks and components. The board is secured well and components are adhesed securely to the board.

Alfonso is quick to E-mail customers regarding questions or
shipping/product details. It's nice to have this kind of response.
It's a pleasure dealing with him.

I play mainly blues, and blues based rock. This pedal really brings my guitar and playing into the light. I've been playing for 40 years
but not consistantly. I'd definitely buy another if stolen. The size
is great for smaller pedal boards or limited space. So much tone,in such a small box! As a tone seeker,I've gone through a lot of pedals.
Tone is very subjective,but most of the other pedals compressed to much,killed bottom end and had so much mid-range that it was painful.
This is the tone I've been seeking and it makes me sound much better.
For the money, this pedal does more than some twice the cost. It is user friendly,fat and toneful,yet doesn't over color your guitar's sound. It's the winner and permanent fixture on my board. Thanks Alf.

Man have I had way too many Overdrive pedals !!!!I've gone through BLACKSTONE APPLIANCES ( didnt like it , sold it to a guy who loved it, just like bellybuttons, you never know)Japan Boss DS1, OD1,Tube Screamer reissue( TOO much Midrange, made my humbuckers get NASALLY )way too many more to list , I'm such a pedal junkie but at least i got off the alcohol and crystal, so now i can FUNCTION at gigs, but i am an admitted pedal-holic...Hi my name is Marty S. and i'm powerless over toneshaping and my pedalboard has become unmanageable..Hi Marty.....but anyway..back to the Mosferatu...THIS IS BEST< THE EASIEST TO USE...the finest OD I've ever had...it stays on my board right between my Real Tube 12AU7 and my Grey DOD 250...abd unless it gets ripped off, I'll NEVER part with it...thats not a threat, thats a promise

When i'm sitting at home late at night , i'll run a loop-ed rhythm on clean, then jam back ( whipping Post, for example ) with it...i put the gain on my Mosferatu all the way right, and the level practically off...sweet sweet tone, doesnt wake my wife up, the loop never stops but eventually i have to. AT GIGS, usuallu have the gain, tone , and level somewhere aroung the MIDDLE on all 3, it doesnt matter if you tweak it a hair, this is NOT a tempermental pedal...it sounds good at all settings..i ususally run my compressor AFTER my first delay and boss HARMONIST ( dont believe the bad rap, its the BEST octave pedal EVER MADE ) but before my ODs...the sustain that i get from Alf's Mosferatu sings to my soul ( sounds sappy-dontcare- its true)...this is the tone i have looked for since 1963...yes...i was and still am a Beatle Boy...i've had many many FUZZ's ( I love Fuzz, it has its place, get the MISTA FUZZ its the best)...many wacked out wannabes...but the Mosferatu has found its way into my heart just like that redhead did ( you know who you are )... not noisy ( except with full gain at high volumes) HUMBUCKERS soar SINGLE COILS SPANK AND QUACK like they're supposed to...

Been stomping it for months, nary a groan.....

Heres where ALf shines... i have NEVER waited more than 1 hour for a reply.... On Monday,When i found out he was making a full fledged distortion now, I ordered it ( the same monday ) NO DOUBT i will love it too

i play rock both soft and hard, i go for the grungy Neil young tone as well as / psychedelic /Gilmour/Wishbone Ash/Robben Ford/Rossington/Collins/Gibbons......and all the ones i forgot that i stole so many licks from ( JOHN NITZINGER where are you??) THIS PEDAL COVERS IT ALL...does it sound like i like it???