“The humanesque abomination, begat of the evils that once fertilised his empire of dirt, now senses the bleak emptiness of the air that surrounds him. In recognition of his harvest and the perpetual change to his existence, his mesmerising scream is both devastating and euphoric, so all those that encircle him are subdued from the aural toxicity that emanates from the disfigured effigy.”
From the outset, KMA Machines‘ goal was to create the most flexible analog upper octave pedal ever yet produced. Based on a highly refined and improved version of the Shriek circuit from our venerated MOAI MAEA pedal, the MANDRAKE brings an even more robust and present upper octave to the sonic table. By combining that upper-octave might with a versatile, yet highly intuitive user interface, the pedal provides a ton of killer tonal options in a very modern and pedalboard-friendly package.
Main Features:
• Analog upper octave pedal – from subtle tone enhancement to full-on dual octave grind • Ultra-fast tracking, with variable TIMBRE and FILTER controls • Easy-to-use interface, with high levels of flexibility • Discrete transistor-based fuzz, with enhanced rectification circuit topology – for a more robust and present upper-octave • Active, pre-gain 2nd-order filter section, designed to perfectly prepare any instrument’s signal for octaval tones • Independent Mix controls for precise balancing of both the effected and dry signals • Compact enclosure with top-mounted jacks – will fit into any setup • True Bypass silent relay-based soft switching • Made in Berlin, Germany • Power by opt. 9 V PSU (9 V DC, centre -, 2.1 mm, >30 mA max. current draw)
Octave up pedals (as used by so many legendary performers including Hendrix, Tony Iommi, Josh Homme, Billy Corgan, Jack White and so many more), can really give added bite to your sound. But often, many of these fun tools can be untamed and lead to nasty clashing overtones. With MANDRAKE however, we didn’t want to just make a one trick pony octave up device. No, we wanted to expand on our easy-to-use, yet powerful and ultra-fast tracking Shriek circuit with its edgy and fuzzy character that’s reminiscent of many of the best vintage octave-up devices. To do this, we introduced a 2nd order Low-Pass Filter, a TIMBRE and individual Mix controls to KMA’s well-regarded circuit to make it way more versatile in a single pedal. Let’s look at those cool new things in more detail.
The FILTER control helps to tame your upper harmonics, as well as to improve tracking, letting you achieve unhinged, cutting and shrieking mayhem when the control is fully turned all the way to the left. While turning the knob in the other direction gives a more mellow and blooming synth-like texture. The FILTER section is also very useful for tailoring the upper octave effect to different instruments and pickups, where getting the right tone is not a “one size fits all” equation. In addition, to enable the octave voicing in MANDRAKE to be sculpted exactly to your own personal taste, the TIMBRE control defines the amount of fuzzy gain present in the upper octave. This allows you to perfectly blend in the pedal’s tonality with the rest of your signal chain. Turning the control fully counterclockwise, gives a slightly crunchy and percussive tone that’s ideal for melodic arpeggio enhancements. While cranking the TIMBRE knob fully clockwise will transform MANDRAKE into a crushingly saturated doom-hammer, instantly ready to wreak havoc with each power chord you throw at it!
Topping off the features, the DRY and OCT+ controls allow the dry signal and effected upper octave to be mixed independently, for precise tonal balancing. This is especially handy when using MANDRAKE together with other dirt pedals or when you just want to retain the natural body and attack of your instrument.
Subtle descant or decimating octaval Armageddon? With MANDRAKE the choice is totally yours!
Looking Back on 2025: A Year of Controlled Chaos (Emphasis on “Controlled”)