Laika Fuzz by DeadEndFX

[bsoncini]

This is the Laika Fuzz by Deadendfx.  A clone of the spaceman sputnik ii.  Never heard of this pedal but it is really cool.  Check out the video for an idea of what this thing can do.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0ePPKFGc6Q.  Mine sounds a bit meaner than in the video.  There is a lot of sounds in this box.  Being able to activate and deactivate the oscillation mode is definately a plus (compared to the fuzz factory). Two different oscillation modes too.  The knobs are really interactive with each other.  With certain settings this thing cleans up pretty nicely with the guitars volume. I need more playing with this to really nail down all the knobs and switches.  http://www.deadendfx.com/product/laika-fuzz

I normally don't do build reports because my builds can't touch most of what I see people post here but figured it would be a good shout out to the guys at deadendfx who have a ton of cool and different pcbs to offer.

The build doc calls for a 1590bbs but I couldn't be bothered to order one so I stuffed it in a 1590bb.  Had to solder some of the capacitors on the bottom of the board to clear room for the jack.

For the transistors I followed roughly the hfe's from the build doc
I used
Q2 MP16b  56hfe
Q3 MP20b  90 hfe
Q4 MP20b  88 hfe

I tried a few transistors but didn't notice a huge difference and used the trimpots to bias the transistors according to the build doc.

For the diode, I used a D9E with a forward voltage of about .285 volts.  I tried a few others and didn't hear much difference.



I'm not very artistic so no artwork for me.  Just some crappy writing




I also have their mr multi pedal to build which looks cool.  Based on the korg mr multi.  A wah-phaser-phaser/wah in a wah enclosure.  Harder to source the parts though

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Sweet build!!!

As for the Mr. Multi, when I built mine I used 5952s in it and it worked great. The build doc does not list them (last I saw) but they did work just fine for me.

Good Luck with it! 

[somnif]

Yeah with the trimmer set up you could swap in a number of JFETs and still get the sweep to play. The sweep might be a little different, but it will still work. Personally I'd probably go with mmbf5457 on adapter boards. Tighter tolerances and cheaper means less of a headache to get 4 matched 

That said, just be aware of the pin orientations. They differ.

[bsoncini]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I have about 20 j113. Im gonna see if I have 4 that match up and see if it works. If not I'll go down the 5952 or other route.

Now if I could only get my hands on a 1m wah pot

[PMowdes2]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I have about 20 j113. Im gonna see if I have 4 that match up and see if it works. If not I'll go down the 5952 or other route.

Now if I could only get my hands on a 1m wah pot

There's a link in the BOM for the wah pot

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

[bsoncini]

Cool. Thanks for the advice. I have about 20 j113. Im gonna see if I have 4 that match up and see if it works. If not I'll go down the 5952 or other route.

Now if I could only get my hands on a 1m wah pot

There's a link in the BOM for the wah pot

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

I tried that but unless I'm missing something they only ship the the US and Canada not Europe.

[somnif]

Futurlec sells a B1M long shaft, and several options on Ebay as well (I'll let you take a shovel to that pile). You'd need to carve the shaft, but, hey, DIY.

https://www.futurlec.com/Potentiometers/POT1MBSHAFTpr.shtml

[Bret608]

This is a cool build! I've been on the fence about whether to order this since DeadEnd has a gemini-based fuzz coming out soon too. Off to listen to more samples...

[EBK]

The build doc calls for a 1590bbs but I couldn't be bothered to order one so I stuffed it in a 1590bb.  Had to solder some of the capacitors on the bottom of the board to clear room for the jack.

Love it! 

[PMowdes2]

This is a cool build! I've been on the fence about whether to order this since DeadEnd has a gemini-based fuzz coming out soon too. Off to listen to more samples...

They are both very different beasts, the Fuzzimile (Gemini) is a Si/Ge Dual fuzz with a blend control.  The Laika (Sputnik) is an all Ge oscillating boostable fuzz, much more like a fuzz factory.  I have almost verified the Fuzzimile but I don't have any suitable Ge transistors (the Si side works a charm) , it will probably be a little while before they are up for sale.

[bsoncini]

This is a cool build! I've been on the fence about whether to order this since DeadEnd has a gemini-based fuzz coming out soon too. Off to listen to more samples...

They are both very different beasts, the Fuzzimile (Gemini) is a Si/Ge Dual fuzz with a blend control.  The Laika (Sputnik) is an all Ge oscillating boostable fuzz, much more like a fuzz factory.  I have almost verified the Fuzzimile but I don't have any suitable Ge transistors (the Si side works a charm) , it will probably be a little while before they are up for sale.

I have a bunch of Russian germaniums that I'll never get around to using. If your interested I'll send you some if you pay the shipping. Not many over 100hfe though

[PMowdes2]

This is a cool build! I've been on the fence about whether to order this since DeadEnd has a gemini-based fuzz coming out soon too. Off to listen to more samples...

They are both very different beasts, the Fuzzimile (Gemini) is a Si/Ge Dual fuzz with a blend control.  The Laika (Sputnik) is an all Ge oscillating boostable fuzz, much more like a fuzz factory.  I have almost verified the Fuzzimile but I don't have any suitable Ge transistors (the Si side works a charm) , it will probably be a little while before they are up for sale.

I have a bunch of Russian germaniums that I'll never get around to using. If your interested I'll send you some if you pay the shipping. Not many over 100hfe though

That's very kind but I need a PNP around 130hfe, I've got a load but nothing tests that high, I might have to bite the bullet and pay for a tested single from somewhere

Sent from my F5321 using Tapatalk

[Bret608]

I wonder if Rockhorst (aka Nucleon FX) here on the forum still sells small lots of germaniums on request. I got six PNPs for a really reasonable price. He even ran them through a basic test for me (I retested them myself to confirm leakage), and his hfe readings were dead-on. The AC128s and AC125s fell into really consistent gain buckets of around 70 and around 120-130. What's more, they've sounded good in everything I've used them in.

Thanks for all of your work in releasing these awesome circuits!

[drsteel]

Great build! I love/hate having to get creative to squeeze things into the box. It can be a real headache, but makes me feel like I contributed something to the build

[bsoncini]

BTW, Pmowdes2. I think there might be an error in the Mr multis build doc. It says for the rotary switch 2 the auto/ rocker one, that the square,  pin number one goes to pins a,b,c and d on the rotary. But that didn't work for me. After poking around with a multimeter I seems that it should be pin 2 that goes to a,b,c and d. At least that's how it worked more me.