DEMO Arkaim Fuzz (Mountainking Megalith)

[owlexifry]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

fuzz is one of those wonderful things i love the sound of and like to hear other wizards play, but when i use them it often feels like im doing it wrong.
despite this, i keep ordering fuzz boards, idk it is what it is, and the Arkaim Fuzz was one I kept reading great things about, often described as a huge crushing fuzz.



looking at the schematic it appears this is based on a Fuzz Face, with tone/texture controls and a foot-switchable Boosty McGee (BC338 stage) at the end.
sounded like a great concept.
ordered BC338 from mouser, everything else probably from tayda. except for the knobs - my partner got me some custom knobs from an etsy maker for xmas, and this set of 5 seemed like a cool fit for this layout.



I find the two slope and notch controls quite peculiar.
they seem to both control tone, but also the texture the fuzz, but in different ways.
- slope seems sorta like a variable bright cap
- notch control appears to be functioning as a feedback style tone control - together with the notch shift toggle.

definitely a recommended build for any fuzz nerd.
definitely crushing. huge gain. it's loud. with the 'more' boost it's ridiculously loud.

went for a windhand inspired sorta vibe on this demo, it's still only drop C but oh well

 

[Nostradoomus]

Your partner has good taste in knobs


I’ll see myself out

 

[VanWhy]

Great stuff. Love this circuit. Love those knobs. Nice job

 

[Paradox916]

Drop C that’s a great tuning, a lot of epic songs are in Drop C, nice build man sounds burly!….it might be telling of my youth but those knobs are messing with my head.

 

[comradehoser]

For some reason I always thought it was a muff, but now I see only 3 transistors.

Great riffs, good job

 

[owlexifry]

Great stuff. Love this circuit. Love those knobs. Nice job

cheers!
no idea if ive selected appropriate gains for the BC338, read something about it being best to go for lower hfe.
so with mouser looks like it's available in ‘-16’, ‘-25’, and ‘-40’ gain groups -> [datasheet]
i got the -16 group, but they still measured way higher than i expected, around ~250 hfe (can’t remember exactly what they were, they might have even been as low as 230ish).

Drop C that’s a great tuning, a lot of epic songs are in Drop C, nice build man sounds burly!….it might be telling of my youth but those knobs are messing with my head.

drop C is great. ive been living in drop C for the last 5 years, with 10-52s.
i'd entertain drop B if elixir would get off their arse and make something bigger than a 10-52. (XX-56 would be great)
(they do a 12-68 for baritones, but that's too big for drop B)

flashback knobs ey?

For some reason I always thought it was a muff, but now I see only 3 transistors.

Great riffs, good job

depending on how you dial it, doesn't sound too far from a muff, its defs got the scoop in there.
but yeah in 'regular mode' without the boost it's just x2 transistors like a fuzz face.

i guess this pedal is like if you went to a fuzz face themed restaurant and the waiter goes: "how would you like your fuzz face today sir?"

GIVE ME THE SUPREME FUZZ FACE, WELL-DONE, WITH EXTRA PEPPER SAUCE

 

[Nostradoomus]

(they do a 12-68 for baritones, but that's too big for drop B)

 

[owlexifry]

View attachment 89811

lol i used to be one of those djent dorks that played 7s and 8s in drop F, E, Eb, etc. - and it was all i did for years doing the josh travis / ion dissonance type thing, and then i got tired of that and started playing 6s again

 

[Nostradoomus]

lol i used to be one of those djent dorks that played 7s and 8s in drop F, E, Eb, etc. - and it was all i did for years doing the josh travis / ion dissonance type thing, and then i got tired of that and started playing 6s again

I just tune my 6 string down to G usually...no djent here though (because I'd have to change my name to nostradjentus and that sounds like a medical issue)

 

[Paradox916]

lol i used to be one of those djent dorks that played 7s and 8s in drop F, E, Eb, etc. - and it was all i did for years doing the josh travis / ion dissonance type thing, and then i got tired of that and started playing 6s again

000 0 00 000 0 0 0 3 000

Gets old quick don’t get me wrong it can still be fun but that horse has been beaten enough just like every “new trick” guitarist figure out… not a cross section of people know for moderation. 68 is F E territory for sure, that l going past Drop G feels like you start losing all the harmonic richness (at least to me )

 

[Paradox916]

no djent here though

I like how it got rebranded as “Thall” like it was going to fool everyone it’s not the same thing.

 

[owlexifry]

000 0 00 000 0 0 0 3 000

Gets old quick

it really depends on how it's implemented.
all those 00001000101000100001 bands are indeed extemely boring.
and then you have ion dissonance's minus the herd - an absolute masterpiece showcase of what a drop tuned 7 can do.

don’t get me wrong it can still be fun but that horse has been beaten enough just like every “new trick” guitarist figure out… not a cross section of people know for moderation. 68 is F E territory for sure, that l going past Drop G feels like you start losing all the harmonic richness (at least to me )

that's kinda what ruined it for me... the insane escalation towards drop billlion.
early in the game i was getting into deathcore bands, with despised icon setting the bar extremely high with 6 strings.
then i started seeing more and more 7 string users (all shall perish, suicide silence), and nek minut Danza III comes out in 2010 and 8 string guitars are a thing.
before you know it ibanez had an RG9 prototype in 2013 and it got real silly.

have to agree though, there's a certain point where trying to EQ/mix guitars tuned that low (e.g. below drop A or G) and actually have them present in the mix without treble/mid boosting the living shit out of them, is just a monumental PITA (or was for me).

and it never really sounds good live IMO. its just sub mud and fizz.

I like how it got rebranded as “Thall” like it was going to fool everyone it’s not the same thing.

'thall' as i recall, was just some dumb hype word bs of the djent culture, akin to 'YOLO' of the same time.