- Build Rating
What's better than a Lightspeed? One with a second gain stage, of course! Anyone who knows me here knows how I feel about my Mach 1 (Best light/transparent OD ever). In fact, I'm so obsessed with Lightspeed that I've built just about every DIY Lightspeed board I can find: PedalPCB, Fuzzdog, Effects Layouts, Guitarpcb...I even built the pcbguitamania version (yes, the obsession is that bad), which believe it or not actually works and sounds fantastic. In fact, they all sound the same, which pretty much says it all regarding my obsession. Anyway, so when I saw @szukalski mention the Speedy Sheep in the forum, I was on him for one from the get go. Indeed, he had me at the word "Lightspeed;" but when he explained that his version had a second gain stage I think my heart skipped a beat 
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So did the Speedy Sheep live up to my expectations? It did indeed. As far as how it sounds without the 2nd gain stage engaged...well, it sounds exactly like a Lightspeed. I expected nothing less, and when comparing it to my Mach 1, any difference in sound/tone wasn't even remotely palpable, and I have and I have a pretty good ear.. How does it sound with the 2nd gain stage engaged? I think you already know the answer.
Easy build up until I wanted to wire a LED to the DPDT switch controlling the 2nd gain stage. I had never done this before, but having built around 50 pedals at this point, I assumed I'd figure it out. I was wrong. I reached out to Dave for some help and it turns out the idiot that is yours truly had connected the LED cathode to the pole rather than connecting to the throw and grounding the pole. However, this setback made for a great learning experience.
@szukalski designed the Speedy Sheep with a really sweet dual relay board in mind, but I didn't want to bother with all that, so I built mine using a DPDT footswitch for the 2nd gain stage. I thought I ran into a problem when it came to the 3PDT footswitch breakout board. I really didn't want to have to wire the 3PDT the hard way, but I tried literally every kind of breakout board I had: classic PPCB, 2 different Fuzzdog breakouts, Moonn, effects layouts. - you name it - and none would fit in there. I drilled using the PPCB 125B drill template; (also the same footswitch layout used in the Paragon Mini), so I had just assumed one would fit in there. I thought I was out of luck until I realized I had a couple the PPCB breakouts with the side LED placement, and to my surprise, it fit. Huzzah!
Aesthetically, the faceplate Dave provided is super dope, and it became even doper with the addition of black knobs: the black on black just felt right. The enclosure is the Tayda light green, which I would describe as a mint green. I accidentally put the washer for one of the LEDS on the outside (you can see it quite plainly), but I didn't notice till I was finished. I can't be bothered to unsolder stuff just for that, so I left it. As usual for me, there is nothing @MichaelW -esque to be found in my gut work, but I got the job done and couldn't be happier.
If you're a Lightspeed fan, this is a dream come true (and that's not hyperbole). I'd say hit up @szukalski posthaste to see if you can still grab one. This pedal will be a permanent fixture on my board, and I can say that with confidence. Kudos to @szukalski for the fine work here. 5 stars.
.So did the Speedy Sheep live up to my expectations? It did indeed. As far as how it sounds without the 2nd gain stage engaged...well, it sounds exactly like a Lightspeed. I expected nothing less, and when comparing it to my Mach 1, any difference in sound/tone wasn't even remotely palpable, and I have and I have a pretty good ear.. How does it sound with the 2nd gain stage engaged? I think you already know the answer.
Easy build up until I wanted to wire a LED to the DPDT switch controlling the 2nd gain stage. I had never done this before, but having built around 50 pedals at this point, I assumed I'd figure it out. I was wrong. I reached out to Dave for some help and it turns out the idiot that is yours truly had connected the LED cathode to the pole rather than connecting to the throw and grounding the pole. However, this setback made for a great learning experience.
@szukalski designed the Speedy Sheep with a really sweet dual relay board in mind, but I didn't want to bother with all that, so I built mine using a DPDT footswitch for the 2nd gain stage. I thought I ran into a problem when it came to the 3PDT footswitch breakout board. I really didn't want to have to wire the 3PDT the hard way, but I tried literally every kind of breakout board I had: classic PPCB, 2 different Fuzzdog breakouts, Moonn, effects layouts. - you name it - and none would fit in there. I drilled using the PPCB 125B drill template; (also the same footswitch layout used in the Paragon Mini), so I had just assumed one would fit in there. I thought I was out of luck until I realized I had a couple the PPCB breakouts with the side LED placement, and to my surprise, it fit. Huzzah!
Aesthetically, the faceplate Dave provided is super dope, and it became even doper with the addition of black knobs: the black on black just felt right. The enclosure is the Tayda light green, which I would describe as a mint green. I accidentally put the washer for one of the LEDS on the outside (you can see it quite plainly), but I didn't notice till I was finished. I can't be bothered to unsolder stuff just for that, so I left it
. As usual for me, there is nothing @MichaelW -esque to be found in my gut work, but I got the job done and couldn't be happier.If you're a Lightspeed fan, this is a dream come true (and that's not hyperbole). I'd say hit up @szukalski posthaste to see if you can still grab one. This pedal will be a permanent fixture on my board, and I can say that with confidence. Kudos to @szukalski for the fine work here. 5 stars.
I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out. It does look pretty rad
