Eurorack & pedal Distortion : Strakal Brulu

broon_777 · Post by **broon_777** » Sat May 18, 2013 10:15 am

Many thanks for releasing your schematic - I've been trying to figure out best way of converting some of my old Ge fuzzbox schematics to Eurorack for ages and this is really helping.

Thonk Support · Post by **Thonk Support** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:51 pm

I knew I would have to own one of these after Os from Expert Sleepers set up his rig next to me at the last Brighton Modular Meet and cranked his Strakal till it squealed.

I've only spent an hour in total with it so far but its fantastic!
I really like the effect you get with a low input, the way it starves.

Also though it has a lovely thickening effect when used with subtlety, it gave my SynthTech e350 some great rasp.

richard · Post by **richard** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 4:03 pm

I just got a V2 pedal and I really like it. Thanks for making it. Been lusting for ages!

Is the pedal also okay with modular levels?

What is the safe/effective CV range?

Richard

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 4:57 pm

i'm glad you like it !

it is ok to use it with modular levels, and cv control less than 10v
the cv response is not very linear so you don't have to feed it full 0-10v for entire range.

richard · Post by **richard** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:55 am

thanks

settling in with his new buddies

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:23 am

nice !
what have you connected into the cv in ?

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 6:08 am

CV output is going from the Blippoo to the Strakal via a mult

this setup actually creates a strange problem: if the CV input is engaged then the mute switch I have between the Blippoo and Strakal audio path doesn't quite work properly. Even when muted the signal still seems to get through to the Strakal? Never had anything quite like that before. Quite odd. It could be that even a very small amount of leak that somehow gets past the mute switch becomes as loud as the unmuted signal. This only happens when the CV input is used.

Unrelated switch question: the bypass switch on the Strakal is so hard and loud that I'm afraid I simply must replace it with a silent one. I assume a switch is a switch is a switch, but is there any specification I need to know before sourcing a more silent replacement? Or could you even point me to one?

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 7:45 am

richard wrote: Quite odd. It could be that even a very small amount of leak that somehow gets past the mute switch becomes as loud as the unmuted signal. This only happens when the CV input is used.

Yes really Strange... don't know for now how this can happen

richard wrote:Unrelated switch question: the bypass switch on the Strakal is so hard and loud that I'm afraid I simply must replace it with a silent one. I assume a switch is a switch is a switch, but is there any specification I need to know before sourcing a more silent replacement? Or could you even point me to one?

this is a 3pdt switch wired as true bypass.

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:05 am

thanks it seems I need to keep the input level down to below 5%. Strange because I am inputting line levels not modular.

Sounds insane though, I'm sure it is just a matter of finding the exact setting for my setup

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:49 am

Report back: I tracked the leakage and noise problems to a bad moulded cable which was turning everything a bit a microphonic. Changed that cable and Everything is sweet here now.

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:08 am

cool, thanks for the update !

richard · Post by **richard** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:15 am

you don't happen to know of a "silent" 3pdt switch do you? This one is really not suiting me

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 4:47 am

unfortunately the silent switches i know, are not 3pdt, and use relays or fet for true bypass. But it is possible to change for a silent solution with the expense of an additional circuit.

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:42 am

here is an exemple

http://www.muzique.com/news/relay-bypass-revised/

This is a 1″ x 1″ pc board which holds an AVR microprocessor that is controlling a latching DPDT relay. The LED indicator on the pedal is also driven by the micro. The soft-touch momentary switches that are shown several posts below were bought for this project.

You can use the pcb to build a new pedal, or retrofit it into a Boss or Ibanez box to give them true bypass.

tonepanic · Post by **tonepanic** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 1:37 pm

Just got a Strakal Brulu the other day. This thing has tons of character. Here's a little demo, lots of manual tweaking going on:

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/135152140" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="false" /]

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:31 pm

Nice !

and thanks for posting.

modestnikov · Post by **modestnikov** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:57 pm

Hello! Guys, I think I have problem
I have drive sound only when Input knob and main knob between 3-6 hours. When knobs at another postion (75%) - nothing happens. Range of distortion is very short ((

modestnikov · Post by **modestnikov** » Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:29 pm

Is it problem? Or is it normal situation?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sqgk3j8zqaddt ... 8.mp4?dl=0

haiku-ish · Post by **haiku-ish** » Mon Aug 01, 2016 2:07 am

Hi modestnikov !

i think it is pretty normal...
output depends very on what you feed in, and the feedback is touchy too you can have te same setting and the output sounding will be very very different if the input source varies a little in gain...

also , the is a trim on the back, you could check with a multimeter if you have -6V on R1, this biases the transistor and can change a little over time or temperature. this will modify the gain/fuzz/feedback point also and could make the distortion sound grainy or thin

this module is kind of chaotic and even if i matched myself all the transistors every module sounds different from each others

Eurtrude · Post by **Eurtrude** » Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:59 am

Hi everyone,

I just bought a Strakal Brulu, DIY edition, already assembled.

I noticed that the fuzz knob has no effect on the sound (at whatever settings), and patching CV in (bipolar LFO) has no effect either (regardless the position of the fuzz knob).
When the cable that carries a CV (let's say a LFO) is halfway patched into the CV input, i get an effect... so, what could be wrong ? I'm sorry but I'm a total noob in electronics :(

The module seems well calibrated (I get screaming feedback past 1' o'clock).

Do you have any idea to fix this ?

Thanks a lot in advance !!

MUFF WIGGLER

MUFF WIGGLER

Eurorack & pedal Distortion : Strakal Brulu

Re: Eurorack & pedal Distortion : Strakal Brulu