Spaceman Effects’ Sputnik III germanium fuzz has entered the orbit

Spaceman Effects of Portland, Oregon has unveiled its latest fuzz pedal, the Sputnik III. The company said that this germanium fuzz is “an homage to the golden era of electronics and is brimming with vintage soul.”

The Sputnik III relies on NOS Soviet germanium diodes and transistors to deliver its unconventionally wide array of fuzz tones that range from smooth and thick, to gritty and splatty.

As is typical with germanium fuzzes, the sonic interactivity of the Sputnik III’s four controls – Scan, Calibrate, Range and Signal – offers guitar players hours of experimentation, even before considering further options like fuzz stacking and voltage dropping (dying battery effect).

This latest edition of the Sputnik inherits and expands on several features of its predecessor, the Sputnik II.

The Drift mode, which introduces sonic corruption to its output signal, has now been upgraded with momentary functionality – and just like the Sputnik II, corruption levels can be dialed in with the Scan control.

The pedal also keeps the transformer based pickup simulation of the Sputnik II, which, according to the company, “ensures that the Sputnik III [behaves] anywhere in your signal chain.”

As with all of Spaceman Effects’ pedals, the Sputnik III is handwired. It features true-bypass relay switching with barefoot friendly soft-touch footswitches.

In addition to a standard edition, the company also launched three limited-run designs: Black, Red Moon, and a Soviet-inspired Red.

The standard Sputnik III retails at $269, learn more at spacemaneffects.com

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