Shin Ei Companion FY2 fuzz box clones?

[Snufkino]

Actually while we're talking about Shin Ei style fuzz pedals, does anyone know if there is any tonal differences between the FY-2 and the FY-6? I've noticed most of the clones seem to be more assoicated with the FY-6.

[devnulljp]

MJM China? I think thats a clone of the Univox Superfuzz, and in turn I think the Shin Ei is a clone, or at least a variation on that?

Also TYM make one called the Fuzzilla, along with SHITLOADS of other clones that are pretty faithful to the originals
http://tymguitars.com.au/pedals_01.html

MJM China is indeed a Super-Fuzz, but the Super-Fuzz is not a FY-2 (Super-Fuzz is a Shin-ei FY-6 though). Shin-ei didn't clone the Univox, they built them all: Univox, Unicord, kent, Apollo, National ... load sof brads, all built by Shin-ei.
FY-2 is a completely different animal to the FY-6/SuperFuzz and if you buy a Super-Fuzz (clone) hoping for that FY-2 chainsaw you'll be disappointed.

Creepy Fingers Brad has built a few of those, I think Ian Sherwen does them too.

EDIT:

Actually while we're talking about Shin Ei style fuzz pedals, does anyone know if there is any tonal differences between the FY-2 and the FY-6? I've noticed most of the clones seem to be more assoicated with the FY-6.

Yes, completely different circuit & sound.
FY-2: http://www.cubisteffects.com/clips/shinei_fy-2.mp3
FY-6:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DUiUObY5SQ[/youtube]

[Snufkino]

Thanks for that. I don't know what to make of most of these clones now. I'll have to send off a few enquiry emails to find out exactly what pedals are FY-2's and which are closer to FY-6. On the plus side I love the Cramps fuzz tones and it seems Poison Ivy used a superfuzz, so it's not the end of the world.

[devnulljp]

Super-Fuzz kicks all kinds of ass. The Who Live at Leeds is all Super-Fuzz, The Cramps, there's a lot of SF on Fu Manchu, MudHoney ... Early Genesis too would you believe.

FY-2 is cool, but a bit like having an angry robot wasp in your underpants. It's an acquired taste I guess.

Creepy Fingers does a killer FY6/Super-Fuzz BTW, with a blend pot rather than just the switch between two tones. So does SolidGoldFX. I've heard the Wattson is great, as is the MJM.

A good way to get a vintage super-fuzz is in one of the fuzz-wahs -- Jax, Apollo, national, Shin-ei ... the FW8 is a FY6 witha crappy wah attached. Ignore the wah, it's an awesome fuzz.

The Ibanez standard fuzz is kinda similar (I kinda prefer it actually), I htink it's only a diode and a few resistors different from the Super-Fuzz.

There's this one, supposedly a clone of the FY2: http://www.fridgebuzzz.com/LOTRF.html
Haven't tried it or heard anything about it though.

I know Dave Main (DAM) built a couple of FY-2s, but those are serious unobtainium.

[nightraven]

A good way to get a vintage super-fuzz is in one of the fuzz-wahs -- Jax, Apollo, national, Shin-ei ... the FW8 is a FY6 witha crappy wah attached. Ignore the wah, it's an awesome fuzz.

those are fy-2s, no?
jesus and mary chain used those fuzz wahs and it's fy-2 that you can hear all over their first album

[Snufkino]

There's this one, supposedly a clone of the FY2: http://www.fridgebuzzz.com/LOTRF.html
Haven't tried it or heard anything about it though.

I'm still not sure if that's an FY2 or 6. I'll have to email him.

[LaoWiz]

Hi,

I have built 3 Shin Ei FY2's and am about to finish two more. They sound fucking killer.

I had the circuit on a breadboard setup for a long time and tried different things before finally settling on the
final circuit touches. I built mine with a boost on the end just like the General Guitar Gadgets schematic.
I researched this circuit forever, getting most of my information from DIYstompboxes forum. What I added was the
variable midscoop mod which is a knob that lets you dial in the full mid scoop (stock) or you can dial some of the
midrange back in, which is amazing. I found to my ears, the perfect combination of capacitors and transistors that
make the sound. Mainly, the types of caps for the fuzz section definitely make a difference. The main thing I found
for making this circuit sound good is making sure that the voltages on the transistors match an original as close as
possible. Lowering the value of the feedback resistor on the 2nd transistor seems to help.

I also was just playing around with the Superfuzz circuit, was just ok. Built a Acetone Fuzzmaster instead. Same family of the Superfuzz
but sounds WAY better. The types of diodes had a huge effect on the sound....

Anyway, I love the FY2 circuit. I can make you one if you are interested. Here's some clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs0F2ia9P3s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDPNE8Dg ... re=related

[devnulljp]

A good way to get a vintage super-fuzz is in one of the fuzz-wahs -- Jax, Apollo, national, Shin-ei ... the FW8 is a FY6 witha crappy wah attached. Ignore the wah, it's an awesome fuzz.

those are fy-2s, no?
jesus and mary chain used those fuzz wahs and it's fy-2 that you can hear all over their first album

Didn't know htat about J&MC, I always thought they used the little Companion wedge.
The one with the knobs on the side is def a FY6, Super-Fuzz, though. I had a national-branded FW-939, which is a Shin-Ei Companion WF-8 8-Tr




# Shin-Ei Companion WF-8 8-Tr Fuzz Wah Pedal (8-Tr, narrow box, knobs on side)

* Altai WF-8 Fuzz-Wah Pedal
* Avora 8-Tr Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Boomer Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Crestwood 8-Tr Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Crown W-Fuzz
* Jax WF-8 Fuzz-Wah Pedal
* Kent KP-2 8-Tr Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Kimbara WF-8 8-Tr Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Maya MA-3 8-Tr Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Memphis WF-8 8-Tr Fuzz-Wah
* Mica-Tone Fuzz-Wah
* National FW-939 Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Tele-Star Fuzz Wah Pedal
* Tempo model 124 Fuzz-Wah

There's another one though with knobs on the front I've never seen in the flesh -- could that one be the FY2 version?

[nightraven]

ah yeah according to effectsdatabase there are THREE versions of it, knobs on top, side and front

guts of knobs on front - http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/co ... ex/fuzzwah
knobs on top - http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/marlboro/fuzzwah
knobs on side - http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/maya/fuzzwah

any of these look like FY-2? i'm 90% sure J&MC used the fuzzwah, everywhere i read i see it mentioned and it's even on the wiki, and i'm pretty sure it's the FY-2 we can hear on the record, right?

here's the only pic of william reid's pedals i can find and it's pretty recent



dunno what kind of wah it is but it doesn't look like a shin ei

(pic is getting cut off so open it in a separate tab )

[kosta]

I have built 3 Shin Ei FY2's and am about to finish two more. They sound fucking killer.

Damn dude, that does sound pretty killer. Nice work. That Scrambler isn't too shabby either!

[LaoWiz]

I have built 3 Shin Ei FY2's and am about to finish two more. They sound fucking killer.

Damn dude, that does sound pretty killer. Nice work. That Scrambler isn't too shabby either!

Thanks a lot, man. The video was recorded with a flip cam so the audio, while decent, is definitely compressed. The amp is a shitty Crate practice amp at a pretty low volume. In person, the fuzz knob has a great sizzling range. Also, the scoop control doesn't really shine in the vid. With the scoop all the way in effect you get that JMC sound. Bring the mids back in, it's a speaker ripper! Sounds bad ass with bass.

I want to make one with two of the circuits in series with an extra footswitch to throw the other one in. It's a nice belching a destroying sound.

The Scrambler is pretty fun, too...

[metalmariachi]

http://stompboxes.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7668

MM

[jonah]

I bought a ggg clone premade . I dunno how accurate it sounds, but I really like it. Combining it with other fuzzes works really well in ways that don't even make sense.

[Snufkino]

Just got an email about the Fridgebuzzz and it is an FY-2 clone.

However, there's a Wattson FY-2 replica clone out soon too.

[futuresailors]

This guy's on here now, and he makes some rad sounding clones. Don't know about his prices or anything though...
http://www.ghosteffects.co.uk/shin_ei_fy2.html