Small bit of advice for FY-2 builders

[Mark Hammer]

I was all set to send someone an FY-2 I had put together and decided to try it out one more time before putting it in a package for mailing.

It sounded awful.  Strident.  Incapable of any subtlety whatsoever.

I disassembled the unit and measured the hfe of the 2N3904 transistors I had used.  They measured about 330-340.  I suspect I did not measure the transistors before using them, simply assuming they would be low gain because they were 3904s, after all.

So, I pulled out my drawer of 2SC828 transistors, found a pair measuring 160 and 170, and used those.  The result was blissful throaty fuzz.

The moral of the story was that sometimes low gain delivers better fuzz than high-gain.

[ElectricDruid]

Yeah, that "gain" thing can be a funny one...Sometimes you want hfe through the ceiling to get a good sound, and other times, it really needs to be backed off.

I learned this when I built a Rangemaster clone with an old germanium NPN. I wasn't particularly taken with it, but a guitarist friend-of-a-friend was completely smitten with what it did to his sound and begged and begged me to let him keep the pedal (I let him borrow it on an extended loan for recording). That was when I realised that it's *not* all about gain!

[dennism]

I really like the 2N4123 for these applications.   Same pinout as 2N3904, 2N5088,etc.. and measures around 120 hfe.   Sounds great in FY-2, Fuzzrite, silicon fuzz face, etc...

[wavley]

This is why BC-141 is one of my favorite transistors.

[aelling]

I have a Companion labelled version with C828(P)'s in it.
http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/companion/fy2

And I have a white Univox Superfuzz with C537(E)'s in it. I guess they have the same pinout. EDIT: And same hFE range perhaps.