Hendrix Helios mic preamp Olympic studio based Fuzz???

[carboncomp]

Is anyone able to help demystify this pedal for me?

Seems they are not being made anymore and I'm intrigued (as a Hendrix fan), is it based on a know Roger Mayer circuit? 

It kind of looks like a Fuzz Face with a gain stage added, how much can it be based on a Helios Mic Preamp, looking at the schismatic for one it has like a x10 component count and wouldn't run off 9v?

What is going on here? 

https://reverb.com/item/26936359-castledine-olympic-custom-fuzz-rare-axis-mayer-jimi-hendrix-hybrid-silicon-germanium-fuzz-face-wedge

[idy]

Castledine is still in business, and seems to make both accurate vintage reproductions and unique variations. This one seems to be (from what little we can know without looking inside) a twist on the Axis Fuzz, which is interesting, worth building (especially for a Hendrix fan!) and simple. Axis and Helios both use a complimentary pair like some twisted fuzz face, and Mayer's fuzz uses just two stages borrows many values exactly. Mixing Si and Ge seems to be his variation. That would mean changing biasing Rs for one transistor. Lot to experiment with there!




I have a strong feeling this could be redrawn to be clearer; using NPN and PNP together like this challenges convention and the feedback route is confusing.