Shin-Ei companion, is this normal ?

[MartyMart]

I've just built the FY-2 and used Mark Hammer's mod to the Fuzz pot wiring.
It all seems to be working, but the "Fuzz" pot changes the "sound" in a
"scoop" way, and gets bright at the top end, but doesn't give a range from "clean" upwards, only gtr volume does that to a degree ?

Is this correct ?

Its quite a nasty "Wasp in a JamJar" tone, working best on monophonic
lines and fifths and has a great "OTT compressed" sound when using
BC108C transistors ( others offer some different qualities )

Just wanted some "thoughts" on this one  

Cheers,
Marty.

[MartyMart]

OK, just discovered that it's marked "Fuzz" but is actually a "tone" control
so, I guess everything is "normal"

M.

[Mark Hammer]

You may want to try whipping up a toggle to swap the pot leads around.  Personally, I prefer an arrangement closer to the way its done on the Fuzz-Rite, where the Fuzzcontrol essentially pans between whats coming through each of the caps.  As you can see from the posted schem, this is not the original wiring.  However, restoring the original pot wiring merely involves swapping the connections of two leads on the pot - something a DPDT toggle can easily do.

Another thing worth trying is to completely bypass the scoop filter between the Fuzz and Volume controls.  The scoop filter is part of what gives the pedal its nastiness, but I suspect there are other virtues buried in that circuit, even without the scoop.  The only caveat I would suggest is that if you wire upsome sort of bypass switch for the scoop, that you insert a fixed resistor in the bypass mode, or else you'll get too huge a volume jump when switching back and forth.

I don't have the schem handy, but let's say for the moment that inserting a fixed resistor the same value as the output pot in series with the input to that pot (i.e., a resistive "link" between the wiper of the Fuzz control and input lug of the volume pot) would be a smart idea.

Alternatively, why not do something like I've seen on ne of the old Roland fuzzes, where a rotary switch is used to select between different simple filtering networks.  So, for instance, assuming one had a 4-position, 2-pole, rotary switch, pos 1 = straight feed, pos 2 = scoop, pos 3 = lowpass thick, pos 4 = screechy buzz.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
      Yeah Marty, I prefer  Marks volume pot mod [output from the wiper...].  Have you tried messing with the collector resistors??  Depending on the trannys used it can help to bring the sound into better "focus".
Brian.

[MartyMart]

Thanks for the tip Mark, I do have a 3pole 4 way rotary hanging around !
I'ts another "odd" fuzz that is possibly not my thing, interesting sound
though.
Brian, I used a 100k trimmer rather than the 100k from 9v, so I do have
a kind of "starve" thing available ....

M.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello---
   Hey Marty--  O.K., I built one today......it sounds alot different and better then my first attempt at it......I think I may keep it!  I used BC184C transistors and I think the higher gain helps to overcome the  "plugged-up"  sound of that notch filter at the end of the circuit.  There's plenty of ways to mod this thing, so I'll see how it goes tomorrow.
Brian.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
    uuummmm......I'm thinking of tacking on the last stage of a Super Fuzz to see what it does to the overall output of the circuit.   [It's interesting 'cuz it comes AFTER the volume control.]
Brian.

[MartyMart]

Hello Hello--
    uuummmm......I'm thinking of tacking on the last stage of a Super Fuzz to see what it does to the overall output of the circuit.   [It's interesting 'cuz it comes AFTER the volume control.]
Brian.

Well, I agree, it could use a "kick" at
the back end of the circuit, mine is above unity gain but not by very much !!

Marty.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
  Hi Marty!    Have you tried changing any of the values in the "notch" filter??  [I tried jumping across the .001 and got some interesting tone changes......]
Brian.

[MartyMart]

Hello Hello--
  Hi Marty!    Have you tried changing any of the values in the "notch" filter??  [I tried jumping across the .001 and got some interesting tone changes......]
Brian.

No, it's stock at the moment, check my "Whats wrong with this fuzz circuit" post - you'll find it interesting  :wink:

Marty.

[WGTP]

IIRC, half the .1uf and double the .001uf and it should change the tone and increase the output.  Then go from there.    

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
     Well, I added the last stage of a Super Fuzz [Acetone Fuzzmaster] after the volume control of the FY-2 and............holy crap...WAY too much gain and volume [and NOISE, too] !!
Any suggestions as to cut the gain in half???  I'm looking for a mild - medium boost that keeps the basic sound of the circuit intact.
WGTP- Thanks for the tip!  I wish I had read your post before I picked up my soldering gun!
Brian.

[vanessa]

I agree about taking the output off the center lug of the 'fuzz' pot. The scoop filter (from what I remember, it was a couple of months ago) tended to muddy up the circuit. I don't even have a use for the volume control at the end of it (it's a fuzz, what do you need a volume control for?) :lol: .

I have read posts in the past about putting an LPB-1 in front to drive it. I think that would kick it above unity gain a bit. I've thought about a switch to have a choice between the two circuits or both in series. I wish I was better at switches or I'd have a layout by now...

:roll:

[octafish]

Hmm i found mine to be at unity at about three o'clock. If you have a booster handy I'd recomend sticking it in front of the FY-2 and seeing if you like what it does to the tone. I love what it does btw but my tastes are not everyones. I wired a toggle for the LPB-1 and a stomp for the FY-2 in standard two effects in one box wiring. As much as I like this pedal I don't find much use for it, except in noise sessions.

[vanessa]

Hmm i found mine to be at unity at about three o'clock. If you have a booster handy I'd recomend sticking it in front of the FY-2 and seeing if you like what it does to the tone. I love what it does btw but my tastes are not everyones. I wired a toggle for the LPB-1 and a stomp for the FY-2 in standard two effects in one box wiring. As much as I like this pedal I don't find much use for it, except in noise sessions.

I could see that. I think (I have not bread boarded the LPB-1 in front of the FY-2 yet) the LPB at its lowest settings would have minimal effect on this circuit as (from what I had boarded before) I did not remember it cleaning up very well. In fact the LPB at its lowest settings may help to center this thing, or you may not even hear a difference with it being in the circuit or out until you start to crank the LPB's volume.

[Mark Hammer]

While there is much to be gained in terms of tortured confessions from the FY-2 by subjecting it to the "New York Booster" treatment ("Oh, you'll talk my friend, you'll talk..."), I'm not sure why my original has so much more output than yours do.  I suppose I could pull the transistors and do whatever sorts of measures I can on them, but they're just plain old 2SC536.  On mine, if I set the volume to 12:00, I've got way more boost than in bypass mode.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
     Mine is pretty o.k. in the boost department, I just want a bit extra by putting another tranny at the end of the circuit.  I want to preserve the tone and personality of the original circuit....just add a bit of kick at the end.  I think a booster in front of the circuit would change the "vibe" too much for me.   I'm trying to tame that Super Fuzz add-on that I did [take about  60% of the gain and volume out of it....] 'cuz I think it might be perfect.  So far I've removed the 1.8  res and the 4.7 cap from the emitter  and replaced them with a 1K res to ground.
Brian.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
      The extra stage that I added to the end of the circuit boosted it pretty well but changed the overall tone so I put everything back to basic stock with a few simple mods [thanks to WGTP !].  It just didn't sound as good to me [sort of lost it's character....]
Brian.