Mayer mods on the Fuzz Face -- gain and clean-up questions

[mordechai]

I did the Mayer Mod switch, or something very close to it, on my FF...470R to 1K, 1K fuzz pot to 2K fuzz pot, and the 8.2K to a 25K pot. 

The thing has more volume as expected, and I THINK the increased 2K fuzz pot is giving it a touch more gain...correct?

I am guessing that the switch to a higher value q2 bias resistor (I usually set the 25K trimpot to about 15-18K) compensates for the increased fuzz pot value where an 8.2K resistor would not allow for a decent bias...am I right?  I initially tried just subbing in a 2K fuzz pot without changing the Q2 bias resistor and except for the very final bit of the pot's sweep, there was no fuzz to be had.  Does the higher value collector resistor provide a more usable sweep?

Finally -- when the volume on my guitar is maxed the circuit sounds great, but when I back off the volume, it doesn't clean up as well as the standard Fuzz Face circuit does (1k fuzz pot, 8.2K bias resistor).  Is this to be expected and inherent to the character of the "more gain" modification itself?