Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion Fuzz w/ Hammer Mods

[marmora]

Hi friends!

This is the third (and possibly final) Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion fuzz I've built. This is also my first completed build since I started posting here.

Mark Hammer is a champion of this circuit and has some great mods for it.

I added his 3 way tone control, a mids control and a bass control (which is subtle)



Here's the thread that image was posted in

The first time I built one of these I used Mark Hammer's "Bottom" switch to control bass. On this build I replaced the 100k resistor in parallel with the 0.047 cap with a 100k pot. Both are subtle, but I decided I'd rather have it than not. This idea came from Luciferstrip from a thread on diystompboxes.

Here's the schematic with the mids control:


I've always wired up the Fuzz control as in the first schematic, Fuzz Rite style. Wired this way it allows the stock buzz to pierce through or for a much more muffled tone.
The FY-2 is known for low output. I think it gets loud enough, but it never "boosts". Adding the mids control adds some volume back, but also turns the FY-2 into something different than the original. Fun option though, no doubt.
The 3-way tone switch is where it's at though. Really makes the FY-2 something special. Thank you Mr. Hammer! Really enjoy the versatility of this one so much it might actually be the last fuzz I build, it sounds great on guitar and bass.
(Don't worry, I've done many others and will probably do one or two more!)

This build wouldn't exist without some great members here. Flanagan0718 traded me the enclosure, the knobs and a 3PDT PCB. The enclosure was a white blem from PPP I believe. Tcpoint also provided the stomp switch and jacks when I purchased a PCB for a different project from him.
I hit this one with a brown spray can and then used steel wool in a circular motion to reveal the original coat of paint underneath.

[wgc]

Awesome!  Love the finish and the notes about your mods.

No guts no glory though. 

[Cortexturizer]

Very nice finish! Love the scratch marks or sanding

[marmora]

Awesome!  Love the finish and the notes about your mods.

No guts no glory though. 

I had a feeling someone would call me out on that!



Used a couple orange drops that have been sitting in the drawer for nearly a decade. Transistors are BC338. Had some traces lift on the bypass board. So it's not flawless, but it's still functional and I can live with that. Used the layout from Tagboardeffects

[sonarchotic]

Love the finish! Nice looking guts too. I have this on my fuzzes to build list. This has bumped it higher.

[flanagan0718]

Great build man. I love the finish and the guts are nice and clean! All in all top notch!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bret608]

Hey, this looks great! Also, thanks for linking the DIYSB thread. Highly educational as always.

Would you mind posting a link to the layout you used at Tagboard? I found a couple of versions. Which one did you use for your jumping-off point? And what changes were necessary on top of that? I am pretty sure I have enough vero around to make this happen...

[juansolo]

Tidy! 

[brucer]

Nice build marmora!  An inspiration, really.  I've been thinking of building this circuit for a while.   If I read things correctly, then your final schematic would look like this?



Being as I'm a novice, I'd appreciate it very much if you could confirm that/point out any errors. 

I don't think I know enough to translate this to stripboard (spent some time trying this AM), but I'm pretty sure I could replicate it using the GGG PCB (with an added bottom pot and SDDT tone switch ... I just need to figure out how to connect the various lugs  ).  This would have the added bonus (?) of a boost stage for unity volume.

Anyway, kudos again and appreciation for any feedback that you might offer.

Thanks, Bruce.

[marmora]

@Bret608
I used this layout: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/02/shin-ei-fy2-companion-fuzz.html

You need to reverse lugs 2 and 3 on the fuzz pot to wire it up Fuzz Rite/Hammer style.
To get the mids control you need to lift the leg of the .1uf cap going to ground and then connect a 50k pot from that leg to ground.
For the tone switch, wire the middle lug to lug 3 of the Volume pot or to row 8 where the 15k resistor connects to the Volume pot.
The 47k and 1000p need to be wired from lug 2 of the Fuzz pot to their respective lugs on the switch (one to each outer lug).
Ditch the 1000p/1n on the layout since it will be going to the switch

@brucer
Nice work on the schematic! The Fuzz control is wired as per the original schematic, you need to swap lugs 2 and 3 if you want to have it the way I did it. Also, the 100k Bottom control just replaces the 100k resistor. No need to send lug 1 to ground. Just wire lugs 2 and 3 as if each were one side of the resistor. So lug 3 connects to the side of the .047 cap closest to 9v and where the 22k resistor gets 9v, lug 2 connects to the 47k resistor and the other side of the .047 cap. Hope that made sense!
You might want to experiment with this control first as I've found it subtle. It might work better for you though. Try it before drilling the box so you don't wind up with an extra hole.

Thanks a ton for the kind words everyone

[chuckbuick]

Cool build.  I like the finish.  Dig how you did the model on the bottom plate.

[G.G.]

great build, and nice write-up about the mods! I'm really glad you put the gut shot up, those orange drops are too awesome not to show off. Excellent job!

[wjmwpg]

Hi friends!

This is the third (and possibly final) Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion fuzz I've built. This is also my first completed build since I started posting here.

Mark Hammer is a champion of this circuit and has some great mods for it.

I added his 3 way tone control, a mids control and a bass control (which is subtle)

The first time I built one of these I used Mark Hammer's "Bottom" switch to control bass. On this build I replaced the 100k resistor in parallel with the 0.047 cap with a 100k pot. Both are subtle, but I decided I'd rather have it than not. This idea came from Luciferstrip from a thread on diystompboxes.

So happy I found this thread just as I'm about to build my first pedal - an FY2! 

Quick questions, should I understand that for the "bass control" you changed the 100k resistor for a 100k pot and ditched the on/off switch that took the 0.047 out of the circuit? I don't see the switch on the pedal (as I assume the only one I see is the on/off/on of the 3-way tone control), so I'm guessing this is the case. If it makes no sense to do both (100k pot and switch to disconnect the cap) I might just do the switch . . . 

Lastly . . . the transistors . . . I'm not looking for one single definitive answer here, but maybe a few different things to try. Modern vs NOS? Silicon vs NPN Germanium? . . . low hFe vs high hFe. What would be a logical three of four different options that would be fun to try for a "variety of different tones"? My tastes lean toward "unpredictable audio chaos freakout" vs "smooth, lush and warm" fuzz. Having not done this before I'm curious to try out different things even if some might not be seen as the optimal choice for this circuit 

. . . thanks for listenin' . . . if anyone still is after 7 years.