Super Fuzz - Univox / Shin-Ei Companion Fuzz FY6

From the vendor

Earplugs at the ready for this one. Massive uncompromising octave-up fuzz.

Shin-Ei's high-gain fuzz box was made under many guises in the 70s, the most famous probably being their own FY6, and Univox's Super Fuzz.

Want Pete's Live at Leeds wall-of-guitar? Or the thicker end of Poison Ivy's sound? Look no further.

There's much debate about the best transistors to use in this circuit, but really it comes down to personal taste. The FuzzDog lab was locked down for countless hours while socketing and comparing was done. In the end our ears liked the high-gain results from 6 x 2N5088. It can be tamed a bit with 2N2222 or BC107, but this pedal is NOT about tame. It is about huge fuzz.

PCB features:

• Trim pot for dialling in the octave signal just-so

• Optional board-mounted diode selection switch

• Spots for two sets of clipping diodes

If you want to save a couple of quid go for BAT46 in place of the germanium clipping diodes. They sound exactly the same.

Beware - this is not a quiet circuit. Such massive gain means inevitable hiss and fizz. Not too much, but its there. With the amp cranked and strings muted you will likely get some hiss.

The kit is supplied with vertical-mount pots which have round shafts, so you'll need set-screw fitting knobs.

If you want the PCB without parts there's a link for that at the bottom of the page.

Partial kit: PCB, all board-mounted components, pots.

Full kit: As above, plus footswitch and appropriate daughterboard/components for your selected bypass type (see Downloads section for details of those), jack sockets, DC socket, battery snap, hook-up wire, LED.

Enclosure (pre-drilled) is available as an option with full kits, and will not take a battery. Knobs are not included.

Builds are only available with full kits including enclosures. Please choose appropriate knobs.

Inspired by: SuperFuzz FY6

Difficulty: Medium

PCB size: 50 x 50mm

Knobs required: 2

Enclosure: 1590B

Download the INSTRUCTION PDF