Fuzz section of 6 transistor Companion Fuzz Wah w. post boost

[anders]

Hi there. I found a schematic at uzzfay of the fuzz section of an old japanese fuzz wah which I THINK is made by Shin Ei. It looks like a Superfuzz but there is some differences, it only has four transistors and a cap and a resistor from Q1 to the Fuzz Adjustment pot, plus a few dififferent values here and there.

Schem
http://freestompboxes.org/members/uzzfay/web.archive.org/web/20120313025609/http_/members.fortunecity.com/uzzfay/6trfw/nat6tr.html

As I said, I'm not sure what this thing is, maybe somebody in here could solve this mystery?
I have drawn a vero as well (which still needs some work)

[tabbycat]

looks pretty close mostly identical to an acetone fm2 with the last gain-boost stage left off, maybe because the wah had a final gain-boost stage it tapped into.

http://www.luciferstrip.com/fuzz/acetonefm-2.gif

have compared it to the superfuzz 6 transistor and the ibanez standard fuzz and the fm2 is the best fit.

[anders]

Yeah, of the Superfuzz type circuits, this one looks closest to the Fuzzmaster. I've made some research and it seems to be this one:Companion Fuzz Wah 6 Tr

I built it yesterday according to the layout below and it works. The output is low, especially with diodes since it's missing the last gain stage. I had to increase the Volume pot to 500kB to get up to unity with silicon diodes.  I'm not an expert on Superfuzzes so I can't compare it to other variants but the Fuzz Adjust control is quite cool, it's like a blend control which pans between the first gain stage and the rest of the circuit just like in a Fuzzrite.

Here is a verified vero

[anders]

Ok, I did another vero with a LPB1 post boost and now it's plenty loud. It's definitely sounds more like a edgier, a bit rougher Superfuzz than a Fuzzmaster. Less mushy with more noticiable clipping maybe. Just worth building if you really love Superfuzzes. And the Fuzz Ajust/Blend control is quite neat.

I used 2N2222's for Q1-Q4 and D9K for the clipping diodes.

[Hozy31]

Just built this and its really, really good. Used the final layout with 2N2222As and 2N5088 as mentioned by anders. Used some unknown big glass Ge diodes for D1 & 2. Will try others at some point to see if they really make a big difference, but i don't have much of a selection to choose from at the mo.

Here is a pic of the build.

Excuse my shabby building.
Thanks for the layout anders.

[Silver Blues]

Okay those are some enormous diodes. Or at least they look that way in the pic.

[anders]

Cool, glad you like it and my...that diodes looks sick!

[Hozy31]

Yeh, they are pretty humungous. Never managed to find out what they were though but sound awesome in this build. Really Dark and moody.