Shin-Ei/Companion FY-2 Fuzz Box

This FY2 is probably the best bit of gear i ever bought. It gives out a manky, grungy sound that is brilliant when combined with some chorus, reverb and digi delay. The two knobs dont do very much and compared with modern fuzz boxes is very basic but i love it.

I normally use this in my multi effects chain alongside some Boss pedals, a Danelectro or two and my Jim Dunlop cry baby. I run it through my Trace Elliot Supertramp for small gigs and a Marshall fourbie when i want to deafen people!

It's never let me down but i wouldnt use anything without a back up. This pedal is solid cast metal but it would break if you ran over it with a truck. So i wouldnt run over it with a truck

I have never dealt with the company and i dont know if they even exist any more.

This is a great bit of kit and i use it for only two or three songs but i would never be without it. There are better and more versatile fuzzie wuzzies on the market but this one does what i ask of it and thats good enough for me. But the best thing about my Shin EI is that i bought it 5 years ago at a car boot sale in Glasgow for #1, yes thats right, One Pound. It had the original box, instructions and even the original puchace receipt ( from 1982 for #10 )from A Glasgow music store. its still in as new condition ( like all my stuff )and i would only sell it if i had another one.

The two controls on the FY-2 don't do much to change the sound at all, which is great!

I'm using it with my Marshall MG100DFX, and I get the exact sound I want from this little wedge of brilliance, which is just totally evil, buzzy, chainsaw fuzz! Sounds great with certain Radiohead songs... 'The National Anthem', 'Exit Music (For a Film)', 'Myxomatosis', and 'Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box'...

Looks kinda fragile, but I'd gig with it without a backup.

Shin-ei Companion havent existed for years!

Overall, this is one amazing pedal. Definately a keeper. Gives me the sound I had been looking for ages. I'd get another one if I lost this one. I got this one from eBay. Best fuzz I've ever heard.

Two knobs, fuzz and volume. Well... just crank up everything. And leave it.

I'm using this with a Marshall 6100LM and a Marshall 1960B cab.

This thing is ridiciously buzzy and has no real dynamics at all. It turns your guitar sound in a buzz saw, that's it.

Chords don't sound like chords.

The fuzz itself has a certain gate to it or dies out. Picks up a bit of radio. And the output is fairly low.

So... It sounds terrible. And that's good (for a fuzz)!

It's a metal box like the Maestro Fuzz Tone (the Maestro is probably a billion times more usable though), think slice of cake. Made of metal.

Mine is probably about 35 years old, still works fine.

This is one nasty, atonal, one-note-at-a-time-please fuzz. Truly disgusting.

But that's good! You just can't have all Fuzz Faces and original Tone-Benders (and all that contemporary fuzz), you also need some dirty fuzz boxes! And this one delivers.

If you love fuzz (like me), you'll probably like this. Oh and it sounds like the solo in "Pushin' Too Hard" from the Seeds.

Two knobs (as all decent fuzz boxes should) - fuzz and volume. The fuzz knob changes the effect from 'lots of fuzz' to 'lots and lots of fuzz'. Second hand so no manual (you'd be daft to need one).

This box has one sound - that of an angry bee wielding a chainsaw on turbo setting being electrocuted in a metal dustbin. It is a horrible, sizzling, cheesegrater-type sound which makes no attempt at subtlety or versatility.
Combined with mild overdrive from my amp (Laney LC-30) and Fender Telecaster I can get the rudest fuzz sound imaginable (unless you add my Voodoo Lab Bosstone, of course). It is totally quiet in operation. You'd either love it or detest it...I love it.

Very sturdy, all metal chassis. Haven't gigged with it yet but I'm sure it could take a few knocks.

Companion? Who?

I was looking for a Hendrixesque fuzz sound. Insead I found this little reprobate in a backstreet guitar shop and fell in love. It is a totally naff, evil sound but, well, you know what it's like when a sound junkie finds something he likes and it's dirt cheap.