The Honey Baby Crying FY-6 Super Fuzz is a reissue of the original FY-6, the pedal Shin-ei's product page calls "the very first incarnation of what was to become the 'Super Fuzz'."1 It belongs to the fuzz family, and specifically to the Super Fuzz line of octave-fuzz circuits that grew out of this first design. Delicious Audio's Griffin Jennings describes it as "a reissue of the original, released by the same company that launched the Super Fuzz," and adds that "this model is as close as it gets" to that first unit.2
What it does
The FY-6 is the circuit at the root of every Super Fuzz that followed, including the later Shin-ei FY-6 Super Fuzz. What sets the Baby Crying reissue apart from the many Super Fuzz clones on the market is that it comes from the same company that launched the original, and it is built to the original specification. According to Delicious Audio, "It features the same circuit and high-quality parts as the '67 unit, including NOS carbon comp resistors and Matsushita/Panasonic transistors."2 NOS means new old stock: parts made decades ago that were never used, kept for builds like this one.
The unit is controlled by two knobs, Balance and Expander, which Shin-ei's page lists as the controls for the FY-6 design.1
The FY-6 family
Shin-ei, the company behind the Super Fuzz name, lists several versions of the circuit on its product pages1:
| Version | Product code | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Honey FY-6 "Baby Crying" | FY-6 | The first incarnation of the Super Fuzz circuit1 |
| Astron FY-6 Super Fuzz | FY-6A | Stainless steel bottom with "Super Fuzz" printed on it, "as a tribute to the old days"1 |
| Shin-ei FY-6 Super Fuzz | FY-6S | The Shin-ei-branded version of the circuit3 |
Shin-ei describes the Astron version's steel bottom plate as a nod to the original era of the design.1
What reviewers said
Delicious Audio placed the Baby Crying reissue in its buying guides to Super Fuzz pedals and to fuzz pedals generally, with Griffin Jennings noting that because it comes from the same company that launched the Super Fuzz, "this model is as close as it gets" to the original.2 The same guide entry, credited to Paolo De Gregorio in the site's fuzz buying guide, repeats the parts specification: the same circuit and high-quality parts as the '67 unit, with NOS carbon comp resistors and Matsushita/Panasonic transistors.4
The listed price in that guide was $498 and up, as of 11 October 2022.2
Videos
Shin-ei
voodoowrench
Sources (4)
- Astron FY-6 Super Fuzz, Shin-ei (shin-ei.com)
- 20 Of The Best Super Fuzz Clones And Evolutions In 2023, Delicious Audio, 2022-10-11
- Shin-ei FY-6 Baby Crying Super Fuzz, Shin-ei (shin-ei.com)
- The 3 Best Fuzz Pedals Per Type, In 2023, Delicious Audio, 2022-09-15
