Shin-ei Rands Super Fuzz FY-6

The Rands Super Fuzz FY-6 is a fuzz pedal made in Japan by Shin-ei. TONEHOME, which tracks vintage Japanese effects, calls it "probably the most sought after Japanese fuzz pedal of the 70s" and dates the Rands-branded example it documents to 1977¹. The circuit behind it has a longer history: the FY-6 was produced from 1968 until the late 1970s, and in 1968 Shin-ei branded each FY-6 with its own label²³.

For a player encountering one today, the FY-6 is a piece of vintage fuzz history rather than a current product. The original is no longer made, and examples mostly change hands on the used market, where its scarcity and brand-name confusion are part of what makes it interesting to hunt down³⁴¹.

A sought-after Japanese fuzz

TONEHOME describes the FY-6 Super Fuzz as probably the most sought-after Japanese fuzz pedal of the 1970s, with production numbers that have presumably reached a couple of 10,000s¹. That estimate covers the whole run, which was spread across nearly a decade and several brand names, so any single branded version is far rarer than the total suggests.

The pedal's collectability is tied to its place in the fuzz family tree. Aion FX notes that the Shin-ei Companion FY-6 is best known for being re-branded as the Univox Super Fuzz⁵, and tru-Fi's history of the circuit lists notable variations including the Univox Super Fuzz, the Ibanez Standard Fuzz, and an FY-6 Super Fuzz by Yamaha⁶. General Guitar Gadgets adds a clarification builders often need: the FY-6 is the re-branded Super Fuzz, distinct from the Shin-ei FY-2 Companion Fuzz⁷.

Brand names and versions

The Super Fuzz was available for almost a decade under different brand names¹. Sorting out which name is on the box is a big part of identifying one:

The same pattern of re-branding ran through Shin-ei's other fuzzes: the Shin-ei Fuzz Box FY-2 was sold under brand names including Avora, Companion, Jax, Kimbara and Thomas⁸.

The modern reproductions

The original FY-6 is no longer made, as That Pedal Show noted in its coverage of the circuit⁴. But Shin-ei has returned to the design. The current Shin-ei FY-6 Super Fuzz is a reproduction of the original 1968 Shin-ei branded FY-6 Super Fuzz, built in a steel enclosure with a recessed control area, the original "Shin-ei" foil label, and a stainless bottom with "Super Fuzz" printed on it as a tribute to the old days. Production is limited to fifty units, under product code FY-6S².

There is also the Shin-ei Astron FY-6 Super Fuzz, the same reproduction branded "ASTRON" to promote Shin-ei's revival of that vintage brand, under product code FY-6A. Its initial first production run was limited to twenty-five signed and numbered units⁹.

Beyond Shin-ei's own reissues, Delicious Audio notes a reissue of the original FY-6 released by Honey Co. Ltd, the same company that launched the Super Fuzz, sold as the Honey Baby Crying FY-6 Super Fuzz¹⁰.

The schematic

For players who want to understand or build the circuit, TONEHOME hosts a schematic PDF for the Rands FY-6 fuzz on its FY-6 page¹. General Guitar Gadgets also covers the circuit as a DIY effects project, which is where its note about the FY-6 being the re-branded Super Fuzz, distinct from the FY-2, comes from⁷.

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