The Shin-ei Companion FY-2 wasn’t just a mouthful to say, it was a cult-classic fuzz and a favourite of many noisy experimentalists such as The Jesus and Mary Chain. It was renowned for its aggressive chainsaw-like sound, but like most classic vintage fuzz boxes, it wasn’t without its setbacks. The FY-2 was plagued with a permanent mid-scoop and volume inconsistency issues, amongst other quirks.

If only we could have a pedal with modern tweakability and the gusto of the original… Enter the DH-2, the first pedal by an all-new manufacturer, Dirty Haggard Audio.

Dirty Haggard Audio’s first release, the DH-2 takes the classic fuzz sounds of Shin-ei’s Companion FY-2 but fixes all of its impractical flaws.

Dirty Haggard Audio claims that the DH-2 was designed by a “Portland musician with a day job as an audio analysis technician,” who has taken the time to refresh the original Companion FY-2 circuit. Some amendments include a ‘virtually’ silent noise floor and a corrected gain and output signal.

The FY-2 also had a quirky problem of picking up radio signals, the DH-2 fixes this with ‘radio-frequency rejection’, similarly the big mid scoop of the original has been fixed with a mid-frequency control.

All in all, it looks like the DH-2 is a more usable version of Shin-Ei’s classic and if the promo videos are anything to go by, it sounds absolutely wild.

For more information take a look at Dirty Haggard Audio’s product page.