Companion - Psychedelic Machine  [schematic]

Discussion regarding early stompbox technology: 1960-1975 Please keep discussion focused and contribute what info you have...
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ChrisFFTA
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Post by ChrisFFTA »

I have one of these beauties...

Image

essentially a superfuzz abnd univibe in one (big) box... love the damn thing to bits but its just too cumbersome to take on the road. i have never found a schem so am wondering a) does anyone have a schem b) could it be made into a smaller format and c) has anyone else based a stompbox on it?

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analogguru
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Post by analogguru »

1.) I have only seen guts from the smaller (older) Honey (Electra) Psychedelic Machine. Judging from this guts it appears that the basic circuit is indeed only a Univibe and a Super Fuzz.

2.) Even when the pcb in that units has an edge-connector (so no solder work required), nobody took the pcb´s out to show the track side that this can be verified or differences be found.

3.) Also the photos of the (complicated) offboard-wiring I have seen are in a too bad quality to trace them.

4.) As you can see in the differences between the Electra (Honey) and the Companion Psychedelic Machine this offboard-wiring appears to be important for all the possible functions.

5.) The existence of a factory schematic is unknown.

6.) Due to the lack of good enough gut shots this unit hasn´t been traced yet to my knowledge.

7.) If you take your unit apart and make good gut shots from the pcb´s, their track side, the offboard wiring from different angles this unit can be traced. Don´t forget to look from the other side of the chassis below the pcb´s, there are also some components "hidden".

8.) I don´t know about that somebody ever has based a stompbox on this unit.

9.) It could be made into a smaller format, maybe in the size of a Lovetone pedal. A hammond enclosure would be too small because of the many controls. Maybe possible by putting two 1590 boxes side-by-side.

10.) An important question is if it should be a 100% clone or a workalike.

11.) A workalike is easier to make by taking the innards of a Danelectro Chicken Salad and adding a superfuzz circuit and the offboard wiring.

12.) After tracing a schematic, it is possible to decide which functions are not really necessary. By ommiting them the offboard wiring can be reduced.

13.) I would not recommend to use such an unit without an AC-adapter cause a 9V-battery would not last very long due to the power consumption. This should be considered too.

14.) Do you have a screwdriver and a camera ? :roll: :wink:

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Post by DiscoFreq »

I would like a bigger picture of the outside too ;)
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Post by ChrisFFTA »

alrighty then... i shall take her apart and try and get some decent in and out shots. having it in a foot unit would literally rock my world...

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Post by analogguru »

ChrisFFTA wrote:someone else who knows about this machine said electra made something similar in stomp format??
I am not aware of this.... the electra looked like this:
http://filters.muziq.be/model/electra/p ... licmachine
and was originally sold as "Honey" (the former company of Shin-ei):
http://filters.muziq.be/model/honey/psychedelicmachine

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Post by ChrisFFTA »

it would appear that the control layout of the electra (honey) is the same as the companion. i will get those guts shots up asap...

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Post by DiscoFreq »

ChrisFFTA wrote:it would appear that the control layout of the electra (honey) is the same as the companion. i will get those guts shots up asap...
Do you have a bigger version of that outside picture on Flickr? Can you post a link to it?

I want to add it to the site as well...
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Post by MoreCowbell »

This thread reminds me...I have a friend that has a Shin-Ei Reslytone RT-18....I'll try to get him to let me take some pics....

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ChrisFFTA
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Post by ChrisFFTA »

DiscoFreq wrote:
ChrisFFTA wrote:it would appear that the control layout of the electra (honey) is the same as the companion. i will get those guts shots up asap...
Do you have a bigger version of that outside picture on Flickr? Can you post a link to it?

I want to add it to the site as well...
the pic on my flickr site is the same size. i will take a bigger one this weekend

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Post by ChrisFFTA »

couldnt get pix this weekend... sorry.

11.) A workalike is easier to make by taking the innards of a Danelectro Chicken Salad and adding a superfuzz circuit and the offboard wiring.

The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?

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Post by analogguru »

The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?
Therefore the pics would be needed.....

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Post by ChrisFFTA »

analogguru wrote:
The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?
Therefore the pics would be needed.....

analogguru
ok ok hold yr horses. i am not a guru so sage like and patience guidance is needed effecto-wan.

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ChrisFFTA
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Post by ChrisFFTA »

well i am not confident taking this thing apart... i had a try tonight and the chassis is connected to the actual frame of the unit in a way i cannot determine how to dismantle.

inside is quite complicated with 3 boards and some pretty extensive wiring. i will get my lenses back from my buddy and take some decent shots soon.

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Post by danielzink »

I had been thinking a lot lately about doing this same thing.

I do a lot of Chciken Salad re-housing so I have 4 or 5 boards laying around at any given time to experiment with.

I saw this monstrosity on the 'bay and thought it would be an excellent candidate for what we're talking about here:

http://pws.cablespeed.com/~danielzink/misc/hotwah.jpg

First order of business - paint it some (any) different color.

What I liked most was the separate on/off switches and of course the treadle - you could attach the speed pot to the treadle so you could have on the fly speed adjustments ala the original Univibe.

I've been experimenting lately with the fuzz both pre and post 'vibe and haven't come up with a definitive choice either way.

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Post by ChrisFFTA »

someone on another board has the electra version of this and has been quoted usd1,000 to do a clone... wow...

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Post by DiscoFreq »

danielzink wrote: Image
I've been thinking of buying one of those too, just for rehousing, but while the pedal is cheap, shipping to Europe usually isn't...

I keep coming to this thread for good outside pictures of that Companion... :mrgreen:
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Post by ChrisFFTA »

DiscoFreq wrote:I keep coming to this thread for good outside pictures of that Companion... :mrgreen:
tomorrow ok :)

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Post by Rorer714 »

you've got a hen's tooth

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Post by celadine »

O.K., so if the fuzz part is just a Superfuzz, what voltage is it running at? I wonder if a Superfuzz type circuit would have more 'oomph' if designed for higher voltage than 9V.

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Post by DiscoFreq »

ChrisFFTA wrote:
DiscoFreq wrote:I keep coming to this thread for good outside pictures of that Companion... :mrgreen:
tomorrow ok :)
As in november 15th? :p
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