BARGAINS!

[Gabi Smith]

Are these true germanium diodes? Are the 1N35A diodes in the circuitry of a pedal effect Zener diode ?

http://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/50PCS-GERMANIUM-DIODE-ST-DO-7-1N34-1N34A-/361948235702?hash=item5445cbc7b6:g:aF4AAOSwCU1Y3KP6 

[Travis]

Polida is not a reputable seller, I think most of us would advise against shopping with them

You can get 1N34A cheap from Tayda. I have had good results with them, but the glass is very brittle and you will inevitably break a lot of them while bending the legs. A lot of NOS diodes have brittle glass, including some Russian ones that I have. It's common

Regarding the Zener thing, I don't really understand what you're talking about there sorry. 1N34A is a germanium diode unless it's one of those Shottky diodes that people sell as 1N34A. I can't find any reliable info on 1N35A with a quick search, it's not even on eBay so I'm not sure what the relevance is, I'm guessing that's just a typo

[Gabi Smith]

 Just typo fault... Sorry, i was speaking about 1N34A.

The second question is just one from a beginner. I'm reading a "level 1" book. The writter says that the diodes may have two function : first, to keep only the negative or only the positive curve of an ac current, or, secondly, to stabilize the continuous tention. This second diodes are called in French "Zener diode"...

[Travis]

Zener diodes are commonly used in stompboxes in power supplies and for static discharge protection on MOSFETs but this is a different type of diode. Not germanium

In stompboxes we are usually using germanium diodes to clip the audio signal. So as you said the diode will basically conduct in one direction, i.e. it will isolate the negative or positive swing of an AC signal. Your guitar output is an AC signal. If we connect an "antiparallel" pair of diodes between our AC guitar signal and ground we can clip the waveform (distortion).

Diodes have a forward voltage, and won't conduct until the forward voltage is reached. When your guitar signal exceeds the forward voltage of the diode, the diode conducts and shunts the part of your signal that exceeds the forward voltage to ground, clipping the signal. The part of the signal that you are left with is only the part that is lower than the forward voltage of the diode, the result of course is compression and distortion, which is often desired in overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals.

This is definitely not the best explanation out there but I hope it helps somewhat. If you want more info, research "diode clipping"

[Gabi Smith]

It's a good introduction. I have many things to learn; and you convinced me to wait to know what i buy before buying mojo pieces lol.

[Beaker]

If you really want to buy genuine high quality Germanium diodes look to Eastern Europe.

There are many honest and reliable sellers in Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia that sell D9, D310 and D311 Germanium diodes that are just as good if not better than 1N34A, while being usually much cheaper.

Like these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Germanium-diodes-D9K-USSR-Lot-of-100-pcs-/142016182060?hash=item2110d2f72c:g:bBMAAOSwQupXVOK2



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/D311-Qty-100-in-box-USSR-Germanium-diodes-30V-40mA-meza-diffusion-pulse-/252875011902?hash=item3ae086773e:g:2GQAAOSwEK9UFznp


We all rate these sellers highly. They all sell good Germanium transistors too!

[Gabi Smith]

I confess that those little black D311 are as sexy as a rocket printed on a tube...

[Beaker]

They are not little - they are huge!

[will]

Hi, Go to pedalhackerelectronics.com for germanium diodes. I have bought diodes, caps, trannies, all kinds of very hard to get parts from him. He id definitely Honest, above board and you get what you order.

No, he is not the cheapest. He stocks what he sells, and you can e-mail him and request items you don't see on the web site. He has lots in stock not listed. Out of hundreds of Germanium diodes I have bought from him I have never had one break. After receiving fake 1N60 diodes from two of our most well known suppliers I don't get them anywhere else anymore.

Will

[will]

Oh, I forgot, very important. He is in the US. NOT China. AND he has real Russian diodes. Many russian diodes. Like black glass diodes. I've got 5 or 6 different black glass diodes from him. Including the ones in the picture above. the 311's. Those are great diodes. Usually he will sell them in smaller quantities too.

Will

[zoof]

wow... that is seriously expensive. Lot of that stuff on eBay from eastern europe in sealed boxes way way way way way less expensive :)

[will]

Oh, for sure. You get what you pay for. I'm not suggesting a bargain, I'm suggesting convenience, selection, & your money back if there's a problem.

Check out his site. Also, e-mail him with what you're looking for. He never fails to try and give a deal.

If you have a reliable source in eastern Europe and need 100 pieces then by all means you should go that way. Lot's of us out here couldn't use 100 pieces of any diode. That's why I started buying from him. Now I've got a nice collection of many different kinds of diodes. Lot's of them I got for free because he threw them in when I bought other things like Ge trannies.

Check out his OC139 NPN trannies. I've used them in Rangemasters & Fuzz Faces. They sound great. have good gains & low leakage. You can buy one or ten, If you want more than a couple email him and ask for a deal, you'll get it. You can have him test them for you. You have to pay for it, but you get what you pay for. And he usually always throws in extras like a pack of diodes or whatever you might be interested in. And that is only one item out of hundreds he has that I've never seen anywhere else.

That's my point.

That's not always the case with dealers off e-bay whether from eastern Europe or anywhere else.

[rocket88]

Not trying to sound like a dick wil, but posting about a seller that's not really a bargain in the bargain area doesn't really make sense. It would be like posting about smallbear, which have good products and reliable, but are equally not a bargain unless you need something you can't find elsewhere cheaper or need a bunch of things, due to the high shipping cost.

While you're right that not everyone needs 100+ of a diode or transistor, there are many cheaper options and eBay sellers that have smaller amounts for a lot less that are reliable. Not to mention that having a bulk of diodes is great for swapping and testing them in different circuits, cause what sounds great on one may sound terrible in another. Germanium transistors are always going to be more expensive when you get a few that have been tested/sorted, verses in bulk and sorting yourself. This is one of the reasons a lot of people stay away from Germanium builds. Just food for thought.

There has been numerous mentions about reliable sellers, with good prices throughout the blog comments and forum. In fact I'm going to make a new sticky thread for people to post who's reliable and whose not, since some people seem to continuously miss it in comments and posts then complain that they got faulty/counterfeit parts and been ripped off. It would make more sense to post about this seller there when the tread comes up.

[Silver Blues]

rocket88 wrote

In fact I'm going to make a new sticky thread for people to post who's reliable and whose not, since some people seem to continuously miss it in comments and posts then complain that they got faulty/counterfeit parts and been ripped off. It would make more sense to post about this seller there when the tread comes up.

That's a good idea. It would save a lot of headache and direct people where to start looking instead of randomly leafing through eBay.

[will]

Well shit, you have my apology. Only trying to help. Obviously there is more than one way to look at a bargain.
I'll have to pay more attention in the future to the heading of the thread.  I'll try not top make this mistake again.
Will

[rocket88]

No worries bro, series. I trust me going through the thread you'll find tons of times similar stuff happens. I was being serious when I said not to sound like a dick, cause I knew it may have come across as such.

[will]

No, No. No dickhead here. The dickhead was in the "Nocturne Brain Seltzer Classic" tagboardeffects page demanding a schematic and then reminding us about "Details"! LOL!!  

Just hate the thought I might have wasted some of your time, that's all.
Should have paid more/better attention.

Will

[motterpaul]

15% all Capacitors Antique Electronic Supply.  They have a wide variety of vintage and audio-specific parts - not al "bargains" but a good supply of NOS stuff: https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/capacitors all 15% off this week.

[Gabi Smith]

Hello, Watch the auctions of this Polish guy :

https://www.befr.ebay.be/sch/hfo_poland/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&rt=nc&LH_Auction=1

I've baught 500 polyester boxes (wima, cute blue philips, mustard, arcotronic...) for 10€ + 15€ of shipping cost. Many bigs that i won't use in pedal, but a pretty affair to have a lil' bit of everything (my goal).

It arrived a week later, well packed ; Nothing special.

[heuermh]

I don't know why, but the price on Rigol's low end analog scope dropped by $100 this week

https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/1000/

Not kidding I had one in my cart at $369 a week ago and then didn't pull the trigger.  Good things come to those who wait.