Great Jumpin Germaniums! (Ge Diode and Transistor Reviews & Discussion)

[ξεναγος νεκροπολης]

hello guys
i've found that and i thought why not posting it here.

http://www.tehnomagazin.com/Transistors_data_and_replacement_tables/transistors_AF,AFY,AFZ,AL,ALZ.htm


and this one which has not only germaniums

http://www.diyparadiso.com/datasheets/datasheet%20transistors.txt

hope they'll help someone cause i really need to stop reading datasheets...!!!!
i'm losing my mind...

and has anyone any idea about how-where-if i could use
those?
af121,af135-6-7-8-9,af186,af201-2,af239,af267,af279,af280,af367,af379

i found lots of them here in an old electronics shop for 30 cents each, and i saw that in ebay they are even12 euros each..
thanks!!!

[rocket88]

WOH!!! nice find buddy, thanks.

i haven't found anything specific for those transistors, but i assume you can put them in different circuits which had the right polarity (PNP or NPN). if they're that cheap, maybe grab a few and see how they are.

side note, while reading datasheets can drive you nuts, it's a good thing you are, since most people don't and there's so much info that it's usable and important to know. i mean, at least its not like you're reading them in a language you don't know. i've tried reading the datasheets that came in a box of MP20A's and it took me like 15min before i realized i was trying to read russian. lol

[Travis]

Hah I've got the MP20A datasheet clipped up on a magnet. It looks pretty cool :P

I got some OC45 recently. They were quite expensive, so I couldn't get that many. I only got 7 and they're all pretty low gain. Like 50-60 hfe and low leakage

I tried them in one of my fuzz faces with sockets and was kinda underwhelmed. I guessed the gain wasn't high enough. But actually I just needed to bias them hotter and they sounded great. The best sound kicked in around ~6.6v  ..at the doctors recommended 4.5v it sounded weak

I'm pretty pumped now, because these are cool sounding transistors! I think they will make one GREAT mk1.5

[tjdracz]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11zeA5VTUrCZa2EyNN4o1RtS4puKiXAQTCmf_DqO73Vo/edit?usp=sharing

My 2 cents. All tested with DCA55.

Tried the venerable ASX12D in Fuzz Face but it was noisy and just meh. I think most of the praise comes from the one guy that tried selling tham at extortionate prices touting them as uber-NKT275.
Vintage AC188 though... fuzz galore!

[rocket88]

Wow. Nice spreadsheet tj. If have some off the asx transistors too that were thrown in with some others I bought, I thought they sounded ok, but I totally agree they're pretty noisey.

I see you've been hard at work since you've been gone so long. Did you get the store up and running? Glad you're back man. Now To celebrate .

[Kinski]

Okay, I've got a bunch of MP20A transistors that sound great and all, but have almost zero leakage. What are some good (and cheapish) transistors I could get that have a good gain range and high leakage for those few fuzzes that require leakage. Like the MK1, Zonk, Dam 673, FZ-1, etc.

I'd like to order a hefty batch off of Ebay...

[dbat69]

Of the ones I have sourced, I've only found (so far) that the GT404 Russians have higher leakage.  However all the European, AC series have had high leakage - I've had very few with low leakage only 13% of them are under 0.3mA and 65% are over 0.5mA
So these might fit the bill

[Kinski]

Great thanks!

Also, if anyone here has a surplus and wants to unload some "good" leaky transistors for the fuzzes I mentioned earlier, let me know! I'll happily purchase them from you!

[rocket88]

The gt404's do have a ton of leakage, I have some with over 1uA, but they are npn. I can't agree more with dbat on the AC models, which is why I recently bought 600 of them for the same purpose as you're looking for them. They can go for high prices because people claim the AC128 were original fuzzface transistors so MOJO. Definitely look at European, Japanese, and US germanium transistors for more leakage.

[dbat69]

rocket88 wrote

I recently bought 600 of them

Wow that is some buy Zach - I've only come across Orpheus selling large quantities but at fairly high prices
I've only managed to get them in 10s or so from minifux1 - but some were bad and will only do as diodes

[rocket88]

Minifux had 4 auctions right around Christmas that started at $10 for an unopened bag of 150 so I watched them like a hawk and bid on them right before then end at like 1am my time and stole them for basically $5" for each bag. 2 were ac125 and 2 were ac128. I was very very lucky.

[dbat69]

Good shooting Zach - I seem to miss all these good ones - plus his listings for the US are in the early hours of the morning here when I'm tucked up and snoring

[rocket88]

Yea, I just don't sleep well so I'm always up late. You know I can always grab them for you, just let me know when.

[Travis]

Gosh.. Is there anything harder than waiting for that extra special package to come in from Bulgaria?

I have a big ol pile of germanium coming my way!

[rocket88]

nice!!!! what are you getting??

i actually have a few new transistors and diodes i have to test out and put up a review/description of for everyone. now that the electronics den is done and i can use my mesa i can actually get to testing.

[Travis]

I'm getting another box of MP20A, and trying out some IT308V, MP21A. Also got a bunch of diodes and some very cool 2N2223. The 2N2223 is two matched 2N2222 in one can. Should make a very fun fuzz face project :)

Ok so that's not that much germanium, but I was also chatting with our Bulgarian buddy and he's sending me a bunch of other germanium that he's got to test out. I'm helping him make some transistor sets for some different fuzzes. Keep an eye on his store in the next few months. He should have some cool new stuff coming

[inefficiency]

That's awesome, Travis! Looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

I love 2n2222a's, so the 2n22223 could possibly be something I'd be interested in. They're probably my favorites for Meatheads and stuff. I used them to make one a while ago where I substituted a couple of values that I didn't have just for experimentation sake and ended up with this crazy, awesome, glitchy sounding fuzz that is probably my favorite I've made.

Also fond of MP20a and I recently stocked up on some diodes from Bulgaria. Got some D311 that I haven't tried yet.

[Travis]

The MP20A is a bit dark in a fuzz face for my taste (although very nice) but I've found they really shine in a MKII Bender. They sound fat and smooth with a tasty high end buzz.

I'm planning on doing a little eyelet or turret action for a 2N2223 fuzz face. The idea excites me in that geeky way. Couldn't resist buying some of those

[Beaker]

You will like the D311 diodes. Fat sounding, but with a clear treble, and with a more "compressed" character than the D9 series.

And they look awesome too! Getting them to fit in some builds can be an issue though due to their size - they are huge!

I'm a big fan of 2N2222s as well - got a large amount of them from our Bulgarian friend a while ago. I've used them in lots of builds. I built a home brew Fuzz Face that I call the Punk Face - tuned to sound thinner and more ragged than a regular Fuzz Face - they were easily the best choice for this. They work great in Superfuzzes too.

[rocket88]

can agree more about the mp20's and d311's. the only problem i really found with them is due to the thickness of the leads they can't be socketed easily for testing to see if you like them in the circuit. but, i think the mojo of having little nuclear bombs in your pedal trumps the size problem, even if they are elevated at an angle to fit. i haven't tried 2nn2222's in a fuzzface, but that sounds awesome. i love them in a meathead/one knob fuzzes though.

while i agree that the mp20's are a little dark, i kinda like it like that. i think of it as they are warmer sounding, rather than muffled, like there's not low-end coming through, if that makes any sense. they're usually the first Ge's i try in a circuit, then try others. i have them in my modified rangemaster, which is set up as more of a Ge full booster, rather then a Ge treble booster.n It warms everything up, and adds a little of that beautiful Ge grit.

damn it!!! now i need to build something with Ge transistors, i need my fix........travis looks like the greasebox has moved to #1 on my list , so i hope its as good as you say it is.  now what transistors do i use, i have so many to choose from...... lol