Mystery parts - IDhelp please

[PMowdes]

Yo,

I brought some SFD112's and D9B diodes from an ebay seller in Bulgaria.  

When they turned up there were some extra diodes which i didn't order (possible win).


Trouble is i have no idea what they are.  I have twenty glass diodes with marked only with a red and orange spot and some silver ones with a small white spot (no other markings).

Anyone know what they could be??

[negativefx]

Pretend they're the magic klon diodes and start selling your pedals for $600.  :)

[rocket88]

hey man. the top ones, white dot are D9D if they just have a white dot or if there's a white dot/band and grey band. i dig them, like all the D9 diodes. i find them to be on the bassier. the others not a clue. i've got nothing like them and can't find anything similar to them on the bay.

[Beaker]

Sorry Zach, but I don't think you are right. The ones in the top photo have a red dot, and an orange dot. That is D9V colours. I have a batch of D9V with red and orange bands I got from Elena.

These were made at different times, in different factories and in different countries, so the ID marks are not really consistent, which just make things more confusing! The Ukraine made D9 is not even the same shape as the Russian made ones - Russians are straight sided, Ukrainean are barrel shaped.

Don't know what the silver ones are though. I wish I did, as I have a few of those too that I got as freebies from Great Uncle Bulgaria.

[rocket88]

oop, didn't see the orange dot. just checked mine and you're definitely right beaker. i guess i mistook a flash or just general light for a white dot. the D9V sounds similar to the D9E, but breakup earlier. personally i like them more then the D9E.

[Silver Blues]

I got the exact same thing, and came to the same conclusion that the orange/red are D9V. This chart may prove handy in the future.

Still SOL on the silver ones I'm afraid  pop them in a circuit and see how they sound!

Rocket I think you saw the glint of light from the slug of germanium and mistook it for a white dot. I almost did the same thing.

[Beaker]

You need this to convert the Cyrillic letter to it's Roman alphabet equivalent. As you can see some of their letters are in a different order to ours, e.g. B is the third letter of their alphabet, and B is our V.

[Beaker]

Regarding the silver ones, they are "somthing-or-other D" as the white dot is for "D" suffix. The colour code is standardised for all their diodes as far as I'm aware.

I suggest you email the seller including the photos, say thank you very much for the free diodes he sent you, and ask him to identify them for you.

Then you can do us a favour and let us in on the secret too!

[PMowdes]

Beaker wrote

Regarding the silver ones, they are "somthing-or-other D" as the white dot is for "D" suffix. The colour code is standardised for all their diodes as far as I'm aware.

I suggest you email the seller including the photos, say thank you very much for the free diodes he sent you, and ask him to identify them for you.

Then you can do us a favour and let us in on the secret too!

Thanks everyone

I had just brought some D9V's so getting a bunch more is a bonus.

I'll drop the seller a line and see if I can find out what they are.

[Beaker]

No problem.

Welcome to the Germanium side!

[PMowdes]

Win!!

[Hozy31]

I am after getting some of these diodes and i need some more Ges. Who is this Bulgarian dude that sells these? It seems he has some great stuff.

[PMowdes]

Hozy31 wrote

I am after getting some of these diodes and i need some more Ges. Who is this Bulgarian dude that sells these? It seems he has some great stuff.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/ml-electronics

[Beaker]

That's interesting as I've not seen silver D9 diodes for sale anywhere else.

Hozy, he also has two other shops on ebay that he is involved with, bg-manue and (I think) KIM Electronics. You can tell it's him by the location - Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

I believe that I was the first guy on here to start ordering stuff from him, and tipped off everyone else. He really is a fantastic guy - I believe his name is Maryam, and he has done a great job of looking after us Tagboard guys.

So you have some D, E and V versions now. That's great. E are the smoothest, most amp-like and are used in the Klon, V are almost as good by internet reputation, but like Zach, I actually prefer them, and the D version is fatter and bassier..

K versions are worth getting too, as they are more compressed, more trebley, and break up sooner. They are my favourites in higher gain pedals.

[rocket88]

Just to add about the D9 diodes, so far I haven't found one I didn't like, and I've got some of each type. Each one has their own unique clipping characteristic. The D9B to me at least is the bassiest and most compressed, and for a long time where my favorite of the bunch.

Our good friends stores are bg2014-manue and ml-electronics. I asked him before if he was connected to kimelectronics88, and he said he wasn't. I can't remember his name, I think beaker has it right, but since I just got a new phone I don't have my last email with him l, but can check when I get home. What's nuts is since he showed up there's a bunch of sellers from the same area, at lest marked on eBay that they are. It seems like a garden of Germaniun over there and makes me think about taking a trip just to get crazy pricing on a shit ton of parts. All I want to know is who's coming with me?

[Hozy31]

Thanks guys for the info. I am also very tempted to take a wee trip over there. It seems to be a haven for Ge diodes and transistors.

[PMowdes]

I'm tempted to put a test board together with a bunch of DIP switches so I can test different diode pairs.

I came across IvIark's monster diode switcher which I think is a genius idea.  I guess that you could add as many diodes as you could get your hands on.

[Beaker]

That's an interesting thought. you can get to Burgas on the coast from the UK cheap on low cost airlines - I know Whizz fly there, and it's only 100 miles to Stara Zagora. Apparently the train takes two and a half hours, and costs 8 Euros.

[rocket88]

So who's up for it? It can be a group get together and community builder. Shit some how we could write it off as a business expense. As emperor of the Ge Deathstar I'll have my one of my minions write it up.

[Hozy31]

Bought some D9Bs and some D311s . He didn't seem to have any of the other D9s up there though or many Ges. Must be running low.