Sourcing Sunface Parts

[dutchgin]

Hi everyone,
I wan going to try and build the Sunface fuzz and I know I am going to need NKT275's. I know these are hard to get these days. Can anyone recommend a good source for parts for this type of pedal.?

Thanks

[IvIark]

I wouldn't worry too much about getting the NKT275s unless you can source some at a reasonable price.  They're getting harder to get hold of, and when you can get them they're very expensive and just having the right part number doesn't mean it will sound good.  I'd just check eBay for PNP germanium transistors and see what you can pick up for a good price.  I've had great results with cheap Russian germaniums like the GT308, and you can still get some old Newmarket/Tungsram transistors like the AC128 or AC125 at good prices.

[dutchgin]

Mark,

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

[tjdracz]

Look at minifux guy on eBay. Got my germanium transistors from him, Tungsram, Telefunken and some other ones and I'm really happy, got nice ranges of gains and had pretty much none excessive leakage. He's even got NKT275, the newer ones that purist will say are shit, but frankly it's all bs. AC128, 188 or 125 work great with proper biasing and gains.

[dutchgin]

Thanks TJ for the info. I will look him up.

[tjdracz]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/minifux1/m.html - here's his ebay store. Fast postage and reasonable costs. There's no buy it now but auctions normally end close to starting bids. Exceptions are those coveted transistors like NKT275's which go for quite a lot. Try AC125, AC150 (Build a Fuzz Face yesterday with one in Q2 and I'm pretty chuffed) and ASX12.
Other options is to go with russian transistors. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/elena8913?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 - this is the guy for them. Reasonable cost and gets you pretty good range of values. It's just loads of them so you need to know what you're looking for.
Chromesphere on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/user/chromespherecom) did his videos on Germaniums and he discusses couple of good Russians there. Also, this database: http://transistor-spravochnik.ru/ is useful for transistors. It's in Russian but pretty straightforward. Lists all the reelvant parameters and also gives you analogue transistors of other makes, for example http://transistor-spravochnik.ru/description/gt402i/38467 - you can see that it is listed as a repalcement for many European types, including AC128


Hope this helps!