Tone Vendor MKII NPN

SYLV9ST9R

SYLV9ST9R

Well-known member
This is a ToneVendor MKII, but outfitted with Russian NPN Ge, courtesy of @peccary who was kind enough to send me a handful of transistors to select for this build.
Big thanks to @thewintersoldier for having provided unvaluable guidance into this build, from the PNP-NPN conversion, to all the little tips, from having a resistor between the base and collector of Q1 to simulate higher leakage and get it to bias properly, to changing the Attack pot to a C1K to have better control. Thanks Chris, I couldn't have done it as good without you, and I even used an outie DC Jack!

First time I use a Tone Bender style fuzz, and I find it sounds really good, this might be a contestant for the fuzz spot on my board.
Went with a design inspired by my favorite graphics iteration of the Tone-Bender whiich I think is more lively thant the austere hammered grey version. Also wanted to try the purple illuminated 3PDT. It’s nice, the hue is purple/pinkish, but it looks great on this one.

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SYLV9ST9R said:
....from having a resistor between the base and collector of Q1 to simulate higher leakage and get it to bias properly...
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This is a weird one. Why not just change the collector resistor? I've heard of fake leakage transistors on Silicon transistors in no-bias stages but never for Germanium units.

EDIT: They must be VERY low leakage transistors. <15 microamps was always the cutoff I observed. lower than that and the no-bias stage wouldn't work.
 
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thewintersoldier said:
No good deed goes unpunished 🤣 see what I get for giving guidance 😬 the Fuzz Fuehrer is here😜
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No, in light of my edit, it's a good trick. The General Electric 2N169 units I love are the lowest leakage germaniums I have ever handled and I only ever had one out of 40 or so with such low leakage that I had to supplement.

It's a great trick.
 
Big Monk said:
No, in light of my edit, it's a good trick. The General Electric 2N169 units I love are the lowest leakage germaniums I have ever handled and I only ever had one out of 40 or so with such low leakage that I had to supplement.

It's a great trick.
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Highest leakage transistor was .204mA, lowest was .059mA.

Not sure which ones he ended up using, though.
 
thewintersoldier said:
Would sound like shit without that simulated leakage resistor
bryan-cranston-drop-the-mic.gif
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I'm sure it would.
 
thewintersoldier said:
Would sound like shit without that simulated leakage resistor
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I should have asked before sending, I've only ever played with the Dizzy Tone version (and IME the GE diode in that circuit is where the real magic happens). Even then, though, I'm not sure if the leakage on any of the GE I have in the 50's-70's is that much >100mA. What would ideal leakage be for Q1? I'm glad that there was an easy fix.
 
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