MMBF5457’s and where they at?

That's a sweet attenuator!
That’s what I hear. When I couldn’t find one on the used market I figured that was a good sign. Never owned one before -never needed one with solid state amps. I’ve been told it’s important that I hook it all up correctly :)
 
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I fully appreciate your insight, as we all have different reasons for why we love this hobby and everyone's journey is different. I like the old school. Always have, always will. It's a dying art form, I like that I can work on Amps and pedal like they did years ago. I think thru hole looks awesome. I don't need everything in a 125b. I also feel like you that there is something relaxing and fun about populating boards. I don't mind smd jfets or transistors and even some ICs. But a whole board? Not for me. I don't want a hot air station, I like the technique of soldering thru hole with an iron. I don't like digital because the future of digital is algorithms. I don't want to program 1s and 0s. I'm all about learning as well but I want to keep that analog aspect, like analog circuit with digital switching or tap tempo. But all digital?.I want loud, heavy tube amps pummeled with fuzz at house shattering levels cause at the heart of it to me, that's what rock n' roll and playing guitar is all about.
[heavy sigh] yep. exactly my thoughts unless I go out of my way to argue against it like in that post, and even then this side usually wins out
 
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After reflecting on my distaste for digital effects that are programmed, I think it has to do with the fact that most of these effects change the fundamental sound of the guitar. I want my guitar to sound like a guitar, but sometimes with delay or tremolo and phaser. Many of the digital effects are more the instrument and the guitar is a mechanism to operate them. I get how some people are into ambient playing. I see myself as someone who plays guitar and not pedals. If that makes any sense 😂

That makes total sense, I mean I rattled off all of those reasons but I really only use fuzz pedals lmao
 
Very cool, congratulations! I’d love an old fender. After 30 years of playing solid state amps I finally purchased my first big boy amp (Orange TH30 with an Orange PPC212c) about a year or so ago. I was blown away by the tonal difference. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to turn it up past about 2 (if it went to 10) because of how incredibly loud it is -I’ve never turned it off the 7.5w setting. However, I’ve got a Fryette PS-2 on the way that I hope will help in that dept.
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Dang. I only bought 10 of them because I thought they’d be around for a while since they’ve been in stock there for a full two or three years I believe. Should have gone for 50 or more.

Are those 2n5457s from GuitarPCB working out for you?

I recently bought a batch of 10 (at $1.69 each) and my tester shows them as BJTs, not J-FETS. His site says, "Guaranteed Genuine" and "from my own personal collection." But I ordered in Dec. 2021 and I'm concerned his personal collection ran dry and he re-stocked with some re-badged BJTs.
 
Are those 2n5457s from GuitarPCB working out for you?

I recently bought a batch of 10 (at $1.69 each) and my tester shows them as BJTs, not J-FETS. His site says, "Guaranteed Genuine" and "from my own personal collection." But I ordered in Dec. 2021 and I'm concerned his personal collection ran dry and he re-stocked with some re-badged BJTs.
Have you reached out to Barry? I picked up 25 from him about 2 weeks ago. They read as FETs and the Idss readings were in spec, but the Vgs(off) readings were low on all samples. I imagine everyone's stash of popular THDs are thinning.
 
Have you reached out to Barry? I picked up 25 from him about 2 weeks ago. They read as FETs and the Idss readings were in spec, but the Vgs(off) readings were low on all samples. I imagine everyone's stash of popular THDs are thinning.

I did actually, just before I posted. :) Because I didn't want to seem like I was smack talking without first reaching out to him. I've been meaning to write him, just forgetful.

Just to check that my cheap transistor tester wasn't misreporting, I snipped an ancient 2n5457 from a scrapyard project and it read as a JFET. Then I tested some Aion SMT 5457s and they also read as JFET. 🤔

I didn't even ask him for a refund cuz I know it's hard to run a small business and I'm sure these will be useful for something. But I'm reluctant to use them as 2n5457s. I just wanted him to know in case he got a bum batch.

On a positive note, the quad-matched 2N5952s I got from Barry tested right and sound perfect in my Tractor Beam.
 
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Are those 2n5457s from GuitarPCB working out for you?

I recently bought a batch of 10 (at $1.69 each) and my tester shows them as BJTs, not J-FETS. His site says, "Guaranteed Genuine" and "from my own personal collection." But I ordered in Dec. 2021 and I'm concerned his personal collection ran dry and he re-stocked with some re-badged BJTs.
Haven’t tested them yet. I ordered in December too I think, and since then my work bench has been blocked by boxes while my parents get some renovations done. It’ll suck if they’re bunk
 
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Haven’t tested them yet. I ordered in December too I think, and since then my work bench has been blocked by boxes while my parents get some renovations done. It’ll suck if they’re bunk

Hey, no need to worry. Barry wrote me back and assured me that he tests everything before he ships. And he sent me a screenshot of his Atlas DCA55 testing one. I'll just copy-and-paste his message in here since it demonstrates the pinnacle of customer service so I don't think he'd mind.

Barry@GuitarPCB said:
Hi Matthew,

My batch of 2N5457s that I have been selling for the last 3 months are absolutely legit and work as intended in a circuit. Also if they were not I would have received hundreds of emails. You are the only one.

I use an Atlas DCA55 to test all batches before shipping and as you can see in the photo I have attached they are N-channel JFETS. If you are using one of those testers from China like they sell on eBay they do not always work correctly. I have verified that myself.

The alternative best way to test if a transistor is a JFET if you do not have an Atlas is to try it in a circuit like one of my Stage 3 Boosters like and make sure it works like it is supposed to. These JFETs work fine. Like I said if they did not I would have tons of emails and forum issues as I have sold nearly 4,000 of these in the last 3 months.


barry.jpg

Now I do appreciate your email for the reason of also warning me if I had happened onto a bad batch without realizing it and for that I thank you. If you like I will individually hand test another batch of ten on the Peak Atlas as shown above and mail them to you FREE of charge. You can then use your tester to see how they read on it knowing that I have already approved each and every one with an industry-standard unit.

My policy is always to refund though if you are not happy and I will do so but I would appreciate if you send them back to me even if it is a first-class envelope with a stamp.

Let me know,
Barry

His hunch was right; I'm using a $16 no-name transistor tester from aliexpress.com, so I definitely trust his Atlas more than my reject genero job.

In my defense, I'm not psycho, just very wary of counterfeits. The "F" logo on these is pencil thin. When I compare that to other Fairchild transistors in my stash, they use a thicker boldface
F logo. There also seemed to be tiny micro-abrasions on the surface which made me worried they had been sanded and re-badged.
 
His hunch was right; I'm using a $16 no-name transistor tester from aliexpress.com, so I definitely trust his Atlas more than my reject genero job.
I have a Peak Atlas tester and a T7 tester, I find they're both useful, but the T7 often gives screwy results for transistors. For Caps, resis, LEDs etc, the T7 is excellent.
 
In regards to through-hole components going away:

I'm skeptical of this train of thought. After all, tubes haven't gone away as of yet. BBDs we're getting harder to find, but then Coolaudio and xvive came along and started making new ones.

Through-hole J201's are still available on mouser, manufactured by interFET. Same with 2n5457's: those are made by central semiconductor.

Remember the 90's? Vinyl looked like it was headed the way of the dodo. Nowadays it makes up a larger percentage of the market share than CDs.

Is this a momentary reprieve for those of us that desire these old, analog components in familiar packages? Probably. Partially.

The DIY community still exists...and there's certainly a demand from customers for analog gear. The demand is nowhere near what it once was, though and that probably means that the major semiconductor manufacturers will stop making this stuff.

But if there's still a demand...I have a feeling that smaller outfits will try to find ways to meet that demand. There will be less to go around, likely leading to higher prices, and it's unlikely that ALL our favorite go-to components will be reproduced...but I imagine they'll be around long enough for intrepid folks to work out work-arounds for specific unobtanium parts.

I doubt through hole passives will ever stop being produced anyways. You can slap those in screw terminal blocks like you would with a wire. Take a 0-20mA signal and convert it to 0-10v by using a 500 ohm resistor in parallel. Add power supply decoupling to a digital input.

The market share will likely continue to shrink, but there will always be a fetishization of the old and the vintage that will come and go.

That is, at least another few years before society collapses and those of us that remain are just looking for some source of water that isn't contaminated by radiation. They'll laugh at your cries for that pure, vintage tube tone then.
 
In regards to through-hole components going away:

I'm skeptical of this train of thought. After all, tubes haven't gone away as of yet. BBDs we're getting harder to find, but then Coolaudio and xvive came along and started making new ones.

Through-hole J201's are still available on mouser, manufactured by interFET. Same with 2n5457's: those are made by central semiconductor.

Remember the 90's? Vinyl looked like it was headed the way of the dodo. Nowadays it makes up a larger percentage of the market share than CDs.

Is this a momentary reprieve for those of us that desire these old, analog components in familiar packages? Probably. Partially.

The DIY community still exists...and there's certainly a demand from customers for analog gear. The demand is nowhere near what it once was, though and that probably means that the major semiconductor manufacturers will stop making this stuff.

But if there's still a demand...I have a feeling that smaller outfits will try to find ways to meet that demand. There will be less to go around, likely leading to higher prices, and it's unlikely that ALL our favorite go-to components will be reproduced...but I imagine they'll be around long enough for intrepid folks to work out work-arounds for specific unobtanium parts.

I doubt through hole passives will ever stop being produced anyways. You can slap those in screw terminal blocks like you would with a wire. Take a 0-20mA signal and convert it to 0-10v by using a 500 ohm resistor in parallel. Add power supply decoupling to a digital input.

The market share will likely continue to shrink, but there will always be a fetishization of the old and the vintage that will come and go.

That is, at least another few years before society collapses and those of us that remain are just looking for some source of water that isn't contaminated by radiation. They'll laugh at your cries for that pure, vintage tube tone then.
I hope you're right!
 
I recieved 18 (paid for 20) and I've tested a few. Can anyone tell me what numbers I should be looking at here?

Given my luck with pedals lately, I'm assuming they're useless.

EDIT: I compared them to a couple of MMBF5457s I have, and the numbers are way too low. I don't think they're fakes, but I think they're out-of-spec rejects. They only cost a few bucks, so if I can't get a refund it's no big deal, but I would strongly advise against buying from that seller. I have had good results before, but not this time.
 

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To match, I use the Vgs-off value within .01V of one another.
The datasheet says the tolerance for this value is between -.5 to -6.0.
These are not in-spec ( regarding that value).

Here is the Datasheet
 
Vgs(off) seems to be suspiciously low. I would expect it to be somewhere between -1.2V to - 2V.

ps. I have some MMBF5457s from aliexpress with similar, low, Vgs(off) values and I consider them as fakes. Does not matter - factory reject, fake, rebranded.. way out of spec for 57.
 
Vgs(off) seems to be suspiciously low. I would expect it to be somewhere between -1.2V to - 2V.

ps. I have some MMBF5457s from aliexpress with similar, low, Vgs(off) values and I consider them as fakes. Does not matter - factory reject, fake, rebranded.. way out of spec for 57.
Yep, they're not useful for anything pedal related. The two MMBF5457s I have are genuine, not from AliEx, but those are pretty hard to locate these days too. I'm looking out for a good substitute.
 
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