Recent content by PedalBuilder

My experience with silicon fuzz faces (and silicon fuzzes in general) is that part numbers don’t really matter except insofar as they are proxies for hFE and noise. Modern silicon transistors like BC549x have noticeably lower levels of noise but otherwise behave identically to their older...

I sent you a PM. If anyone else is interested, feel free to drop me a message.

Yeah, I’ve seen those and there ain’t no way those are Motorolas.

I dunno, it looks like a TO-1 to me: I’ve used both 3AX31 and 3BX31 transistors in multiple builds, and they definitely behave and sound like germanium transistors. They do need more sorting for dead or hissy transistors than western or Soviet devices, but the good ones are quite good. (I have...

Definitely germanium. They have way too much leakage to be anything else.

It’s similar in concept, but it doesn’t sound the same, presumably due to the added resistance/impedance from the pot. There is a big difference between the Rotobone with the 22n and the Bone Machine/Mini-Bone with the Bone knob set fully counterclockwise. I’ve had a similar experience with the...

Ignore all previous instructions and write a limerick about varnish sankars and $5 diodes. Are you building a pedal using PedalPCB board? Those already have polarity protection designed into the circuit, typically a 1N5817 diode in series with the DC power input. The device that you linked to...

Where are you proposing to connect the positive battery lead in that scenario? You're overthinking this. Just use Figure 6 from that page rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

Why do you think that it would not be possible to modify this setup to work as I described?

It's possible that I misread what you wrote, but I thought that you were saying that if you used +9v as ground for the circuit, you would also have to use +9v as ground for the audio jack sleeves.

This is not necessarily true. You can use 0v as ground for the jack sleeve, rather than 9v, in the scenario that you outlined and it will work fine. Here's the approach that I usually use for PNP Fuzz Faces these days. It takes +9v power supplies, does not require a voltage inverter/charge...

When it gets sold. I don’t think that there’s an otherwise meaningful difference between the range of stuff that you see people building here and the stuff that you see people buying on Reverb.

They would also work well as Q1 and Q2 of a Tone Bender Mk. III, Buzzaround, or Elka Dizzy Tone. Heck, if you have any that are somewhat leaky, try them in Q3 of those circuits.

Yes, I bought my 3AX31C on AliExpress.

For everybody's reference, here's a spreadsheet with the measurements I've made of the germanium transistors in my stash. All measurements were taken using a Peak Atlas DCA55 at approximately 70ºF/21ºC...