"Close Enough" Sub For Germanium Diodes

[Ginsly]

If the forward voltage is the same, the toan is the same. No matter what anyone tries to tell you.

You can easily find Schottky or Silicon diodes to match the values of those Germaniums in this excellent web page:

A Brief Hobbyist Primer on Clipping Diodes

A general reference guide on how Clipping Diodes Work

www.guitarpedalx.com

Thanks again for this link, @jhaneyzz - it's been really helpful.

I need to order some things, and am trying to decide if it's worth it to drop $2 apiece on (real) 1N34A diodes- 1N60s are a buck by comparison, but have a slightly higher forward voltage. I subbed BAT46 in a build that called for a pair of germanium diodes, and it seemed to work well. Sounds like if used in pairs, the benefits of germ diodes get kinda lost anyways.

PedalPCB also looks to have D9Bs, but I don't know where they fit in with the other germ diodes. Still trying to suss out if any of this is worth it in the high-gain fuzz I'm mostly building - looks like the clipping diodes will mostly be in pairs... In that case, wouldn't a BAT46 (or better yet, BAT47) sound very much the same?

 

[thomasbe86]

It really is up to you, if they're sold at that price it means people buy them. Is it worth it? I guess at some point I thought so since I have a bunch of them (was a bit cheaper back then around 2008). Do I still believe it was? Meh, definitely not, I'd never spend more than 10 cents on a diode again. My ears may not be the best, but I never noticed a sound difference for diodes with a similar I/V curve.

Again, have a look here to find your match:
Interactive Plotly Diode Average

 

[Ginsly]

Again, have a look here to find your match:
Interactive Plotly Diode Average

Thanks @thomasbe86 - that's kinda how I'm leaning, too. I'll probably get a couple just to try in a circuit- if I socket em I can A/B with a Schottky.

How do I properly view that link you sent? It appears as a huge brick of text! Ha...

Is this the chart version? https://chart-studio.plotly.com/~finebyfine/1/#/plot

If so, it appears that if I used BAT47 it would essentially have the same response.

 

[thomasbe86]

Thanks @thomasbe86 - that's kinda how I'm leaning, too. I'll probably get a couple just to try in a circuit- if I socket em I can A/B with a Schottky.

How do I properly view that link you sent? It appears as a huge brick of text! Ha...

Is this the chart version? https://chart-studio.plotly.com/~finebyfine/1/#/plot

If so, it appears that if I used BAT47 it would essentially have the same response.

Yup, way to go, nope this is a different plot by @finebyfine, I added his data to mine as well.

The link to the HTML, you need to download the file and then opened it with your web browser on a computer, works fine with Chrome or Edge.

Otherwise you have a non interactive one in PDF:

EDIT: I just noticed that the plot from @finebyfine has the BAT47 which is missing from mine, you'll have to juggle with both for now, I'll try and update soon

 

[Ginsly]

@thomasbe86 Ha, no prob at all! It does seem that maybe the cost of buying ANY sort of germanium diode might outweigh any noticeable difference in sound, especially when doubled up in a circuit. So far, I'm a fan of the BAT46s I used in a Bosstone derivative.

A few of the "BATs" look very, very close to germanium in those charts.