Favorite Russian GE Transistors

[Kroars]

Curious if any of you good folks have some experience with Russian Ge transistors and which are your favorites and why? I’d love the insight and I’m sure others may find it useful as well.

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Ive been looking for some relatively cheap germaniums recently so ill be watching this thread.

 

[PapaBear]

I've done some bulk buys on E-Bay, you need a good tester as hfe and leakage can range greatly M21, M38, M41 I think were the numbers I got

 

[Harry Klippton]

I'm not an expert but understanding Russian characters helps a bit because the last letter denotes gain buckets on a lot of them. I was underwhelmed with the gt308b that gets mentioned a lot. Be prepared to wait 3-4 months for them to arrive too

 

[Kroars]

I suppose I should’ve mentioned that I’ve purchased lots of MP38’s, MP21a’s, MP20B’s from a couple sellers on eBay (which I rarely, rarely solicit) but these have all been as advertised. I just haven’t played around with much of them.

For those who want to take the leap, I can at least report on my positive experiences with:

solovandy | eBay Stores

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BEGRANTA | eBay Stores

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M!M electronics | eBay Stores

High quality Vintage electronic parts... Reasonable prices.. Timely communication. Happy customers :)

www.ebay.com

 

[Paradox916]

My experience was horrifying... it was a complete bait and switch... The pictures were fake It wasn’t a hot chick named Rebecca... what I got was Boris in a wig and evening gown.... oh wait....did you say Russian transistors or Russ..... never mind wrong website. If my wife ever leaves me I’ll just get a dog, I won’t do on line dating again.

 

[Paradox916]

But seriously what would be a good fuzz for a pair of mp21’s something like a green Russian? I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to fuzz and GE stuff... never even played a fuzz pedal or anything with GE transistors.... sorry not trying to high Jack your thread.

 

[Coda]

But seriously what would be a good fuzz for a pair of mp21’s something like a green Russian? I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to fuzz and GE stuff... never even played a fuzz pedal or anything with GE transistors.... sorry not trying to high Jack your thread.

Depends on the gain and leakage of the transistors. For a pair of them...there are only so many circuits that require 2 transistors.

 

[Kroars]

But seriously what would be a good fuzz for a pair of mp21’s something like a green Russian? I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to fuzz and GE stuff... never even played a fuzz pedal or anything with GE transistors.... sorry not trying to high Jack your thread.

Please do. I’m hoping for an informative thread for folks in our position. Great question! Not a circuit that requires a pair, but the Duocast sounds fantastic with MP20’s or MP21’s.

In reference to your question, I’ve been meaning to try either the MP16, MP20 and/or MP21 in a FF circuit as they seem to be great candidates due to the low leakage in these particular transistors (at least in my experience testing around 50 of each).