More of a warning than a question - don't buy JFETs from adeleparts2010 on eBay

Ive also discovered the NPN J201's from 2 different Chinese eBay vendors recently. One was actually an electronics peddler.
 
It always has been for me…
I’ve seen some shady stuff recently…
I heard he’s sick and not shipping right now?¿

Not sure…

What are you trying to get?¿
 
K Pedals said:
Well I don’t know for 100% but I’m pretty sure pedalhacker got those from that same guy I was talking about on eBay…
I’ve never seen 2 band 1S1588’s… I’ve seen them with a black band…
I saw a couple sites with these 2 band ones (PH being one) and I was thinking maybe they were real…
But I don’t think 1S1588 ever even were made with two bands..
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I don't suppose you'd feel comfortable naming the dodgy eBay seller in question, would you? I suspect I've come across their stuff because they seem to use the same set of photos as Pedalhacker on common items in stock. Still, wouldn't want to mention anyone else by name in the thread without any corroboration.
 
Brian is the eBay seller…
He’s a really nice guy…
The eBay seller name is 1947transistor I think…
He really didn’t know they were fake…
When I told him he took them down immediately…
I’ve bought several things from him and this was truly just a misunderstanding…
They were in a bag labeled 1S1588 so he just sold them as that… said he had 82? orders and no one complained…

If I know someone to be selling fakes I feel more than comfortable letting everyone know…
There’s so many on eBay I guess I could compile a list… lol

Jameco sold me a bunch of bunk JFETs and acted like I had done something wrong…
I had to fight with them to get my money back… they wouldn’t let me keep the 13? That we’re good after testing 200…
They wanted them all back…

And They hung up on me several times… that was the worst of all the online transactions…
 
EZS said:
Ive also discovered the NPN J201's from 2 different Chinese eBay vendors recently. One was actually an electronics peddler.
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I found that the "J201" I got from Adeleparts a long time ago were the same which I received from GuitarPCB's "own personal collection". I had issues with the GuitarPCB ones and don't bother to test them in builds anymore.
 
szukalski said:
I found that the "J201" I got from Adeleparts a long time ago were the same which I received from GuitarPCB's "own personal collection". I had issues with the GuitarPCB ones and don't bother to test them in builds anymore.
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Thanks for confirming. It's hard to blame the “cheap tester” and ignore that the ones I purchased long ago (before having kids,) test as N-channel JFETS, and the ones when I got back into the hobby simply do not read as JFETS. (Just “NPN.”)

cheap.tester.jpg

I'll never afford an Atlas tester to verify his claims that they're legit. My bad. He offered to take them back, but I declined, placing the blame on my tester. Wish I'd stocked up back in 2002.
 
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xefned said:
Thanks for confirming. It's hard to blame the “cheap tester” and ignore that the ones I purchased long ago (before having kids,) test as N-channel JFETS, and the ones when I got back into the hobby simply do not read as JFETS. (Just “NPN.”)

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I'll never afford an Atlas tester to verify his claims that they're legit. My bad. Barry offered to take them back, but I declined, placing the blame on my tester. Wish I'd stocked up back in 2002.
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It left a bad taste in my mouth, especially since they're "guaranteed genuine". I hate to think how many DIY pedals suck because people trusted they were the real deal. MMBFJ201 all the way now, baby.
 
There is one other consideration in regards to accurate measurement. If you look at the datasheet, you’ll see the test conditions used to determine the acceptable range values.

With the J201, the datasheet states that the DUT should read between -.2v to -1.5v WHEN the test conditions used are VDS = 20v, ID = 20nA.

None of the four popular testers I’ve purchased have mimic’d any of those test conditions. It doesn’t necessarily mean the transistors are bad..it means that is the result given the test conditions employed.
 
He may have even bought them from what he believed was an authorized distributor.

Jameco Electronics for example. Because of the supply chain crisis, I kept getting SN74LS04s from ebay that *looked* fake with a smeared out TI logo. So I ordered 100 from Jameco—since they've been around for decades. They had the same smeared logo as the ebay ones. Probably the same factory. And probably not from TI. :(
 
fig said:
There is one other consideration in regards to accurate measurement. If you look at the datasheet, you’ll see the test conditions used to determine the acceptable range values.

With the J201, the datasheet states that the DUT should read between -.2v to -1.5v WHEN the test conditions used are VDS = 20v, ID = 20nA.

None of the four popular testers I’ve purchased have mimic’d any of those test conditions. It doesn’t necessarily mean the transistors are bad..it means that is the result given the test conditions employed.
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Thank you for that fair assessment. I don't want to just assume without full knowledge.

I wonder if I can DIY a JFET tester that will mimic those conditions. :unsure:
 
I can't comment on the actual parts in question here, but I've had known good MMBFJ201's identify as BJT's in that particular tester.

I feel fairly confident they're genuine because they were ordered through Mouser and the reel was drop-shipped directly from onsemi.
 
I also can't ignore the fact that the SMD ones from Aion measure as N-channel JFETS.

So there is something different about this batch. Something more than just the different-looking “F” logo printed on the face.

different.jpg

But you've given me hope that at least my J201s (which look real) might actually be real. I dunno.
 
xefned said:
Thank you for that fair assessment. I don't want to just assume without full knowledge.

I wonder if I can DIY a JFET tester that will mimic those conditions. :unsure:
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No, that tester will only give you the Vgs Off number so that you can "match" sets of JFETs. It does not tell you anymore than that. I have an extra board for this if you want it. Just DM me, I can pop it in the mail to you.
 
xefned said:
He may have even bought them from what he believed was an authorized distributor.
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Yeah, I don't make assumptions on personal characters. All I know is that I have two different batches of "J201" with the same markings, same test readings, which don't work well in pedals where other J201s have worked as expected.
 
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Robert said:
I feel fairly confident they're genuine because they were ordered through Mouser and the reel was drop-shipped directly from onsemi.
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I have no doubt yours are genuine. I wasn't aware that you sold them when I bought from Aion last year, otherwise, I would have bought them from you. PedalPCB first.

fig said:
With the J201, the datasheet states that the DUT should read between -.2v to -1.5v WHEN the test conditions used are VDS = 20v, ID = 20nA.
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I'm postulating that my tester can identify a 2n5457, but not a J201. I'll try it with some known legit SMDs this evening.

szukalski said:
Yeah, I don't make assumptions on personal characters. All I know is that I have two different batches of "J201" with the same markings, same test readings, which don't work well in pedals where other J201s have worked as expected.
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That is wise.
They either work, or they don't. And once they're in our possession, it's up to us to test for legit parts.

My favorite MIAB (Golden Falk) uses J201s. It sounds glorious.
I'm using two different brands of J201 so gosh, I hope they're both legit.
 
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