Must buy from Small Bear?

giovanni

Well-known member
Hey guys, I got a $100 Small Bear gift card for my Birthday (on Jan 3rd if you're curious) and I am trying to figure out what to get from them.

I have been browsing their website for parts, components, tools, accessories, etc. When it comes to components, pots, switches and enclosures, Tayda's prices are much lower, so that doesn't seem like the right move.

Small Bear does have a ton of Germanium components, but I am not sure which ones are worth getting: I have a large batch of Germanium transistors with hFE in the 70-90 range that will probably serve most my fuzz needs, except for really high gain fuzzes (Sunface maybe?). I don't have any Ge diodes, anything I should consider?

Finally I also noticed they sell a Dremel 3000 for $50 which seems like a pretty good price, and I am going to need it to file a 1590DD for my Sonomatic build so that may end up in my cart.

Anything else I should consider or that you guys recommend?

Thanks!
 
Just drawing from their "most popular" items:
Screen Shot 2023-01-09 at 5.15.14 PM.png x 1000


Seriously though, I'd stock up on knobs. And sometimes they have really good prices on enclosures (not sure they do anymore but they seemed to always be clearing out old stock of discontinued colors).
 
I think the knobs from Small Bear are much nicer than Tayda’s, although I’ve read (here) that Tayda’s knob quality has improved. I think I also got an extra dozen J201 (NOS) my last order, so yeah, they have a good selection of harder to find diodes and transistors. They seem to do 15 or 20% off sales a few times a year, at which point their Gorda stomp switches are a good price. But you’ll enjoy a dremel, from random grinding to using felt wheels to polish frets…
 
Oh oh I'd buy a buttload of their wire but when I looked last week, most or all of it was out of stock. Might I also suggest you just sit on that gift card? You don't have to spend it all right away
 
Hey guys, I got a $100 Small Bear gift card for my Birthday (on Jan 3rd if you're curious) and I am trying to figure out what to get from them.

I have been browsing their website for parts, components, tools, accessories, etc. When it comes to components, pots, switches and enclosures, Tayda's prices are much lower, so that doesn't seem like the right move.

Small Bear does have a ton of Germanium components, but I am not sure which ones are worth getting: I have a large batch of Germanium transistors with hFE in the 70-90 range that will probably serve most my fuzz needs, except for really high gain fuzzes (Sunface maybe?). I don't have any Ge diodes, anything I should consider?

Finally I also noticed they sell a Dremel 3000 for $50 which seems like a pretty good price, and I am going to need it to file a 1590DD for my Sonomatic build so that may end up in my cart.

Anything else I should consider or that you guys recommend?

Thanks!
HBD! yet another bump for Ge semis. sounds like ya have enough trannies, grab a slew of diodes! imo they're much more fun to mess around with than transistors.. easier to measure, easier to handle, dramatic differences in sound - i do be snorting cork, but whatever. innit that kinda the point of all this?

been loving these specifically https://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/germanium-diode-philips-oa9/
 
I live a couple of miles from their shop, so stop in whenever I need something to complete a build. One thing I will tell you is that their website inventory does not always reflect what they actually have in stock. If you see something on the site that you want, but it says out of stock, send them an email and ask them if they could check their actual stock - chances are they'll have it!
 
Not sure about their policy with the new owners, but you used to be able to use only a portion of a gift card and save the rest for later. SB is great for all the weird stuff you can't get anywhere else. I usually order parts from them when I have a few projects needing some hard to get parts.
 
Alright I decided to load up on some hard to find JFETs for future builds (I have nothing in mind yet but I will take suggestions!).
Here's what I am thinking: J201, PF5102, J112, J113, 2N5457, 2n5458, 2N5485. Any other part number I should consider?
They are out of 2N5952, are there any replacements for the XC phaser?

I also would love some recommendations for specific Ge diode part numbers. Or are any going to work?
 
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