New Production Germanium Transistors - What's The Scoop?

[Ginsly]

I know that @bean, @PedalBuilder and maybe others have mentioned new-production germanium transistors, but some of those posts were before they had actually been used in circuits, I believe.

I'm building on quite a budget, and I'm wondering if this is an easily-sourced, relatively inexpensive (?) option that still sounds good. I have no real interest in chasing the original transistors that were used in circuits, and I'm certainly willing to give up some "mojo" for a potentially lower noise floor. Seems like there are both PNP and NPN available. How is the gain? Noise? Leakage?

One issue I can see is if ALL of them have low leakage - in that case they wouldn't be great for certain circuits.

If anyone has more insight into this, I've been really curious. If they're worthwhile, I'd love to check some reliable links if ya got em!

 

[PedalBuilder]

The newest germanium transistors that I've seen are Soviet transistors from 1990. I haven't seen anything that's currently being produced.

 

[jwin615]

I think the "ACxx" used in warm etc pedals are all rebadged Chinese Ge. They're still in production there. I ordered some random part numbers off of Ali and most were garbage.
Not sure who else is making new ones.

 

[jwin615]

 

[Ginsly]

The newest germanium transistors that I've seen are Soviet transistors from 1990. I haven't seen anything that's currently being produced.

Apologies, thought I had seen you mention them! Evidently they're still being produced to some degree, but I'm trying to suss out the details.

I think the "ACxx" used in warm etc pedals are all rebadged Chinese Ge. They're still in production there. I ordered some random part numbers off of Ali and most were garbage.
Not sure who else is making new ones.

Ah bummer. If companies like WA are using them in their pedals, there must be a pretty reliable source for them. I've never messed with AliExpress. Kinda scares me, heh

 

[PedalBuilder]

I think the "ACxx" used in warm etc pedals are all rebadged Chinese Ge. They're still in production there. I ordered some random part numbers off of Ali and most were garbage.

Are you sure that the Chinese germanium is new production? I've bought some on AliExpress and they all had date codes from the 70s and 80s and oxidized leads. (The 3AG1B in your picture have a 1983 date code.)

 

[spi]

I think the ones you can get from Antique Audio Supply are modern production. I'm not 100% sure, but they don't advertise them as NOS or such. And many of them have the same logo on them.

Transistors - Element: Germanium | Antique Electronic Supply

Browse products from the Transistors category - listing products sorted by popular, page 1

www.tubesandmore.com

I got some and they worked fine in the pedals I used them in.

 

[Ginsly]

I think the ones you can get from Antique Audio Supply are modern production. I'm not 100% sure, but they don't advertise them as NOS or such. And many of them have the same logo on them.

Transistors - Element: Germanium | Antique Electronic Supply

Browse products from the Transistors category - listing products sorted by popular, page 1

www.tubesandmore.com

I got some and they worked fine in the pedals I used them in.

Hmm. Although they're not labeled NOS I'm not sure I see any indication that any of these are new production. @Amplified Parts what say you?

 

[darwin999]

NTE had some new production, but they recently went out of business.

Thread 'NTE Electronics has gone out of business'

Nov 21, 2024

NTE was a small New Jersey company that was a source of transistors that were often out of stock elsewhere, including several Ge transistors.
However, I just noticed that they went out of business 2 months ago.
Apparently a company called Vetco Electronics has purchased their inventory, and will sell them until they're gone...

• darwin999
• Replies: 7
• Forum: The Toolbox

And you may be right about leakage, although I haven't tested any new ones. But technology has improves significantly since the "old days".
Germanium oxide is water soluble, that's always been a serious problem for Ge transistors - i.e., getting an insulating barrier on them to make a transistor. But new thin film deposition techniques available now (but not back in the 50-80's) allow for thin layer deposition of ultra-thin pinhole-free insulating layers, and thus new Ge may be much better with regard to leakage.

 

[bean]

I know that @bean, @PedalBuilder and maybe others have mentioned new-production germanium transistors, but some of those posts were before they had actually been used in circuits, I believe.

Yeah, I have some NPN and PNP from CEDist. I've got three builds I'm working on that will use them but I need to test them for gain and leakage first.

 

[Ginsly]

Yeah, I have some NPN and PNP from CEDist. I've got three builds I'm working on that will use them but I need to test them for gain and leakage first.

Interesting - looks like the same stock as AES/Amplified Parts, so @spi ya might have been on to something. Which NPN and PNP are new-stock there? It's hard to tell.

 

[Locrian99]

For fuzz pedals the soviet ones i think gt310b are cheap and great for fuzz faces. 100 of them is 35ish bucks. And you should end up with plenty of q1/q2 sweet spot ones. Some rangemaster stuff etc

 

[rwl]

I'm wondering the same as Ginsly, but for GE diodes. I see 1N34A for sale on eBay from China. Don't care if they're authentic or anything, just wondering what they are or if they'd work. It's hard to stomach $2 apiece at SBP.

 

[Ginsly]

I'm wondering the same as Ginsly, but for GE diodes. I see 1N34A for sale on eBay from China. Don't care if they're authentic or anything, just wondering what they are or if they'd work. It's hard to stomach $2 apiece at SBP.

As far as I can tell, if they're copper-colored they're just Schottky diodes that perform closely enough for them to call em "germanium". Not cool!

 

[PedalBuilder]

I'm wondering the same as Ginsly, but for GE diodes. I see 1N34A for sale on eBay from China. Don't care if they're authentic or anything, just wondering what they are or if they'd work. It's hard to stomach $2 apiece at SBP.

Get a bag of D9 diodes from Sovtek on eBay and you'll be set for germanium diodes. They're functionally interchangeable with 1N34A.

 

[jwin615]

Are you sure that the Chinese germanium is new production? I've bought some on AliExpress and they all had date codes from the 70s and 80s and oxidized leads. (The 3AG1B in your picture have a 1983 date code.)

Nope. No idea. Just assumed.
Now looking at the listings posted they both state they're old stock. I don't recall seeing much of any description when I purchased some a couple of years ago.
Funny enough, one listing claims that electronic measurements(including a picture of the TC-1) can't be trusted because they don't use enough current.

 

[PedalBuilder]

Funny enough, one listing claims that electronic measurements(including a picture of the TC-1) can't be trusted because they don't use enough current.

Sounds like someone knows that they're selling junk and is trying to fend off the inevitable refund requests. Caveat emptor!

 

[jwin615]

Sounds like someone knows that they're selling junk and is trying to fend off the inevitable refund requests. Caveat emptor!

Yep
The ones I received were garbage iirc. There were usable-ish silver ones(I forget which model) but all the black ones were shot.