Recommend some NPN Ge transistors

DAJE

Well-known member
I'm looking at the Aft Preamp (EQD Bows, NPN Rangemaster). So, not high-gain. Low-medium.

I'm in Australia so former Soviet / Eastern Bloc states are my best option for affordability. Don't want a lot but 10 or 20 would be OK.
 
Thanks, that's exactly the sort of info I was hoping for.

I picked up some MP38As recently as well.


Robert
 
I bought some MP38s from Omsk a year or two back. Very affordable and I still have plenty. I googled the address (using google to decipher the cyrillic writing) and found the rather bleak looking apartment block of the seller. Fascinating! It took a while for them to arrive in Australia but they did, and shipping was laughably cheap.

I've had excellent results with Russian Ge transistors. Much better than with the duds you get from western Europe these days.
 
I bought some MP38s from Omsk a year or two back. Very affordable and I still have plenty. I googled the address (using google to decipher the cyrillic writing) and found the rather bleak looking apartment block of the seller. Fascinating! It took a while for them to arrive in Australia but they did, and shipping was laughably cheap.

I've had excellent results with Russian Ge transistors. Much better than with the duds you get from western Europe these days.

I have a lot of PNP Ge transistors from the former Eastern Bloc, and out of maybe 75-80, two duds. And yes, postage to Australia is much more reasonable, and not that much slower.

Off topic: I use Google Maps to check out faraway places all the time. If I read a book set somewhere on Earth, I have a look. I look up a lot of music-related places, too. Most recently, I had a look at the Beatles' early homes, and their relation to each other and Strawberry Field and Penny Lane. Plus the Liverpool venues that they played at, some of which buildings still exist. Fascinating to me, and to see that such a group of immense talents all grew up within a few km of each other. I may never make it to Liverpool, but I can have a bit of a look.
 
MP38A and P28 find their way onto a lotta boards I build. I also have a stash of 2N1308 and 2N1309. The MP38As tend to be leaky, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the pedal. In any case, plan on testing and auditioning the Ge transistors because some will sound better than others, again depending on the specific pedal. To get Ge transistors to bias correctly, it is common to cherry-pick them or fiddle the bias resistors.

And yes, I have driven past some of your homes using Google Street View. Don't judge me.
 
I recently acquired a batch of GT402B’s (near equivalent to AC132) and MP20A’s. The MP20A’s are good for lower gain hFE (around 70-90) with the GT402B’s at higher gains (120-140). Leakage is good and they sound great in a Fuzz Face circuit.
 
I have heard and read about Russian made trannys they’re much better quality for a fair price IF you know where to go , bringing me right to my question can you recommend a place to go to for like surplus Russian stuff?
 
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MP38A and P28 find their way onto a lotta boards I build. I also have a stash of 2N1308 and 2N1309. The MP38As tend to be leaky, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the pedal. In any case, plan on testing and auditioning the Ge transistors because some will sound better than others, again depending on the specific pedal. To get Ge transistors to bias correctly, it is common to cherry-pick them or fiddle the bias resistors.

And yes, I have driven past some of your homes using Google Street View. Don't judge me.
I have a stash of 2N1308s too, and they can work ok. They might be slightly brighter sounding than the Russian ones, but there's not much in it. IME they are a little fussier about bias than the Russian ones.

In my Simulcast build I used MP20s because that calls for a PNP transistor. I tried a few and they all worked fine regardless of hfe. The western transistors I tried (Can't remember the number - they looked like 2N1308s but were PNP) all needed more work in the biasing before I could even see how they sounded. So I just went with the MP20.

And I love Google street view!
 
I have heard and read about Russian made trannys they’re much better quality for a fair price IF you know where to go , bringing me right to my question can you recommend a place to go to for like surplus Russian stuff?
Here are a few East Bloc eBay sellers that I've had good results from.

 
I ended up ordering some MP38As from this seller in Omsk:
I haven't bought from him before but I've seen him recommended on forums and his store is full of Soviet-era goodies.

I also bought an Aft and a couple of other PCBs because sale. Yay!
 
I think I saw you go by the house the other day @Chuck D. Bones !
Is this you?

enhanced-buzz-24965-1365659349-6.jpg
 
There are a lot of good sourcing suggestions here, but the actual part number doesn't matter as much as the individual gain (hfe) and leakage (Iceo on some testers) values, which vary a lot even between the same part# & lot.

A good rule of thumb is to look for hfe greater than 50 and leakage below 200uA. Some builds will require higher hfe values, so you may want to look into spending more on pre-tested transistors if you need a certain range.
 
I ended up ordering some MP38As from this seller in Omsk:
I haven't bought from him before but I've seen him recommended on forums and his store is full of Soviet-era goodies.

I also bought an Aft and a couple of other PCBs because sale. Yay!
I think that may be who I got my MP38A's from as well.
 
There are a lot of good sourcing suggestions here, but the actual part number doesn't matter as much as the individual gain (hfe) and leakage (Iceo on some testers) values, which vary a lot even between the same part# & lot.

A good rule of thumb is to look for hfe greater than 50 and leakage below 200uA. Some builds will require higher hfe values, so you may want to look into spending more on pre-tested transistors if you need a certain range.

When I was reading through RG Keen's write-up on the Fuzz Face, I thought I remember reading leakage up to 300ua would work in a FF. Is that not the case?
 
That's just a general range, but different circuits will play better/sound different with different values, and the Fuzz Face is fine with higher leakage transistors.
 
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