Two Stick of derm

[Tornato]

Just curios what Hfe for Q1,Q2,Q3 ? They look to cascade gain so is it good to start low and get higher down the chain? Or?

 

[giovanni]

I would try the two highest for the first two transistors to maximize total gain: the first two transistors are in a Darlington configuration so the total effective hfe is roughly the product of the two...

 

[Tornato]

Ok thanks. I’ll try that

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

I'll jump in and say it doesn't matter. Q1 and Q3 are gonna run at the edge of saturation.

 

[giovanni]

That’s crazy! Small signal model out the window

 

[Tornato]

I love how heavy fuzz gets that initial attack through. Like using a gate with a slow attack to let the initial burst through. I’ve been trying to find just the right heavy fuzz that doesn’t get muddy.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

That’s crazy! Small signal model out the window

Small signal model says all gains multiply. Since multiplication is commutative, order doesn't matter. Distortion circuits are all about the large signal behavior. There, we care about transfer function, headroom, overload recovery, bias shifting, that kind of stuff. Just sayin'.

 

[Danbieranowski]

I’ve built a handful of these and never measured. Always sounded great.