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Hi everyone! first time posting on here. I was checking out the transistors in the sale section and was curious about a couple of things. I’ve been eyeing the Particle vintage fuzz PCB because the build document has it for Albini specs. I’m trying to get as close to the original specs so I was thinking about getting a few things from the sale section.
The build doc says:
“BUILD NOTES
Germanium transistor
The original Harmonic Percolator used 2N404A PNP germanium transistors for Q1. These are not
impossible to find on eBay and other vintage parts sellers, and NTE makes a new-production version
with the same part number. But as with most germanium transistors, the exact part number isn’t
important, so don’t spend too much time or money hunting down something that says 2N404A. Just
about any germanium transistor will work fine here.
You’re looking for something that is low gain (30-100 hFE). The circuit is pretty tolerant of leakage, so
even something with a decent amount of leakage (150-300ua) will work fine. Many germaniums that are
sold as Rangemaster transistors will meet these characteristics, so that’s a good place to start.
Many people have used higher-gain transistors in this circuit and liked the result, so if you have a few
different types of germanium transistors, use a socket and experiment with them!
Silicon transistor
The original circuit used 2N3565 NPN silicon transistors for Q2. These are nearly identical to the
2N3904 (“real world” typical hFE range of 180 to 220) so there is absolutely nothing special about
this part. It’s recommended to just use a 2N3904 here, although if you want some extra cosmetic style
points, you can use a metal can silicon transistor such as the 2N2222.”So I’m thinking about maybe picking up some from the “Germanium Transistor PNP N.O.S. – hFE 35 – 64” section and a 2N2222 as well. Am I on the right track? hope I’m not breaking the rules, if so I can delete the post. Thanks!
Something in the 35-64 range sounds about right. The fact is that many people 20 years ago could afford to be picky about choices of gain but that is not the case anymore since these Germanium transistors have been obsolete for 30 years and cherry picked all throughout.
The thing is that it is not as absolutely critical as some would make it out to be. The transistor does its job that it is designed to do and as long as it is in the range of achieving that it will be fine.
I have played every fuzz circuit known with every transistor known and I would consider myself a bit of an expert through many years of experience and I can tell you that a lot of opinions regarding the differences remind me of my friend the cork sniffer.
The Fuzz Face circuit itself has used so many different transistors for 40 years ranging from Low Gain to Extremely High Gain and everything in between. The point is that they all work and of course everyone will have an opinion but now that it is the year 2022 it is much harder to be as particular of a number that is not really that critical to great tone.
My point is that if you need a lower gain transistor then you got the right place. While I still have stock of course.
Around here we say “socket and see”. That is the best advice.
I hope that helps.
Definitely helps! I’m still starting out so some of the “mojo” parts talk I take it lightly. I don’t know why I never thought of socketing like with ICs, I appreciate the input a lot!
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