My Darling Electra...

[Vaum]

Hello,

Here's something to give use to those low gain germaniums that won't cut it in your fuzz. Nothing revolutionary, obviously based on the Electra, but it sounds pretty nice to me.

[ambulancevoice]

Hello,

Here's something to give use to those low gain germaniums that won't cut it in your fuzz. Nothing revolutionary, obviously based on the Electra, but it sounds pretty nice to me.

looks nice and simple
soundlclips by any chance?
interesting gain pot arrangement aswell

[mac]

No Silicons! Cool!

Do you have hfe and leakage of those Ge?
I ask because leakage can be a problem to bias the circuit.
IIRC you PM me about this issue with a Ge Bazz Fuss I posted, which uses a Ge darlington.

mac

[Vaum]

Yep, that was me! 

I listed the hFE of the transistors I used on the schematic - Q1: 21, Q2: 38. I was going to also state their leakage, but they both had basically none (that was measurable by my methods).

I'll try to get some clips together soon.

[mac]

Strange gain control. Change bias as you move the knob, from 3v or so I guess to 9v. Have you tried something like the Rangemaster volume?

I have some Toshiba 2sa53 with that gain and leaking less than 10uA. Also some af106. What Ge are you using?

It would be interesting to post bias resistors using same gain Ge, but low and high leakage ones, so as users can a priori know what to expect.

mac

[Vaum]

I haven't tried a Rangemaster volume configuration, no. You're correct, that is how the gain control works.

Q1 is a 2N460, Q2 is unmarked. Leakage of the 2N460 read as 0 uA, the unmarked had a leakage of 10 uA.

Unfortunately I have no more germaniums, so I can't do any testing of low and high leakage devices.

[smallbearelec]

Cool idea! For those who want to experiment with an inexpensive germanium fuzz, please note that SBE now offers assortments of under-40s at less than $ .90 a pop.

SD

[mac]

Unfortunately I have no more germaniums, so I can't do any testing of low and high leakage devices.

I have plenty Ge, I'll try it and report maybe next week.

mac