Rocket Fuzz and old TV components

[lawl_rock]

I recently opened up an old TV i had lying around in my garage, and I decided to salvage some of the components to make a fuzz pedal. This brings me to a few questions:

What are the large silver box things?

What is the christmas-light looking thing by the tube, and how would it affect the sound?   
Thanks in advance.

[JKowalski]

The silver boxes are inductors, and they can be adjusted in value by turning the ferrite screw in the hole in the top.

The "Christmas light" is a neon lamp.

[lawl_rock]

Just a wild idea, could that neon lamp be used for clipping in a distortion circuit?

[JKowalski]

Actually, yes... But the lamp would clip at somewhere around 90V-200V.  

I don't think you are going to have a 200V P-P signal anywhere!


The lamp doesn't do much until it hits its breakdown voltage, and then it has negative resistance: The more current, the less resistance, because more of the gas gets ionized.

Here's a V-A graph, where you can see the hump before the negative resistance:

[lawl_rock]

I guess you must have forgotten the picture, but I did find what you must have been describing. Ohhh well, so much for that crazy idea. It would have looked pretty cool at least!

[tommy.genes]

You could use the neon lamp for a DIY neon circuit tester. Although they only cost a few bucks new...

http://homerepair.about.com/od/termsaf/g/gloss_ckt_test.htm

-- T. G. --

[Mark Hammer]

Actually, yes... But the lamp would clip at somewhere around 90V-200V.  

I don't think you are going to have a 200V P-P signal anywhere!

I don't know about that.  I mean if you took a seriously overwound DiMarzio........     

[slideman82]

:icon_cool:I don't think you are going to have a 200V P-P signal anywhere!

Even with a Burst Box?

[jacobyjd]

:icon_cool:I don't think you are going to have a 200V P-P signal anywhere!

Even with a Burst Box?

Probably not. However, I've heard that a circuit box with a burst button switch can do it, but only Jack White's personal, custom-made circuit box with burst button switch has actually done it.

[lawl_rock]

Just wondering, what exactly is a burst box. I used the search and I didn't find much defining it.

[anchovie]

Pretend you never heard of the Burst Box. 

[lawl_rock]

Alright then 
So back on topic, what are the chances that one of the many transistors in the old TV would work in a rocket fuzz?

[JKowalski]

Alright then 
So back on topic, what are the chances that one of the many transistors in the old TV would work in a rocket fuzz?

Make a list of all the transistors you can find, then look up the datasheets of each. Compare them to the rocket fuzz's transistors:

http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/2N/2N5088.pdf

And find ones that best match it's properties. The main things you are looking for are the same polarity (NPN or PNP), the same type (Bipolar, JFET, MOSFET, etc.). For the rocket, you want to find some Bipolar NPN transistors. That shouldn't be hard to find at all, they are the most common. I'd say you have a pretty good chance, but then again I haven't ever taken apart a TV before.

The last thing is hFE - the 2n5088 has a hFE of about 450, you can try to match that but that's not totally critical. Just get in the ballpark.

[lawl_rock]

Thanks! But I'm having problems finding datasheets for the transistors. I looked up transistor markings to try to make some sense out of the numbers inscribed, but I end up with nothing useful. I'm not sure if they're marked according to some outdated standard, but here are a few samples if you guys can help me out. Each line is on the same transistor:
3031, A23145

349-3, (Motorola symbol?)211

212, 676-1

[petemoore]

  I'll just say neither.
  Some of the other stuff in there maybe...there's probably a volume control pot at least.
  The caps are probably all large size/voltage types.
  wires...if not too cruddy, did it have a speaker ?
  Otherwise Smallbear carries all the components including the expensive ones like the switch/jacks/box etc. stuff that no TV's have, the transistors being a drop in the bucket investment-wise and an reliability/function/ease of use wise, a worthwhile investment.