What else uses germainium transistors except boosters

[Kipper4]

Some other germanium dirt-but-not-fuzz circuits:

Dirty Boots overdrive (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=71337.0)
Clipper Ship OD (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dPlB8Lqn_a1A6Xpb3Lg-2cfTxGCLOkMfNUWALyGE3ZQ/edit)
Ten Cent Trem -- it was a July 2012 contest entry on the other forum. It's a tremolo that uses a treble booster as the dry path
Harmonic Percolator ... you can turn down the input gain & use silicon for the clipping diodes, and it makes a really good medium-gain distortion. Plenty of clarity.
And probably 10,000 things by Jimi Photon

EDIT: Also, there are a ton of circuits that you can just use germanium transistors in. Just be prepared to rebias them.

Is this the V2 schematic Jon.
I loved the video demo. I like that it never really gets too fuzzy.
are you using non polar 1uf caps?
can i also ask why the series diode on the +9v supply?

[midwayfair]

Some other germanium dirt-but-not-fuzz circuits:

Dirty Boots overdrive (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=71337.0)
Clipper Ship OD (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dPlB8Lqn_a1A6Xpb3Lg-2cfTxGCLOkMfNUWALyGE3ZQ/edit)
Ten Cent Trem -- it was a July 2012 contest entry on the other forum. It's a tremolo that uses a treble booster as the dry path
Harmonic Percolator ... you can turn down the input gain & use silicon for the clipping diodes, and it makes a really good medium-gain distortion. Plenty of clarity.
And probably 10,000 things by Jimi Photon

EDIT: Also, there are a ton of circuits that you can just use germanium transistors in. Just be prepared to rebias them.

Is this the V2 schematic Jon.
I loved the video demo. I like that it never really gets too fuzzy.
are you using non polar 1uf caps?
can i also ask why the series diode on the +9v supply?

Yes, v2. Not sure the v1 scheme can still be found anywhere -- there were some pretty bad choices in it.

I used non polar for most of then, but just measure which side has higher potential and you can use either. I used to thing that the gate-drain cap had to be non polarized, but I've gotten it to work with both.

Series diode is for actual polarity protection. The tiny voltage drop isn't important here.

[Kipper4]

Series diode is for actual polarity protection. The tiny voltage drop isn't important here.


The reason i ask is because i havent seen it used like this before.
Most of the time i hook the cathode of a 1n4xxx diode to the 9v input and anode to ground and this is what i see in most circuits .
I guess this would work just as well as im sure i had to pay a premium for the diode you used.
thanks for the help Jon.

By the way i love watching your demo videos i'm always inspired to right something after i watch them. I always manage to write a verse or chorus in the style of knopfler after it.
Three cheers for people like you so willing to share your knowledge.
That goes for all the other inspiring builders, innovative Hackers (petey) (Jimiphoton)  and players here too.
You all make this place a joy to be apart of.

[duck_arse]

the best thing about the series diode is that if you bugger your battery connecting-up, nothing happens. no smoke or heat. if you do the backwards battery across the k to positive protection diode, you think nothing is happening, until the battery gets hot, or the board starts to burn, or the diode emits smoke, goes open, and then the board starts to burn, and the battery gets hot. swearing ensues.

[Kipper4]

I see so i would be better off doing a series diode as reverse polarity protection in future.
Thats a revelation.
I love this place.
would it work with the 1n4xxx series too?
i have a glut of those and the others are quite expensive i found

[induction]

The series diode works as long as your circuit can stand the voltage drop. It's a case-by-case thing.

[Kipper4]

Thanks Induction

[midwayfair]

The series diode works as long as your circuit can stand the voltage drop. It's a case-by-case thing.

Kipper, if you want to know more about this, there are a ton of threads on polarity protection. RG Keen has contributed several excellent polarity protection schemes over the years. There are some that use MOSFETs that have essentially no voltage loss and may be the best of all worlds (but are more expensive).

If you use an adapter, there are exceptionally few cases where using a 1N5817 or other Schottky will hurt anything (and it may even make your dirt pedal more interesting ...). A regular silicon works just fine in a pinch, but it'll drop you .6v. it's not like a Schottky is so much more expensive that getting the extra voltage requires too much of a sacrifice. If you use batteries, there are a bunch of circuits that you'll artificially shorten the battery's "life span" with the extra voltage drop ... not that you're using up the battery quicker, but that the circuit will stop functioning sooner because it's like you're starting with a partially drained battery. It's not an issue in my case because I don't build anything to use batteries unless someone absolutely insists on being able to use one in something I make them. And then you have to talk them down from the ledge when they want a battery-powered multipedal with two PT2399s, a charge pumped boost, and a modulation pedal with multiple LEDs ... battery life is approximately 47 seconds.

The crowbar is especially bad if you use an adapter. It will shunt reverse polarity to ground, draw as much current as possible, and destroy everything it can get its hands on. RG Keen calls this a battle to the death or something like that. The casualty is your pedal, and maybe even your power supply.

The cynical among us think that the crowbar really only exists still because it's a good way of telling if your customer fed their pedal the wrong power supply. It particularly baffles me when it's found in a pedal that clearly can't be run off a battery.

[duck_arse]

kipper, I'm reporting my findings re. Ge here ....

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=103877.msg927884;topicseen#msg927884

[Pojo]

The crowbar is especially bad if you use an adapter. It will shunt reverse polarity to ground, draw as much current as possible, and destroy everything it can get its hands on. RG Keen calls this a battle to the death or something like that. The casualty is your pedal, and maybe even your power supply.

Thought just came to mind, what if there was some arbitrary value resistor in series with the diode to ground? Would it act like a current limiting resistor preventing the pitfalls of a dead short?

(sorry OP, I know this is all off topic and I'm not helping)