Power Transistors in Fuzz Circuits

[Processaurus]

Would have some serious mojo if it was one of the giant metal ones (don't know what that package is off the top of my head) bolted to the outside of the case!  Guitarists would love it, people with electronics backgrounds would think it was comical.

[brett]

Hi
Any 2N3055 with a metal case TO-3 package is gonna sound and look good.
If you ask me, BD139s are better in more positions than..... (fill in your own gratuitous metaphor).

Gus has advised about devices like TIPs for so long that it would be ridiculous for me to reiterate their advantages.  I can understand his frustration.

Why do they sound good?
Probably due to Miller effect capacitance and related stuff, and also their hFE "bentness" at low collector currents.  Both of these things have been discussed in previous threads.

[joegagan]

Okay, now that we've discussed to death the merits of searching, back to the original question:


I breadboarded a Si Rangemaster using a TIP29 power transistor. Tonally, it sounded really really good- very smooth. But it just didn't have quite enough gain. May be a good candidate for a 25k gain pot RM instead. I'll have to go back and play with it some more. I might have tried Gus's NPN Boost with similar results but I don't remember. Haven't tried anything in the T0-3 package yet.

ditto. it was suggested to me by gus about 7 yrs ago. i found it to be the closest thing to germanium in a si rangemaster out of many RMs built, just like gus said it would do. mine has a 22k pot and has plenty of gain. really nice tone.

i understand the frustration with having to look at a lot of impertinent info on the search here, but a person can refine the search a number of ways, plus use the 'control f' function to further narrow down once the page has loaded.

how about this- search your term or terms.

load 5 to  10 pages of the ones that look like they might apply

open each one individually with your control f window preloaded for a term that focuses in on what you are needing. i promise you will have many answers that are pertinent very quickly.

and like andy says, stumbling into something randomly can be great learning as well

[perfectlyfineusername]

I know this is a massive necrobump and I apologize but it is funny to me that I searched for power transistors in fuzzes and the first result was a thread where some absolute @#$% says to search for it like that didn't lead me to this @#$%ing thread. Nice to nice forums haven't changed in the decade+ since these messages and people are still practically shutting down discussions because someone else made a similar thread

[Rob Strand]

I know this is a massive necrobump and I apologize but it is funny to me that I searched for power transistors in fuzzes and the first result was a thread where some absolute @#$% says to search for it like that didn't lead me to this @#$%ing thread. Nice to nice forums haven't changed in the decade+ since these messages and people are still practically shutting down discussions because someone else made a similar thread

A failing of search engines these days more than anything.

I find search results are getting less and less useful.  The reason can be partly attributed to the internet being used to sell crap these days whereas in the early days it was used to share information.  Nowadays the crap gets higher priority and there's seemingly fewer personal web-sites from smaller players with technical info.

[ElectricDruid]

A failing of search engines these days more than anything.

I find search results are getting less and less useful.  The reason can be partly attributed to the internet being used to sell crap these days whereas in the early days it was used to share information.  Nowadays the crap gets higher priority and there's seemingly fewer personal web-sites from smaller players with technical info.

I'm also finding I quite often get "robospam" pages in my search results these days too: AI-generated pages used to generate a few ad hits that are just culled from whatever other information it can find out there on the internet. This means they add nothing new, they're totally derivative, and they're often wrong because they don't distinguish good sources from bad. As this rubbish proliferates across the internet, this will get worse.

[Phend]

 AI.
 DuckDuckGo search for power transistors in fuzz effects, then use the assist button to yield ...

Duck Assist
Power transistors like silicon and germanium are commonly used in fuzz pedals. Silicon transistors offer a tighter, more controlled distortion with a wider frequency response, while germanium transistors produce a warmer, more organic distortion with a more limited frequency response. When choosing between them for a fuzz pedal, consider their distinct characteristics and how they interact with the pedal's performance.

More in
 Silicon vs Germanium Transistors – Pedal Pawn from pedalpawn.com.
Auto-generated based on listed sources. Responses may contain inaccuracies

Does this help, probably not

Goto the dump and find a 70s stereo and rip out the transistors, the ones with the dried up white gunk.
Make a power fuzz.

[moosapotamus]

Nice to nice forums haven't changed in the decade+ since these messages and people are still practically shutting down discussions because someone else made a similar thread

Back in the days when I would actually go to the library, sometimes I couldn't quite find what I was looking for in the card catalog. So I would go to the front to ask a librarian. Most times they were very helpful. It would have been very surprising if one of them replied, "Go back and look in the card catalog, stupid." So it goes... 

[mac]

https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=114343.0

I don't recall seeing many schematics. Most of the posts are questions from beginners and answers from members encouraging to try power devices.

BTW, the Axis Face at Fuzz Central had a BD139 at Q2.

mac

[mac]

Power Transistors in Fuzz Circuits...
Yeah. But in Which circuit?

In a Silicon based old fuzz it's very simple. Maybe some minor bias resistor change.
In a Germanium based old fuzz with leakage bias you need to add and tweak resistors, not a big deal too.

mac

[Phend]

Note the BD139 with white heat sink on ironwood.
Works great, the 1KB pot would be better as a C1K .

[Rob Strand]

FWIW, I tend to use DuckDuck and Google but these days I get a lot of good hits from the yahoo search engine.  Just ignore the click bait on the home page!

[mac]

Note the BD139 with white heat sink on ironwood.

It's a very hot fuzz!

these days I get a lot of good hits from the yahoo search engine.  Just ignore the click bait on the home page!

https://search.yahoo.com/search?p="power transistors" fuzz circuit
no need of adding %20 between words, yahoo does this after searching.

or better,

https://search.yahoo.com/web

mac

[Rob Strand]

https://search.yahoo.com/search?p="power transistors" fuzz circuit
no need of adding %20 between words, yahoo does this after searching.

or better,

https://search.yahoo.com/web

Excellent, thanks.

I have a list of search engines in my bookmarks, some I don't use often.  Over time I've used yahoo more often and it never occurred to me to update those old bookmarks.