Germanium npn boost pics. Thanks, Gus!

[8 track]

[petemoore]

I've read 'thats all it takes'.
 I know there's more to it than that.
 How did you get a sound out of this ?
 And how is it working for you?
 Interesting alternative for Ge implimentation, any biasing changes or details on what happens when a Ge is put into the NPN Boost?
 [Your referring to Gus Smalleys NPN Boost?]
 Well done !!! Nice Switch / box.

[8 track]

I've read 'thats all it takes'.
 I know there's more to it than that.
 How did you get a sound out of this ?
 And how is it working for you?
 Interesting alternative for Ge implimentation, any biasing changes or details on what happens when a Ge is put into the NPN Boost?
 [Your referring to Gus Smalleys NPN Boost?]
 Well done !!! Nice Switch / box.

Thanks!
It will bias without any changes. The collector was at 4.57 with a 9 volt battery. The hfe was around 70.
The application was not intended. I bought the germanium for a rangemaster project. I had an npn boost laying around (in an altoids tin)so, I decided to see if it would work....Boy did it. Truly amazing.
I built this one just to use that transistor. The mods are a .047 input cap and a 2.2uf cap instead of the 47uf on the "boost" pot. This ended up on my gigging pedalboard, The rangemaster did not.
For the record, I run mostly strats in to a modded 50 watt Carvin nomad w/el84 tubes. It adds really fine texture to the distortion. Makes a strat sound huge.

[petemoore]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.
 K...here goes..

[8 track]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.
 K...here goes..

Please, let me know how it turns out.
If my box was'nt already drilled, I would have done Dougs "Range Mod". I managed to get that sound playing with the boost cap but My mod was a happy medium.

[petemoore]

Troublesome...

 All the usual debugs, found a bad 10k pot I'd paralleled with a 10k for the gain adj. replaced that with a 5k I got.
 Collector
 5.2v
 Base
 4.6v
 Emitter
 2.8v
 Wierd.
 Battery 10.1v
 All readings are of -voltage
 NTE158 and 2n4403 tried
 Caps reoriented to opposite polarity as well as battery for Pos Gnd.
 Wierd, I went through a pretty thourough debug session...

[8 track]

I pulled it off the pedal board and checked the voltages for ya Pete. Here's what I have.

I used a 2n388 npn.
Battery, 9.14
C 5.98
B 2.55
E 0.11

@78 F
Hope that helps.

[petemoore]

Those look operable.
 Mine don't 'follow the rules', there's something wrong I think around the transistor, but that is the circuit !!!...
 I spent 20 minutes looking for the Board, just before the offboard pots last connection...lol...it was sitting on my lap while I desoldered a pot, and musta caught on my sleeve...was sitting on the chair Right Behind Me...Damm thing DID grow legs and walk away, just like I said it must have...aaggghhh :shock:    :roll:    :twisted:  
 I tired...it needs work...
 Passes signal, not boosted, not cut that much...must go through transistor because it doesn't when I pull it.
 I built an NPN Boost Si, structurally lacking early build, sounded great.

[cab42]

Last night I finished building Phillips  Rangeblaster (Recommended, build report comming soon) and I was wondering what to do do with the spare NPN Ge Trannys I bought.

I then thought about waking up my dead NPN boost and try one in there instead of the present 2N2222.

After reading this thread, I simply can't wait to do it.

Thanks for the info, nice build 8 Track

Regards

[8 track]

Last night I finished building Phillips  Rangeblaster (Recommended, build report comming soon) and I was wondering what to do do with the spare NPN Ge Trannys I bought.

I then thought about waking up my dead NPN boost and try one in there instead of the present 2N2222.

After reading this thread, I simply can't wait to do it.

Thanks for the info, nice build 8 Track

Regards

I built phillips RangeBlaster too, I liked it. It's a one trick pony with a VERY good trick.
The main amp I gig with (Carvin) is a bit brighter than some of my vintage amps. The germanium npn boost ended up being a bit more versitile with my main amp. Let Me know how it turns out.

[petemoore]

I went over and over it again.
 Perhaps I have the 'wrong trannies NTE158 and 4403, or the NPN Boost doesn't like the transition to PNP Boost, I don't see why it could so I'm figuring there must be something I've missed or a bad component in there.
 Side Note I went ahead and boxed up the Rangemaster, and have been trying that out...Very Nice.

[8 track]

I went over and over it again.
 Perhaps I have the 'wrong trannies NTE158 and 4403, or the NPN Boost doesn't like the transition to PNP Boost, I don't see why it could so I'm figuring there must be something I've missed or a bad component in there.
 Side Note I went ahead and boxed up the Rangemaster, and have been trying that out...Very Nice.

Sorry to hear that, Pete. You and I can't be the only ones to have ever tried this.
Has anybody else tried it with a germanium npn? What were your results?