fuzz face germanium transistor biasing vs. sound

[fuzz_fanatic]

i got about 30 pcs of ac128 transistors from a local shop (more like junkyard) and i am trying to find a pair or two among them. i made a simple positive ground "standard" fuzz face with the 8.2k taken out and a 25k potentiometer installed. i can get 4.5v on the collector of Q2 on a few transistors but Q1's collector will always read lower than 1.1v (0.45v or 0.65v). and my question is how important that is??? they sound really good this way i even like the sound a little better when Q2 is just under 7. i checked the pair of transistors i liked so much just so i'll know what am i dealing with and they were 70 & 35 and they sounded great.

so what is the deal here? forget everything and go with my ears?

[Karmasound]

I just put a 250 k pot on in place of the 100k resistor and started with 4.5 on q2 and went to .5 on q1 and readjusted q2.


but it might just be that you have some really leaky ones


do you have a meter ?


have you read the technology of the FF at Geo?

[cd]

You can use (and trust) your ears, for hard data/actual numbers, you need to read this:

http://geofex.com/Article_Folders/ffselect.htm

[fuzz_fanatic]

hey,

yes i did read that. i am pretty sure most of what i have is leaky some leake over 400ua but does it really matter?

i actually got one "perfect pair" of 75 and 100, they both leake under 400ua and they sound pretty much the same to me after i adjust some unmatched pair. i don't think i have the best ears in the world but i have about 13 years of guitar playing experience and about 4 of them also involved a band so usually i'm not way off.