Newbie Transistor Question (transistors 101)

[j_axeman]

I was looking at the parts list for the bd-2 clone on gauss markov's site. 

http://gaussmarkov.net/layouts/bd2/bd2-parts.txt

He list the transistors the general type needed.  Can somebody let me know of some examples of these different types of transistors.  Also any information / articles / threads you know of the would help explain the difference in NPN, PNP, matching, negative ground, etc.  Basically all this stuff I'm seeing people talk about with transistors, but have no idea what they are saying.

Any Help you can give would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
John

[GibsonGM]

Well, transistors come in many types and are used for different applications, John.  Best bet for you is to google "basic transistor tutorial" or something, and learn what they do.  "JFET" is a junction field effect transistor, and "BJT" is a base-junction transistor.   They operate on slightly different principles, but the idea is the same.....it's really just current vs. voltage operation.
   
A transistor is at heart 3 slices of semiconductor materials that have either negative or positive carriers.   A layer such as negative/positive/negative is NPN, and the reverse is true of PNP.   Generally, NPN will have a negative ground (or common reference point), and PNP will have a positive ground.     As current flows into the middle (base or gate) of the 'sandwich', such as your guitar signal, it crosses a barrier and moves to ground through the emitter or source (most commonly).   The "opening of the gate" causes a current to flow from collector to emitter, which mimics the signal that you put into the gate -- it is like a valve.   This larger current flowing from collector to emitter is then "amplified".     There are a few configurations, so this is the very basic idea, but close enough to see that a transistor acts like a valve, where small signals control bigger signals.  They can be used to switch, amplify, and buffer signals.

Read up thru google, some online electronics tutorials, and you'll get it ) 
Hope this helped you out a little...

~Mike

[the_random_hero]

Have a read of this site, it's only the basics but should be able to help you a bit.

[j_axeman]

Thanks guys,

That helped me get started.  I've spend the last two months reading and still heven't had time to finish my first pedal (uugghh), but I guess that's how we all start off.  It seems as though there's always something else to read about and learn about.

[R.G.]

It seems as though there's always something else to read about and learn about.

Dear God I hope so!