Fuzz Face germanium transistors from Smallbear

[axg20202]

Hi all,

I just received a pair of 'All American' germs from Small Bear. They have an Hfe of 110 and 188. Seems high to me as the ideal values are supposed to be about 70 for Q1 and up to 130 for Q2. I don't doubt Steve's supply here, he assures that "they will sound like a FF" (when using the R values provided). Do the supposed 'sweet spot' HFe values quoted in RG's T of the FF article assume you are using the stock resistor values...?

[brett]

Hi
In my opinion, the hFE of Q1 is quite important in getting a good sound from a fuzzface.

In my experience, low hFE gives lower the input resistance, less highs (due to "loading" the pickups), and more "bloom" to each note.  But low hFE *may* lower the overall gain, and kill off the highs.  My current Fuzzface has hFE of 110 for Q1 and 140 for Q2, and gives quite a good sound, so don't worry too much.
cheers

[rikkards]

Mine is like yours as well I think they were 120 and 180 and it sounds great. Remember these parts are getting rarer and rarer by the day. What I recall that RG said was that the hfes that you list have been said to be ideal but chances are if you were to check the original pedals they probably were all over the place with regards to the hFe. I am sure they were not that picky about tolerances.

Hi all,

I just received a pair of 'All American' germs from Small Bear. They have an Hfe of 110 and 188. Seems high to me as the ideal values are supposed to be about 70 for Q1 and up to 130 for Q2. I don't doubt Steve's supply here, he assures that "they will sound like a FF" (when using the R values provided). Do the supposed 'sweet spot' HFe values quoted in RG's T of the FF article assume you are using the stock resistor values...?

[axg20202]

Thanks guys. "Socket and see" I guess...

FWIW, the suggested resistor values that came with this new pair of germs are markedly higher than the standard values for a FF. Something that I've always wondered: I can bias Q2 (getting it's collector to 4.5V) easily using a trimmer on the Q2 collector and sticking to the stock R values everywhere else on the board. My current FF is biased this way.

Question is: is Q2 collector voltage 'enough' to get the best sound out of the fuzz? If yes, why does Steve bother to provide all the FF resistor value changes required to bias properly instead of just giving me the resistance value at the Q2 collector? Is merely biasing for voltage at the collector of Q2 a flawed 'it'll do' method of setting up the circuit? Must be.