Any love for the 2SC281?

[Mark Hammer]

Trying to throw together an NPN Fuzz Face with germanium trannies for a buddy, and NPN pickings in the parts bin are pretty slim, compared to PNP.  I do have some 2SC281s with measured hfe in a suitable range.

I can provide some specs on them from a transistor manual, but I was wondering if anyone had had any experience and could either give a thumbs up or down.

[LucifersTrip]

so you're going for silicon...

simple answer: if the gains/leakages are good enough to give you ~ 4.5 - 5 with stock values, then it'll most likely sound good

[chromesphere]

There is plenty of love for the 2SC281 Mr Hammer sir. Well, atleast there is from me

Infact, by some amazing coincidence, i just wacked one of these in my Les Luis clone on the weekend and I'm now finally happy with it:

Havent tried one in a NPN fuzz face though.

Paul

[Mark Hammer]

There appears to be some confusion, and perhaps a typo on my part (undoubtedly a result of the part number scroling around a small can such that you can't see all of it at once).  I'm pretty sure it says 2SC281 (don't have one in front of me now) but it IS an NOS germanium "can" type, not silicon, and not PNP.  I know it's not a 2SA281 because I tested them on the NPN side of my meter socket not the PNP side.  Maybe a 2SB281?

I'll have to see when I get home.

[digi2t]

Hey Mark, I've got a decent number of BC209's from that Farfisa organ teardown. You want a few? I can unsolder them from the board, and send them to you if you want.

PM me if you're interested.

Dino

[Mark Hammer]

Boy is my face red.  They were 2SC281s all right.  And they sure LOOKED like germaniums...at least until I looked at the underside of the cans and realized that the leads were moulded into the can in a different manner than units that were clearly germanium types.  But, when I whipped out the meter and measured the B-E and B-C voltage drop, it was in the 600mv range - silicon in germanium's clothing!  See if you can spot the difference.


I may end up taking you up on the offer, Dino, but for the moment, I'm gonna plough through my bins, and see if there are any suitable NPNs that are the real thing, not just the package.

I was hoping to make an NPN version, just to simplify the whole power supply thing, but if need be I have waaaayyyyy more than enough choice for a PNP version.

I guess there's a lesson here: you can't judge a trannie, by looking at what it's wearing. 

[chromesphere]

I guess there's a lesson here: you can't judge a trannie, by looking at what it's wearing.  

LOL good one

Hey dont throw them to the scrap heap though!  I reckon they sound superb in that les luis clone!  Really soft, light clipping.  Beautiful combo with single coils!

Edit: Its funny cause i had simlar confusion with these.  I recieved them with a whole bunch of hitachi germaniums, they all look very similar.  Testing them for leakage....

"No leakage....!? zero microamps..!? What the hell....!?"

Paul

[mac]

2SC281 specs,

http://alltransistors.com/transistor.php?transistor=13738

I never tried 2sc281, but I like 2sc1213/4 (B) and 2sc1215

mac