Did you guys see this? NEW at Mouser

[aron]

But the price!

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/InterFET/J201/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtzpSA5GSDwaxqd09OkfFheOSyFF%252bXH3x0%3d

[digi2t]

Ouch!

[armdnrdy]

Prime example of profiteering by the manufacturer. 

[italianguy63]

Nah.

[Mark Hammer]

Well, on the other hand, if nobody buys them, at least there'll be some left when Steve eventually runs out of them at Small Bear.

[italianguy63]

Well, on the other hand, if nobody buys them, at least there'll be some left when Steve eventually runs out of them at Small Bear.

LOL I literally just got some yesterday in the mail from Steve.  and some 5457's.

MC

[UKToecutter]

Avarice is one of the seven deadly sins...........

[Ice-9]

It says they are 'Interfet J201' is this a manufacturer that has started to make new fets ? or is interfet some sort of a distributor.

Expensive yes, but I have more than mouser has in stock anyway

[armdnrdy]

It says they are 'Interfet J201' is this a manufacturer that has started to make new fets ? or is interfet some sort of a distributor.

I checked out Interfet before my original post. It seems that they are a manufacturer. I think that they see an opportunity in the market and kick out "lots" of obsolete parts.

Similar to what some small "record companies" have done with artists' out of print CDs. Smaller companies will secure the license to release an artists catalog that the original company doesn't feel is worth (monetarily) getting involved with.

[Ben N]

Funny, after all those years that J201 was one part you just could not get at Mouser NOW they carry it--at an unobtanium price, natch. I wonder how they even got the idea.

[R.G.]

Mouser and other distributors starting to pay attention to the needs of effects builders was one of the indicators I used to decide that pedal making is already a big-time thing. When I started messing with this, they carried *zero* pedal specific things. Bourns now makes and advertises pots for guitar uses! Mouser even has 9Vdc relays. That's astonishing considering where this started.

But the J201 saga brings up a point - even now, effects/hobby builders are a miniscule part of the semiconductor world trade, and the market is big enough that this isn't likely to change. Semiconductor makers have a whole bigger problem on their hands than whether they start up a production line to wind finer wire on a relay bobbin or make funny taper pots. Parts are cheap when a lot of them are or were built for an industry, and hobby users can get them by piggybacking on the industry. When a part is needed only for a low-volume industry (like making pedals still is, by electronics standards), then the price will and must rise to cover the cost of making new ones that are not a piggybacked item. That is - new JFETs that are not needed in the rest of the industry are going to be expensive if anyone even thinks they can make a profit for making them at all.

We are living in a Golden Age of cheap discrete electronics. The last fifty years have populated the world with cheap, high volume parts that are now available in ones and two to us. We're still finding for &deity.'s sake, germanium devices that haven't been made at all for forty years!  Economics is a harsh mistress. Her Rules are actually a subset of Mother Nature's laws, and not subject to debate or appeal, however much governments would like to wish Her away.

[smallbearelec]

But the price!
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/InterFET/J201/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtzpSA5GSDwaxqd09OkfFheOSyFF%252bXH3x0%3d

I had contacted this company back when I was stocking up, and it was clear that I could not afford to buy from them. I still have a large stock of through-hole parts and will get the Taiwanese to bond SMD parts to headers if need be at some point.

[Mustachio]

I seen these about a week or so ago when I was putting together my BOM for the fuzz monster. I was a bit put off by the price of the through hole , and I was wanting to get some surface mount j201's anyways so I checked those out at mouser and they are about 50 cents each. I must be a cheapskate cause 50 cents each seemed pricey for SOT-23's. I think because Tayda has the through hole for 48 cents each and I'm used to seeing surface mount parts cheaper then their through hole counterpart. 

The cheapest I found was about 23 cents each from china for the SOT-23 surface mount in quantities of 30. And through hole at 25 cents each in quantities of 100.

After building Rob's spit fire I really enjoy the sound of these jfets , and used my last ones on that pedal! Wish I would have stocked up a few years ago.

[davent]

Hands up those that have paid $'s for a Germanium transistor. The new Holy Grail looks to be 'real' J201's. I wouldn't have any problem coughing up $3.30 per if it's what i wanted/needed to build the pedal i was after. Still a bargain compared to the tubes i need for my amps.

dave

[pickdropper]

I seen these about a week or so ago when I was putting together my BOM for the fuzz monster. I was a bit put off by the price of the through hole , and I was wanting to get some surface mount j201's anyways so I checked those out at mouser and they are about 50 cents each. I must be a cheapskate cause 50 cents each seemed pricey for SOT-23's. I think because Tayda has the through hole for 48 cents each and I'm used to seeing surface mount parts cheaper then their through hole counterpart. 

The cheapest I found was about 23 cents each from china for the SOT-23 surface mount in quantities of 30. And through hole at 25 cents each in quantities of 100.

After building Rob's spit fire I really enjoy the sound of these jfets , and used my last ones on that pedal! Wish I would have stocked up a few years ago.

If you buy 100 of the SOT-23 MMBF201s at Mouser, they are only 15 cents each.  It's worth it to stock up a bit, IMHO.

The Tayda ones may be less than 50 cents, but there is a good chance of them being out of spec.  If you want through-hole, I'd recommend getting them from Small Bear for 55 cents each.

[PRR]

I don't think this line is "for stompboxes".

There is a LOT of old-old gear built in the 1970s still in use today, with no hope of total replacement.

The B-52 bomber is still flying. It still used tube technology until very recently.

The nuclear missiles in silos still run on EIGHT-inch floppy disk systems.

A factory near me still keeps their patterns on an Apple ][.

I think InterFET is a bunch of old-school FET makers, who have been buying-up old masks and fabs, and keeping them rolling. They know that while demand has fallen WAY off, from millions a month to a thousand a year, it will tail-out near that level for many years to come.

AND... when a factory stops because a 1977 machine blew a "50 cent part", lost time thousands of dollars a day, the users will gladly pay $10 for one part which is SURE to be equal to original.

It *IS* possible Mouser picked-up InterFET because they saw web-searches for J201, and didn't realize most of these searchers were very price-adverse (cheap). But they can probably justify the shelf by sales to old-systems maintainers.

[Mustachio]

I totally glanced over the pricing for 100 of the surface mount j201's from mouser, will have to pick those up when I have an extra 15 bucks! Good eye PD!

Very interesting info PRR , I always enjoy reading your insights.

Dave , I agree sometimes it's worth it for the right quality part. Maybe its worth it most the time. But my wallet can't afford it almost all of the time.  And yeah man what's the deal with tubes! I remember a few years ago when I was building a valvecaster I picked up a few 12ax7's and 12bh7's on ebay for a couple bucks each , literally like 2-3 bucks each. Good tested RCA and GE's! Now people want my first born , a leg , an arm, a drumstick, a wing , mashed potatoes, some gravy. 

I used to think JJ tubes where pricey....

I'll go with Small Bear when I need some through hole j201's Steve always has the good stuff

[PRR]

> what's the deal with tubes!

I say that tubes (current production, not the declining stock of Golden Age bottles) are *cheaper* today than at any time before, *when* adjusted for Inflation (price of hamburger, gasoline, raw metal...).

I remember $17 for a 6550-like tube and $0.75 for gasoline. Today we are near $50 and $3.50. Tubes are up 3X and gas is up 4.6X.

Studies of prices from the 1930s suggest a similar trend. In terms of gas or chop-meat, tubes used to be MUCH more expensive than today.

There's always glitches. Demand for 12AX7 just won't stop. New-made AX7 is not that expensive, and some of them are very very good (there's also junk). Old-Stock 12AX7 just gets scarcer and dearer. OTOH, I remember full-page lists of tubes which were 33 cents each or 4/$1, as tubes went out of fashion and warehouses were cleared-out.

[hymenoptera]

Rezzing an oldie but goodie, because I just saw this.

Was googling a bit and saw that Mouser is now stocking new J201s. SO I did a quick search and found this thread.

Has anyone actually bought any of these? Tried 'em in anything? Done any testing of any kind?

I'm possibly willing to be the guinnea pig if no one else has. I'll consider buying a couple and at least getting some basic dope off the Peak Atlas DCA75 and popping them into a booster or something for a quick listen.

But first I thought I'd ask if anyone's actually tried them. Someone out there must have at least given one a quick go.

[MrStab]

i came across some company a few months ago which claimed to manufacture all kinds of discontinued FETs, but i totally forgot what it was called. maybe it was InterFET. they didn't reply to an email i sent, in any case - was hoping to find out more and pass on the info to you guys.

i avoid JFETs like the plague in my own builds wherever i can, because i'm excessively phobic of their impending doom. this thread actually gives me back some optimism, though. hopefully it won't be merged with the thread "They don't fake JFETs now... do they?" lol