Vintage transistors usage - suggestions?

[jurek]

hi guys,

this is my first post in this forum. i'm coming from modular synth world but i thought it would be great to ask you for a advice and experience.

i was getting a lot of vintage transistors from my father, like 50 - 150 each type. i have already split them for 2 parts - Hfe<100 and >100. wondering if anyone of you could suggest a usage for them? a nice and useful design circuit? i would love to use them cause i hate to waste such a things:)

so here they go:

2SB77
2SA210
2SA17
2N397
TG 5, 39, 40, 50, 51, 55 (TEWA)
ASY35, 37

http://www.wylie.org.uk/technology/semics/Poland/Poland.htm

And...Smile

"The beautiful Polish transistors above came from the Institute for Nuclear Physics, Cracow, Poland." means a lot, doesn't?

i would appreciate your suggestions. Please recommend some distortion circuit but i would like to use them in other circuit examples as well.

btw. i can share some for free if you are intended to use.

thanks jurek

[GibsonGM]

There are a few different germanium fuzzes you could make, and some boosters like the Rangemaster, for sure!!   Those are useful transistors.  The 2SB77 is used much for these things.   There is a demand for germanium transistors for classic fuzz face pedals!

The next thing to do is to determine if they are good in terms of leakage.


Welcome to the forum

[duck_arse]

some guys have all the luck, also, welcome.

can we see some photos of your lovely green oddities?

[bluebunny]

Welcome!

btw. i can share some for free if you are intended to use.

I sure there would be plenty of folks around here who would be happy to pay a fair price for a few examples - no need to give them away!  (Although the gesture is much appreciated, of course.)

can we see some photos of your lovely green oddities?

Mandatory.   

[jurek]

hi guys,

thanks for all your replies. yes i will make some photos and will post them tonight.
now i'm trying to find some nice circuit for use:)

btw. i have a problem with att. a pictures - could you guide me?

[duck_arse]

jurek, have a look and a play in this thread, cause we wanna see those greenies.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=113550.0

[jurek]

i think to give this circuit a try. what do you think?

[bluebunny]

Get yourself one of these (if you haven't already):



...and give it a try!   

[jurek]

here we go! if you need a closeup for anything just let me know:)

[Cozybuilder]

Jurek-
You have a nice beginning with this stash of transistors. As Bunny suggests, get a breadboard and start having fun with them- try wiring a few different distortion circuits, branch out into other types of effects. You might find yourself a big fan of this hobby and immerse yourself into the study of electronics, or not. With a breadboard, you can try out the various ideas and circuits, without destroying your components. You can have a lot of fun in the process, or you may decide its not for you- the main thing is to try it then see how it fits.

[jurek]

Cozybuilder,

Yes i have got a breadboard and already did some VCA based on 2 ICs. Had some experiments with is with a little help of some more experienced friends.
This is for me and i am going deeper and deeper in electronics. I will check some ideas on the breadboard. Also reading a lot actually.
It's very abstract must say.

[whoisalhedges]

Bazz Fuss.


Simplest circuit you'll ever build, sounds great with Ge, and the transistor being a Darlington pair means leakage isn't a big deal (there's physics behind that, but I just call it "magic").

If you don't know what a Darlington pair is, it's two transistors, the emitter of the first connected to the base of the second, and the collectors connected together. Signal goes in the base of the first, the emitter of the second goes to ground, the collectors go to V+.

Originally designed for bass, I suppose, but it sounds killer on guitar, too. Pretty synth-like, especially with Germanium. It's sort of a one-trick pony, doesn't clean up like a Fuzz Face, isn't the single most essential pedal in your arsenal (a Rangemaster ), but that one trick is FUN - and what makes it so great for beginners is that if you follow the schematic, it biases itself. You pretty much can't screw it up.

It was the second thing I built, and I wish it had been the first. 



Also: good god, those are beautiful....

[digi2t]

here we go! if you need a closeup for anything just let me know:)

HEY!!!! GET OUT OF MY SHOP!!!!!

[bluebunny]

What a way to start the day - transistor pr0n.   

[jurek]

Bazz Fuss.


Simplest circuit you'll ever build, sounds great with Ge, and the transistor being a Darlington pair means leakage isn't a big deal (there's physics behind that, but I just call it "magic").

If you don't know what a Darlington pair is, it's two transistors, the emitter of the first connected to the base of the second, and the collectors connected together. Signal goes in the base of the first, the emitter of the second goes to ground, the collectors go to V+.

Originally designed for bass, I suppose, but it sounds killer on guitar, too. Pretty synth-like, especially with Germanium. It's sort of a one-trick pony, doesn't clean up like a Fuzz Face, isn't the single most essential pedal in your arsenal (a Rangemaster ), but that one trick is FUN - and what makes it so great for beginners is that if you follow the schematic, it biases itself. You pretty much can't screw it up.

It was the second thing I built, and I wish it had been the first. 



Also: good god, those are beautiful....

thanks for the inspiration. i just quickly put it in to Eagle.
this is how it should look like? i put a capacitor values - is that ok for a start?
the jacks are tiny jacks from thonk.co.uk

[Tubebass]

Diode goes from collector to base.

[Cozybuilder]

You drew in PNP transistors, but powered it for NPN. For PNP, you would need to change the battery polarity so that ground is positive 9V, the diode would need to be reversed, and connected between the collector and base lead. The cap values should be fine.

[jurek]

thanks for pointing this out! i have changed the diode for 1N4148.
here is the revision:

[whoisalhedges]

Looks like it should work - NPN to PNP conversions aren't always 100% successful, I guess sometimes there can be some weird oscillations. At least I hear that can happen when converting a PNP circuit to NPN, maybe it's not a problem the other way round.

Put it on the breadboard! It'll take 5-10 minutes of your time, the biggest time expenditure will be soldering the jumper wires to your jacks; and it won't hurt your components. If it works, great, if not... no big deal.

[jurek]

ok, the breadboard is done. i don't own a guitar so i put a sine wave from the oscillator to check the circuit.
the circuit is passive so it's passing the signal which is already changed / sounds different.
when powering the circuit it "fuzzes" but the sound change is not so big. maybe because of transistors gain - too small? am i right?
i have choose some with a HFE - 115. maybe i could add another 2 for bigger effect? or maybe i could lower a 10k resistor value to put more current into the collector (or i'm talking nonsense)?
i have changed the 0.47 uF for 0.054 uF - i just liked it sound better, not a big deal.
what is a role of the pot? is it just for a final output volume? i think so. is it normal that pot is crackling when varies?

what can i add to this circuit to make more sonic changes?

Jurek