OLD Transistors

[DnD]

Ciao, Here in Northern Italy we're almost all quarantined at home to reduce covid19 spread.
Otherwise I would never have found, lost in the back of a hidden drawer some very old transistors my dad got in the 70's
Here the list and a question: are theese good for any guitar or bass FX? it's now time for me to build something.
Thank you for any suggestion!
Dando
2N3638 - 2N3703 - 2N2646 - 2N1132 - 2S301P - 2N1613 - 2N3392 - 2N404A and 2N398A (very old rca logo) 2N1671A - 2N3036 -
2N3036 - 2N1613 - 2N696 (6552!!!!)

[Marcos - Munky]

First of all, welcome!

Now, for the transistors. Always remember google can be your best friend to find info like pinout, type of transistor and hfe. We have:
2N3638 - pnp high current switch, low hfe. maybe it'll sounds good as Q1 in a si fuzz face?
2N3703 - pnp general purpose, very low hfe. could be used as Q1 in a si fuzz face
2N2646 - unijuntion transistor used in oscillators. maybe it could be used in a lfo
2N1132 - pnp, very low hfe. again, Q1 in a si fuzz face
2S301P - not a match on google
2N1613 - npn, used in rf applications, low hfe. may sounds good in a booster/fuzz face/something that uses a 2N3904
2N3392 - npn transistor, ECB pinout. low/mid hfe. it can be used in anything that uses general purpose hfe, but I'd save those as replacement when you need a ECB pinout transistor.
2N404A - pnp ge transistor, hfe of about 80. things starts to get interesting with this one. check their leakage and hfe. read this page (http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/ffselect.htm). they may be great for a fuzz face/rangemaster if they have low leakage. if they have high leakage, they may sounds good on some other ge fuzz circuits
2N398A - same as above, but hfe is very low. min 20 and typical 65. check their leakage and hfe
2N1671A - unijuntion transistor
2N3036 - npn transistor, hfe from 50 to 150. can be used to replace a general purpose npn transistor like the 2N3904
2N1613 - npn transistor, very low hfe. again, Q1 in a si fuzz face
2N696 - npn transistor, very low hfe. I'd put them in some kind of frame (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2N696)

I'd say the (probably) most useful ones are the ge ones. Check the hfe and leakage of every one of them, write down those values. You may end with one or a few single/pair/trio transistors to build nice a rangemaster/fuzz face/tone bender.

[Plexi]

Hi there, welcome! Another one waiting inside, in Madrid.
Nice found! Post some pics to the people!

Pd: rimani dentro, e aspetti;  questo passerà!

[Electric Warrior]

First of all, welcome!

Now, for the transistors. Always remember google can be your best friend to find info like pinout, type of transistor and hfe. We have:
2N3638 - pnp high current switch, low hfe. maybe it'll sounds good as Q1 in a si fuzz face?
2N3703 - pnp general purpose, very low hfe. could be used as Q1 in a si fuzz face
2N2646 - unijuntion transistor used in oscillators. maybe it could be used in a lfo
2N1132 - pnp, very low hfe. again, Q1 in a si fuzz face
2S301P - not a match on google
2N1613 - npn, used in rf applications, low hfe. may sounds good in a booster/fuzz face/something that uses a 2N3904
2N3392 - npn transistor, ECB pinout. low/mid hfe. it can be used in anything that uses general purpose hfe, but I'd save those as replacement when you need a ECB pinout transistor.
2N404A - pnp ge transistor, hfe of about 80. things starts to get interesting with this one. check their leakage and hfe. read this page (http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/ffselect.htm). they may be great for a fuzz face/rangemaster if they have low leakage. if they have high leakage, they may sounds good on some other ge fuzz circuits
2N398A - same as above, but hfe is very low. min 20 and typical 65. check their leakage and hfe
2N1671A - unijuntion transistor
2N3036 - npn transistor, hfe from 50 to 150. can be used to replace a general purpose npn transistor like the 2N3904
2N1613 - npn transistor, very low hfe. again, Q1 in a si fuzz face
2N696 - npn transistor, very low hfe. I'd put them in some kind of frame (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2N696)

I'd say the (probably) most useful ones are the ge ones. Check the hfe and leakage of every one of them, write down those values. You may end with one or a few single/pair/trio transistors to build nice a rangemaster/fuzz face/tone bender.

Most of the transistors you recommend for a Si Fuzz Face would require rebiasing as the hfes are way too low for a stock circuit. 200+ should work very well with silicons.

Also, a germanium Fuzz Face will only work with low leakage transistors if the hfes are reasonably high. Hfes in the 50's and 60's, as often used in vintage Fuzz Faces, will require quite a bit of leakage to bias right. Recommending to sort for low leakage is quite misleading.

[anotherjim]

Nothing much to add except that if any of those germaniums have at least one working base-emitter or base-collector junction diode, they can be used as clipping diodes.

[Marcos - Munky]

Most of the transistors you recommend for a Si Fuzz Face would require rebiasing as the hfes are way too low for a stock circuit. 200+ should work very well with silicons.

Also, a germanium Fuzz Face will only work with low leakage transistors if the hfes are reasonably high. Hfes in the 50's and 60's, as often used in vintage Fuzz Faces, will require quite a bit of leakage to bias right. Recommending to sort for low leakage is quite misleading.

For si ff, it's a matter of preferences. Some people like the sound of 400+ hfe, some people piggyback transistors to low their hfe and get a sound "somewhat similar" to ge transistors. Imo, Q1 with hfe ranging from 80 to 120 and Q2 with hfe of about 150 sounds great. But that's just a personal preference. For rebiasing, it's kinda expected to use trimpots when building ffs, because different transistors have different specs.

On ge transistors, I didn't said "sort for low leakage". Instead, I said "write down both hfe and leakage, because different circuits sounds better with different hfe/leakage values".

Anyway, good finding for TC, and have fun!

[patrick398]

2N2646 are used in the repeat percussion, a very cool tremolo especially if you're into Spacemen 3

[Axldeziak]

I've found alltransistors.com to be a big help in looking up oddballs. It's cross reference to search for equivalent substitutes has come in really handy as well.
Sometimes you have to get creative to find what your after. For instance just yesterday I was looking up one labeled only K49. By adding 2S before it I was able to find it. In the case of the above I was able to find what may be the unidentified 2S301P by dropping the P from the end, 2S301.

[Rob Strand]

By adding 2S before it I was able to find it. In the case of the above I was able to find what may be the unidentified 2S301P by dropping the P from the end, 2S301.

Might we worth checking the print actually says 2S3, maybe 2SB?

If it is a power transistor it might be a 2N301/2N301A  (not aware of a 2N301P, that stuff is leaking out of my memory)

[MaxPower]

Breadboard a BMP circuit using low gain transistors, you might like it. Try ge diodes as well (though I seem to be the only one who prefers ge diodes in a BMP).

[soggybag]

if They are low gain you could try piggy backing two in a darlington pair. There was a thread about this some years ago.

[DnD]

Ciao
Many thanks to all! I'll search for some bass oriented fuzz, today news is that my dad told me he stored also a box of same age resistor, caps, diode.......

Regards
Alessandro

[edvard]

The 2N404A is Q1 in a Harmonic Percolator.