Big Muff Hfe

[criss]

Ive got 28 2n5133 coming from smallbear but i as reading that you have to sift thru them to get the higher hfe one .

Whats is the best position in the muff circuit to put the higher hfe ones into .

And will the lower hfe like 50 to 100 be any good in my muff  or should i store them for other projects

Thanx

Criss

[Steben]

Ive got 28 2n5133 coming from smallbear but i as reading that you have to sift thru them to get the higher hfe one .
Whats is the best position in the muff circuit to put the higher hfe ones into .
And will the lower hfe like 50 to 100 be any good in my muff  or should i store them for other projects
Thanx
Criss

- Lower hfe will give you less harsh distortion on the max setting.
- AFAIK , I would put the biggest hfe in front and the lowest at the end.

[criss]

Thanx

Are the lower hfe transisters say 50hfe going to any good for a Big Muff ?

Thanx

[gutsofgold]

Socket the transistor holes and spend a free hour or two trying different configurations. Keep a notepad handy and mark off what you observed and what you'd like to keep.

Keep in mind the first and last stages are input and output buffers while the middle two are gain stages that also feature clipping diodes...and the diodes are also very influential on your tone so might as well socket them too. 

[Nitefly182]

Ive got 28 2n5133 coming from smallbear but i as reading that you have to sift thru them to get the higher hfe one .
Whats is the best position in the muff circuit to put the higher hfe ones into .
And will the lower hfe like 50 to 100 be any good in my muff  or should i store them for other projects
Thanx
Criss

- Lower hfe will give you less harsh distortion on the max setting.
- AFAIK , I would put the biggest hfe in front and the lowest at the end.

Pretty much all the 2n5133 left in the world are too low gain for getting a supper gainy muff. The pedal generally turns into a hot rock distortion that doesn't saturate as much as a muff. I really like it sometimes.

[petemoore]

  Each stage in the BMP is an inverting gain stage.
  The two middle stages also have clipping in their C/B feedback loops.
  The first stage boosts signal to a level that allows the second stage to clip or clip harder.
  The first stage will I guess be the one with the most noticable gain 'cut / boost' when that positions Hfe goes up [swapping transistors], being the 1rst in a series of 'foreward multiplier' [amplification] stages.
  Larger Hfe's will make the clipping sooner or more intense.
  I'ts a good circuit for demonstrating the difference between low noise transistors and..in my case I used 2n3904's for a while, opting for the HG/LN 2n5088's, or 5089's or MPSA18's.

[criss]

How accurate will the hfe reading on my cheap DMM be ,  the DMM is the yellow type you can slot the transister into and get a reading .

Thanx all for your input

[Nitefly182]

How accurate will the hfe reading on my cheap DMM be ,  the DMM is the yellow type you can slot the transister into and get a reading .

Thanx all for your input

I would think its pretty accurate. How else would builders test huge bags of transistors?

[Steben]

I'ts a good circuit for demonstrating the difference between low noise transistors and..

Hmmm, reminds of the dubious combination of low-noise devices, while using carbon comp mojo...