Phase 45 not working with 2n5952s

[R O Tiree]

You have to find what works. They're measured in Volts, not Ohms. Remember that you place them in the circuit so they're reverse-biased and they only start conducting when they reach their reverse breakdown voltage, which is deliberately designed to be very low, compared with most other diodes. So, the two you posted above should be 4V7 and 5V1. I've seen, and used 5V6 as well as those other 2 values you mentioned. You might have to drop lower, though, if you have some FETs with Vgs figures in the lower end of the range.

[Seljer]

I believe the preference would be for the higher value, as the trimmer forms a voltage divider with which you can always dial in a lower voltage

[Jaicen_solo]

I've gone as low as 3.6v with J201's and they work fine.

[R.G.]

I've gone as low as 3.6v with J201's and they work fine.

J201s have the lowest Vgsoff of any common depletion mode JFET I've seen. They are therefore more suited to working with low zener values than JFETs with higher Vgsoff. Higher Vgsoff JFETs like some examples of MPF102 might have Vgsoff of 7-9V. These would need to have a bias voltage at least that big, and you couldn't use a 9V battery to power the circuit and make them work right. But they would distort much, much less on bigger input signals.

[Jaicen_solo]

To be honest R.G, the distortion In a phase 45/90 is not altogether Unpleasant, and actually it might be desirable in some instances as it can add harmonics to make the phasing more apparent.