So I am fairly new to building pedals and thought I would try to build a Mangler. I am about to buy all of the parts I need and am curious about what transistors I should use. I am thinking of purchasing a couple of d3-PNP germainiums from smallbear.( see link)
http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=1351
But I am not sure how well they would work in this circuit. I also have a few NPN-2N3904 transistors but I am not sure what I would have to change in the circuit for them to work. From my understanding I would simply switch the polarity on the electrolytic caps and the battery, but is there anything else I would need to do to use NPN transistors in the Mangler?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks- Tony
Hey there.
A fuzz face requires a "matched" set of germanium transistors so you don't to buy individual ones unless you know how to sort and match. Luckily you are shopping at the best place for quality matched transistor sets. The cheapest smallbear has are:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=680
The most pricy and my favorites are:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=1094
Even the cheapest matched set will sound pretty damn good so get what you are comfortable with.
Also, if you want to build a silicon transistor version your 2n3904s would work. Personally I would stick to germ if you want a more classic, warmer fuzzface that cleans up better with volume roll-off.
Thanks man! I really appreciate the help.
Also note that if you use NPN (germ or silicon) you will have to invert polarity of caps and diodes in the circuit
If you use PNP you will need to use a voltage inverter (i.e. madbean roadrage) if you want to power with a standard -9v adapter
Cool, Thanks!