Russian Germaniums?

[gtr2]

I got them on ebay from minifux.  They are tungsrams.  I ordered ten from them initially to see if id like them, and they were awesome.  Im on a tonebender kick right not and these sound great for those circuits.  The only trouble is, you need some lower gains for tonebenders traditionally (except for maybe the vox tonebender)  The first batch were between 60 and 120 so they were perfect.  Ill probably use these for fuzz face or fuzzrite style circuits. 

haha!  You outbid me 

[lloyd17]

we're likely competing with each other to buy these things. They were going for a steal a couple months ago.

[JakeFuzz]

Got home early and did a bunch of tests with these. The higher gain ones do sound slightly better. The best sounds were with a 50-50 combo. I tried mixing with and ac128, 2N404 a 2N3906 and a GT309D. Alright sounds to be had with the combos; too harsh when paired with 2N404 or AC128 in Q2. The 2N3906 in Q1 (hybrid config) was very interesting, smooth but the texture was all wacky, boomy and over compressed. Other than the 50-50 a good combo was a 309D in Q1, this cleared things up a little. I will try and record a video for the 50-50 of 308's soon here, i think people will be very surprised at how these sound. 

More Germanium Fuzz Face geekiness to come when I get my OC's and 2SB's.

[dwstanford]

I got them on ebay from minifux.  They are tungsrams.  I ordered ten from them initially to see if id like them, and they were awesome.  Im on a tonebender kick right not and these sound great for those circuits.  The only trouble is, you need some lower gains for tonebenders traditionally (except for maybe the vox tonebender)  The first batch were between 60 and 120 so they were perfect.  Ill probably use these for fuzz face or fuzzrite style circuits. 

haha!  You outbid me 

Ha!  Hey, pm me your address and i'll send you a few.

[Quip]

I ordered 3 batches of russian germs. Still waiting for them to arrive. I researched beforehand so I know not to expect much for gains on the gt308v's. I'm hoping the 10v gt108v's fair a little better for gains.

I took a little gamble with a stateside surplus dealer on some  TO-5 PNP cans with unlisted specs for cheap. 15 and 20 cents a pop. Picked up 40 from different batches. I was pleasantly surprised. About half of them had gains in the FF range (70 - 150). About a fourth of them had gains 40 to 60. A few went over 200, a few really low gain, and a couple over 300. Only a few I deemed unusable. One dead one. One common diode. One reported as a resistor shunt. A couple leaky bums. Leakage was moderate on most. from 40ua to 120ua. The higher gains tended to have higher leakages. A few had no leakage at all. These were all tested with a DCA55 so other means might give different results. I tried several combos in my FF test circuit and my pepper spray and they sound pretty good to me. I wonder what the 2N**** equivalent is. Top of the cans have SRC written on them follwed by a batch number I presume. Found out it stands for Summit Radio Corporation. Anyway I think I'll be getting a few more because they work and are dirt cheap with good yields.

If anyone is interested in these I'll gladly share the source but can't say you'll get the same results. I'll see how my second order goes.

[JakeFuzz]

Wow, sounds like a good source. Ill PM you for details. I just built up a FF with two GT308V's and it sounds pretty damn good. With the variable input capacitor instead of an fuzz knob and an external bias control I think I have found my favorite configuration. Even if you get low gain GT308's give them a try, I think they sound very good. They have a very narrow useable range on the 100k feedback resistor, so that might be something to check for.

I have never seen SRC trannies. They are probably a batch of unbranded normal production germaniums that have been stamped by the distributor. I have seen tons of 2N404's and the like that have had this done to them. I really want to try a few!

[Quip]

Threw a little clip together using the SRC's in a FF.  Direct recording to pc so missing the tube amp influence. Fuzz on full all clips with guitar volume rolled back for left and right. Center I roll the volume up.  Touch of reverb added. Mexi strat with ceramic singles. Give you an idea of the fuzz sound these make anyway. Mediocre playing as usual.
SRTGERMS0.mp3 - 1.92MB

[JakeFuzz]

Threw a little clip together using the SRC's in a FF.  Direct recording to pc so missing the tube amp influence. Fuzz on full all clips with guitar volume rolled back for left and right. Center I roll the volume up.  Touch of reverb added. Mexi strat with ceramic singles. Give you an idea of the fuzz sound these make anyway. Mediocre playing as usual.
SRTGERMS0.mp3 - 1.92MB

Sounds good. Usually my FF's sound really grainy direct in.

On a different note I purchased a selection of trannies from Minifux on ebay. I bought three of the most popular kinds OC139, AC188K and 2SB324. All pretty much garbage unfortunately. The OC139 were the most disappointing with the highest gain being about 45. The AC188K's had 3 useable out of 10 and the gains were in the 80-100 range. The 2SB324 seemed the most consistent with most gains falling between 50 and 70. I can use the 324's and the few 188's for some things but I won't buy these again. Just a heads up!

[Quip]

My russian trannies came this week. Not too bad. the 308's had plenty of gains between 80 and 100 and many 60 to 80. The 108's are tiny with flimsy thin leads, have more leakage but still low. Haven't tested but a few so far and the gains are a bit higher overall to the 308's.  The mp39b's are low gainers. Got them basically to try out a JBF3 circuit.

[dwstanford]

Those are some good gains on the 308's.   I finally did a decent test on the 308's that paul sent me.  I had to do a bit of tweaking, but they sound suprisingly good for such low gain. (40's-50's range). I'll have to get some in higher ranges and compare.

[JakeFuzz]

Those are some good gains on the 308's.   I finally did a decent test on the 308's that paul sent me.  I had to do a bit of tweaking, but they sound suprisingly good for such low gain. (40's-50's range). I'll have to get some in higher ranges and compare.

Yes! I know right, I am glad someone has heard it so I don't feel crazy  . Ill be getting a blue snowball in the next week or so and recording some clips of the 50-50 pairs. I am also going to try and pair up the gt308 and the 2sb324, similar low gains so we'll see how they sound together.

Those are good gains Quip. Did you pick yours up from gordeluxe? Are they the IT308B or the GT308B? I only had 3 out of 50 that were above 60 which is interesting compared to your results. Maybe ill pick up another batch to compare...

[Quip]

Those are some good gains on the 308's.   I finally did a decent test on the 308's that paul sent me.  I had to do a bit of tweaking, but they sound suprisingly good for such low gain. (40's-50's range). I'll have to get some in higher ranges and compare.

Those are good gains Quip. Did you pick yours up from gordeluxe? Are they the IT308B or the GT308B? I only had 3 out of 50 that were above 60 which is interesting compared to your results. Maybe ill pick up another batch to compare...

I got them from Goredelux. The 308's were listed as GT's. They were an odd  batch of 60 and have some written as 1T and some look like a TT with the first T chopped top left. Two different logos on them.  Most of the higher gain ones have 1T and a logo that looks a little like the soviet sickle with a small double T on top. The rest have that sideways smashed figure 8 looking logo. It could be my DCA55 also tests gains higher than other means too. I don't really want to any math and a test circuit to calculate another way. Barely have the time to work on my projects as is.

*** There's a third logo too. A circle with arrow pointing down and the top of trannies have a diamond imprint. Most of those tested in 50's and 60's.

[JakeFuzz]

Hmm that might be it. The batch I got all had that smashed sideways 8. Interesting the little variations between batches. I wonder exactly what those stamps mean, date codes, packaging tool, factory codes?

[JakeFuzz]

You guys aren't going to believe what I just found    So I am building these devices for a biomedical company here on campus and I needed an NPN transistor,. There is an obscure shop in the bottom of the chemistry building which I have always wanted to go to. The guy says to just go sift through the bins and find whatever I need... Tons of FF suitable germaniums! 2N404'a 2N1302's and lots of those old Fairchild silicons! And even better they are all like 50-80 cents a piece!

The problem is you cannot buy anything without an inter-departmental charge account. I have one but I have to get every purchase signed off and something tells me my boss isn't going to be happy when he see's 50 germanium transistors on the purchase order! Ill see what I can do!

[sgmezei]

Figure it out!! I will buy, I will even pay TWICE that amount.

That's a pretty sound investment.