So whilst on this long long residency. I made a Russian friend. A fellow guitarist. So we have exchanged emails etc.. He has said he is willing to get hold of stuff in Russia, and send it to me. So I was wondering, does anyone know where to get germanium stuff from in Russia, maybe even Moscow. Also, what is the good stuff. As I haven't had too much experience with Ge mojo parts.
I know this is a strange post. But I thought some one here would know something.
Thanks!
George
All anyone knows is probably ebay.
I know you can get GT308V on ebay from Russia. I've heard they sound great in fuzz faces, I've got some from Paul (chromesphere) to try out but haven't had a chance yet.
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I bought a load of Russian Ge's on Ebay (including GT308V's) a while ago.
There is a thread on the forum if you search.
They certainly do make a good fuzz, but in my experience, are a little noisier than high quality European equivalents (Mullards, TI etc.).
+ the cost for a bag of 40 GT308's is about the same for one OC 75 ;)
Interesting, what fuzzes did you use them in?
I have em in my fulltone 69 clone, as well in another fuzz face and they sound awesome. Very bassy and with very nice sustain, the cleanup sound is absolutely awesome. I have several left, I should try em in a bender type situation...once I get mine working :D
Sweet, might get some. Anyone ever used this seller?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141016908307
Hey Hammerhead, did some Googlin' today, as it is too hot to move right now ::) This is what I found: http://www.progtown.com/topic1026615-where-to-buy-resistors-moscow.html (http://www.progtown.com/topic1026615-where-to-buy-resistors-moscow.html) Their English is a bit funny (to say the least), but in the 7th response there are some links that might be useful. I also found some mentioning of a place called 'Radio Rynok Tsaritsyno' in Moscow and a chain of stores called Chip-n-Dip. Surely a fun way to test the Google Fu!
Paul
chip'n'dip does not sound like Russian humor to me.
But Dutch wins the prize for research this time.
Quote from: atreidesheir on August 02, 2013, 07:51:26 PM
chip'n'dip does not sound like Russian humor to me.
Is there such a thing? ;)
Quote from: atreidesheir on August 02, 2013, 07:51:26 PM
But Dutch wins the prize for research this time.
Thanks! What is the prize, a set of Russian transistors? ;) Seriously, it was so hot here today, with a lot of humidity. Only thing to do was sit inside, don't move to much and do some Googlin'. It's almost 10:30 in the evening right now, and we just finished BBQ'n, finally a cool breeze! There's some spectacular thunder comin'....
Quote from: DutchMF on August 02, 2013, 08:27:32 PMThere's some spectacular thunder comin'....
I've just been sitting in the flight deck of a plane for about 40 mins, saw some awesome thunderstorms in the distance, possibly over the Netherlands as it was in that direction! The way the clouds light up is crazy!
Saw venus as well, kept changing colour from between red, white, blue, green and yellow.
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Hey, check it out chrimesphere youtube chanel! Paul has a series of videos showing russians trannies! Great stuff!! U can ask ur friend ti buy online! In Ucraine costs about 0,30 cents euro!
I'm like Dracula or something. Whenever germanium transistors are spoken I came out of the shadows...
Russians. Just like any series of transistor, they are hit and miss. Some good, some not. Some of the best I've had are the gt108v's (low leakage and 'modern' sounding though) GT309G (same as gt108v's except a bit older and leakier, and 'rougher' sounding) and the GT402b's (bullet shaped, really old school, nice frequency response!). my 'best' are defined by leakage and hfe but most importantly, how the sound. Unfortunately though those are all but extinct.
The GT308V measures lower gain then the datasheet suggests, because your test conditions will be different to the manufacturers. I think it was the collect current. The transistor HFE doesn't ramp up until like 10ma or something, I cant remember exactly, suffice to say that if you measure them, they will be low (40-80, instead of 50-150 on datasheet). But more importantly, how do they sound? Pretty good actually! They have a really nice frequency response, good mid-bottom end. But...you gotta watch ESD. If you even THINK about inserting them into your circuit the wrong way (or touching legs), bang. Gone. They are amazingly fragile so just be careful.
Why do I stock the GT308V cheaper then the ac125 if they sound just as good? Unfortunately that comes back to the educated pedal builder. As I mentioned in the last ge transistor thread I posted in, too much importance is placed on hfe, and builders just wont give them a chance...
Oh hey, might be a good thread to post this actually. A germanium transistor comparison, for the fuzz face. A couple of Russians in there:
Cheers
Paul
Quote from: chromesphere on August 03, 2013, 05:37:47 AM
I'm like Dracula or something. Whenever germanium transistors are spoken I came out of the shadows...
Russians. Just like any series of transistor, they are hit and miss. Some good, some not. Some of the best I've had are the gt108v's (low leakage and 'modern' sounding though) GT309G (same as gt108v's except a bit older and leakier, and 'rougher' sounding) and the GT402b's (bullet shaped, really old school, nice frequency response!). my 'best' are defined by leakage and hfe but most importantly, how the sound. Unfortunately though those are all but extinct.
The GT308V measures lower gain then the datasheet suggests, because your test conditions will be different to the manufacturers. I think it was the collect current. The transistor HFE doesn't ramp up until like 1ma or something, I cant remember exactly, suffice to say that if you measure them, they will be low (40-80, instead of 50-150 on datasheet). But more importantly, how do they sound? Pretty good actually! They have a really nice frequency response, good mid-bottom end. But...you gotta watch ESD. If you even THINK about inserting them into your circuit the wrong way (or touching legs), bang. Gone. They are amazingly fragile so just be careful.
Why do I stock the GT308V cheaper then the ac125 if they sound just as good? Unfortunately that comes back to the educated pedal builder. As I mentioned in the last ge transistor thread I posted in, too much importance is placed on hfe, and builders just wont give them a chance...
Oh hey, might be a good thread to post this actually. A germanium transistor comparison, for the fuzz face. A couple of Russians in there:
Cheers
Paul
Heheeh, hey Pau, just wrong ur nickname wrong. Crime sphere! Sorry for that! Maybe ur the germanium Criminal😜
Cheers
Well, seeing that we all are ebaying from Russia . Anybody ever play with any of those rare diodes you see out there? I just figured if im going to order might as well get my shippings worth.
I've had good luck with the GT108G's as well. I think they sound good, HFE's are in a good range, and the leakage is pretty low.
(http://www.gitaargarage.nl/56.jpg)
(http://www.gitaargarage.nl/56a.jpg)
(http://www.gitaargarage.nl/56b.jpg)
(http://www.gitaargarage.nl/56c.jpg)
Michael
Bought 100 gt108v's about a year ago and I concur with your results. These are pretty nifty little buggers!
Still have a bunch to test. Been looking on ebay and haven't seen any more on sale. Obviously popular.
I bought a bunch of good transistors while gordelux had them, and most types that I have don't seem to be up on eBay now from any of the Russian sellers either.
Michael
I bought some gt108v trannies a while back and the measurements are great, but I found that the leads were too thin for the transistor sockets I had. Anyone got recommendations for sockets that fit? (to the gt108v owners)
although expensive, the mammoth TO-18 sockets will hold the gt108v....somewhat. I find bending a 3-4 mm of leg over onto itself works better for socketing though.
Quote from: chromesphere on September 20, 2013, 10:45:49 PM
although expensive, the mammoth TO-18 sockets will hold the gt108v....somewhat. I find bending a 3-4 mm of leg over onto itself works better for socketing though.
I bought some of those white/gold pin sockets from Effects Connection (less costly) but have the same problem as isaw in a review at Mammoth in that they just don't grab onto the leads very well. Only used one and that was in an LED tester but no way would rely on it to actaully hold something inside a pedal. http://www.effectsconnection.com/oscommerce/shopping_cart.php?sort=2a
Quote from: davent on September 21, 2013, 03:59:13 AM
Quote from: chromesphere on September 20, 2013, 10:45:49 PM
although expensive, the mammoth TO-18 sockets will hold the gt108v....somewhat. I find bending a 3-4 mm of leg over onto itself works better for socketing though.
I bought some of those white/gold pin sockets from Effects Connection (less costly) but have the same problem as isaw in a review at Mammoth in that they just don't grab onto the leads very well. Only used one and that was in an LED tester but no way would rely on it to actaully hold something inside a pedal. http://www.effectsconnection.com/oscommerce/shopping_cart.php?sort=2a
Probably that's why I said "somewhat". They are still the best sockets ive found though. I use one in my ge hfe tester. tester...HUNDREDS of transistor in that sucker. Still has a firm grip of legs. The GT108V (and GT309G another ripper Russian transistor btw) is the exception.
Quote from: hammerheadmusicman on August 02, 2013, 12:24:44 AM
So whilst on this long long residency. I made a Russian friend. A fellow guitarist. So we have exchanged emails etc.. He has said he is willing to get hold of stuff in Russia, and send it to me. So I was wondering, does anyone know where to get germanium stuff from in Russia, maybe even Moscow. Also, what is the good stuff. As I haven't had too much experience with Ge mojo parts.
I know this is a strange post. But I thought some one here would know something.
Thanks!
George
Trust me, i'm a the russian expert.I've made different fuzzfaces with russian transistors.My adevnture with those started on a trip to Ukraine where I got different transistors.I can tell you now, that MP39 and 1T308B(militar version of GT308) are great as pnp and as a pair for FuzzfaceI've also built a fuzzface with germaniums npn, these ones are MP38A.They are very good and rare since they are germanium and npn.
I got the first ones in Ukraine and then, when I got back to Portugal I asked a friend of mine to send me a load of them.With the Mp39 more than half were dead and hfe is quite low.It's good if you find one measuring 60.1T308 is rock solid and if you find one that measures around 80hfe(these ones are specially aggressive) and pair it with a mp39 you'll be able to tweak a great fuzz box.
Forgot to mension, I couldn't find these trannies in any shop in Ukraine, I got them in a kind of old electronics yard sale in Donnetsk.
Just check the ones in Ebay.Later I ended up ordering a pair of 1T308B and they were tested and both had the same measurements and sounded great.