Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Keep in mind that germanium transistors are devices that were intended to be used at room temperature. If you don't have air conditioning and you don't live in Alaska, chances are that your fuzz pedal will sound like poop.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

will the heat also effect the output? ie lower output b/c of high temp?

_________________
BH4RJ

"SUMMER TIME HEAT" ... ????

Nope, you lost me.

He doesn't mean us Naz, we're ok. Though you might like to run a small electric heater next to your Germs to get them up to room temperature during the British summer.

_________________
http://www.frequencycentral.co.uk/

_________________

Or even classier, an ice sculpted pedal board.

You get degrees, we get 'inches of rain' ...

Hey Naz, I notice you're in West Wales - whereabouts? I spent a summer working in Little Haven some years ago, I know that area pretty well.

_________________
http://www.frequencycentral.co.uk/

I'm inland from Aberystwyth about 12 miles, quite a bit further up the coast from Haverfordwest.

I live in the desert now, but I grew up in the Willamette Valley.

Average annual rainfall from 1970 to 1994 was 51.5 inches. We had two seasons. Warm rain / cold rain.

51.5 in = 130.81 cm, according to the interwebz

_________________

That's easy for you to say...

Sorry, that was so cheap. (I like cheap).

put your fuzz in the fridge like SRV did

germanium transistors were made for people in the UK, USA people have to use poo silicon ones

_________________

My Vero Layouts Blog

here's a mod to make it less temperamental: add a germanium diode between base and emitter, esp on q1.

can you show us a photo or a diagram of how to do that germanium diode mod? it is pretty hot here and my fuzz is having problems. also how long does the refridgerator trick usually last for?

Here's a pretty good description of the Ge diode stabilization mod and why it works that I found at THIS LINK:

"There's one trick designers used to do at the golden era of Ge transistors to compensate for the variation of IC0. It consisted of placing a Ge diode (reverse biased) in parallel with the base-emitter junction of the transistor:



Since the diode is reverse biased, the current through it will be its leakage current I0. Current through the base will then be IB=I-I0. Collector current will be IC=HFE*I-HFE*I0+(HFE+1)*IC0. If HFE is much greater than one and I0 varies with the temperature the same way as IC0 does, then one variation will cancel the other, leaving IC constant.
This stabilization is most necessary at the input transistor of the FF. At the output transistor, there's the 1k pot at the emitter that will help to stabilize variations in all three parameters. You should not note any difference in sound, unless you have a very leaky transistor or diode."

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

"There ain't no cure for the summertime poos."

_________________
Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

I miss these guys!

_________________

yes, thanks for adding schematic and explanation