Question about bazz fuss.

[Scarr77]

So in bazz fuss can I just switch the transistor and diode to something else as long as the transistor is npn? I don't really have that wide of a selection of parts. First post here so I apologize if it's the wrong forum.

[Earthscum]

yep... and hopefully as high of gain as possible.

I've used the TO-220 darlington from R-Shack in place of the MPSA13, also try just single transistors. You can get a wide range of sounds from this, all depending on what transistor gain is.

If it doesn't have enough gain, make the resistor to V+ bigger.  If it has too much, make that resistor smaller. I've found the best ranges for 2N2222 types to be between 10k-100k, and for darlingtons I've kept the range from about 4.7k-33k.

Have fun! Any more questions, pop back in... or just give us a progress report. I just came downstairs from about 2 hours of playing with the BF. Some people have a FF fetish, I can't put down the BF, lol. It's like my... BFF. 

[Scarr77]

Thanks a lot for replying! So how come when you increase the resistance to v+ it creates more gain? I'm probably going to breadboard the bazz fuss tomorrow after I find the components. I just got a rather large order from electronic goldmine, but a lot of the transistors are pnp if not all.

Some of the transistors don't say npn or pnp and when I look up the number nothing comes up on it, how can I find out if it's pnp or npn?

[blooze_man]

Also try different diodes or an LED. Lost of tones there as well.

[Astronaurt]

When you increase the Resistor to V+ it develops a bigger voltage across it because of the higher current necessitated by larger resistance. That's a pretty quick and dirty way of describing it, but just take a look at this graph:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/amplifier/amp10.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/amplifier/amp_2.html&usg=__EvSiER2bCQaIVJ6OH9eb8lqqcLg=&h=553&w=504&sz=29&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ur5rpjYh3AE6OM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=140&ei=UGC6TZamCOyP0QGO-ejbAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3DStatic%2BCollector%2BCharacteristic%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D663%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=821&vpy=291&dur=609&hovh=154&hovw=140&tx=98&ty=111&page=1&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0

it's just Ohm's Law after all. On the subject of figuring out about the transistors, if you have a Multimeter with a diode test function then you should try putting it's positive lead on the base pin (middle pin) and the negative meter lead on either of the outer pins on the transistor. If you have continuity, then that means you have an NPN transistor in your hands. Assuming it's a BJT. That's the hands on way at least.

[LucifersTrip]

So in bazz fuss can I just switch the transistor and diode to something else as long as the transistor is npn? I don't really have that wide of a selection of parts. First post here so I apologize if it's the wrong forum.

You can use pnp, also...just flip the battery & diode

[Scarr77]

My multimeter doesn't have a diode test function can I just use the continuity test?

[LucifersTrip]

My multimeter doesn't have a diode test function can I just use the continuity test?

whatever will tell you which side is the anode and which is the cathode
ie:
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/philips/1N914_3.pdf