Radio Shack and Germanium

[The_Armadillo]

Decided to browse the RS site today for no apparent reason. They've really increased their stock! The in-store selection still sucks, but they actually seem like a madly overpriced, but well stocked supplier.

The thing that really caught my attention, was this little booger. Its a PNP Germanium tranny, only online though...
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12651122

Germanium!? I didn't know these were even currently manufactured! They say its meant for low power, large signal audio applications. Could they be used in anything that likes the sweet stench of germanium?

Edit: I found this one too. More appropriate for our applications, it seems.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13008832&numProdsPerPage=60

And also a little 1.6W power amp chip:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12708936&numProdsPerPage=60

And... a 5.5W, two channel power amp chip.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12708937&numProdsPerPage=60

[Derringer]

i'm sure those germanium transistors are just as much of a gamble as any other non-leakage-tested germanium transistors are
the chips seem plenty useful, but I'm just shooting from the hip

but in general, I think it's safe to say you're better off buying from smallbear or aron's store for anything of this ilk

[petey twofinger]

amen to that .

i did purchase 2 nte 158's from my local frys electronics , just caus ethey were in stock and i was there .

at 5 a piece i feel it was a good deal , i have one in an easyface that is boxed up . they both sounded the same , and the thing is i didnt test em , nor do i have anything to compare them too , exept my vintage mastro fz-1 , which they sound very different . the easy face sounds good though !

i was just curious if anyone else ever messed with these nte 158's and what the consensus on them i ?

[The_Armadillo]

I might buy a few to give them a whirl. I'll have to check if I can get it shipped to the store. I don't really want to pay shipping to such a small order.

[joegagan]

That's the cool thing about the easyface, you  can pop any ge you want into the q2 slot, if it sounds good, it sounds good!

[The_Armadillo]

I see that there's no option to ship to the store, and the $6.99 shipping is a little steep for my likes, especially for one thing. Ill have to look into some other interesting parts.

Do those power amps look like a part of interest? I might tack em onto the order.

[Richard6]

I've had some 158s and a 102a. The 102a was too leaky to use and only one of the 158s was low enough leakage. For the money, I wouldn't recommend them.

[The_Armadillo]

Well, darn. Anyways, are these some new manufacture ones or NOS? It's not too much of a let down for me, I sorta prefer the snarly nastiness that get pumped from silicons.

[DiscoVlad]

There are new manufacture AC128s made by Magnatec which are suspiciously close (and consistent!) to the ideal gain/leakage for the Fuzz Face.

RS Components (the non-radio shack RS that is) has them and NPN models too: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/?searchTerm=germanium

[The_Armadillo]

Hmm... I see what you're talking about, but all the AC127/8 that I looked at said discontinued product. Am I missing something?

Besides,  I don't live in the UK, so Im guessing that the US shipping is little steep.

[danielzink]

Hmm... I see what you're talking about, but all the AC127/8 that I looked at said discontinued product. Am I missing something?

Besides,  I don't live in the UK, so Im guessing that the US shipping is little steep.

There are RS Electronics in the states.

I live in Michigan and there's one about 30 miles from me. I'll go there occasionally if I'm in a pinch for something.

re: the NTE102's and 158's - they are available stateside at the RS Electronics site:

http://www.rselectronics.com/products/Semiconductors/Transistors/Germanium/NTE/NTE102/NTE.aspx

http://www.rselectronics.com/products/Semiconductors/Transistors/Germanium/NTE/NTE158/NTE.aspx

[pinkjimiphoton]

i bought the 158's and 102's at my local supplier...

they sound great...when they work.

ridiculously temperature sensitive, and even the britface mod doesn't help the leakage.

in my fuzzface, i've had to resort to using a mix of silicon and one of the 158's...i can't use two of them together...they sound awesome at 70 degrees, anything higher or lower, and they freak out...either runaway gain, or unacceptable blatty farts.

i think most of the NTE stuff i've run into is kaka

the 102's sound better in my experience, but i've killed a couple of them...just suddenly DEAD.

[zombiwoof]

NTE transistors are relabeled old stock transistors that meet the specs to sub for specified transistors, and from what I've read are highly inconsistent.  I'd say they are a crap shoot in reliability, better off to buy from someone like Small Bear who stands behind his products (and is a member of this forum).  There are a couple of current manufacturers that are making popular older germaniums (like AC128, NKT's, OC's, etc.), Steve at Small Bear ordered some samples and found that they all were in too low gain ranges for the projects pedal builders would want them for.  They quoted him an outrageous price to provide gain-tested trannies in certain ranges, so he gave up on them (I believe he got them from Magnatec).  Maybe he can comment on this, I'm just recalling from memory what he said.

Al

[The_Armadillo]

Well just all the more reason to buy from Steve or the forum I guess. Kinda disappointing that they won't work nicely, but I didn't expect too much. That's why I came here!

[Earthscum]

i bought the 158's and 102's at my local supplier...

they sound great...when they work.

ridiculously temperature sensitive, and even the britface mod doesn't help the leakage.

in my fuzzface, i've had to resort to using a mix of silicon and one of the 158's...i can't use two of them together...they sound awesome at 70 degrees, anything higher or lower, and they freak out...either runaway gain, or unacceptable blatty farts.

i think most of the NTE stuff i've run into is kaka

the 102's sound better in my experience, but i've killed a couple of them...just suddenly DEAD.

I did a FF for a buddy using 158's. It sounds fantastic, but I ended up with some kind of crazy resistor values. First stage Collector resistor was 18k, I believe, and second stage RE was something like 470/4.7k to get a .6V bias in Q1's Base. Used a 10k pot from Batt- to V- for "sag".

I have a couple trannys that are worse on the temp thing, but I definitely agree... these kinda suck with the heat. That's why I shoot for a .6V at Q1 Base and 4.5V or so at Q2 Collector... I didn't know really what I was doing, but it seemed to be the voltage that gave me the best all around stability in sound (you can "fix" the sweet spot with the Sag pot, not sure how it works out like that, but it does).

Gotta say, The_Armadillo... I'm surprised PRR didn't drop in and hit you with "Don't throw money at NTE". I agree with him, though. All my local store has is NTE... and it's all overpriced ($4 J201 equivilant, same for a BS170 equivilant, all the NTE prices you find at RatShack). It's almost ALL re-stamp, as well. Take a wild guess what the NTE490 (BS170 equivilant) is under the paint!  Do a search on NTE products... it's kind of a nasty find. I think a certain pedal builder took a queue from it and gooped JoYo pedal boards, repainted the enclosures, and sold them as "Boutique".