I do not have fond memories of germanium transistors. The reason these became obsolete is simply because they were unreliable. Their advantages were simply that they required only .1v to turn on as against .6v for silicon and so were used for small signals such as rf detection. But they were prone to drifting out of tolerance and would blow easily. Silicon has proved to have rock solid stability.
The repairability of current solid state equipment is not dependent on its quality. Boss make superb pedals but they are absolutely not in any way repairable. They also - in my experience - never go wrong.
The development of surface mounted components and microscopic printed boards has changed the face of electronics. If you buy a current solid state piece of equipment you should be prepared to simply throw it away if it fails. Fortunately failure rate is fairly low.
That may be due also to other design considerations.
Pedals and amps with germanium transistors generally did not contain chips and were designed differently. In fact older pedal designs were much simpler and the signal path much more straightforward.
The original Rotosound fuzz contained just two transistors and was a Schmitt trigger that produced a square wave at the same frequency as the guitar note. This would not work with chords so various early fuzz designs came out that had the transistors biased so as to distort. The original Big Muff only contained one transistor!
The less that is done to an audio signal the better it will sound; so simpler older designs are by their nature better sounding.
If the same straightforward considerations were used and a couple of BC107 transistors were designed into a device that previously was designed around OC71s I suspect that the silicon could be made to sound pretty similar.
Will
--- In jazz_gui...@yahoogroups.com, "Koek Wei Chew" <wckoek@...> wrote:
> I'm not sure if you are talking about amps or anything. > I have both a silicone and germanium transister fuzz pedal and I do > agree that germanium transister aren't reliable, they are prone to > changes in temperature et all. But tonally, I still prefer them to my > other silicone transister pedal. > Myth or not, they do sound different.
I'm not sure if you are talking about amps or anything. I have both a silicone and germanium transister fuzz pedal and I do agree that germanium transister aren't reliable, they are prone to changes in temperature et all. But tonally, I still prefer them to my other silicone transister pedal. Myth or not, they do sound different.
--- In jazz_gui...@yahoogroups.com, "Will Halligan" <will@...> wrote:
> I do not have fond memories > of germanium transistors. The reason > these became obsolete is simply because > they were unreliable. Their advantages > were simply that they required only .1v > to turn on as against .6v for silicon and > so were used for small signals such as > rf detection. But they were prone to > drifting out of tolerance and would blow > easily. Silicon has proved to have rock > solid stability.
> The repairability of current solid state > equipment is not dependent on its > quality. Boss make superb pedals > but they are absolutely not in any > way repairable. They also - in my > experience - never go wrong.
> The development of surface mounted > components and microscopic printed > boards has changed the face of > electronics. If you buy a current > solid state piece of equipment you > should be prepared to simply throw > it away if it fails. Fortunately > failure rate is fairly low.
I agree with you Will on simpler is better when it comes to audio! The heart of my stereo system is a very simple class A tube amp that puts out maybe 2.5 watts on peaks. There are only a few components in the signal path and only eleven solder joints between RCA inputs and speaker outs. On/off switch, a bias switch that changes how the input tube effects the sound, and a volume knob. That's it, and it sounds beautiful!
To think that when I was around 10, I didn't think a stereo was cool unless it had a big graphic EQ, set to that familiar smile curve with the bass and highs boosted, and of course the loudness button had to be engaged... maybe one of those "stereo expanders" turned on too. Chris
--- In jazz_gui...@yahoogroups.com, Chris Smart <chris_s@...> wrote:
> I agree with you Will on simpler is better when it comes to audio! > The heart of my stereo system is a very simple class A tube amp > that puts out maybe 2.5 watts on peaks.
> I would be very interested to know > what mods can be done on a minature > board packed with some 70+ active > surface mounted components plus some > 200 additional passive devices. T
I would be very interested to know what mods can be done on a minature board packed with some 70+ active surface mounted components plus some 200 additional passive devices. The printed track is the width of a human hair and is double sided plus there is absolutely no room between components. It is not possible to do anything on these type of boards without specialised laboratory equipment.
I suspect that any "Mods" done are to do with the input or outputs from the boards. Even the on/off switches seem so be Hall-effect solid state devices.
Will
> There are lots of people who repair and/or modify Boss pedals.
Nope. Me and hot solder is not a good idea. :) Steve Deckert did, and he also sells it in kit form. www.decware.com
The output tubes are SV83's ... it can take EL84's fine though, and is auto biasing and matching. The input tube is a 6N1p, although people have tried various 6922's, 6DJ8's etc.
This is far beyond the capabilites of an average engineering workshop.
I checked out both sites they give the immpression that these guys have very extensive facilities. Even so it is difficult to make out what they actually do to the various pedals - some of the descriptions use endless superlatives to describe what seem to be very basic (off-board,) component additions. Such as true bypass and gold contact sockets or a diode for clipping.
Robert Keeley makes a big deal about modding a Fuzz face - good grief, these only contained three transistors!
My original point was regarding reliability and I have never known a Boss pedal fail. My chorus, T-Wah and Boss tuner are all nearly 30 years old.
