Lots o Fuzz

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

I should add I'm also pretty biased against GE transistors which is why I didn't suggest them. Regardless Paul's Germ FF with the CV7112's is probably the best FF I've ever heard in person. My buddy had an old one modified by Analogman and Paul's definitely blew this thing out of the water. With the Input blend and Bias knob you'd have such a full array of sounds. With an additional starve knob it'd get downright unusable 
I have a buddy's BYOC ESV FF version that he asked me to fix for him. I believe the transistors are AC127's, they kinda look like a 1 watt cement resistor. It gets rough and nasty, but I'd replace it for CV7112's if it were my pedal in a flash.

[JakeFuzz]

I should add I'm also pretty biased against GE transistors which is why I didn't suggest them. Regardless Paul's Germ FF with the CV7112's is probably the best FF I've ever heard in person. My buddy had an old one modified by Analogman and Paul's definitely blew this thing out of the water. With the Input blend and Bias knob you'd have such a full array of sounds. With an additional starve knob it'd get downright unusable 
I have a buddy's BYOC ESV FF version that he asked me to fix for him. I believe the transistors are AC127's, they kinda look like a 1 watt cement resistor. It gets rough and nasty, but I'd replace it for CV7112's if it were my pedal in a flash.

Haha, thanks Magic. Yeah for some reason people really love that pedal. It is acting kind of weird, I think it might be a bad switch or socket. It cuts out when I kick it. If I ever find a big batch of well priced CV's I am buying all of them, been trying for a while now though with no luck! Ill let you guys know if I find anything.

[shawnee]

Can you tell me what the gain is on your CV7112's?

[JakeFuzz]

Can you tell me what the gain is on your CV7112's?

I honestly don't remember. I think it was around 90 and 130 for Q1 and Q2 respectively. Its been a few years since I actually purchased these so the papers that came with them have disappeared. I am not sure if it is the specific gains in this pedal or what but there is some kind of magic mojo thing going on. I need to work on it maybe this weekend to fix the footswitch. If I get the chance maybe Ill pull the trannies out and measure them.

[shawnee]

OK so they are pretty much in the normal gain range. Thanks.

[joegagan]

great videos, loved the sounds. the mayo is nice, as are the FFs. i liked reading all your notes about the transistors. the way the oc144 ff cleaned up at 2:03 is impressive. your chops are great as well.

after all these years, i still find that i like the si Q1 /hot ge Q2 combo a lot in FFs. i recenlty tried a .002 silver mica treble bleed cap on the input gain of an easyface, makes the pedal clean up really nice. i also have a silver mica treble bleed cap in my tele, so,  double treble bleed caps - gives a really wide range just from the guitar.  i did a demo of john lyons peds , i thought it was an unfair advantage to represent the pedals this way, due to the high quality treble bleed and relatively low output pickups ( seymour duncan nashville studio lead and  fender CS strat neck PU) i was afraid that customers would have unreasonable expectations of the cleanup factor. oh well.

anyway, here is the demo of the aforementioned easyface with treble bleed. you can see me turn down the pregain and the result. all other dist. changes are form pick attack changes or vol on guitar.

[shawnee]

Awesome! When you say "hot" what kind of gain are you talking about? Also, is the silver mica cap a .002uF? Thanks.

[joegagan]

.001 in the guitar and .002 in the pedal. silver mica both times. on the guitar , it is adjustable via a 500k pot. i cannot tell you how awesome it is to have a controllable treble bleed right on the guitar. makes almost any fuzz or dist clean up like magic.

[joegagan]

hot to me means 125 to 140 hfe using Rg's method. after testing thousands of GEs i have rarely seen one go above 140 so i don't understand when ppl tell me they have a germ with a gain of 200. i think the testing methods are not always the same playing field.

by the way, most fuzzfactory germs are in this same 120 - 130 range, usually. i think there is some magic to that gain.

[shawnee]

Thanks Joe!!!

[joegagan]

oh, and by the way. small bear's testing method also coincides with the numbers i speak of. he lists a hot Ge at over 200hfe but for the most part he doesn't talk about gain numbers too much in the descriptions. however, the easyface set he sells guarantees at least 120 in the Ge, steve asked me the spec years ago.

[JakeFuzz]

Wow that fuzz sounds amazing Joe! is that a salvaged old FF case? Very cool. I really like your easy face design, the variable input cap thing has become my new favorite, I've been putting it in everything.

As for hot GE's you can check out DIYSB for really hot CV7112's (mentioned earlier in this thread). Aron quotes these around 500 for hfe but one of mine came in at 200 and the other around 60  I emailed him and he said it must have been one that slipped by. Oh well, i am sure his testing method is fine for the rest of the batch. 

[shawnee]

After reading and hearing the reports from the Fuzz masters around here, I am in the market for some CV7112's. So where should I get them? I can get a pair from smallbear in the "right" gain range for $26-$30, or DIYStompboxes for $8 each but no idea what the gains will be. I really want this particular tranny because it's an NPN, they are supposedly a little more consistent than some of the other germaniums, and you guys that know what you are talking about seem to love them. I want a matched pair and maybe a single to use for a si/Ge hybrid. Are there any other sources out there? I would be willing to go in a lot with you guys if there is one to be had.

[JakeFuzz]

After reading and hearing the reports from the Fuzz masters around here, I am in the market for some CV7112's. So where should I get them? I can get a pair from smallbear in the "right" gain range for $26-$30, or DIYStompboxes for $8 each but no idea what the gains will be. I really want this particular tranny because it's an NPN, they are supposedly a little more consistent than some of the other germaniums, and you guys that know what you are talking about seem to love them. I want a matched pair and maybe a single to use for a si/Ge hybrid. Are there any other sources out there? I would be willing to go in a lot with you guys if there is one to be had.

I would go to small bear for the matched set definitely. I have been searching forever for a good big batch of these and I haven't been able to locate a reliable source that is decently priced. Most parts mining places quote me from $8-16 a piece which is still no good for surplus buys. The thing about small bear is that he ships either OC140 or CV7112 and even though we say they are the same they are not really, the CV uses different semiconductor material. So it is pretty much luck of the draw when you're buying from SB, both are fantastic transistors though.

If you want just a single one for the hybrid fuzz I would say go with the DIYSB one. It is well priced. Even though he quotes the gain ranges as quite high you can flip the collector and emitter to get a different gain (how much different is really variable). And I find for hybrid fuzz you have a pretty wide range of options for the Ge (doesn't need to be as specific as a lower gain all Ge arrangement).

I have also recently been informed that DSI makes a new production version of the OC140. I knew they made OC81D's which were consistent but had very low gain. I have emailed their distributor to see what the full story is on those.

[shawnee]

Order from smallbear has been placed. I'll post what I got and the gains when they get here. Thanks everyone.