Transistors and IC´s suggestion

[Gledison]

Hey mates.
I´ve got some 2N3904 and im wondering if i could substitute for most NPN transistors. In a Fuzz face Breadboard scheme from beavisaudio, a BC109 is suggested.
Could you recomend the most used Trannys as well the most used IC´s ? I want to have some in stock!
thanks in advance!

[Vallhagen]

TL072 and TL074 seems to show up in Everything i build.

2N5457, J201 and BS170 is my "stock FETs".

There are more of course, others may continue the list:)


... and no, these^^ have nothing to do with the fuzzface... but i think i got your question right:)

Cheers

[RobA]

You can use the 2N3904 for pretty much any small signal NPN position. That doesn't mean that you are going to like how it sounds there though, but then again, maybe you will. Go look at any thread on transistors for Big Muffs and you'll get the idea. Some circuits sound better with certain transistors and some sound better with others. Much of it is up to your ears and you just have to try them out. Typical NPN BJT's are 2N3904, 2N5088, BC549C, BC550C, BC107, BC108, BC109, and 2N2222 (although the 2N2222 is a bit different). The 2N3904 tends to get used in utility settings, switching, LFO buffers, etc.

OP Amps are even more varied than transistors. So many different uses and types, Audio, single supply, rail-to-rail, FET input, BJT input, etc. Sometimes you can sub in pretty much anything, and sometimes the circuit depends on some specific characteristics of a family of op amps.

[Gledison]

Great! Thanks a lot

[atreidesheir]

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Transistor-Pinouts/index.htm

[stevie1556]

I've saved that image. Thanks for that!

Sent from my thumbs using Tapatalk!

[midwayfair]

When you aren't dealing with distortion, most silicon transistors will sound indistinguishable at identical bias points. That last bit is important, and it's why plugging different ones in often results in a slightly different sound. The MPSA18 for instance will sound darker than the BC549C despite only a couple hundred Hfe difference ... until you bias them the same in a clean circuit, and often you can't tell the difference except for slight variations in total output.

The only other real considerations at that point are: What has good noise performance? Luckily it turns out that most of the common transistors are also quiet ones: BC5xx, BC10x, 2N508x, MPSA1x ... the reason these pop up in designs so often isn't just that they're easy to get, but rather that they're easy to get because they're good at their jobs.

If you're building a shopping list, what I would recommend is start looking for popular circuits, write down the transistors you see and the number of them you see, and then buy a handful of the top 5. You should be good for a while with those.

Once you get into germanium, your primary consideration is leakage. All bets are off if the leakage is unusable (note that some circuits like the Tone Bender or Percolator may require less than ideal leakage, however). After that, you MAY notice a difference in different transistors. Almost universally I find Russian NPNs to sound smoother and politer than black glass transistors, which sound growlier to me, at the same Hfe. Other people will (perhaps quite rightfully) say that the differences between transistors of the same gains and leakages are too minor to even think about because maybe you accidentally breathed on the transistor before putting it in the slot and now it's going to sound different anyway ...

[raulduke]

For what is worth I think 2N3904's can sound quite nice in a Fuzz Face based circuit.

Like all Fuzz Faces, testing them for gain/hfe (or socketing and selecting by ear) is important.

I built a Meathead clone a while ago (a well known Fuzz Face variant) using 2N3904's and it sounded great.

Silicon Fuzz Faces do have a different tone and feel to them in comparison to Germanium though; not worse or better, just different.

You will find 2N3904's will come in handy for a lot of things; just remember they are relatively low gain though (that transistor chart posted here is a really handy quick reference point).

[Gledison]

When you aren't dealing with distortion, most silicon transistors will sound indistinguishable at identical bias points. That last bit is important, and it's why plugging different ones in often results in a slightly different sound. The MPSA18 for instance will sound darker than the BC549C despite only a couple hundred Hfe difference ... until you bias them the same in a clean circuit, and often you can't tell the difference except for slight variations in total output.

The only other real considerations at that point are: What has good noise performance? Luckily it turns out that most of the common transistors are also quiet ones: BC5xx, BC10x, 2N508x, MPSA1x ... the reason these pop up in designs so often isn't just that they're easy to get, but rather that they're easy to get because they're good at their jobs.

If you're building a shopping list, what I would recommend is start looking for popular circuits, write down the transistors you see and the number of them you see, and then buy a handful of the top 5. You should be good for a while with those.

Once you get into germanium, your primary consideration is leakage. All bets are off if the leakage is unusable (note that some circuits like the Tone Bender or Percolator may require less than ideal leakage, however). After that, you MAY notice a difference in different transistors. Almost universally I find Russian NPNs to sound smoother and politer than black glass transistors, which sound growlier to me, at the same Hfe. Other people will (perhaps quite rightfully) say that the differences between transistors of the same gains and leakages are too minor to even think about because maybe you accidentally breathed on the transistor before putting it in the slot and now it's going to sound different anyway ...

Hi,
Regarding the BCs, what do you think about this:
B-Typen-SET100 je 25 St. BC546B BC547B BC556B BC557B
They can bue usefull? if found a good deal on this...
Cheers

[atreidesheir]

The newer 2n3904(from Tayda) is higher gain on ave IME.  My last batch all measured 295-305 hfe, all 100 of them!  Still within spec, extremely consistent, but no longer low gain really.