Russian germanium advice, where to get - in Russia...

[hammerheadmusicman]

So whilst on this long long residency. I made a Russian friend. A fellow guitarist. So we have exchanged emails etc.. He has said he is willing to get hold of stuff in Russia, and send it to me. So I was wondering,  does anyone know where to get germanium stuff from in Russia, maybe even Moscow. Also, what is the good stuff. As I haven't had too much experience with Ge mojo parts.

I know this is a strange post. But I thought some one here would know something.

Thanks!

George

[atreidesheir]

All anyone knows is probably ebay.

[stevie1556]

I know you can get GT308V on ebay from Russia. I've heard they sound great in fuzz faces, I've got some from Paul (chromesphere) to try out but haven't had a chance yet.

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[raulduke]

I bought a load of Russian Ge's on Ebay (including GT308V's) a while ago.

There is a thread on the forum if you search.

They certainly do make a good fuzz, but in my experience, are a little noisier than high quality European equivalents (Mullards, TI etc.).

+ the cost for a bag of 40 GT308's is about the same for one OC 75 

[hammerheadmusicman]

Interesting, what fuzzes did you use them in?

[Cortexturizer]

I have em in my fulltone 69 clone, as well in another fuzz face and they sound awesome. Very bassy and with very nice sustain, the cleanup sound is absolutely awesome. I have several left, I should try em in a bender type situation...once I get mine working

[hammerheadmusicman]

Sweet, might get some. Anyone ever used this seller?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141016908307

[DutchMF]

Hey Hammerhead, did some Googlin' today, as it is too hot to move right now  This is what I found: http://www.progtown.com/topic1026615-where-to-buy-resistors-moscow.html Their English is a bit funny (to say the least), but in the 7th response there are some links that might be useful. I also found some mentioning of a place called 'Radio Rynok Tsaritsyno' in Moscow and a chain of stores called Chip-n-Dip. Surely a fun way to test the Google Fu!

Paul

[atreidesheir]

chip'n'dip does not sound like Russian humor to me. 
But Dutch wins the prize for research this time.

[DutchMF]

chip'n'dip does not sound like Russian humor to me. 

Is there such a thing? 

But Dutch wins the prize for research this time.

Thanks! What is the prize, a set of Russian transistors?  Seriously, it was so hot here today, with a lot of humidity. Only thing to do was sit inside, don't move to much and do some Googlin'. It's almost 10:30 in the evening right now, and we just finished BBQ'n, finally a cool breeze! There's some spectacular thunder comin'.... 

[stevie1556]

There's some spectacular thunder comin'.... 

I've just been sitting in the flight deck of a plane for about 40 mins, saw some awesome thunderstorms in the distance, possibly over the Netherlands as it was in that direction! The way the clouds light up is crazy!

Saw venus as well, kept changing colour from between red, white, blue, green and yellow.

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[Gledison]

Hey, check it out chrimesphere youtube chanel! Paul has a series of videos showing russians trannies! Great stuff!! U can ask ur friend ti buy online! In Ucraine costs about 0,30 cents euro!

[chromesphere]

I'm like Dracula or something.  Whenever germanium transistors are spoken I came out of the shadows...

Russians.  Just like any series of transistor, they are hit and miss.  Some good, some not.  Some of the best I've had are the gt108v's (low leakage and 'modern' sounding though) GT309G (same as gt108v's except a bit older and leakier, and 'rougher' sounding) and the GT402b's (bullet shaped, really old school, nice frequency response!).  my 'best' are defined by leakage and hfe but most importantly, how the sound. Unfortunately though those are all but extinct.

The GT308V measures lower gain then the datasheet suggests, because your test conditions will be different to the manufacturers.  I think it was the collect current.  The transistor HFE doesn't ramp up until like 10ma or something, I cant remember exactly, suffice to say that if you measure them, they will be low (40-80, instead of 50-150 on datasheet).  But more importantly, how do they sound?  Pretty good actually!  They have a really nice frequency response, good mid-bottom end.  But...you gotta watch ESD.  If you even THINK about inserting them into your circuit the wrong way (or touching legs), bang.  Gone.  They are amazingly fragile so just be careful.

Why do I stock the GT308V cheaper then the ac125 if they sound just as good?  Unfortunately that comes back to the educated pedal builder.  As I mentioned in the last ge transistor thread I posted in, too much importance is placed on hfe, and builders just wont give them a chance...

Oh hey, might be a good thread to post this actually.  A germanium transistor comparison, for the fuzz face.  A couple of Russians in there:

Cheers
Paul

[Gledison]

I'm like Dracula or something.  Whenever germanium transistors are spoken I came out of the shadows...

Russians.  Just like any series of transistor, they are hit and miss.  Some good, some not.  Some of the best I've had are the gt108v's (low leakage and 'modern' sounding though) GT309G (same as gt108v's except a bit older and leakier, and 'rougher' sounding) and the GT402b's (bullet shaped, really old school, nice frequency response!).  my 'best' are defined by leakage and hfe but most importantly, how the sound. Unfortunately though those are all but extinct.

The GT308V measures lower gain then the datasheet suggests, because your test conditions will be different to the manufacturers.  I think it was the collect current.  The transistor HFE doesn't ramp up until like 1ma or something, I cant remember exactly, suffice to say that if you measure them, they will be low (40-80, instead of 50-150 on datasheet).  But more importantly, how do they sound?  Pretty good actually!  They have a really nice frequency response, good mid-bottom end.  But...you gotta watch ESD.  If you even THINK about inserting them into your circuit the wrong way (or touching legs), bang.  Gone.  They are amazingly fragile so just be careful.

Why do I stock the GT308V cheaper then the ac125 if they sound just as good?  Unfortunately that comes back to the educated pedal builder.  As I mentioned in the last ge transistor thread I posted in, too much importance is placed on hfe, and builders just wont give them a chance...

Oh hey, might be a good thread to post this actually.  A germanium transistor comparison, for the fuzz face.  A couple of Russians in there:

Cheers
Paul

Heheeh, hey Pau, just wrong ur nickname wrong. Crime sphere! Sorry for that! Maybe ur the germanium Criminal😜
Cheers

[pedalman]

Well, seeing that we all are ebaying from Russia . Anybody ever play with any of those rare diodes you see out there? I just figured if im going to order might as well get my shippings worth.