Russian Germaniums?

[sgmezei]

Hey guys, I am thinking about some of these:
GT108v
GT308's I know there has been talk of these
MP38
MP39

Anybody know any horror stories with this seller or these trannys?

gordeluxe04
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GT108V-Germanium-PNP-Transistors-USSR-1990S-QTY-50-/160588085065?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2563cbb749
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Germanium-PNP-Transistors-GT308A-USSR-1980s-QTY-50-/310319299641?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D5%26pmod%3D310319330642%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6036787773783322824

[JakeFuzz]

Yeah i've purchased transistors from that seller. Bought 50 IT308B's, they came as described in an unopened box with datasheets and all. Gains could have been higher but I am finding uses for them all over the place, honestly these are the trannies that sound oddly good for having gains in the 50's range (see my Russian germanium fuzz soundclip in the demo section).

As for the seller, if you search through the big germanium transistor thread over at FSB they talk about him. Some people have problems communicating with him. The majority of the transistors apparently never fall within the quoted range on the data sheets and the seller denies that it is possible. I've actually heard this story from more than one person. He says something like "you think you are smarter than Russian military scientist?" and then proceeds to call our dc gain testers "kindergarten" or something to that regard. If you ignore the datasheets and just go off of the gains people have been reporting, you should be fine. I bought 50 IT308B's (GT308V) and they all had DC gains in the 50's with the exception of maybe 3 in the 60's and 70's. I may buy another batch from him in the near future. They are pretty much my favorite PNP transistor for Q1 FF, they sound very midrangey.

[sgmezei]

Cool, thanks Paul, that was what I was looking for.

Would you recommend any other items from this seller?

I am looking at the gt108v, I think this should be similiar to the 308's you got right?

[JakeFuzz]

I've heard the best stories about the GT308, GT108 and the GT402's. I can't say for sure because I've only ever bought the GT308s and a small batch of GT309s (which were horrible BTW). You can find the models with the highest gain for each series but the real question is what percentage of them have useable gains?  Let me know how many good 108's you get out of the batch if you decide to go that way. I would be very interested in finding out.

[gtr2]

The IT309E's I have sound pretty dang good.  With gains just right for FF's.

THe bonamassa fuzz uses the gt309's

Josh

[sgmezei]

Guess what I got today......

[JakeFuzz]

Beautiful! That is going to be super fun testing all of those! Let me know how the gains are.

[jimmybjj]

Nice! Let us know what kinda gains you are getting.

[sgmezei]

Okay so here is what I got for my GT402E.
The third number is the Hfe

        1.   0.16, 1.01,  85
   2.   0.28, 1.27,  99
   3.   0.30, 1.82,  152
   4.   0.20, 1.23,  103
   5.   0.10, 0.89,  79
   6.   0.30, 1.52,  122
   7.   0.23, 1.04,   81
   8.   0.32, 1.81,  149
   9.   0.20, 1.15,  95
   10.   0.68, 1.71,  103
   11.   0.25, 1.15,  90
   12.   0.49, 1.86,  137
   13.   0.21, 0.98,  77
   14.   0.28, 1.61,  133
   15.   0.24, 1.05,  81
   16.   0.40, 1.60,  120
   17.   0.26, 1.43,  117
   18.   0.48, 1.53,  105
   19.   0.29, 1.27,  98
   20.   2.14, 3.78,  bad bad bad

[JakeFuzz]

What!?!?!?  Those are awesome gains. I need to pick me up a batch of those. Think I could buy a few from you to see how they sound in a FF circuit?

[jimmybjj]

Wow those are great numbers. 19 out of 20 is awesome.Might have to pick some up.

[sgmezei]

Here is a spreadsheet of what I got.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiuJFraWqwPxdDdUNE5fdmRuSE95S28tc2p0ZlJ0VWc

[juansolo]

Bloody hell, couldn't get much more perfect than that!

[JakeFuzz]

Awesome! Just ordered up a box of 100 GT108V's. With a lower voltage bias on Q2 I am getting that incredible sustain, violin type fuzz sound. That yield rate is too good to pass up, exciting! Ill report my values when they get here as well.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Wow, those are all pretty much right on the money! I should try and get myself a box as well...