1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

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1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by jeremyb »

Anyone know a reliable source to get actual germanium ones, especially older ones, seems like a lot of the ones you can buy online are actually just silicon / shottky... I need them for a Boss DS-2 to make it Japan spec toan wise.
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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by jeremyb »

Pretty confident they're not germanium, seems to be the case with a lot of the ones out there :(
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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by NippleWrestler »

It says germanium in the listing title and I've used them before with no ill effects. I'm not sure how I'd go about proving either way but after 10 years I've never had an issue with Tayda except for a couple of LEDs that were DOA.

There's no magic in diodes, if you find some with a similar/same vf then there'll be no discernible difference. You can adjust the knee of diodes with a resistor if you're into that to tailor the response. Schottkys have a vf of around 0.15v so if the datasheet for 34A says .25-.35v I think they'd be legit, or it's just a massively out of spec Schottky.

Or there's these: https://www.pedalhackerelectronics.com/ ... -10itt.htm

vf of those is around 0.25v which looks the ticket.

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by jeremyb »

NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:39 am It says germanium in the listing title and I've used them before with no ill effects. I'm not sure how I'd go about proving either way but after 10 years I've never had an issue with Tayda except for a couple of LEDs that were DOA.

There's no magic in diodes, if you find some with a similar/same vf then there'll be no discernible difference. You can adjust the knee of diodes with a resistor if you're into that to tailor the response. Schottkys have a vf of around 0.15v so if the datasheet for 34A says .25-.35v I think they'd be legit, or it's just a massively out of spec Schottky.

Or there's these: https://www.pedalhackerelectronics.com/ ... -10itt.htm

vf of those is around 0.25v which looks the ticket.
Hmmm might have to give something like that a try, thanks! :thumbup:

*edit* apart from the $35 USD shipping for a $7 item... :(
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by chur »

jeremyb wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:44 am
NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:39 am It says germanium in the listing title and I've used them before with no ill effects. I'm not sure how I'd go about proving either way but after 10 years I've never had an issue with Tayda except for a couple of LEDs that were DOA.

There's no magic in diodes, if you find some with a similar/same vf then there'll be no discernible difference. You can adjust the knee of diodes with a resistor if you're into that to tailor the response. Schottkys have a vf of around 0.15v so if the datasheet for 34A says .25-.35v I think they'd be legit, or it's just a massively out of spec Schottky.

Or there's these: https://www.pedalhackerelectronics.com/ ... -10itt.htm

vf of those is around 0.25v which looks the ticket.
Hmmm might have to give something like that a try, thanks! :thumbup:

*edit* apart from the $35 USD shipping for a $7 item... :(
I have a couple of the Tayda 1N34A units on the desk here from when I was experimenting with a socket in my pedal. Both read ~0.3v, so to me that seems genuine enough.. If you only need 2, you are more than welcome to these. (the legs have been cut, but not soldered)
No one ever died of hard work.. but why take the risk..

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by NippleWrestler »

Awesome. And if you want a couple of 4001, Bat46, 4148s, 5122s, just lemme know, there's an abundance round here.

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by jeremyb »

chur wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:52 am
jeremyb wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:44 am
NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:39 am It says germanium in the listing title and I've used them before with no ill effects. I'm not sure how I'd go about proving either way but after 10 years I've never had an issue with Tayda except for a couple of LEDs that were DOA.

There's no magic in diodes, if you find some with a similar/same vf then there'll be no discernible difference. You can adjust the knee of diodes with a resistor if you're into that to tailor the response. Schottkys have a vf of around 0.15v so if the datasheet for 34A says .25-.35v I think they'd be legit, or it's just a massively out of spec Schottky.

Or there's these: https://www.pedalhackerelectronics.com/ ... -10itt.htm

vf of those is around 0.25v which looks the ticket.
Hmmm might have to give something like that a try, thanks! :thumbup:

*edit* apart from the $35 USD shipping for a $7 item... :(
I have a couple of the Tayda 1N34A units on the desk here from when I was experimenting with a socket in my pedal. Both read ~0.3v, so to me that seems genuine enough.. If you only need 2, you are more than welcome to these. (the legs have been cut, but not soldered)
Dude! Yes please!! 2 would be perfect! *edit* I'll pm you about picking up some time that suits :)
Last edited by jeremyb on Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:59 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by jeremyb »

NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:53 am Awesome. And if you want a couple of 4001, Bat46, 4148s, 5122s, just lemme know, there's an abundance round here.
:oh: sounds interesting! Altho' from what I've read the 1N34A nails the japanese toan on the DS-2 to get the proper Frusciante experience :mrgreen:
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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by chur »

NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 9:53 am Awesome. And if you want a couple of 4001, Bat46, 4148s, 5122s, just lemme know, there's an abundance round here.
Supply of MA856 diodes ?? :think:
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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by NippleWrestler »

They've a vf of .75v so yeah I've got a few hundred things nearly identical. I've been using 4001s recently, they're a nice middle ground.

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by chur »

NippleWrestler wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 10:10 am They've a vf of .75v so yeah I've got a few hundred things nearly identical. I've been using 4001s recently, they're a nice middle ground.
All good, I ended up with some FDH900 and BA282 units for my KOT clone from Smallbear as I was ordering some other bits. They all kinda sound the same to me, some make the pedal slightly quieter or less crunchy than others and tweaking the gain pot tends to align them.
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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by sizzlingbadger »

The Vf voltages of some Schottky diodes are very similar to Germanium. The reverse polarity leakage current is much higher in real Germanium diodes when compared with Schottky. It's probably the best way to tell them apart when testing.

These do look like they could be real...

https://www.surplustronics.co.nz/produc ... nium-diode
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...

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Re: 1N34A Germanium Diodes Wanted

Post by jeremyb »

sizzlingbadger wrote: Thu Sep 03, 2020 11:31 am The Vf voltages of some Schottky diodes are very similar to Germanium. The reverse polarity leakage current is much higher in real Germanium diodes when compared with Schottky. It's probably the best way to tell them apart when testing.

These do look like they could be real...

https://www.surplustronics.co.nz/produc ... nium-diode
www.sicom.co.nz have 1N60 too but I've read they are a bit bassier when used as a clipping diode :( going for a very specific toan (fanboism).
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

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