# Substitute for...you guessed it, NKT275



## joelorigo

Hi,
Sorry in advance. I'm wanting to build the Sunflower. I'm still new to all this so I'm sure this is been discussed ad nauseam, but what to use if I can't get hold of 2 NKT275 transistors? 

Pedal Hacker currently has a bunch of these:








						GY102 Germanium Diode in Metal Case RFT
					

GY102 Germanium Diode in Metal Case RFT



					www.pedalhackerelectronics.com


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## Nostradoomus

Those are diodes, so no that wouldn’t work. What you want to do is go on eBay or something and get a bag of 20 or so PNP Germanium transistors. Solder sockets into your transistor pads and swap them out until you find the sound you’re after. Or buy a tested set of fuzz face transistors from pedalhacker or smallbear if you want it to be right the first time. It really doesn’t matter what kind of transistors you use as long as they are PNP Germaniums. You’re looking for around 70-80HFE for Q1 and 80-100 for Q2.


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## joelorigo

Thanks for the fast response!


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## tcpoint

joelorigo said:


> Hi,
> Sorry in advance. I'm wanting to build the Sunflower. I'm still new to all this so I'm sure this is been discussed ad nauseam, but what to use if I can't get hold of 2 NKT275 transistors?
> 
> Pedal Hacker currently has a bunch of these:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GY102 Germanium Diode in Metal Case RFT
> 
> 
> GY102 Germanium Diode in Metal Case RFT
> 
> 
> 
> www.pedalhackerelectronics.com


Those are diodes.  I just built a sunlion (sunface + Beano).  I used a reissue NKT 275 for Q1 and an ASX12D for Q2 and it sounds awesome.  HFE were 80 and 117, respectively.


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## joelorigo

Nostradoomus said:


> Those are diodes, so no that wouldn’t work. What you want to do is go on eBay or something and get a bag of 20 or so PNP Germanium transistors. Solder sockets into your transistor pads and swap them out until you find the sound you’re after. Or buy a tested set of fuzz face transistors from pedalhacker or smallbear if you want it to be right the first time. It really doesn’t matter what kind of transistors you use as long as they are PNP Germaniums. You’re looking for around 70-80HFE for Q1 and 80-100 for Q2.


I was just searching around for these. A question. I see a pair labeled "High Gain." hFE 151-200









						2N1307 Germanium PNP Transistor High Gain Pair | Reverb
					

One pair NOS 2N1307 Germanium PNP Transistors for vintage circuits. GREAT in vintage fuzz and boost pedals.  High Gain Selected Pair. Selected 1 at 151 to 200 hFE Selected 1 at >200 hFE Transistors will be labeled with hFE rating. 100 to 200 hFE is the typical range for this transistor (m...




					reverb.com
				




What would be the situation of using higher or lower hFE ratings?


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## tcpoint

Those are too high of gain (depending on taste) for a traditional fuzz face.  Try a couple of these. asx12d If those don't work for you, hit me up for a couple of Russian transistors. Put the lower hfe in Q1.


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## music6000

572TKN Reverse Engineered if you can find them!!!

Seriously, I used ASY36S PNP Transistor - PNP1- hfe 74, PNP2 - hfe 134  In PedalPCB Twin Face Build, Sounds Great!:





						Twin Face
					

A Cool 2 in 1 Fuzz Face Pedal! Mods : Stereo Input Jack & Battery.             PedalPCB PedalBlock Tone Control with Alpha 12mm Pot. Increased R3 & R7 Resistors - 470R to 1K as suggested by Chuck D. Bones to compensate Volume loss.             ASY36S PNP Transistor - PNP1- hfe 74, PNP2 - hfe...



					forum.pedalpcb.com


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## Bobbyd67

If you are new to germanium transistors and your already shopping on eBay for those get a 328 transistor tester









						GM328 Transistor Tester Diode Cap ESR Volt Freq Meter PWM Signal Generator DIY    | eBay
					

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GM328 Transistor Tester Diode Cap ESR Volt Freq Meter PWM Signal Generator DIY   at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



					www.ebay.ca
				




If you use a digital multimeter the hfe on germanium won't be good. Those 328 will also give you the pinout and leakage .


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## Travis

Can I use this for a sunflower? Thanks




			AC128 :: Germanium Transistors :: Transistors :: Semiconductors :: Electronic Parts :: Banzai Music GmbH


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## caiofilipini

Yes, you can. Quite a classic transistor for PNP fuzz faces, in fact, just beware of hFE and leakage, as others have pointed out.


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## music6000

RCZ said:


> Can I use this for a sunflower? Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AC128 :: Germanium Transistors :: Transistors :: Semiconductors :: Electronic Parts :: Banzai Music GmbH


Rare as Hens Teeth, Are they genuine AC128, What is hFE & Leakage
PNP1 hFE 70 - 80
PNP2  hFE 110 - 135


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## beat

tcpoint said:


> Those are diodes.  I just built a sunlion (sunface + Beano).  I used a reissue NKT 275 for Q1 and an ASX12D for Q2 and it sounds awesome.  HFE were 80 and 117, respectively.


Hi, did you build a sunlion from a pcb? I’ve been looking around I really want to build one or maybe even try to get a real and Someday but haven’t come up with much as a clone.


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## Diynot

I haven’t seen one on a single pcb, but you can totally just use the sunflower and rangefinder boards with an order switcher in a 1590bb


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## joelorigo

I bought a CMC Electronics Sunlion clone on Reverb.com. It even has a switch where you can select the order of the pedals. Sounds pretty damn similar when I compared the booster side to my Keeley Java and the Sunface side to a couple of Fuzz Face type pedals - including the battery power only PedalPCB Sunflower I built.


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## tcpoint




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## tcpoint

I, also, have a rev 1 board.  Slightly different layout and no order switcher.  (Maybe one day, I'll build another one).  It sounds really good.


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## joelorigo

tcpoint said:


> View attachment 20865
> 
> View attachment 20866


Sweet! What pcb is that? 
EDIT: Oh I see, Black Horse Effects.


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## Crispy

im building my Sunface /Sunflower with GT402V both around 100  hfe, all tho ive tested a few different of these with different hfe they all sound awesome. im new to this and really have no idea how these sound next to the NKT but i was so pleased with the sound of my GT402v i took a little red fingernail polish and gave them a red dot


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## HamishR

I recently built a Sunface for a friend with NPN MP38s. It worked really well with the first two transistors i tried. I think the hfes were around 40 and 60, with leakage under 1mA. Surprisingly quiet but with good range and a lovely vocal tone. It was a total fluke - probably the best Ge FF I've built!


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