# Sell Me Some Transistors for a Tone Vendor?



## yazooligan (Nov 23, 2021)

1x OC75
2x 2C381 or 2SC381

Just want to wrap this one up. It’s been sitting on my bench otherwise populated for months. I’m in Nashville. Thanks.


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## Big Monk (Nov 23, 2021)

yazooligan said:


> 1x OC75
> 2x 2C381 or 2SC381
> 
> Just want to wrap this one up. It’s been sitting on my bench otherwise populated for months. I’m in Nashville. Thanks.



Your request is actually a bit more complex than it would seem. You'd have to find someone who has already matched and sorted the transistors for the MK I.

2C381 are RARE these days. OC75s are actually pretty easy to procure but are getting expensive.


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## peccary (Nov 23, 2021)

I wouldn't worry about finding the exact transistors but rather hitting the right gain and leakage numbers. Places like Pedal Hacker have a good selection and are a trusted seller and probably your best bet if looking to buy individual transistors. I'm not sure if the Small Bear store is still open but they would be a good resource as well.


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## Coda (Nov 23, 2021)

Which Tone Bender?…


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## Big Monk (Nov 23, 2021)

Coda said:


> Which Tone Bender?…



I inferred MK I from the transistor request.


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## yazooligan (Nov 23, 2021)

Big Monk said:


> I inferred MK I from the transistor request.


Correct.


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## yazooligan (Nov 23, 2021)

peccary said:


> I wouldn't worry about finding the exact transistors but rather hitting the right gain and leakage numbers. Places like Pedal Hacker have a good selection and are a trusted seller and probably your best bet if looking to buy individual transistors. I'm not sure if the Small Bear store is still open but they would be a good resource as well.


Am I looking for equivalents at Pedalhacker? I don’t see either of the ones from the build doc on their site. Smallbear is still open for now but I think they’re sold out of the ones on the build doc.


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## Coda (Nov 23, 2021)

yazooligan said:


> Am I looking for equivalents at Pedalhacker? I don’t see either of the ones from the build doc on their site. Smallbear is still open for now but I think they’re sold out of the ones on the build doc.


You won’t get MKI from Pedal Hacked. His Ge stock currently is low leakage Russian.


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## peccary (Nov 23, 2021)

Coda said:


> You won’t get MKI from Pedal Hacked. His Ge stock currently is low leakage Russian.


Thanks for the clarification. I just know they tend to have more GE in stock than other reputable places. Small Bear is really drying up the place, it seems.


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## Big Monk (Nov 23, 2021)

peccary said:


> Thanks for the clarification. I just know they tend to have more GE in stock than other reputable places. Small Bear is really drying up the place, it seems.



Everywhere is drying up. There are certainly some big caches of NOS devices still out there, as evidenced by some of the bigger hauls made by djlavalamp at R2R recently and of course many of the other reputable builders of British Fuzz, but the sources will continue to dry up for us Joe Schmoes as the availability decreases and sheer capItal required increases.


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## JamieJ (Nov 23, 2021)

I bought a collection of >200 old transistors from eBay and picked through them to find the correct spec’d gain and leakage for my tone bender build. It’s a bit of a pain but it’s a very picky circuit. I played it a bit tonight and it sounds immense so it’s definitely worth the effort!


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## yazooligan (Nov 23, 2021)

Fuck…what a bummer. Probably would have skipped that PCB if I’d known.


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## Coda (Nov 23, 2021)

yazooligan said:


> Fuck…what a bummer. Probably would have skipped that PCB if I’d known.


You can get it to work, but it’s a bit more effort. Leakey Ge isn’t really usable…except in certain circumstances. It just takes a bit of searching.


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## fig (Nov 23, 2021)

It can be worked the other way 'round.



			https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/ge-transistors.7474/post-89798
		







						Tone Vendor MKI HFE
					

Where can I buy the 2SC381 ??  Wich HFE I must use in Q1, Q2 and Q3??  Could I use three OC75 instead 2SC381 ?  Thank you all, is my first fuzz




					forum.pedalpcb.com


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## yazooligan (Dec 17, 2021)

I just got three MP-40A’s from eBay and the seller says they’re matched, so I’m gonna try to put all three in the Vendor and see what happens.


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## yazooligan (Dec 28, 2021)

yazooligan said:


> I just got three MP-40A’s from eBay and the seller says they’re matched, so I’m gonna try to put all three in the Vendor and see what happens.


It worked!


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## beat (Jan 19, 2022)

JamieJ said:


> I bought a collection of >200 old transistors from eBay and picked through them to find the correct spec’d gain and leakage for my tone bender build. It’s a bit of a pain but it’s a very picky circuit. I played it a bit tonight and it sounds immense so it’s definitely worth the effort!


What would you say is a good/bad ratio in buying in bulk?


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## yazooligan (Jan 19, 2022)

yazooligan said:


> It worked!


I’ve only tried putting in three MP-40A’s all with the same leakage. I might try switching in one or two with higher leakage to see if that affects the sound. As it is, the sound is very big and full, but not as high-gain as an original. You can max the volume and attack and still not have a ton of screeching feedback. Seems like an improvement over the original to me.


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