Will someone break down the silicon/germanium fuzz thing for me.

[Loobster]

I never know which fuzzes are silicon, which are germanium. Also, what are the general characteristics of each, if that can be answered? Silicon is harsher and more modern sounding right?

[Kikaruu]

 

I never know which fuzzes are silicon, which are germanium. Also, what are the general characteristics of each, if that can be answered? Silicon is harsher and more modern sounding right?

 

 

..:I'd also like an answer. I've been wanting to ask this ever since someone said putting your pedals in the icebox was good for germanium fuzz.

[IvIark]

Silicon is harsher and germanium is warmer if you were generalising characteristics. Germanium is also more temperamental and does have optimal operating temperatures but differences because of this are so subtle it's hardly worth worrying about. Silicon is generally more stable and so you can virtually guarantee a particular sound whereas with germanium there are sound differences when using different transistors even from the same batch.

 

If you can get good germanium transistors then you're on a winner. The AC187's make great npn fuzzes and boosters, and seem to be less hit and miss than some other more widely used transistors like the AC128.

 

One pain in the arse about germanium is that the positive ground circuits that use a transistor like the AC128 usually need their own power supplies unless you're using an individually isolated supply like the PP2+

[Caesar]

In my opinion, germanium fuzz is a little darker and more muddy. Slilcon fuzz is brighter. I've been digging the Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Silicon Fuzz Face Reissue. It doesn't seem harsh to me. Just brighter. It's easy to roll back the guitar volume and get a natural sounding distortion.

 

They are different tones. It just depends on which one you're shooting for.

[pinkzep52]

Silicon = brighter, harsher, high gain, stable, consistant and more sustain

 

Germanium = warmer, muddy, lower gain, reactant to temperature, inconsistant, cleans up better, blends better with an overdriven amp imo

 

Most 60s vintage fuzzes were all germanium as that's what they used at the time. This includes tonebenders, 60s germanium fuzz faces, meastro fuzz tones, the list goes on

 

Around the late 60s and early 70s silicon fuzzes were introduced. So any fuzz faces from the 70s would probably be silicon, big muffs, jordan bosstones, etc.

 

Imo i like silicon better as germanium sounds to warm, muddy, and lack sustain to me. I love the sizzling hot sustain i get from my Monsterpiece NPN which is a fuzz face clone with BC108 silicon transitors. However a lot of purists claim germanium to be the optimum transistor for fuzzes so now they show up quite often in boutique clones.

[Collapse]

Depends on the circuit, but Ge is more susceptible to temperature variations.

[Kikaruu]

One: I love your avatar, Caesar.

 

Two: If I used a Germanium fuzz, it wouldn't matter (to most people) if I used it in the life of winter of the dead of desert, but there'd be a slight difference?

[MightyThor]

I never thought I'd see the words warmer and transistor in the same sentence.

[Liberty Belle]

 

I never know which fuzzes are silicon, which are germanium. Also, what are the general characteristics of each, if that can be answered? Silicon is harsher and more modern sounding right?

 

 

i dunno why the {censored} people say silicon is "harsh" as we all know its not.

its not harsh by any definition.

[Bruno]

 

i dunno why the {censored} people say silicon is "harsh" as we all know its not. its not harsh by any definition.

 

 

I agree with you on this one my man.

 

Silicon Fuzz Face have more gain to me and are a bit smoother sounding........

[pepperduck]

^^^I agree.

 

I think my Fulltone Ultimate Octave sounds very smooth. (In the "Fat" setting.)

[MakuseruSukotto]

 

If you can get good germanium transistors then you're on a winner. The AC187's make great npn fuzzes and boosters, and seem to be less hit and miss than some other more widely used transistors like the AC128.

 

so if i was building something that needed AC128's could i use a AC187 instead?

[IvIark]

 

so if i was building something that needed AC128's could i use a AC187 instead?

 

 

Yes but you'd need to find or design an equivalent NPN circuit. You can find NPN schematics of quite a lot of the famous Ge effects.

[echodeluxe]

unless you are in the arctic/on the sun, germanium shouldnt have any noticable tonal changes. under testing in a controlled environment, yeah there is a difference. but not in a real world situation.

 

good responses though, everyone has pretty much nailed it.

[Loobster]

Cool. So a muff is gonna be silicon? What's a fuzz factory? Ge?

[kyrreca]

Yeah, the Fuzz Factory is germanium.

[Orwell]

Germanium - Warm, dark, and very tempermental when it comes to huge differences in temperature. Think Page, Hendrix, and early Gilmour.

 

Silicon - Snarly, brighter compared to Ge, consistent. Think Corgan, White, and later Gilmour.

[analogmike]

See my fuzzface page for more info and sound samples of both. Got a great germanium sample from Jon Butcher last week:

 

http://www.mikepiera.com/samples/jonnkt1.mp3