Emulating a Germanium PNP Transistor in Synthmaker or Flowst
Posted: Wed May 08, 2013 12:29 am
I had this great idea (at least it's great in my mind) that it would be pretty cool to create a Ruby module in Flowstone that emulated a PNP germanium transistor for the purpose of creating vintage guitar effect pedals like the Fuzz Face. It uses two of them, a few resistors and a couple of ceramic capacitors. It's really a simple design.
Once a module has been created it would be fairly easy to re-create a lof of vintage effects. Most of the effects of the 60's and 70's used germanium pnp transistors. All the old vintage synths had germanium transistors. So no matter how much you replicate the physics of a synth it won't sound the same as an actual synth because the germanium transistors added in colour and character which transcends the limits of the physics. The germanium transistor went out of production because it cost too much to produce and couldn't compete with the economical silicon transistor which used less energy and didn't produce any heat. But everyone knows, these just didn't sound as natural or as organic as germanium transistors. Germanium is actually a crystal that they grow in a laboratory. That's probably what gives it it's mojo.
Just think of the possibilities for endless sound tweaking. If you created a synth, you could warm up the tone and give it an organic colour by adding in the sound of real germanium transistors. If you created a basic digital delay or chorus effect, you could output the sound through a transistor pre-amp to give it that undefinable most loveable fat fuzzy warm tone. Plus the endless uses that people could come up with that's far beyond my imagination. Someone could even create highly advanced fuzz guitar effects that have never been heard before. Perhaps a combination analog delay/chorus fuzz effect?
A germanium transistor would be an amazing addition to Synthmaker or Flowstone. Don't you think?
On a side note:
You know it's possible to emulate the sound of a germanium transistor in the real world by using two ordinary silicon transistors? You cut off one of the collectors, tie the centre bases together and then put a 3k to 10k resistor between the emitter's of both transistors. You have to fine tune the resistance to find the sweet spot which is relative to the particular transistors you're using. Both transistors should be the same. This works really well. I tried this on an old DOD Overdrive pedal that lacked something. So just imagine that if you could experiment with a transistor like this that it would open up a lot of tonal possibilities. Perhaps you could have a switch between silicon and germanium? You could have a switch to control the input voltage.. that sort of thing. How someone would go about mimicking a germanium transistor is beyond my abilities. Someone like Trogluddite could probably do it. I wouldn't know where to begin.
Anyone out there with advanced Ruby skills able to tackle creating/emulating a PNP transistor? I think that the proof that it works properly would be to create the simple Fuzz Face pedal.
One last exciting idea to give you before I go. Any design that someone created in synthmaker or flowstone using a germanium or even a silicon transistor could be realistically produced in real life with a few hours of work with the soldering iron and a handful of parts purchased of the internet. This could result in some really great effect pedals.
cheers,
Grant
Once a module has been created it would be fairly easy to re-create a lof of vintage effects. Most of the effects of the 60's and 70's used germanium pnp transistors. All the old vintage synths had germanium transistors. So no matter how much you replicate the physics of a synth it won't sound the same as an actual synth because the germanium transistors added in colour and character which transcends the limits of the physics. The germanium transistor went out of production because it cost too much to produce and couldn't compete with the economical silicon transistor which used less energy and didn't produce any heat. But everyone knows, these just didn't sound as natural or as organic as germanium transistors. Germanium is actually a crystal that they grow in a laboratory. That's probably what gives it it's mojo.
Just think of the possibilities for endless sound tweaking. If you created a synth, you could warm up the tone and give it an organic colour by adding in the sound of real germanium transistors. If you created a basic digital delay or chorus effect, you could output the sound through a transistor pre-amp to give it that undefinable most loveable fat fuzzy warm tone. Plus the endless uses that people could come up with that's far beyond my imagination. Someone could even create highly advanced fuzz guitar effects that have never been heard before. Perhaps a combination analog delay/chorus fuzz effect?
A germanium transistor would be an amazing addition to Synthmaker or Flowstone. Don't you think?
On a side note:
You know it's possible to emulate the sound of a germanium transistor in the real world by using two ordinary silicon transistors? You cut off one of the collectors, tie the centre bases together and then put a 3k to 10k resistor between the emitter's of both transistors. You have to fine tune the resistance to find the sweet spot which is relative to the particular transistors you're using. Both transistors should be the same. This works really well. I tried this on an old DOD Overdrive pedal that lacked something. So just imagine that if you could experiment with a transistor like this that it would open up a lot of tonal possibilities. Perhaps you could have a switch between silicon and germanium? You could have a switch to control the input voltage.. that sort of thing. How someone would go about mimicking a germanium transistor is beyond my abilities. Someone like Trogluddite could probably do it. I wouldn't know where to begin.
Anyone out there with advanced Ruby skills able to tackle creating/emulating a PNP transistor? I think that the proof that it works properly would be to create the simple Fuzz Face pedal.
One last exciting idea to give you before I go. Any design that someone created in synthmaker or flowstone using a germanium or even a silicon transistor could be realistically produced in real life with a few hours of work with the soldering iron and a handful of parts purchased of the internet. This could result in some really great effect pedals.
cheers,
Grant