Page 1 of 1

BC183L

Posted: 08 May 2019, 14:45
by polifemo
Hi,

Lately I've gotten really into Fuzz Face building again which is lot's of fun.

I've got a great selection of transistors, both germanium and silicon, but this far I've been unable to get my hands on some BC183L's.

I've got both B's and C's (built a very nice BC183C FF today :-) but I'm curious about the L's.
Not that I expect something "magical" about them, but I'd love to try some
:-)
Anybody that got some that I could buy?

/Peter

Re: BC183L

Posted: 08 May 2019, 15:15
by tonyharker
Dont worry about it electrically they are the same - it usually means it is made by a different mfgr and some times the leads are a different orientation eg. instead of emitter base collector they are base collector emitter.

Re: BC183L

Posted: 08 May 2019, 15:35
by polifemo
Yes they do have a different orientation of the legs, but I'm still curious to try them out as they were used in the early silicon Fuzz Faces :-)

Re: BC183L

Posted: 09 May 2019, 15:53
by PokeyPete

Re: BC183L

Posted: 12 May 2019, 09:20
by Electric Warrior
polifemo wrote:Hi,

Lately I've gotten really into Fuzz Face building again which is lot's of fun.

I've got a great selection of transistors, both germanium and silicon, but this far I've been unable to get my hands on some BC183L's.

I've got both B's and C's (built a very nice BC183C FF today :-) but I'm curious about the L's.
Not that I expect something "magical" about them, but I'd love to try some
:-)
Anybody that got some that I could buy?

/Peter
Theoretically, the Ls are not pre-sorted for gains. The voltage readings I've seen of vintage BC183L units indicate high gain (comparable to BC108C), though.

As these were the first silicon type Dallas Arbiter used, the circuit board layout is designed for their pinout. As a result, all other silicon types that were used later on had to use a piece of insulation on one lead and the leads were awkwardly twisted.

BC183KA is another type that was used before they settled on BC108Cs. K is for another funky pinout and A indicates the gain bucket. Q2C should read significantly lower with these.
polifemo wrote:Yes they do have a different orientation of the legs, but I'm still curious to try them out as they were used in the early silicon Fuzz Faces :-)
As tonyharker said, the only different spec is the pinout.
It's unlikely you're gonna find the same exact type that Dallas Arbiter used back in the 60's. There are probably slight differences between transistors from different manufacturers.

Re: BC183L

Posted: 12 May 2019, 20:02
by PokeyPete
It's all in the chasing of mojo. I'll admit to doing it. I've had great fun running down the correct components and getting the circuit board just right.
But, I've also been mildly disappointed when plugging in and failing to do a convincing rendition of Gilmour, or Hendrix, or etc. The magic wasn't there.
The magic is in the artists we love. However, if David would swap his pedal for my reconstruction, I'd bet that the magic would be imparted and it
would sound glorious! :wink:

Re: BC183L

Posted: 18 May 2019, 20:38
by polifemo
Thanks for the replies guys!

/Peter