FS: Audited trios of Mullard AC-128K germs

Posts on strange stompboxes on ebay, old amps from a garage sale, new boutique businesses, great deals, all these topics go in here.
Post Reply
User avatar
lowbrow
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 51
Joined: 15 Jul 2009, 23:52
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by lowbrow »

Image

For sale, audited trios of NOS Mullard AC-128K germanium PNP transistors for Tonebender Professional MKII circuit (OC75 version). I'm asking $17.00 per set postage paid in the USA, paypal accepted. Overseas I'll need to add a little more to cover postage. First come first serve on which set you want. Contact me first (modellurker at yahoo dot com) to reserve a set, then I'll give you the payment info. PM is also fine, but I check my e-mail more regularly. I'm lowbrow on pretty much all the ideal/guitar and amp forums, and Indychamps on ebay. I've got a good trading history on Harmony Central and the gear page and 100% positive feedback on ebay.

I've breadboarded every set of these to test for sound, get an idea of bias voltage and trimmer resistance should be. I also cut one open just to have a peek inside...see photo above.

In the table below the sets are, more or less, arranged by gain buckets...highest is set #1, lowest is set #12. In the table below I list gain/leakage (microamps) then in the last column the Q2C voltage at full attack and the trimmer resistance I used to get there.

I use a 100K trimmer on the collector of Q2 and bias by ear. Basically, I put the transistors in their respective slots, crank the "Attack" knob all the way up and increase the resistance on the trimmer till the oscillation and noise go away. As such, my voltages tend to be a bit higher than many recommend, but when adjusted for a true 9 volt source (I was using 9.62 volts when I did this), they really aren't much more than the 7-7.5 a lot of folks like. You can bias these AC-128Ks lower, but it renders the very last bit of Attack knob too noisy to use.

I also tend to like less gain than a lot of people recommend. The old 65/75/110 guideline is fine, but you can get a sweet sounding MkII with less gain that that too. I've recorded a short clip of the set#12 to give an idea what I'm talking about. I don't think you give up a lot in tone, but you do sacrifice some of the overall level or volume. Even with gains in the 50s, though, you still have way more than unity on tap with this three gain stage circuit.

The clip was recorded with a Edirol handheld digital recorder placed about one foot in front of a stock late 80's Fender Champ 12, I was running from my start with DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge direct into my breadboard and then the amp. The amp is set very low in volume so I don't have to turn on the clipping and compression on the Edirol. At stage volume (which I also tested) the whole set-up is a darker and more complex. Some of the noise you hear is because it's all hanging out there on the breadboard.

At the start you can hear me dial in the bias by dialing out the oscillation and noise, then I murder a Pinstriped Clips riff at full Attack. From there I back the Attack off to about 50% and continue to launch clams for a couple minutes.

http://lowbroweffects.com/wp-content/up ... K_clip.mp3

Set Q1 Q2 Q3 Q2C/TRIM (source -9.62V)
1 73/336 83/344 142/429 -8.9/56k
2 67/427 82/368 110/328 -8.8/47k
3 64/469 81/412 104/441 -8.5/45k
4 64/291 80/279 98/328 -8.4/56k
5 62/271 80/251 94/388 -8.2/43k
6 62/275 77/279 89/730 -8.8/58k
7 60/243 77/283 88/518 -8.3/51k
8 60/283 74/437 87/400 -8.7/46k
9 60/255 74/384 88/416 -8.8/49k
10 53/311 73/279 84/315 -8.7/56k
11 50/303 57/259 70/291 -8.4/56k
12 53/311 54/255 55/251 -8.7/56k

User avatar
agoldoor
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 112
Joined: 26 May 2011, 04:37
Has thanked: 39 times
Been thanked: 21 times

Post by agoldoor »

I'd just like to vouch for lowbrow, specifically as it regards buying germanium transistors from him.

I've done two transistor purchases from him of considerable size, and the product he sent me was well-packed, exactly the era/brand/condition he described, and every single one of the transistors I bought from him were within the specs.

I can't say enough good things about lowbrow. He even patiently waited over a year for me to find some spare cash for a purchase of transistors, for which I'm incredibly grateful.

Buy with confidence!

User avatar
lowbrow
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 51
Joined: 15 Jul 2009, 23:52
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by lowbrow »

Thank you sir! :D

User avatar
lowbrow
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 51
Joined: 15 Jul 2009, 23:52
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by lowbrow »

Sets #1, 2 and 3 gone now.

User avatar
lowbrow
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 51
Joined: 15 Jul 2009, 23:52
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by lowbrow »

Sets 4, 5, 9, 11 & 12 gone now too.

User avatar
lowbrow
Breadboard Brother
Information
Posts: 51
Joined: 15 Jul 2009, 23:52
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Post by lowbrow »

Some new sets added and price drop…want to move these!
For sale, audited trios of NOS Mullard AC-128K germanium PNP transistors for Tonebender Professional MKII circuit (OC75 version)…they can, of course, also be used in Tonebender Mk1 or any other fuzz you may want to try. I think they sound quite good in a Fz-1 Maestro fuzz too. I'm asking $14.00 per set postage paid in the USA, paypal accepted. Overseas I'll need to add a little more to cover postage. Trades considered too.First come first serve on which set you want. Contact me first (modellurker at yahoo dot com) to reserve a set, then I'll give you the payment info. PM is also fine, but I check my e-mail more regularly. I'm lowbrow on pretty much all the ideal/guitar and amp forums, and Indychamps on ebay. I've got a good trading history on Harmony Central and the gear page and 100% positive feedback on ebay.


Set Q1 Q2 Q3 (source -9.62V)

6 62/275 77/279 89/320 (typo fixed)
7 60/243 77/283 88/518
8 60/283 74/437 87/400

10 53/311 73/279 84/315

13 69/340 78/388 93/429
14 69/336 76/316 91/405
15 65/247 75/227 83/352
16 63/243 73/295 81/344

Image

Post Reply