Pedal Modders Help Please!

[Bearded Fish]

I'm going to be doing the RK 5-Star Ge mod on my SD-1 shortly but I have a few preliminary questions that I wondered if anyone can put straight...

Firstly, the Ge transistor. Robert says "take a germanium transistor and use the Base-Emitter junction (legs) of the device and use it in place of D6". So what do I do with the other leg? Leave it unconnected or cut it off maybe? How do I know which leg is which?

He goes on to say "add 47pF cap across diodes in clipping section to smooth out distortion". Can anyone explain that in more detail? How do I do that exactly?

Finally, I'll be getting my caps from www.maplin.co.uk and I had a quick look for the stack metal film ones required but wasn't quite sure what was what. Could someone just confirm the type I need from that site?

If anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it. Cheers.

[bzimm]

You would just leave the other leg of the transistor floating (or you could trim it so it doesn't accidentally short out stuff near it). You will need the data sheet for the transistor to determine which leg is which. The transistor will have a flat side, that is the side you need to look at to get the part orientated properly. Then use the data sheet to find the base and emitter.

The site you linked to get the caps requires a membership so can't help you out with the cap. To perform the mod put the cap in parallel with one of the diodes in the clipping section.

[jabez]

Great DIY site: http://diystompboxes.com

[Tele-Bob]

The three legs of the transistor should be marked "B" "E" and "C"

Base

Emitter

Collector