Imagine guitar pedals being about half the size and weight of a guitar amplifier head. A tube guitar amplifier is much like a simple guitar effect circuit with a power amplifier added to it to drive speakers. Before transistors, it was a world of tubes. In a sense, it was the availability of transistors that made small effect circuits possible. The first widely available transistors were built using germanium, decades ago. So let's start with some information about germanium transistors, since that gives flavor to many other topics. There are so many inter-related issues that we could discuss that it is difficult to find a good starting point. As we discuss the facts, you will see why there is so much debate about which transistors should be used in which effects. While we aren't going to weigh in on all those debates, we are going to present you with some facts to help guide you through the process of choosing different transistors, should you choose to do so. There are many beliefs and opinions, mixed with facts and partial truths regarding specific transistors in specific circuits. Once you select your transistor, it will be soldered in place and that aspect of your sound will become a permanent choice. However, unlike diodes that are often used in circuits, it is considerably more complicated to support "switchable" transistor options. Even simple swaps and swaps with simple tweaks can provide substantially different tones from the same circuit. That level of modification could easily result in what would effectively be a new circuit, requiring more options to be built into our boards than is feasible. We don't provide transistor options that require a lot of changes to the circuit. We'll focus on "interchangeable" that is a simple swap, or a simple swap with some simple adjustments. "Roughly" because some are simple substitutions, some may require some simple tweaks, but nearly all could be made to work in most circuits with a bit of work. We'll divide them into groups based roughly on their interchangeability in effects circuits. We're going to classify them in a rather unconventional manner. There are a number of different ways to classify transistors - by the technology used in their design, their construction, their purpose, and so on. Our purpose here is to provide some information so you can select customized transistors for some of our modules.
That's far too much to cover, interesting as it might be. We aren't going into the details of how transistors work or what they are doing in particular circuits. Sometimes they are used with other components to remove or boost various frequencies. Transistors are used in numerous ways in guitar effects. What Are Transistors Used for In Effects? Of course, tubes, transistors, and op amps are all still in use in guitar effects. And digital technologies replace op amps in some applications. Just as everything electronic gets replaced, op amps were a newer technology to replace transistors in many applications. In the world of guitar audio, they were at one point a new invention intended to replace old tube technology. Transistors are small electronic devices that can act either as switches or amplifiers.
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