Germanium performance and heat

[Hutzbordello]

I read in Guitar Player magazine that germanium tends to not perform as well when its hot out. Im not sure as to which temperatures this starts to happen under, but ive been thinking about a good silicon fuzz to replace my fuzz factory if i had to play with it being really hot.

so

a) anyone with any more info on how germanium works under heat?

b) best for the money silicon fuzz pedal you can think of

thanks

[bongomania]

Telenordia/Tortenmann germanium-gain pedals actually come with a warning that they will shut down temporarily if you leave them in bright sunlight for an extended time, resuming normal operation once they've cooled off. "How long" of a time or "how bright/hot" of a day, hard to say, it will vary widely. But as a rough guideline you might think if it's really hot out, don't bring the pedal at all; if it's moderately hot or bright, just try to keep the pedal out of the sun.

As to the best silicon fuzz, they are legion. Check out BassFuzz.com or any of the 17,000,000,000 threads we have about fuzzes. Most fuzzes are not germanium based.

[Hutzbordello]

lol yea i should have asked which silicon fuzz was best for metal

as always bongo thanks for the info!

[rratajski]

A muff-based pedal is doomy for metal or a rat (not rat2).
Most metal dudes play clean though.

What do you want your tone to be like? Examples?

[bongomania]

I'm pretty sure "best for metal" was a self-deprecating joke.

[Duke21]

Lucky me!! My Onkart Gromt Grombass pedal have 3 diodes. Germanium, LED and Silicium, so I can always switch to one of the other diodes if the Germanium runs too hot..
Any way, the Germanium diode is my least favorite, as I tend to use the Led or the Silicium often.