My most successful post on this blog until now has been the use of Schottky diodes to replace germanium diodes on distortion guitar pedals:
Schottky diodes are widely available in SMD format as low forward voltage rectifiying diodes, which is the main characteristic shared with the very rare and obsolete germanium diodes that are difficult to find nowadays (NOS = New Old Stock).
But the other characteristic that make germanium diodes the device of choice for overdrive and distortion in legendary pedals as the Klon Centaur is the soft change in the IV curve that generates more even harmonics and a distortion that is more pleasing to the ears than the sharp IV curve typical of silicon, and Schottky diodes for the matter.
My main reivindication on that blog post was that by combining a Schottky diode with a series resistor we can get both charactesitics of the germanium diode: the low forward voltage and the soft IV curve.
But why the Schottky diode is called like that? The obvious reason is that it takes its name from its inventor: Walter Schottky. As an homage to him here it is an interesting article about Walter Schottky, his biography and his many contributions to electronics. I didn't know that he also had inventions related to vacuum tubes (or electronic valves) and audio: he developed with Erwin Gerlach the first ribbon microphone.
Enjoy:
