Interesting Pink Flesh Transistor Recommendations?

[squirrels]

So I've built three muffs in the last few months and was wondering in anyone had any suggestions for what to try out in a Pink Flesh? From what I understand proper 2N5133s are really tough to come by. Right now I have a set of 2N5088s in it all around 500 hFe. I was looking up what transistors were in vintage Muffs and BC239C came up a few times. I was wondering if anyone had used those before. I also have an Iron Bell with 5088s and a Mayonaise Mk. III with SE4021s (sounds amazing). I keep the Floyd fuzz on one board so I was hoping to keep the PF a little hotter than the Bell to compliment each other. The SE4021s were great in it and I may even do that but I was hoping to get a few opinions. Thanks.

[IvIark]

I quite like BC550C's in a muff or if you want something more exotic without paying 2N5133 prices, see if you can get any 2N5828.  They are fantastic in this circuit.

[rocket88]

BC549C, BC550C, BC239C, KT3102em, ME4003. there's a guy that sells sets of 2N5828 for big muff builds on ebay for $20 a set, and they are great, but at $5 a transistor i don't think i would do it again.

[squirrels]

Thanks for the suggestions. I saw the 5828s on eBay. A little too steep for me, I had a hard time getting myself to pay the $2.25 per transistor for the SE4021s but it was worth it. I'll check out the BC239s and 550C. I have the 550B from Tayda. Meh. I also didn't realize the BC109 came in different ranges, I need to drop some 109C in my Black Forest.

[IvIark]

Yes they're expensive comparatively, but looking at the bigger picture you'd still build a $500+ pedal for $30, and if you socket them you can always use them in another circuit somewhere down the line if you fancy a change

[squirrels]

Yeah, definitely a good point about the sockets and the price comparison in general. I ordered a some BC550C for the time being. Small Bear says gain about 800 or so. The SE4021s I have are between 775 and 850 and are phenomenal in the Mayonaise. I still find it crazy how a circuit can sound so different with just a few component swaps.

[squirrels]

First off the BC550C are awesome in the Pink Flesh. More gain and sustain than the 2N5088 and not as rough sounding.

Second, I wish I knew that there were variations on the same type of transistors when I first started because the BC109C turned the Black Forest into a beast. Thanks.

[Travis]

The BC550C tends to be my "standard" go-to for Big Muffs. They're readily available and usually sound great.

A lot of British-made Big Muff variants used BC184, that's another good one.