Emma Transmorgrifier transistors

[snk]

Hello,
I have finished building an Emma Transmorgrifier compressor, but just when i am ready to socket the transistors and play with it, i realized that i don't have any of the BC549C anymore 
However, I have some BC549B as well as BC547, which seem to be worthwhile replacement in some circuits... Do you think that in the context of the Transmorgrifier it would work accordingly using either BC549B or BC547 as dropin replacements (at least for testing purposes, before i order and receive BC549C ?

[snk]

I found this :

The BC549 can be replaced by a BC550; both are Low Noise general purpose types. Or a BC549B or a BC549C or a BC550C.
The BC546, BC547, and BC548 are general purpose and very similar to the BC549 (they are all part of the "BC108 family"), but if a design has a BC549 specified it will be because they want low noise and/or high gain (hFE). Each BC549 and BC550 comes off the production line tested to have a low noise, and although the gain could be anywhere from 240 to 900 they are, on average, higher gain than a BC547 or BC548. If the designer actually needed a current gain in a tighter range they could have specified a BC549C (for hFE=450 to 900), but even so, some BC547 and BC548 transistors you buy could have gains as low as 125, so you'd want to avoid them for that reason as well.
The maximum power and current ratings of BC546 to BC550 are all the same, e.g. Ic<=100mA average (some manufacturers do specify more, but don't rely on it) but the voltage ratings vary - the BC549 has the lowest voltage rating so many transistors (BC547, 2N2222A, etc... but beware some have different pinouts) might work in a circuit in place of a BC549 without "blowing up", but the circuit's performance could be worse than it should be.
I'd stick with a BC549 because they are still easy to buy and good value, otherwise an BC550.

https://www.quora.com/What-can-I-use-in-the-replacement-of-a-BC549-transistor

[snk]

I tried with the 549B i had, and it gives me only distorsion. Either my build is faulty, or the out of specs transistors drive the compressor too much ?
I guess I should better wait for the 549C to arrive

[snk]

Happy Ending : I was the victim of a doggy CA3080 chip, but now the circuit works.

[iainpunk]

dodgy as in fake or as in broken?

i'm so glad that all my 3080's were pre-owned by my great-uncle, who bought them in the late 70's

cheers

[snk]

I couldn't tell for sure, but i'd say fake :
- I had two 3080 lying around in a non antistatic bag, without any sticker mentionning the IC name or the provider. I think I got these from Ebay for cheap. I never had any problem with components from Ebay until now (but I don't order often on Ebay).
- all I could get from my Transmorgrifier compressor was loud distortion. When I measured the pins voltage, I noticed I had 6.8V at the pins 1 & 8... which were not connected to the circuit (and should have measured 0V if i'm correct).
- I tried with the both 3080 I had : same result.
- I made a adapterboard, and plugged a LM13700 : it worked immediately.