Am I the only one.....

[Bucksears]

.....measuring hfe for Big Muff builds?

I just went through about 30 or so 2N5089G's, got four in the 840 range and my GGG-tune BMP is thick as hell! I've got a M_yo clone that I'm going to try them in next.
I know it's a lot of work to go through for such finicky specifics that side-by-side I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference in, but man they sound good.

[Nitefly182]

I measure them but its because Im usually working with 30 year old parts where the consistency wasn't all that great.

[Bucksears]

Yeah, the ranges I've found have been from the mid-500's to the mid 800's - that's only about 20 or so.

[jacobyjd]

lol....EHX never did, so why should I? 

I don't really test for anything measurable, but I do check things out with my audio probe on the breadboard.

[Mark Hammer]

True, they didn't, but changes to transistor type over the years appears to have at least some relation to sonic preferences.  I've made several BMPs using the identical schematic (no fancy mods for this boy), and basically the only thing differentiating them is transistor type.  Those "button-style" 2N5088s, with the hfe readings over 800 put the thing over the top.  You have to practically turn the Sustain knob down to 8:00 to NOT get searing thick stuff.

[DougH]

Might be fun to try some low-gain 2n2222's for it, just for comparison.

[Bucksears]

True, they didn't, but changes to transistor type over the years appears to have at least some relation to sonic preferences.  I've made several BMPs using the identical schematic (no fancy mods for this boy), and basically the only thing differentiating them is transistor type.  Those "button-style" 2N5088s, with the hfe readings over 800 put the thing over the top.  You have to practically turn the Sustain knob down to 8:00 to NOT get searing thick stuff.

There's a pretty cool listing on the 'other' site (in the M_yo thread) where this guy listed about five or six different transistor quads & their respective hfe, then listed the sonic differences between them and listed his favorites. I'm narrowing them down to BC183C or BC550C for one, 5089's or 550C for another and 2N5088 (as high hfe as I can find) for another.
Those 800+ 2N5089's that I have in there right now are almost too much, but DAMN, it sustains forever......(I'm at work right now at it's still at home sustaining)

Those 'button-style' 2N5088's, I think I've seen those in another pic and they ARE supposed to be the bee's knees.

[Mark Hammer]

I don't know if they are the bee's knees, and I certainly didn't seek them out (they were just what the store had in the parts bin).  But the ones in mine certainly play very nicely with all the other component values.

[oliphaunt]

Am I the only one....  who likes low gain transistors in the Big Muff   
I have measured most all of the transistors that I have put in a couple of Muffs I have built, and by far I prefer the sound of some generally very low gain (often under 100) 2N5133.