Fulltone Fat Boost distorts?! too much gain from trannieS!?

[Renegadrian]

I built some FB in those years, the last one I just finished has a helluva gain, it distorts heavily!!! I checked everything and it's fine, component and layout-wise, maybe the 2n5457 can give too much of a difference?! The one before boosted as it should...this is waaaaaay too much...Should I try with sockets?! (I soldered them directly...)

[Der Groovemeister]

I always use sockets for trannies. Easier for testing and troubleshooting. They never fall out! And not all trannies are equal even if their name the same. Sometimes there's a bad one.