I'm experimenting with swapping transistors in a Mudbunny (BMP). Everyone talks about 2n5133's vs xyz tranny and so forth and also about the mystical hFE ratings. Does a higher hFE rating imply that its effect in the pedal will make it sound more saturated / distorted? OR does it relate to the overall loudness in terms of volume?
For example, I put 4 BC239C's in the Mudbunny and the distortion was sweet but I had to dime the volume on the pedal to get the volume where I needed. Unity was probably at 3 o'clock. Conversely I had some 2n2088's in there that sounded saturated (but not as nearly as sweet) AND unity volume was at about 10 o'clock on the volume knob.
Testing the hFE's on a digital multimeter with a hFE meauring feature put the 239's around 520 hFE across the 4 trannys. I realize this doesn't probably doesn't account for leakage. Perhaps this is the key element? For reference the 5088's were in the 450 hFE range.
Can anyone shed some light? Perhaps it's way more complex.
For example, I put 4 BC239C's in the Mudbunny and the distortion was sweet but I had to dime the volume on the pedal to get the volume where I needed. Unity was probably at 3 o'clock. Conversely I had some 2n2088's in there that sounded saturated (but not as nearly as sweet) AND unity volume was at about 10 o'clock on the volume knob.
Testing the hFE's on a digital multimeter with a hFE meauring feature put the 239's around 520 hFE across the 4 trannys. I realize this doesn't probably doesn't account for leakage. Perhaps this is the key element? For reference the 5088's were in the 450 hFE range.
Can anyone shed some light? Perhaps it's way more complex.