Transistor removal...

[peAk]

So I just finished the Mudbunny Mayo build and while everything went smooth, I noticed that it just didn't have enough distortion and was really missing that "Muff" sound.

So after a little forum searching, I realized that the BC550s are actually mounted opposite of the PCB graphic layout. I assumed (stupid,  stupid me) they mounted per the pcb graphic since the note in the build document just mentioned the BC549C as having a reverse mount.

Anyway, I didn't socket them, again...stupid me, so do you think I just just clip them high up and then heat & pull the leads out one by one? Or should I even attempt to pull all (4) transistors out and try and save them? I have removed capacitors before by doing the "rocking" method but that seems to be much easier with two leads rather than a 3 lead transistor.

thoughts?

[Betty Wont]

i'd clip them high and heat out the leads, then use sockets to fudge back into the dirty holes. Just don't spend too much time with heat on the pads. After I'm satisfied with all my socketed components in a finished build i then tack down the middle lead of each transister to its socket for stability and ease of removal later if something changes.