Aion Aperture... Little to no gain?

I'm assuming this is an easy question, but here goes... how do you determine the proper voltage at the transistor pins of a given circuit? Is it a formula or would it be on the datasheet for that component? I've read a few forum posts where the person posing the query is asked to provide voltage details, but those who respond don't give any indication as to how they came about the correct figures. (again, apologies if this is a dumb question).

Just put together the Aion Aperture, but after plugging in I'm getting a definite volume boost when turning that pot, LED lights, the "balance" seems to increase the output too but nothing from the "texture" pot. Signal passes but when engaged it's still super clean.

I checked and double checked all resistor values (a similar thing happened to me with a Moonn build that ended up being an incorrect resistor value on the BOM) and they look good. Caps all measuring within a reasonable amount. Not seeing any bridges... my next guess is either the 2n3904s or MPSA14s aren't at the correct specs. But how do I determine what they should be? I read Big Monk's Aperture saga a few times now, but I think my issues are a bit different.

Any pointers are very much appreciated!

Aperture_Top.jpg
Aperture_Bottom.jpg
Aperture_Under Balance.jpg
Aperture_Under Balance 2.jpg
 
Well, @KR Sound was right. Fired right up after moving Q3 over one pad. I wish all of these were that simple!

But going back to my other question... how to determine the correct voltage at each of the transistor pins. Is it as simple as RTDSS (read the data sheet, stupid)? Or is there a formula that I should be following?
 
It's a whole theory. Not really something that can be explained in a few posts, though I'm sure someone could. It includes the data sheets, understanding transistor function and biasing, and how everything interacts. And Math! Math is the language of electronics. In DIY, unfortunately, there's not a lot of math.
 
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