I always wondered what Santa does in his off season: he builds pedals while masquerading online under the pseudonym "Fig".
C'mon Fig, stop mucking about with pedals and start prepping for Christmas — my niece and nephew will each be six (twins), and have been good, well the niece for sure and the nephew mostly... For myself, well the usual coal in stocking will suffice. At least this coming season I can use it to keep warm...
I had to make do with that saddle aftermarket along with the sissy bar and handlebars. Alas, my bike was later stolen, or I'd be one of those adults riding his "lowrider" bike around car shows...
My bike was the other way around. Classic "dragster" frame ala Schwinn, 20" rear wheel and a 26" front wheel. Made it out of parts over a few months and rode it everywhere. Sprayed it matt black, it had a low rise sissy bar and handlebars - never cared for ape-hangers.
Now all these years later I have a Triumph Bonneville in matt black and M-bars. Some things never change!
And for what it's worth I've used BC550Cs and BC549Cs as subs for each other and never really noticed any difference. Same with 2N5088s and 2N5089s. I bought stacks of the BCs from Mouser - they may still have them.
Huge huge mega thanks to Fig for sending me all of these chips!! So cool and kind. I just got my 5 PCB from PedalPcb yesterday along with my big $100 tayda order. I paid for FedEx and got my tayda package IN TWO DAYS!!! THANKS AGAIN FIG. SO COOL OF U.
My bike was the other way around. Classic "dragster" frame ala Schwinn, 20" rear wheel and a 26" front wheel. Made it out of parts over a few months and rode it everywhere. Sprayed it matt black, it had a low rise sissy bar and handlebars - never cared for ape-hangers.
Now all these years later I have a Triumph Bonneville in matt black and M-bars. Some things never change!
And for what it's worth I've used BC550Cs and BC549Cs as subs for each other and never really noticed any difference. Same with 2N5088s and 2N5089s. I bought stacks of the BCs from Mouser - they may still have them.
BC550 & 549 are both selected for low-noise, so you won't notice a difference, especially with a guitar pedal. Where you are more likely to notice a difference is between A/B/C hFE (gain) classification, and it would only affect circuits that rely on that particular gain range.
In general, BC546/547/548/549/550 are all interchangeable as long as the A/B/C gain bin is the same. The exceptions would be:
High voltage (>30V Collector to Emitter) - BC546 up to 65V, or BC547/550 up to 45V
Need lowest noise - BC550 is lowest noise, BC549 second lowest (all others higher)
This kind of question gets easier to answer once you know what to look for. The datasheet is the place to go, and looks a bit intimidating, but actually isn't that bad. I usually look for the differences between different part numbers or A/B/C ratings.
The max voltage rating can be found in the Absolute Maximum Ratings table (Vceo = voltage between Collector & Emitter pins):
Info on in-circuit voltages, noise performance, gain bandwidth and hFE (gain) is in the Electrical Characteristics table (hFE is directly below this):
Usually if BJT transistors are on the same datasheet (same series), they are "binned" components, meaning they are the same components that have been tested after manufacturing to select the best performing parts. Binned BJTs are often sorted for things like hFE, voltage ratings, & noise performance.
