Are any of you doing any mods to the volume section? The "volume" on these is a bias control that DOES affect level, but changes the distortion character along with it. I've made both of these stock and figure I'll just add a simple boost stage with volume control at the end. I say that because I like the lower bias positions and will need a volume boost. A passive cut won't help me.
I've also seen the "attack" tone control be either C1Mor B100K. I had better luck with the 100k. I think I tried A1M too. There's volume loss at brighter positions so you will want to experiment.
Transistor choice should be easier for these as many things will work. Low gain for the first two positions - you can even try silicon.