Byrdhouse Transistor Substitution

[Davemulls]

Hey all, I'm building the Byrdhouse compressor and I'm playing the classic game of "I forgot to order the proper parts". I am missing the 2N5088's, but I have a ton of MPSA18's. Is this a suitable replacement? I know they are higher gain but my electrical knowledge isn't deep enough to know how that would impact things.

 

[Nic]

Not sure about the mpsa18, but you definitely should get the 5088, they are used in so many builds...

 

[Stickman393]

Might work. But mpsa18's tend to be higher gain, even beyond a 2n5089.

If you have any 2n3904s, those are in the same ballpark. Or a BC549C.