Never noticed PPCB Ge-based boards not having trimmers.
I've read somewhere that trimmers (ie variable resistor) can be noisier than a fixed resistor. Whether it's true and to what degree (noisier on an oscilloscope but not to human ear?), I don't know. Trimpots have moving parts that may likely fail before a fixed resistor would. Fixed resistors can't accidentally be bumped from their optimum setting.
Breadboarding can be fun and allow you dial in a circuit before committing components to solder; You could play with R7 and R9 on the Mister Fuzz.