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but not that good for repair

IMHO, both epoxy heat transfer ability (greater than air) and oxygen-sealed encapsulation minimize components failure possibility..

Thanks for chiming in!

It seems from the time I've spent researching, that I am able to get myself into the ballpark on transistor voltages that I have seen others mention in terms of "target values". Q2 voltage does go up to around -9v with attack on minimum. It's seemingly functioning as it should! But it's almost as if I'm compensating between positions to hit target voltages while falling outside of the suggested gain/leakage values for one or more of my gain stages with every combo tried thus far.

Just for clarification, it seems for Q2, the target collector voltage with attack on full should be somewhere slightly above half of the supply voltage. Would you agree something like -4.5-5.5 volts is the target here?

I consistently see people suggesting Q3 collector voltage should be around -8 to -8.75 volts with attack at max. The more leakage in Q3, the lower I observe this voltage to be when measuring. I seem to observe more idle noise and "whistling" when Q3 is higher leakage. Tuning this circuit is like walking on a tight rope!

I am inclined to agree, I simply don't have the ability to come up with the proper combo with my available stash of components, hence why I have decided to buy some more transistors to add to my collection.

I have ordered some more transistors over the weekend. For kicks, I ordered one of the MKI sets from SmallBear. Really curious how that will work out. Also ordered some pretty sweet RCA 2N414 and some Russian MP42B trannies from eBay (we shall see how that works out).

I'll be getting my order from SmallBear this evening so I will be sure to report back with my findings!

After searching lo and hi I found what I wanted.
A solderable breadboard.
There are different sizes.
You can take a breadboard project and direct transfer it for soldering.
I downloaded the Hammond 1590B stp file so as to make a solid model assembly.
And locate all the components,  switch, pots, board, jacks.....
There are jumper wires on the back, these isolate.
But nylon standoffs are an option.
I believe solder is for points, not lines.
Problem, you aren't going to build a large circuit on that small board !

I build on perf almost exclusively.  I used to use standoffs (attached to the enclosure's inside with JB Weld), but now I just put some non conductive padding in there and let it be as in "Ben's #4" above.   Never have any problems - the wiring is firm enough to keep it from moving around.  Just have to be sure there's no way to short the board out on the enclosure.

If it was something really involved and precious, I might consider doing the standoffs again for a neater, 'more complete' build.

Yes, indeed, welcome! And best of luck with this projects and all those to come, which we look forward to hearing about & helping with, if you need any help.

Point of terminology: Around here, when folks speak of a "breadboard", they generally mean the solderless variety, like this:
. They are the nuts for test-building, trying out and tweaking circuits.

The soldered kinds of prototyping boards, such as

are generally referred to as perfboard (or "pad-per-hole"), stripboard (or "vero"), or protoboard.
Although you aren't wrong, these can be "breadboards", too. Then again, so can this: