Transistors which had been rejected as ‘out of specification’ were purchased by Roland and used as part of the TR-808’s sound generating capability. Although they weren’t faulty, they did exhibit some very particular qualities that helped give the 808 its distinctive sizzling sound
Exerpt from the article I found interesting.
Beat me to it, had it on my clipboard ready to pasta.
Yeah, that's a fact I had not known about the 808 (not really into that stuff anymore). That does make it a hell of a lot more interesting. That means those particular transistors are worth their weight in gold these days.
Wonder if anyone has ever characterized one of those transistors against the datasheet and published the results. There has got to be an equivalent part out there.
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