Thanks for all the interesting side discussion... Prof. Lee did answer my question, noting that there would probably be too much blow-by.
Too much to be adjusted out by the blow-by compensation circuitry in these heads?
How about a different fast switching transistor (say a 2N5769? I have scads of those).
I remember seeing those transistor B-E (or should I say E-B) clamps as a kid, back in the 70's transistorized designs from Heath. I always wondered why they did that... now I know :)
