[Dave Moll]

Originally Posted by Xyience

Would the bellset/bell from a junked GPO phone work with the U43? These seem easy to come by.

That sounds like a much better option. You could always use the DC bell as a doorbell.

Originally Posted by Xyience

The diodes are instead of a No 205 rectifier as suggested by https://www.britishtelephones.com/tranchan.htm

Phones are entirely new to me, and I didn't want to blast my families hearing, so I went with the instruction.

After posting, I did wonder whether this was what you meant. The way these work is by only conducting above a certain level of signal so that they don't conduct at speech level but the higher-voltage spikes caused by switching are shorted out to prevent "acoustic shock" (loud clicks in the earpiece).