Ok, so I've tried a few more thigs with mixed results.
I fist tried to read the leakage current from a smbta42 by connecting 20 volt to the collector the red probe of the multimeter to the base and the black probe to the supply ground. I got the same reading as if the input of the multimeter was disconnected. I then used the method described on this page (
http://jeelabs.org/2012/05/27/reverse-diode-current/) on a couple of diodes and read 5mV for a UF4004 and almost 0.5V on a BAT 48. The readings for the smbta42 was 0V.
So I decided to put it in place of the dead transistor in the scope and call it a day. I tested it and noticed that in comparison to channel 2, channel 1 had now slightly round edges on a square wave, very noticeable at 10Mhz.
But that didn't bother me too much.
I then pulled the Volts/Div knob to 10X Magnification and the signal went completely off screen, pushed it back in and noticed that there is now an offset on vertical position
. I couldn't bring the trace down the the bottom of the display anymore. I now removed the component and it's now working properly again, but I am really scared to pull that magnification knob again.