Hey all,



I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the diy pedal kits over at generalguitargadgets.com. I was looking at the tycobrahe octavia kit.


Thanks

MOD DIY kits are pretty much point to point, meaning no circuit boards are involved. I built one of their 5 watt tube amps. Point to point requires a bit more patience to build. GGG kits are similar to BYOC. If I were you, and if it's your first build, go with the PCB version from general Guitar Gadgets or go with the BYOC kit http://www.buildyourownclone.com/octavefuzz.html BYOC it has a octave lift switch that turns off the octave effect. I've built quite a few BYOC kits and they're first rate and IMO sound as good or better than the originals I've had. If you've never built a pedal before, try the BYOC Confidence boost. I think it's around $15 and lets you practice a bit. I've also etched my own boards and made a few pedals from Craig Anderton's book.

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I have built a pedal from a kit. It was the Classic Overdrive (TS-808 Tube Screamer clone) from BYOC. It works like a charm and sounds awesome!

But, I have seen General Guitar Gadgets website before, but, didn't buy anything from them. I read a lot website articles about custom pedals and DYI stuff, and got an overall opinion...


If you don't have a clue about electronics, can't read a schematic, have no idea how to solder, and don't know what a resistor is or what a capacitor is or whatever... Go to BYOC and look at their easy to build kits. Everything is in plain english and very easy to understand. Before you do anything: Buy their "Confidence Boost" kit and build that. It's just a simple volume boost with no pedal enclosure and with bare input/output jacks and wiring, and a 9v battery. After you build it, try it out. Take a small flathead screwdriver and turn the trim pot. Your volume will go up and down as you turn the trim pot. You built the beginnings of a pedal. Now go build one like I did, the Classic Overdrive, or maybe the British Blues Overdrive, or the 250+ distortion pedal.
http://www.buildyourownclone.com <--- click here

If you have experience in electronics, you have soldered all sorts of things, and you can read a schematic like a roadmap, then you should go to General Guitar Gadgets and build one of their pedals. They are a little different than BYOC. They are a little more in depth and a little more complicated. Their instructions aren't always as clearly written either. i.e... They don't take you by the hand and guide you step by step on building the pedal (do this, then do that, now read this and do this next, etc...)
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com <--- click here

Edit: 63supro beat me to it!

I appreciate all the info. I have done a little bit of electrical work and wanted to be able to learn some more when I stumbled upon these kits. I thought it would give me some experience and the satisfaction of using a pedal I could say I built. From the sounds of it the BYOC kit might be better for me to start out with. Thanks again!!!

The instructions for the BYOC kits are really clear. The thing to watch is that your soldering is clean and you have no cold solder joints. Use a fairly low wattage iron. Like I said, I'd start with the confidence boost for starters and you can check out the assembly instructions on their website. Good luck and have fun. And yes, there is a real satisfaction in building your own pedals and amps.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal