Fuzzdog pedal builds - overdrive, distortion, compression

A couple of recent ones:

Hype-R-Rat (base on the ProCo Rat):

Little Screamer (based on the Ibanez Tube Screamer):

These are both great on guitar, but SOOO GOOOOOD on synth, so I made a track with 5 of my hand-built pedals, “Hand Made Metal Pedals“:

Download Hand-Made-Metal-Pedals.mp3

I’ve got into painting them:

It doesn’t always go how I expect, apparently I don’t know how to use masking tape:

However, some of them look great! Check out the compressor on the right:

I tried using a paint pen on this reverb. My handwriting is bobbins, spoiling the effect somewhat:

Doing your own drilling is harder and takes more time, but saves a quid or two!:

What’s really pleasing is I was able to fix a compressor pedal that I tried and failed to build back in the summer, so my skills are gradually improving.

Inside, my wiring and soldering are getting neater

Here’s everything I’ve built so far:

I buy my pedal kits mostly from Fuzzdog, with a few from Jed’s Peds. I prefer the printed PCBs over faffing around with stripboard, although the first pedal I made was on raw stripboard.

There’s another video of me playing with my own pedals - “Handled Temperamental Box” and honestly I use them on quite a lot of my tracks… They’re built to be used!

I find the process of building a pedal extremely soothing, I don’t know why. I’m enjoying this hobby immensely! If it didn’t cost at least £30 a pop to build a pedal and I didn’t need to earn money, I’d build ‘em every day I reckon!

Elsewhere on this site about effects pedals…

1. Boss DS-1 Pedal Repair (Mar ‘23)
2. Octave Master pedal build (Mar ‘23)
3. Moon Phaser pedal build (Feb ‘23)
4. Hand Made Metal Pedals (Dec ‘22)
5. Bass Envelope Filter pedal build
6. Hand made guitar boost pedal build (feb ‘22)

DIY pedals also pop up on most of the Shinbones Man music I make these days!