[Baconator]

I've been a pedal junkie for many years now and have decided that it's time to venture into rolling my own. Have any of you tried the build your own clone kits and what have your experiences been?

Thanks for anything you can tell me.

Cheers,

Eric

 

[Ripper]

I've built quite a few pedals over the years, some have been really good and some have been so so. It's always fun, and if nothing else a great learning experience.

 

[bigmatty]

Do you have a link for the kits?

 

[iggs]

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/

or

Canadian dealer:
http://www.axeandyoushallreceive.com/

 

[PaulS]

I have built the Tremolo pedal, it's a really nice pedal when done, as good as the boss. I have also done the Ross Compressor clone which again turned out to be a decent pedal better than my newer MXR.

 

[Ripper]

I never used kits, either made my own printed circuit boards or used perf board and wired them that way.

 

[allthumbs56]

I built the Triboost a while ago. It was quite a rewarding challenge and I got to work my creative side finishing the enclosure. Since that project, I really got in to soldering and have also done Monte Allums mods to four other pedals. I'm thinking about putting the new wah kit on my Christmas list:tongue:

Much fun.

 

[Baconator]

Thanks!

Thanks for the info, guys! I've taken the plunge and am currenly awaiting the arrival of a few kits. Should be a decent hobby if nothing else.

 

[Rumble_b]

Have fun!! I think I'm gonna buy one very soon, I just can't decide between the Ultimate fuzz or the MKII Fuzz.

 

[Baconator]

I was tempted to buy both, but thought it might be time to buy some pedals that weren't distortion/OD for a change. I did order the MKII clone and will report when I get it and plug it in (regardless of whether I have the skills to make it work or not :tongue: ).

 

[Blue Apple]

I just finished 2 kits last week... They sound great and they were a blast to put together.

I definitely prefer the Large Beaver (Big Muff Clone) over the Ultimate fuzz.

Two thumbs way up!

 

[PaulS]

I was looking at the mighty mouse kit. Has anybody tried that one? A rat clone with a few mods.

 

[Baconator]

one down, three to go

I finished the first kit - the ultimate fuzz pedal. Although I haven't had much time to test it other than to see if it worked and what the different transistors would sound like it seems pretty cool. It'll be interesting to see if I can get much use out of it as it's definitely much more of an old-school sound than say a big muff, but I did learn a lot in the process of putting it together. My soldering skills have improved immensely (albeit starting from a pretty low level) and I know how I could improve things for the next kit.

As for the mighty mouse, I haven't tried the kit, but do have a modded Rat that is essentially the same as the kit and love it. If it wasn't for the fact that I have an original Rat II and a modded one I would have picked up that kit instead of the ultimate fuzz.

I'd say go for it - it should be a fun build.

 

[PaulS]

Got the mighty mouse for christmas.. so I anxiously put it together..
This pedal has lots of growl and thick distortion. I built to the vintage specs although with an easy mod you could have vintage and turbo at the select of a switch. Never tried a rat before but I had a Ibanez Fat Cat for awhile but this clone has way more tones in it than the fat cat did. The sym/assym switching is nice for changing from single coils to buckers.. This kit is worth the effort if anyone is interested in trying.

 

[iggs]

Here's my first build, Large Beaver. Sounds great!

 

[PaulS]

How does it sound compared to the real Muff ?? Nice looking paint job..

 

[Milkman]

I did the BYOC wah (drop in kit) last night.

As this was my first attempt at populating and soldering a PCB, I'm quite happy about how smoothly it went.

I bought a nice 15 watt grounded soldering iron (up until now I've only used a Weller dual heat gun) and set up an illuminated magnifying glass on a retractable arm.

Here's how it looks. I still have to test it out a bit later this morning.

 

[sh333]

I did the BYOC wah (drop in kit) last night.

As this was my first attempt at populating and soldering a PCB, I'm quite happy about how smoothly it went.

I bought a nice 15 watt grounded soldering iron (up until now I've only used a Weller dual heat gun) and set up an illuminated magnifying glass on a retractable arm.

Here's how it looks. I still have to test it out a bit later this morning.

Damn, that was fast. Didn't you just pick it up from me.

Looks good. Are you diggin the TB?

 

[Milkman]

Damn, that was fast. Didn't you just pick it up from me.

Looks good. Are you diggin the TB?

Well it actually sat in the box for a few days before I got ambitious.


It's a bit early to really assess the results, but my impression is that when bypassed, my sound is cleaner than before.

I can say that the process of building the kit was quite enjoyable. There was only one detail in the instructions that was missing and I had to make an assumption. Evidently my assumption was either correct or at least had no negative impact.

I may try a BYOC Keeley comp clone next (nice to have two Keeleys, but they're not cheap, LOL).

 

[sh333]

Well it actually sat in the box for a few days before I got ambitious.


It's a bit early to really assess the results, but my impression is that when bypassed, my sound is cleaner than before.

I can say that the process of building the kit was quite enjoyable. There was only one detail in the instructions that was missing and I had to make an assumption. Evidently my assumption was either correct or at least had no negative impact.

I may try a BYOC Keeley comp clone next (nice to have two Keeleys, but they're not cheap, LOL).

True that

I usually have them in stock, so no great rush.