# Update with PICs!! - Good Pedal Kit Vendors you'd recommend?? Need your advice



## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

I'm really good with the old soldering iron and guitar wiring and am thinking of doing a Fender 5E3 clone kit down the road but have to save up a little bit for that..

In the mean time, I'm really liking the idea of building a couple of pedals. Maybe a nice clean boost or a clone of the original TS808? Can anyone recommend a good Canadian supplier for kits, or if outside of Canada a quality supplier of kits at fair prices?

Thanks for all your help! Cheers


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Trinity Tweed Kit


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Axe and ye shall receive (hamilton) sells build your own clone kits.


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

Budda said:


> Axe and ye shall receive (hamilton) sells build your own clone kits.


Found them, they seem pretty well priced! I don't know all the models and what they are clones of, any good Clean Boosts or Tube Screamer clones you can recommend from them?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Yamariv said:


> Found them, they seem pretty well priced! I don't know all the models and what they are clones of, any good Clean Boosts or Tube Screamer clones you can recommend from them?


Ts808 is always a good bet!


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## Boogieman (Apr 6, 2009)

This one:

B.Y.O.C. Classic Overdrive Kit | Axe... And You Shall Receive


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Since you're in Ottawa, I might be able to supply you with etched and drilled PCBs, and the accompanying parts. Drop me a PM.

Both Small Bear Electronics in Brooklyn ( Small Bear Electronics ) and Tayda Electronics in Thailand ( Electronic Parts Online Store - Tayda Electronics ) sell predrilled and pre-coated enclosures at reasonable prices, with Tayda having slower delivery. Both carry the needed components, but Small Bear has the broader and more specialized pedal supplies. Both are quite trustworthy. Next Gen Guitars, here in Ottawa ( Canada's #1 Parts Source For DIY Musicians - Next Gen Musical Ltd. ), has decent prices on enclosures (MUCH better than Future Electronics or Gervais), but they are bare aluminum boxes. You would have to do the machining and/or painting/coating yourself.

I've been making pedals for over 40 years, and learned a lot from the many mistakes along the way, so feel free to direct any questions this way. If you're interested in making your own PCBs, I can teach you.


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## Cups (Jan 5, 2010)

For first time I wouldn’t recommend you buy your own parts. It’s definitely the most frustrating part of DIY. The BYOC kits are very well put together. Every time I’ve built one I’m shocked how smooth it comes together (after using perfboard for instance)
They have plenty of boost and overdrive options.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

For pedal kits, Aion is doing them now. Nobody gives you a neater/tidier kit with better parts or documentation (seriously, nobody else, at least not the big ones, give you name brand parts). Since they just started doing kits (vs just PCBs) there aren't that many to choose from yet but they do have a TS808 (d0wn bottom of the page). Consider the optional I/O kit for the ultimate in tidiness but it is technically not required.

Kits - Aion Electronics

On the opposite end of the spectrum (not bad or anything just not as luxe, and a bit cheaper unless maybe you go for all the upgrade options - painted box etc) is Build Your Own Clone as mentioned above.

Fuzzdog is good too but ships from the UK (I buy PCBs from him occasionally, because those can go lettermail for peanuts - he has a cool Vox Repeater, which is what the EQD Hummingbird is based on).



Cups said:


> For first time I wouldn’t recommend you buy your own parts. It’s definitely the most frustrating part of DIY. The BYOC kits are very well put together. Every time I’ve built one I’m shocked how smooth it comes together (after using perfboard for instance)
> They have plenty of boost and overdrive options.


I find that part fun!

If the OP or anyone else does go that way, the places to get PCBs would be Aion, Mad Bean Pedals, Fuzzdog or Parasit Studios for some weirder original circuits (octaves/guitar synths,
glitchy fuzzes, bit crushers etc).

Total second on @mhammer's recommendations for parts sources. With the additional caveat that though Tayda is cheapest, I would not buy some things from them. Pots, current production chips and transistors, knobs, enclosures, diodes, are all fine and cheaper nowhere. Their tantalum caps are stupid cheap and good quality (can replace electros in many places; much smaller too), the box film caps are OK as well, but I won't buy electrolytic caps or resistors there or delay chips. Every 2 months there is a 15% discount code on their facebook page so wait for that and stock up. For NOS stuff, especially transistors and chips/ICs (goes double if germanium) it's Small Bear or GTFO, also building supplies and tools, they have all the other stuff at mostly very good prices as well but they can't beat Tayda's prices on e.g. pots (both sell Alpha brand), though they do have a better selection of values (like if oyu need a weird one like a 9mm pcb mount reverse log taper).

Making PCBs is cool but not a place I'd recommend as even a second project . Also DIY etched boards are never going to be as good (or efficient in terms of utilization of space) or well labelled (helps avoid mistakes) as a modern pro manufactured double-sided PCB. I'd recommend trying a simple build (e.g. a basic classic fuzz) on perf or strip board (or point to point if simple enough) before etching- you really get schooled on some fundamentals with those types of builds.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Cups said:


> For first time I wouldn’t recommend you buy your own parts. It’s definitely the most frustrating part of DIY. The BYOC kits are very well put together. Every time I’ve built one I’m shocked how smooth it comes together (after using perfboard for instance)
> They have plenty of boost and overdrive options.


This is good advice. BYOC also do the machining for you, though some folks prefer to determine their own preferred location of knobs and switches.

Buying all your parts from one source can add expense, since the all get different bulk-purchase prices from their distributors. They can also add frustration. I've frequently had to hold off on an order of things I needed because they had almost everything I needed in stock but one or two items still needed to be restocked. In those circumstances, the shipping costs for a single small item on a separate order serves as a deterrent. So ordering a parts kit means you get everything needed, all at once, with no waiting and no "shopping around for best price".


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

HOLY Cr*p boys!! You guys are awesome, this is the exact info I was looking for!! 

Ok, so I'll have to do my research on each company but for now it sounds like BYOC might be the best for a first build. They are in Canada so I won't have to worry about duties. I'm definitely not looking to source the parts separately just yet, I'm looking for an all included kit with painted enclosure ideally.

Can anyone recommend a good sounding DIY reverb pedal? 

Also, I found this German company and this OD pedal sounds just like what I'm looking for. Anyone heard of these guys? Here's the link

The HardOne - Booster kit, 15,50 

Cheers, and thanks again!!


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Yamariv said:


> HOLY Cr*p boys!! You guys are awesome, this is the exact info I was looking for!!
> 
> Ok, so I'll have to do my research on each company but for now it sounds like BYOC might be the best for a first build. They are in Canada so I won't have to worry about duties. I'm definitely not looking to source the parts separately just yet, I'm looking for an all included kit with painted enclosure ideally.
> 
> ...


DIY reverb is not a good place to start - there are some kits (see BYOC) but the better projects (if you want all the bells n whistkles) are PCB and source yer own parts. Additionally, they are now mostly all digital (based on the PT2399 'analog voiced' delay chip or on the 'Belton Brick' device by Accutronics - think of it as a digital reverb tank; somewhat pricey - $20 vs <$1 for the PT chip); few analog ones remain (BBD based so complex build, which is why they have mostly moved to the Belton Brick - simpler builds). Once you have a few builds under your belt, check out:
- The BYOC kit ( Belton-based and not too basic)
- modkitsdiy.com (Belton) but it is unnecessarily large and very basic (1 knob).
- jedspeds.co.uk has a small 1 knob kit (purchase Belton Brick seperately) that I'd recommend over the MOD due to tiny (esp compared to the Mod) but I have used neither. They also have a PT based delay/verb kit.

If you want a more fully featured reverb (again, this will be PCB only and source yer own parts) go check out the documentation on the reverb projects on the Mad Bean Pedals site - the Mood Ring is the fully featured project based on a Belton Brick with a PT predelay, then there's the Springboard (also Belton Brick) and the Ping which is the basic bitch of the bunch (also Belton). I coulda swore they had an analog BBD reverb but it's not there anymore; probably confusing it with their BBD delay.

I have built 2 identical (aside from the paint jobs) delay pedals using the PT2399 chips and they sound great if not quite as good as my now-sold early Memory Man (much less noise though) or my DM2W in vintage mode.

I think I checked out musikding once but never used them so dunno.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Yamariv said:


> HOLY Cr*p boys!! You guys are awesome, this is the exact info I was looking for!!
> 
> Ok, so I'll have to do my research on each company but for now it sounds like BYOC might be the best for a first build. They are in Canada so I won't have to worry about duties. I'm definitely not looking to source the parts separately just yet, I'm looking for an all included kit with painted enclosure ideally.
> 
> ...


That's a direct clone of the ZVex Super Hard-On, a MOSFET booster. Not really an OD pedal, per se, but a clean booster for pushing an amp into verdrive. If you like your amp's overdrive sound and are able to set it on the edge of breakup, this will push things over the edge nicely. If you're relying on the pedal itself to produce an overdriven tone, this is not the ticket.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

YellowBrick recently sold some kits based on Aion pcb’s. Here’s the build thread 

https://guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/the-yellowbrick-kit-builders.234214/page-6#post-2426544

Probably not great for your first build, but still do-able. I started with the Premier Guitar pedal build. You can buy the kit from Mammoth and it teaches you bread boarding and other cool stuff.

Build Your Own Stompbox! | Premier Guitar


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## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

BSTheTech said:


> YellowBrick recently sold some kits based on Aion pcb’s. Here’s the build thread
> 
> https://guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/the-yellowbrick-kit-builders.234214/page-6#post-2426544
> 
> ...


It's fine for a first build. If I can do it anyone can.
Prepare for a few hours of "what the fuck am I doing" followed by a few hours of "I still don't know what I'm doing" after a few hours of "please don't explode" you should be good.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The Electra Distortion, that Joe Gore bases the PG project article around, is actually the basis for a whole bunch of Lovepedal designs.


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## Cardamonfrost (Dec 12, 2018)

Yamariv said:


> Found them, they seem pretty well priced!


Make sure you click the CAD button. It defaults to USD. Fell for that once on AAYSR.

C


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

Cardamonfrost said:


> Make sure you click the CAD button. It defaults to USD. Fell for that once on AAYSR.
> 
> C


Interesting, thanks for pointing that out!..That really bothers me when some Canadian businesses default to USD automatically then you get a surprise at the end. I'm just going to go right to the BYOC company and I'll have more options to pick LED colors and knob colors.

**Update**: While some company's in Canada force you to pay in USD which is my gripe, upon further research.., Axe and You Shall Receive does NOT which is awesome. All you have to do it switch to CAD currency while shopping and you can pay in CAD saving the exchange fees on your credit card. Cudo's to them for doing it that way! Just bought 2 kits from them and their shipping is quick and very affordable


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

E-commerce is essentially international these days, and not really connected to country of origin. And the reality is that there are more potential customers in the U.S. than there are in Canada, so the default is to the currency that would apply to the greatest number of customers. Consider, as well, that there are plenty of countries whose own e-commerce is limited, or whose own currency is not accepted or recognized everywhere, so citizens shop elsewhere and are accustomed to USD.

The patriot in me says that if it's a Canadian company, then CAD should proudly be the default. The realist says that one needs to provide what is most understandable to the largest segment of customers.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

mhammer said:


> The patriot in me says that if it's a Canadian company, then CAD should proudly be the default. The realist says that one needs to provide what is most understandable to the largest segment of customers.


I generally agree but the IT guy in me says that it since it is so easy to know (with reasonable if not absolute certainty) what the user's session's country of origin is (based on IP address), that the site could either default to that currency (or USD for random currencies you don't wanna deal with) or pop up to ask if you want [local currency] or stay with the default, be that USD (this is what Reverb does for example) or CAD.


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

Hey Guys,

I have now completed my first BYOC pedal kit and it actually worked first time!! 

I decided to order the Silver Pony II kit as I was looking for a nice clean boost to go with my Dr.Dan JTM50 and get some nice AC/DC tones. All I can say is the pedal sounds way better than I could have hoped for, it sounds friggen AMAZING!! It's exactly what I was looking for. I highly recommend building this pedal. It can be used as a clean boost, an all out raunchy distortion and a solo boost separate from the drive side! I'm hooked on this pedal stuff!!

The build was a bit slow to start and took me about 8 hrs from start to finish. The slowest part was learning to identify all those resistors by their tiny little color stripes  Once I got those figured out it was pretty easy sailing after that. Here are some pics, it's not a perfect looking build but it works and sounds great so I am more than happy.

Just ordered the Chancellor Kit (Marshall Govnor Clone) and their Spring Reverb Kit. Should be here Wednesday and they should be much quicker to build as they aren't 2 pedals in one like the Silver Pony II


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Nicely done. Congrats!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

VERY Impressive looking first pedal build! Thanks for the pics.

Enjoy your new pedal along with the pride that comes from having built it.

When are we going to see your 5E3 build thread? A little more expensive, so I assume you are saving up some $$ for it.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

mhammer said:


> E-commerce is essentially international these days, and not really connected to country of origin. And the reality is that there are more potential customers in the U.S. than there are in Canada, so the default is to the currency that would apply to the greatest number of customers. Consider, as well, that there are plenty of countries whose own e-commerce is limited, or whose own currency is not accepted or recognized everywhere, so citizens shop elsewhere and are accustomed to USD.


Further compound that with the fact that nearly every manufacturer and supplier in the world operates in USD. We deal with distributors and manufacturers in Canada, USA, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India, and China. Aside from a handful of Canadian distributors/manufacturers, every company we've ever interacted with does business in USD even a number of Canadian ones. USD is the global currency.

I often wonder if local customers in other countries have the same issues with businesses in their countries charging in USD, or if it is just accepted as the new normal.



Granny Gremlin said:


> I generally agree but the IT guy in me says that it since it is so easy to know (with reasonable if not absolute certainty) what the user's session's country of origin is (based on IP address), that the site could either default to that currency (or USD for random currencies you don't wanna deal with) or pop up to ask if you want [local currency] or stay with the default, be that USD (this is what Reverb does for example) or CAD.


Easy for businesses with budgets for web development. That sort of feature is not available "out of the box" with the kind of e-commerce platforms small businesses use, and needs to be custom coded. Not a cheap upgrade, so not exactly viable for them.



Yamariv said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> I have now completed my first BYOC pedal kit and it actually worked first time!!


Looks great!



> I decided to order the Silver Pony II kit as I was looking for a nice clean boost to go with my Dr.Dan JTM50 and get some nice AC/DC tones.


You're going into a great amp too. Very jealous!


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

greco said:


> VERY Impressive looking first pedal build! Thanks for the pics.
> 
> Enjoy your new pedal along with the pride that comes from having built it.
> 
> When are we going to see your 5E3 build thread? A little more expensive, so I assume you are saving up some $$ for it.


Thanks boys, I think I'm hooked on this pedal building thing! Yes, there's definitely some awesome satisfaction when you built the actual pedal for sure.

Totally pumped for my next 2 pedals to arrive so I can get started on those. They aren't painted so i'm gonna have to paint and decal both this time too but they should be quicker to solder up though as they are less complicated.

The 5E3 is coming eventually but yeah I'm saving up for it. I figure all in I'm gonna be looking at $1300-1400 dollars as I want to go with an Alnico Blue speaker for it..


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

jbealsmusic said:


> Further compound that with the fact that nearly every manufacturer and supplier in the world operates in USD. We deal with distributors and manufacturers in Canada, USA, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, India, and China. Aside from a handful of Canadian distributors/manufacturers, every company we've ever interacted with does business in USD even a number of Canadian ones. USD is the global currency.
> 
> I often wonder if local customers in other countries have the same issues with businesses in their countries charging in USD, or if it is just accepted as the new normal.
> 
> ...


Yup, highly recommend getting a build by Dan. Stand up guy, awesome service, meticulous detail and the amp sounds ridiculous! Awesome to have a Canadian builder like him available to us!


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Yamariv said:


> Totally pumped for my next 2 pedals to arrive so I can get started on those. *They aren't painted so i'm gonna have to paint and decal both this time too *but they should be quicker to solder up though as they are less complicated.


Hey, that's the fun, experimental, personal side of the build. You get to do what you want, paint outside the lines, goof it up. 

Because you definitely want to 'paint by numbers' with the wiring, unless you're @mhammer . And that kind of experience doesn't come with one or two builds.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

jbealsmusic said:


> Easy for businesses with budgets for web development. That sort of feature is not available "out of the box" with the kind of e-commerce platforms small businesses use, and needs to be custom coded. Not a cheap upgrade, so not exactly viable for them.


No. Its dirt simple with a few lines of code. Or just enabling a manual selection ( even easier). Would not add much to cost.

There’s many ways to skin a cat and I do not except any appologism based on hyperbolised non problems; you knew you were talking to an IT guy, but I also have a biz degree and experience running my own company. Even small biz hire a person to dev their website ( or diy if have the skillset in house as it were). Hire a better guy ( not necessarily more expensive - a matter of legwork and regerence checks; see also student thesis pojects as a great way to get the latest stuff for cheap) and don't diy unless you know your stuff ( or are willing to learn/ look it up - I would be surprised if there isn't some copy and paste ready code for this available online, as an example).

Additionally. The currency you deal in with your suppliers has nothing to do with the currency (ies) you deal in with your customers. I realise there are conversions involved to manage your own internal finances, but that is largely required in any case.

None of this is a crit of your biz or website. From what I recall you do sell in CAD.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

Granny Gremlin said:


> None of this is a crit of your biz or website. From what I recall you do sell in CAD.


Correct. I'm with you. I'm talking about (and attempting to defend) other small businesses who don't have the knowledge and/or can't justify the budget to easily make the changes you suggested.



Granny Gremlin said:


> There’s many ways to skin a cat and I do not except any appologism based on hyperbolised non problems; you knew you were talking to an IT guy, but I also have a biz degree and experience running my own company. Even small biz hire a person to dev their website ( or diy if have the skillset in house as it were).


I think we're talking about different scales of small businesses. I'm talking about the ones who end up going to Shopify, BigCommerce, Square, etc and try to do everything themselves. They are also not generally tech savvy in any way shape or form. If it isn't an "out of the box" feature, they have no way of doing it without hiring someone. And the kinds of people who will do it for you don't come in anywhere near the budget of the types of businesses I'm referring to.

In general, I get the impression from a lot of people on forums and elsewhere that they think the businesses they're buying from are way bigger and have much larger budgets than they actually do. Some of these businesses, while giving the online impression of being massive, are single man operations run out of their basement, or maybe a couple of people out of a very small warehouse. I'll just leave it at that. Don't want to derail the thread any further.

I agree, if you have the expertise to do it or can afford to pay someone, there's no reason not to.


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

High/Deaf said:


> Hey, that's the fun, experimental, personal side of the build. You get to do what you want, paint outside the lines, goof it up.
> 
> Because you definitely want to 'paint by numbers' with the wiring, unless you're @mhammer . And that kind of experience doesn't come with one or two builds.


Yeah, I'm pretty excited to paint them up the way I want. Already bought some cool paints and some clear coat for them. Just waiting for the new pedals to arrive so I can start the builds!


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## johnnyshaka (Nov 2, 2014)

Hmmm...a Lil' Beaver Russian Fuzz might be cool...

Well done on the pedal build and keep us posted on the next ones!


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## John Fisher (Aug 6, 2017)

I have that one ( Muff clone) and it is great with single coils. I have struggled to get it sound as good with Humbuckers. I picked it up as a whim at 40$. Helps with the Gilmour sound I have been striving for


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Great thread ! Great info !

You guy`s are amazing sharing all this info !


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

johnnyshaka said:


> Hmmm...a Lil' Beaver Russian Fuzz might be cool...
> 
> Well done on the pedal build and keep us posted on the next ones!


Will do!


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Yamariv said:


> Yeah, I'm pretty excited to paint them up the way I want. Already bought some cool paints and some clear coat for them. Just waiting for the new pedals to arrive so I can start the builds!


And if you go into production and get bored with the painting, get one of your kids to do it. I believe that's what Stephenson did with his FMD pedals. All hand painted and part of the reason why I bought one - I loved the finish. And it's a cool, unique pedal in it's own right.


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

High/Deaf said:


> And if you go into production and get bored with the painting, get one of your kids to do it. I believe that's what Stephenson did with his FMD pedals. All hand painted and part of the reason why I bought one - I loved the finish. And it's a cool, unique pedal in it's own right.


Haha, love it!! It's definitely a pedal that won't get lost in the mix


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## Yamariv (Jan 15, 2018)

Pedal #2 Build Update as promised..

Last night I took a few hours and wired up my BYOC Reverb Pedal, it sounds great! This one was about half the size of the Silver Pony and now that I'm getting used to the way BYOC kits work it went pretty quick.. I'd say 3hrs to wire up which isn't too bad  I've attached some pics bellow of the build, note the next pedal to go under the knife is a Marshall Guv'Nor clone, can't wait for that badboy!

BTW.. I've now had a good couple of weeks playing the Silver Pony (Klon Clone) pedal and I'm still absolutely blow away by how good it sounds, highly recommend building one. Its tone was just what I was looking for, a vintage distortion/boost, AC/DC tone for days through a Marshall!!  Sounds awesome with P90's and PAF style Buckers.


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