Stripboard layout for an EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird Tremolo pedal

EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird Tremolo On Stripboard

February 25, 2025

If you take a look at the list of all the guitar pedal stripboard layouts I’ve made for this site, you’ll notice that there are quite a few distortions, fuzzes, and overdrives. I like building dirt boxes, and I’m always fascinated at how different they sound, even with similar circuits. But recently I’ve done something […]





Stripboard layout for a Roger Mayer Octavia octave fuzz pedal.

Roger Mayer Octavia On Stripboard

January 31, 2025

If you’re looking for the original octave fuzz sound, the Roger Mayer Octavia is for you. This is (I assume) the original octave fuzz; that is to say, I assume Roger Mayer was the first to make this effect. As the name would suggest, an octave fuzz adds an octave to the sound signal while […]





Stripboard layout for a ProCo Rat guitar pedal.

ProCo Rat On Stripboard

January 22, 2025

 Here it is! The ProCo Rat. The ProCo Rat is just one of those pedals, distortion or otherwise, that has endured decades and maintained its popularity. Like the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff for fuzz or the Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive, the ProCo Rat seems to be one of those enduring distortion pedals people still love, despite […]





Three guitar pedals stacked on top of each other.

What Is Gain Stacking And How Do You Do It?

January 16, 2025

If you’ve been playing around with pedals like overdrive, distortion, or fuzz (especially overdrive), you’ve probably tried combining the two to see what happens. If you’re just fooling around without thinking about it, it may not sound very good, but done with some consideration and calculation, stacking pedals can have a lot of benefits and […]





DIY Elextro-Harmonix Big Muff clone called the Chicken Pot Pie.

How To Get Started Building Guitar Effects Pedals

January 8, 2025

I’ve been putting off writing this article because it’s kind of a big question. If you’ve spent any time poking around my site, you’ll know a lot of it is set up to try and help newbies to the marvelous hobby of DIY guitar pedals. It can be hard to know where and how to […]





Stripboard layout for an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff guitar pedal.

Electro-Harmonix Big Muff On Stripboard

January 3, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ni48979_ws&feature=youtu.be Well, this was a fun pedal to build. It was a big build, but well worth it to make such a famous pedal. And one that sounds so good too. We’re all likely familiar with the Big Muff sound and, if you’re not, just check out music by Pink Floyd, White Stripes, Carlos Santana, […]





Stripboard layout for an EartherQuaker Devices Speak Cranker distortion pedal

EartherQuaker Devices Speaker Cranker On Stripboard

January 2, 2025

 The Speaker Cranker by EarthQuaker Devices is an easy to make single knob guitar pedal. EarthQuaker Devices are calling this an overdrive but, judging by the schematic and the sound, I’d be more likely to call this pedal a distortion (and there is a difference between distortion, overdrive, and fuzz). That being said, I’ve just […]





Stripboard layout for a Catalinbread Naga Viper guitar effect pedal.

Catalinbread Naga Viper On Stripboard

December 17, 2024

The Naga Viper by Catalinbread is a treble booster pedal modelled on the somewhat legendary Dallas Rangemaster treble booster popularised by so many guitarists (especially out of England) in the 1960’s and ’70’s. These were the days before overdrive and distortion pedals; sure they had fuzz pedals (here’s a history of fuzz pedals if you’re […]





Example of a piece of stripboard populated with various components to make a guitar pedal.

How To Make A Distortion Pedal

December 12, 2024

I’ll cut to the chase very quickly: you’re probably here because you want to learn how to make guitar pedals at home, so you searched for something along the lines of “how to make a distortion pedal,” and found this website. Welcome! The good/easy part of answering that question is, sure, read on and I’ll give […]