Diagram showing how to wire a 2.1 mm power socket for centre pin ground.

How To Wire A Guitar Pedal DC Power Jack

June 26, 2024

Although it’s important to correctly place and solder in every guitar pedal component, at the end of any pedal build, perhaps the most important thing to get right is wiring the power supply. Sure, there are passive pedals out there that don’t require a power supply, but most of what you’re building is going to […]





Harmonic Jerculator clone named the Jerk Chicken.

Why You Should Build Your Own Guitar Pedals

June 11, 2024

If you’re here, you’re probably thinking about taking up making guitar pedals as a hobby. Welcome!  The world of guitar pedals is wide. Whether you’re looking for big distorted or fuzzy sounds, some modulation effects, or just a boost to your sound, there are a lot of pedals out there. Of course you can go […]





Inside of a Harmonic Jerculator clone build on stripboard.

Big Guide To Debugging DIY Guitar Pedals

June 6, 2024

So, you’ve finished building a new guitar pedal, you want to try it out so you plug it in and… it doesn’t work. If you’re built even only a single guitar pedal, you know that it’s pretty much the rule that something will be wrong the first time you plug it in. You won’t get […]





Mono 6.35mm socket showing where to wire ground and where to wire live.

How To Wire 6.35mm (1/4″) Socket

June 4, 2024

Before launching into this quick article on how to wire a 6.35 mm socket, I’m going to tare the band-aid off and talk vernacular. The thing pictured here goes by many names: 1/4 inch jack or socket if you live in the U.S.A. 6.35 mm jack or socket if you live anywhere else. Guitar jack […]





Wiring schematic for an Ibanez Tube Screamer's input buffer.

How To Read A Circuit Diagram

May 27, 2024

Even if you’re just doing PCB kits or following strip board layouts, learning how to read a circuit diagram really comes in handy when building guitar pedals, or for electrons in general. So, if you stumbled onto this article with no interest in guitar pedals and just want to learn how to read circuit diagrams, […]





Soldering iron with solder.

Gear You Need To Make Guitar Pedals

May 21, 2024

So you want to start making DIY guitar pedals? It may seem daunting, especially if you’re unsure of what you’ll need to get started. Well, have no fear, this article seeks to help you find out. Fortunately, you can actually get started for relatively cheaply. This is a new hobby after all. While I think […]





Diagram of the inside of a potentiometer.

Potentiometer Wiring: How To Wire A Potentiometer

May 20, 2024

Potentiometers are an electronics component that are essentially used as variable resistors in guitar pedals and other electronics. I have an article on how potentiometers work and the different types if you want more information, but if you’re already pretty familiar with potentiometers but need information on how to wire them, you’re in the right […]