There are a wealth of pedal-kit options today, from long-standing DIY-focused companies to established pedal builders who want to get in on the fun. But, really, how hard is building a pedal? Can any of us just, like, do it? And where are the best places to start?
Well, we’re here to tell you that, yes, any of us can. Both of us have limited experience—Jason is brand new, and Nick started building kits last year (you can watch his inauspicious beginnings over on our YouTube channel). But with nothing but some baseline soldering skills and a sense of adventure, we set out to survey the pedal-kit market by doing. What we’ve assembled are six kits from JHS, Third Man, StewMac, Aion FX, General Guitar Gadgets, and Pedal Parts and Kits that range from the simplest no-solder option to step-by-step builds to kits that’ll have you testing components and following wiring diagrams to complete the task. We’ve rated each kit: “tone” for the overall sound of the pedal, “design/build” for the experience of building the kit, and “value.”
If you build a few of these, you’ll probably end up with a better idea of what your pedals are doing, pick up some skills, and have some new pedals for much cheaper than you might otherwise. The next step is learning to mod and design your own circuits, and then you’ll be on your way to launching your own pedal company!
Pedal Parts and Kits sells all the parts and components you might need for pedal building, plus a variety of kits created in collaboration with GuitarPCB, which sells printed circuit boards (PCBs) and hosts a forum. I opted for their Pump’d Up Tone Bender, which is a MkII clone featuring vintage germanium PNP transistors. This design adds a charge pump to the power section, inverting the circuit to a modern negative ground, and allows the pedal to be daisy chained.
Right out of the box, I was impressed by the packaging of the Pump’d Up Tone Bender (PUTB). Each component group was separated into its own bag and clearly labeled. The resistors were separated by value, which made it easy to get started.
Tone Bender circuits are relatively simple, and this kit includes a handful of resistors and capacitors and a single IC. The germanium transistors include sockets, which makes installation easy, plus they allow for some transistor experimentation later if that’s your kind of thing. The kit includes a well-spaced 3PDT board for easy switch installation.
Documentation for the PUTB doesn’t include step-by-step instructions. Instead, Pedal Parts and Kits offers an online beginners build guide that will help any entry-level kit builder get started. I followed the included wiring diagram. It's clear and easy to follow, so I had no problem getting this together in a couple hours. The only time I went off script is with the pots, which can be mounted directly to the PCB, but I chose to wire them up instead.
The PUTB is a great-sounding Tone Bender MkII clone, with all the personality, versatility, and response you’d expect. There’s a world of usable, cutting tones across the range of the control set, and I could feel myself channeling Jimmy Page when I plugged my Tele and the PUTB into an old Fender Champ. At $85, if you’re up to the task, the PUTB is a fantastic way to get your hands on a MkII.—NM
Entering the General Guitar Gadgets realm can feel like wading into the deep end of the pedal-kit pool. Their site is loaded with a wide range of projects, and PCBs and kits are the company’s sole business. And if you’re at the point you’re ready to peruse schematics, the GGG site is a great resource because they make schematics available for each project.
Every GGG kit includes universal pedal-building instructions, project-specific instructions, a schematic, and a wiring diagram. Like the Pump’d Up Tone Bender build, this is for more experienced builders, not necessarily because it’s complicated but because the directions are more streamlined.
The D-Verb is based around the Belton Accutronics BTDR-2H, aka the “Belton Brick” reverb designed by Brian Neunaber. It’s a commonly used digital spring reverb module that can be found in plenty of pedals from small and large manufacturers. The pedal’s circuit consists of a handful of resistors, a few capacitors, one transistor, a pair of IC chips, and the reverb block.
The circuit board came together fast and the reverb block simply plugs into the PCB and gets a round of solder. The trickiest part of this kit is wiring up the footswitch, which doesn’t include a circuit board, so you have to get in there and connect everything yourself. It can be tricky to wire a switch for the first time, but it’s a good learning experience that’ll show you, at least a little bit, what’s going on in your switches.
The pedal sounds great—there’s a reason so many pedals use the Belton Brick. While most of those units include other controls or more advanced circuitry, the D-Verb is a simple, 1-knob effect that controls less or more. At subtle settings, it sounds suitably springy, while cranking the control adds some soft repeats with a nice level of drip. Overall, an easy build for a great no-frills reverb unit. —NM
Vintage-style fuzzes are the ultimate fodder for DIY pedal builders. Some of the best fuzz pedals consist of just a few components, so it’s easy to get your hands on a great circuit even when you’re just developing your skills. There are plenty of places to get started on your kit-building journey, but I’d argue that the Third Man Fuzz-a-Tron sets a new benchmark.
The Fuzz-a-Tron’s circuit is simple, consisting of just two transistors, four capacitors in two sizes, and four resistors that are all the same value, so there’s no testing components—just open the bag and get going. The confined space of small enclosures can be a real patience-tester, and tightly packed PCBs can make for some stressful soldering. The Fuzz-a-Tron alleviates those issues with a well-spaced PCB and an enclosure with plenty of space to maneuver. Once it’s all finished, builders can customize their wedge-shaped box with the included sticker sheet.
Third Man not only included detailed step-by-step instructions with the Fuzz-a-Tron, but made a build-along video that takes any guesswork out of the process and makes this the most well-documented kit I’ve seen.
The Fuzz-a-Tron sounds as retro as its shape suggests. Its volume and tone controls are interactive, and I prefer both fully cranked, where it sizzles like a Fuzzrite, but with a little less cutting treble and a tight midrange. Although there’s no LED on this pedal, which some will dislike, that is in line with plenty of vintage fuzzes. You’ll know whether it’s on or not, no matter the setting.
The Fuzz-a-Tron offers the best learning experience for beginning builders. That alone justifies your time. If the stickers feel a little gimmicky, don’t use ’em and decorate it on your own. Ultimately, the Fuzz-a-Tron’s vintage-voiced tone and great looks make it an essential stop on the kit-building journey. —NM
The Klon Centaur is arguably the most imitated circuit there is—even with DIY kits. A little over a decade ago, JHS made their own Klon clone, but it was discontinued after Klon’s Bill Finnegan started making the KTR. (On Reverb, these rare JHS models are going for close to $1,000.) Last November, JHS introduced the NOTAKLÖN, which is a complete pedal kit, but with a twist—no soldering skills needed. Admittedly, that puts the barrier to entry much lower than the other kits represented here, which makes this a solid first step for those looking for a foolproof initial build.
Building the NOTAKLÖN isn’t unlike building a very useful Lego project. The directions are mostly picture-based, all the parts fit together, and they include a few tools that you can punch out directly from the circuit board. Company founder Josh Scott even remembered to include a bit of GOOP to cover up those “magic” diodes.
I’ve tried quite a few Klon clones, and I have to say this JHS is up there with the very best. It gives you that real pronounced midrange, and paired with a slightly dirty amp, it can be set up for an incredible boost. The bonus feature is the switch on the front that works in Scott’s Shamrock mod, which adds more volume, mids, and an extra clipping gain stage.
Within about 20 minutes, I had gone from opening the box to kicking it on for the first time. The build feels incredibly solid. Combined with the extremely streamlined directions and the nearly unbeatable $99 price tag, the Notaklön delivers on nearly every front.—JS
Not many guitarists are as closely connected to a singular tone as Robben Ford is to his Dumble Overdrive Special. Even though Dumble’s creations cover a wide range of tones, it’s Ford’s Dumble that set the benchmark. The original Hermida Zendrive was one of the first pedals that copped that D-style tone. Aion FX’s Azimuth is a DIY version that’s great for beginners since it doesn’t include a lot of parts, but teaches you plenty about basic pedal construction.
The kits from Aion are impeccably assembled. You get a bag of all the parts and components, a powder-coated enclosure, and a thoughtfully created build document. This was the very first pedal I ever built, so I needed to get my soldering skills together, but after that, assembly went very smoothly. In retrospect, I really like how Aion chooses ribbon connectors and enclosed input/output jacks for their builds. It keeps down, or limits, the amount of loose wires down and prevents any bad connections.
I previously owned a Lovepedal-era Zendrive and remembered how dynamic and smooth it sounded. Naturally, after playing the Azimuth, I was really regretting selling that pedal. With this circuit, the magic is really in the voice control, which helps tailor the low-end response. As you can hear in the clips, it sounds full and round, with plenty of punch. If the used prices for a Zendrive are a bit out of reach, then getting your hands on an Azimuth—even with the extra work—would be well worth it.—JS
Tremolo might be one of my favorite effects. Adding a bit of whirl to an arpeggio or doubling a lead line with something more aggressive that borders on a ring mod is always fun. StewMac has long been a go-to for any kind of repair tools, but their line of DIY pedal kits are sturdy, useful, and fun. Out of their line of kits, I chose the Fan Tremolo not only because of my fandom (sorry), but also because this circuit offers three different flavors: vintage-style ’60s, heavier ’70s style, and a pristine digital version.
This was the second pedal I had built, and I’m glad my soldering skills were proven before I started because this design needed a slightly more delicate touch. Plus, it tested my troubleshooting abilities, which is necessary no matter what kit you’re building.
Out of the box, the components were high-quality and the step-by-step instructions were clear and concise. Out of the three builds I did for this story, this was the only one that really gave me a crash course in deciphering the color bands on resistors. This is one step where a multimeter can help alleviate any doubts between brown and violet and black. After sorting all the parts, it took me most of an afternoon to complete the entire build.
My favorite setting was the thicker ’70s sound. It’s chewy and warm. Admit it: It’s nearly impossible not to break into “Born on the Bayou” when you're rocking a trem at a very specific speed. Although it had a bit more wire work and took a focused touch in certain places, the Fan Tremolo would be a solid first step for aspiring pedal builders who want to dip into modulation. Just take your time.—JS
Sleater-Kinney was founded by Tucker and Brownstein in 1994 and was active until a hiatus in 2006, later reuniting in 2014.
“The note bend emulates the human experience so perfectly,” she continues. “It’s not static. You can be in one spot and have to bend to an experience. And I love that about guitar, that it can go in and out of these static moments.”
Of course, Sleater-Kinney’s music doesn’t really contain static moments, exactly—there might be quieter sections here and there, but even then, it’s fervent and kinetic. And, as Brownstein and co-bandleader/guitarist Corin Tucker have been in the punk scene for over 30 years, they know how to write in a way that not only captures the spirit of the genre, but expands its dimensions.
Brownstein and Tucker have always shared the roles of guitarist and vocalist in Sleater-Kinney, but on Little Rope, Tucker took on more vocal responsibilities than in the past.
Little Rope opens in the eye of an electrical storm on “Hell,” with a calm introduction that soon shifts to a wailing, mid-tempo upheaval. As the album continues, it speaks in elemental punk with a helping of pop-rock savvy, but when you’re fully in tune with it, it’s more like walking through a home that’s being consumed by a chemical fire. The flames are explosions of blue and green, and it smells like burning wood and acetate, but as you walk through unharmed, you realize it’s all been expertly staged. “The thing you fear the most will hunt you down,” the duo soothsays on “Hunt You Down,” as Brownstein later confides in the verse, “Sorrow hides outside the door disguised as luck / It looks me in the eye / It seems to know me.” More colors in the fire are heard in “Say It Like You Mean It,” with its catchy refrain belying its heartbreak, and the album’s closer, “Untidy Creature,” which starts heavy and raw before moving into a brief but pensive reflection as Tucker sings, “You built a cage but your measurements wrong.” It’s that kind of prismatic emotional topography that makes it clear how Sleater-Kinney has been going strong for all these years.
“I know what to do with my hands and with my body on guitar. It also is such an act of love to play.”—Carrie Brownstein
The writing of the album, which eventually became their 11th studio full-length, started as far back as 2021. “The first song was ‘Untidy Creature,’” shares Brownstein. “That had a very classic writing process to it, where I have a riff and Corin has a vocal line, and we just meld them together. We are often skeptical of that, because we’ve been doing that for a long time. But it really captured this loss and longing and vulnerability that would end up being very present across the album.”
In the fall of 2022, Tucker and Brownstein had around six or seven songs down, and were planning on writing about five more, when Brownstein received life-altering news. While recording in Los Angeles, she got a call from Tucker—the U.S. Embassy in Italy had been unsuccessfully trying to reach Brownstein and her sister, but managed to connect with Tucker, who is Brownstein’s emergency contact. A few calls later, Brownstein finally got in touch with her sister, who then relayed the message that their mother and stepfather had been killed in a car crash while vacationing in Italy.
In the midst of processing the tragedy, Brownstein decided to stay the course with the making of Little Rope, and found relief in continuing to create music for it. “I just wrote copiously,” she says. “I really needed the routine of it, and to sort of posit myself in time and space. Grief is so incoherent, so disorienting. I needed the songs to be the language that I didn’t have.” (“Hunt You Down” was one of the songs that came after the accident, and was written about it specifically.)
“Grief was unfamiliar,” she adds. “I had never been thrust into it in such a primal way. Suddenly it was such a nascent, uncomfortable feeling for me, and guitar was such an antidote to that. It made me appreciate the instrument for its malleability, for its expressiveness. I started doing all the fundamental things that are so obvious to guitar players. I felt like I was experiencing them in a new way.”
“Grief is so incoherent, so disorienting. I needed the songs to be the language that I didn’t have.”—Carrie Brownstein
Tucker shares, “I could tell that Carrie really wanted to finish the record. She didn’t want to just not have anything to do. So we finished things; I gave her ideas and she would sit and rework things all day long, eight hours a day. That became the pathway for how we dealt with what had happened.
“In a way it added to the album’s sense of purpose,” Tucker continues, “of feeling like, ‘Can we make this world strong enough to handle life’s ups and downs? Can we make this outlet enough of a joy and also enough of a container to handle your worst moments?’”
Carrie Brownstein's Gear
When songwriting, Brownstein and Tucker are suspicious of the songs that come easily, and those don’t always make it onto their albums.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/tinnitus photography
Guitars
- 1972 Gibson SG
- 1973 Guild S-100
- 1977 Fender Thinline Telecaster
- 2014 Old Style Guitar Shop custom-built semi-hollow
Amps
- Fender Deluxe Reverb
Effects
- Klon Centaur
- ZVEX Super Hard On
- EarthQuaker Devices White Light
- Roland Double Beat
- Eventide PitchFactor
- Strymon TimeLine
- Maestro Fuzz-Tone
- Catalinbread Belle Epoch
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Power Slinky
- Jim Dunlop .6 mm
Brownstein taking solace in the guitar also meant reducing her contributions to vocals, as singing felt too vulnerable for her at the time. As a result, Tucker took on more of those responsibilities than in the past. “It made me dig deeper and find a more passionate and diverse range of singing styles to bring variety to the album,” says Tucker.
For the album’s production, Brownstein and Tucker worked with John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans, Mountain Goats), who pushed Tucker to reach a “higher emotional peak” with her voice. “There was just an atmosphere that [created] a need for a strong intensity with the performances,” Tucker shares.
“Say It Like You Mean It” was one song in particular that required some additional effort. “John’s reaction [to my vocal part] was like, ‘I don’t think that’s really strong enough.’ Which of course made me really, um, frustrated,” she laughs. “So I just summoned my patience and said, ‘Alright, let me think about it.’” The next day, she came back with an idea of singing the melody in a higher register. “The crescendo of the song then had a larger trajectory. It had somewhere else to go.”
“In a way it added to the album’s sense of purpose of feeling like, ‘Can we make this world strong enough to handle life’s ups and downs?’”—Corin Tucker
When it comes to guitar playing, Tucker doesn’t have much of an emotional connection with gear, while Brownstein, on the other hand, happens to have a passion for it. Her main guitar is a 1972 Gibson SG, “from the dubious and inconsistent Norlin era,” she says. It has a thin neck that makes it more playable for her, and “a smooth tone with a hint of growl.” Another one of her axes is a ’70s Guild S-100. “It always surprises me with its versatility. I think it’s going to be dark and grimy, but then it will have more dimension and levity than that. I also appreciate the vibrato bar on it, which allows things to get ugly and weird.”
Brownstein is the proud owner of a Klon Centaur, along with a Roland Double Beat, Catalinbread Belle Epoch, and Eventide PitchFactor, among a few other pedals. “I would say that distortion is still my favorite. It’s the first language I really understood in terms of guitar—that raw power, that small dose of corrosion,” she elaborates. “I also love chorus, flange, and harmonizers. Basically, things that make the notes thick and rubbery. When we start writing a new album, I usually go pedal shopping. Even if I don’t end up using the effect on the song, I like the way it makes me rethink the guitar and how I play it. I love the way effects pedals can expand your vocabulary and make you think about single notes or melody in a different way.”
Corin Tucker's Gear
While Tucker doesn’t love gear as much as her guitarist cohort, she always uses a 1965 Fender Showman amp head to achieve her Sleater-Kinney tone.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/tinnitus photography
Guitars
- Gibson Les Paul Tribute Goldtop
Amps
- 1965 Fender Showman 2-Channel 85-watt with 4x10 cabinet
Effects
- Catalinbread Formula 5F6
- Eventide H9
- EarthQuaker The Warden
Strings & Picks
- D’Addario .010
- Jim Dunlop Nylon Gray .73 mm
And although Tucker doesn’t have that same connection with her musical equipment, she shares that she’s “created a very specific sound for Sleater-Kinney—a very low-end sound for a guitar.” To achieve that sound, she uses a 1965 Fender Showman 85-watt black-panel amp head with a 4x10 cabinet. Recently, the Fender head was stolen, so she went out and bought the exact same one to replace it.
It’s worth noting that Tucker and Brownstein have been a musical pair for the entirety of Sleater-Kinney’s run, which has spanned 30 years (the band was inactive between 2006 and their reunion in 2014). Before founding it together in 1994, Brownstein was in Excuse 17, and Tucker, Heavens to Betsy. The latter two groups were part of the early riot grrrl scene that originated in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and while Sleater-Kinney has come to be viewed as riot grrrl as well, Tucker and Brownstein think of themselves as slightly post riot grrrl because of the more specific timeline they were there to witness. When asked about their roles as leaders in the queer punk scene, Brownstein says she sees early-’90s queercore bands like Team Dresch, Tribe 8, and Pansy Division as being more “unabashedly queer at a time when it was so scary to be that.”
“If we do have a voice at all for people, it’s to say, ‘You’re not alone, and we are with you.’”—Corin Tucker
Tucker expresses, “We think it’s really important to speak out about queer and trans issues in the U.S., especially right now when so many of those rights are being rolled back and people are being trespassed upon. If we do have a voice at all for people, it’s to say, ‘You’re not alone, and we are with you.’ And it’s wrong that young people are losing gender-affirming care in some states. We think that’s awful.”
Aside from that advocacy, Brownstein says of being seen as a role model, “The most productive thing I can do to protect any goodwill that I’ve accrued [laughs], is to, one, be kind and compassionate, but also continue to push myself and put things out in the world that hopefully people connect to.”
One of Brownstein’s main guitars is a 1972 Gibson SG, seen here.
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Speaking of that kind of connection, although I have kept my identity a secret until this point in this article, I have been a fan of Sleater-Kinney for years, and shared that with Brownstein at the beginning of our conversation. Other fans out there will be pleased to know how kind she was in her response. She shares, “Fandom keeps you open, porous, and curious, and all the things that should be required as a human being, and certainly will help to ward off cynicism. So I have a lot of empathy and understanding for people who might place that on me, because I do understand that that is a way of guiding yourself through the world. I understand the language of fandom because I turned to it so much, especially when I was young, as a way of explaining my own predicament before I had the words to explain it on my own.”
“It’s part of what I love about music and art, is that it occupies a space that asks more questions than it provides answers.”—Carrie Brownstein
Throughout our conversation, Brownstein displays natural modesty, takes her time to carefully articulate thoughts, and shows sensitivity towards my own self-consciousness while speaking with someone I admire. One subject that comes up is her relationship with spirituality, as she uses the words “prayer” and “meditation” in describing her guitar playing. She shares that it has a new presence in her life after her mother and stepfather’s passing, and elaborates on how it relates to her music.
“I don’t know how you’d be a creative person or a person steeped in music and not have some sense of otherworldliness, like some sense of the liminal or the in-between, or some conversation that transcends the everyday,” she says. “It’s part of what I love about music and art, is that it occupies a space that asks more questions than it provides answers. There’s something spiritual about that.”
YouTube It
Performing live on The SoCal Sound radio show, Brownstein sings lead vox on “Hunt You Down” while Tucker chimes in on the choruses, as both carry the song’s minimalistic, incisive guitar lines.
StewMac Ghost Drive
More than a "klone"—it's the closest we've ever seen to the real thing! Few pedals reach mythical status like the Klon Centaur Professional Overdrive. StewMac scoured the world for the EXACT right components to recreate this "holy grail" circuit as a kit. No you can build your own version of this incredibly hard to find pedal.
Considered the finest transparent overdrive ever, the original Klon is shrouded in mystery, epoxy, and hype—but amazingly, it delivers. It's a guitar player's dream come true: saturated tube tone from your amp at a reasonable volume. It doesn't change the character of your amp, you get just the right amount of overdrive without losing your unique tone. It's relied on by countless players like Joe Perry, Mike McCready, Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer, Nels Cline and more.
StewMac dug deep to find the identical pair of 1N34A germanium diodes just like the original. Many claim these diodes were the heart of the original Klon and why so many of the imitators fall short. This pedal is extremely easy to use: just gain, treble, and output. The gain is where the magic is by adding sweet saturation and harmonics while retaining the character of your amp. The treble acts as a boost or cut, allowing you to dial in the perfect mid-range for your tone.
Nobody does instructions like StewMac—they wrote a 40 page step-by-step instructions made for the first time builder. They left no stone unturned, you'll see every solder joint and resistor value to make sure your build is perfect from start to finish. And if you get stuck, StewMac's team of techs and players is here to help! This is a fun weekend project where you'll learn a lot and get a legendary pedal.