How to build your own distortion pedalStart with a simple fuzz or overdrive — a distortion pedal is a great first build. Easy first project Psean recommends the Tonefiend DIY Club projects: step-by-step instructions with pictures, from breadboarding right through to the finished pedal 2. He built the Bazz Fuss as his first pedal with almost no electronics experience and still uses those notes for other builds 2. The first project is an Electra-based distortion — simple circuit, and you can add a gain control and diode tweaks later like the Les Lius-style builds 2. Learn what you're building Alan Ratcliffe, our Guitar Doctor, explains the family: overdrive uses soft clipping and stays dynamic, distortion uses harder clipping with less dynamics, and fuzz clips to a near-square wave — handy to know before picking your circuit 7. Understand what each component does as you go: resistors, caps and diodes in these circuits map directly to clipping and tone 2. Where to find help locally Alan Ratcliffe kept a running link list for building effects and amps — worth a look for circuit references 3. The forum's build/mod archive includes an entire pedal-building section (31 posts) by mtmattan of Ashton Audio, plus other members' builds for inspiration 1. Parts sourcing: no single SA electronics store stocks everything, so plan on importing some bits or asking around on the forum 3. If the threads don't cover a specific circuit you want (e.g. a Tube Screamer clone), ask the community — several members have pedal-building experience. From these forum threadsBuild/mod/refurb threads (2016): Collated archive of member build threads, including a pedal-building sectioneasy diy build (2013): Step-by-step Bazz Fuss and Electra distortion build instructions for beginnersAlan's guitar, effect and amp building link list (2008): Alan Ratcliffe's bookmark list for building guitars, effects and ampsWhat is the difference between Distortion, and Fuzz? (2011): Alan's clear explanation of overdrive vs distortion vs fuzz clipping
