Topic: Build your own Clone

Anybody have any input about b.y.o.c. guitar pedals?  they look like a fun hobby.  Do they sound good?  Are they easy to do?

Re: Build your own Clone

I've heard a lot of positive things about them from the UK guys over at the Bareknuckle Pickups forum.
I haven't tried one myself but a friend has built a few and thinks they are good.
It depends on your soldering skills I think.

Re: Build your own Clone

I've built the 5 knob compressor, the ping pong delay, and the analog chorus.
They worked fine and I wound up selling them to others that saw me playing them and wanted them.
I can always build more. I have two of the ts808 style overdrive kits that I haven't built yet because I have too much other stuff I'm messing around with at the moment but I'll get to them sometime over the holidays. I got two of them so I can modify both differently.
They're good kits, the instructions are easy to follow, they work well and you can interchange components for different tones but you have to be comfortable with a soldering iron and have a little patience.
In the instructions you're usually given some options for different modification on some of the pedals but if you have an electronics background you can take it farther and come up with your own mods.
On the B.Y.O.C. website you can download the instructions for building the kit before you buy anything so you can see if it's something you'd really like to build. Some of them look quite complicated but if you just follow the instructions step by step it's pretty straight forward.
Overall I think they're really good pedals. If you do pick up a kit and run into any problems just let me know and I'll help if I can.

Re: Build your own Clone

Really good stuff from BYOC. Just take your time, and build it solidly.

    I use a BYOC Chorus/Vibrato that is warm, fat, and really sweet sounding. Especially on OD Tones!  And their TS Clone Kit will allow you to build a "Landgraff Style", or an "Eternity Style" among others.

Early 80's 1957 U.S. Vintage Reissue Stratocaster (Surf Green)-Warmouth Soloist  Pearly Gates Neck, Pearly Gates Bridge- Larrivee D-03 (Mahogany/ Spruce)
Carmen Ghia Head- Marshall 112 Cab W/G12H 30  or  Custom 4 X 6v6 Head  or  Budda Twinmaster Plus Head-Traynor 212 Cab w/Eminence Texas Heats. 
Mo'D-Eternity-Blues Pro- Timmy-BYOC Chorus/Vibrato- TC SCF- Korg DT 10 Pedal Tuner

Re: Build your own Clone

There was a great write up on those guys a few months back in Premier Guitar Mag.  Check it out.  Looks like cool stuff.

-Jason

Re: Build your own Clone

My wife is thinking about getting me one for Christmas.  I know because she found the site and it was in the recent history.  I just can't wait!  I'm like a little kid again.

Re: Build your own Clone

Hey!
I've built two pedals from them: the tremolo and the fuzz. Both work great. Really great sound, at least as good as more conventional and expensive pedals. It's not that hard to do if you take your time and think before soldering!

Re: Build your own Clone

I'm pretty good with an iron.  I've had a friend who let me work on their stuff and then get something changed down the road and have someone else do it and get comments about how nice the solder joints are and how neat everything is laid out.  Then they asked him who did the work on this thing.  When he said his friend the guy told him you should take it back to him he does pretty good work.  So I felt good about my work after that.  But I hear circuit boards are a little harder to do then wires off a potentiometer or a selector switch.  I'll be fine though.  They sale replacement boards if I mess up.