Melting metal is quite fun...

I've decided to start hand-wiring and building my own guitar effects pedals. Boutique pedals, as they are commonly called, are normally priced in the $250-$300 range. Expensive, to say the least; but like so many things, you get what you pay for. So the idea is to order the parts and do it myself. High end gear for nothing more than cost of the parts (which generally run in the $75-$125 range--much more tolerable).

I started building my first pedal last night. I finished it this afternoon. I am a complete novice at soldering and was still able to come away with a solid finished product. Needless to say, I'm stoked. This is the first of many to come. I'm hoping they spark interest in fellow musicians and I can build some for other people. If interested, post a comment with your email and I'll contact you about what effects I can build and what you're looking for.

As long as Joneo says its cool, I'm going to use a name he came up with for my first pedal: "The One Inch Punch." Its a small box harmonic distortion. If I build any more of the same, I'll keep the name. I think it fits.