DIY Overdrive(OD1) Effect pedal Kit With 1590B Hammond 1590B Style Aluminum Box

I had a lot of fun building this pedal, and would love to build some more. Like any kit of this kind, you are going to make a mistake somewhere and it will take some time to figure out. I really wish that they had included the wiring diagram with this pedal, as it would make troubleshooting a bit easier, as well as some instructions on how to hook the jacks and DC power connection together and to the board. Otherwise, it was really easy to build, and the pedal sounds great. It is a Boss OD-1 clone, but the internal adjustment pot can take this down to a boost pedal only or a pretty thick and gnarly overdriven roar. Full blast (on the internal trim pot) is similar to a Marshall tube amp's crunchy channel, mid range is very Boss OD-1, and a little lower than that is very similar to the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food. I will probably someday try switching out some of the capacitors and diodes to tailor it to my playing, but as is it sounds phenomenal. I highly recommend this kit to anyone who tinkers around with electronics. My only complaint is that they did not leave enough room in the case for the 9v battery. The back will not close with the battery in it. I don't use it, because its on my pedal board and powered by my power supply, but it is about the only detraction I could find. If you don't have a board/plan to use this off of battery power, you'll have to leave the back off, and that isn't really a good idea.

Easy to understand diagram and well labeled parts. The board is also double sided, making it easier to get a good fill on welds.Worked first try. I think it sounds good but its my first pedal with no personal, hands on experience to compare to.I don't think you could fit a 9v inside with the cover on.

If you have basic soldering experience, this build is pretty straightforward. The only instructions are a line drawing of the circuit board with all the components labeled. The parts are also labeled on the circuit board itself so unless you’re not paying attention, it’s unlikely you’ll put anything in the wrong place. The one thing that could have used a better diagram, was how everything was wired to the circuit board. I was somewhat discouraged because there didn’t seem to be any power when I first tried testing it. I did not have the circuit board installed inside the enclosure and left off the 9v power adapter, relying only on the battery at this point. Unfortunately, this must have left an opening in the circuit resulting in no power. Everything worked once the led and power adapter was installed. Keep in mind that if you do test the pedal before putting inside the enclosure, you’ll have to desolder the led and power adapter and reinstall once it’s bolted to the case. Also make sure you set the bias, it’s the small blue and white dial at the heart of the pcb board. The further right it’s turned the less distortion you’ll get. Don’t mistake a non functional pedal for having bias accidentally turned too high.

I bought this kit and it didn’t arrive. After contacting the seller, who was very kind and concerned, they sent out another one right away.Last night I sat down and put it together. Today I’m playing with and enjoying my new overdrive! This is the first guitar pedal I have attempted to put together and I can’t say enough about the experience. The seller was terrific and the kit is working better than I hoped!

Awesome Overdrive guitar pedal.Fun and easy to build. Works well with my 50w Marshalls, JCM800, JCM900 SLX, and 5210. This pedal sounds close to the Boss SD-1 with less low-end loss. It has an internal gain pot which helps to fine tune the tone and gain.

Sounds good but gets 1 star because how poor and vague the instructions are. Nothing but a list of parts and misleading "instructions" (DC jack PWC connection is not needed and input/output jacks tip connectors are reversed on the sheet). Also the knobs are loose and cheap. If you don't have previous experience with pedal circuits I'd skip it and get one with better directions. For $29 is worth it sonically (it actually sounds good) but not worth the time troubleshooting unless you know what you're doing.

For my 55th birthday I bought this cool little kit. I have a little bachelors degree in home wiring so it was no problem for me to assemble. The instructions might prove difficult to a beginner but the paper layout shows where everything goes so I kind of recommend it but I must have got one o the bad ICs and I didnt see an option to contact the seller or to exchange parts. So now that Ive assembled it for them I have nothing to show for my work and they get a fully assembled product, The IC pops in and out of a socket so they can resell it as a finished product, just slip in a good chip. I dont think ill buy another one without knowing if the IC chip is good. I kind of feel slighted, and of course this kind o thing happens on your Bday, Oh Well, Good Luck to anyone that tries this.

This is the first DIY pedal I've put together. I was a little nervous because I've never soldered on a PCB before but all told it took me about 2 hours to put together and it worked on the first try. It doesn't come with any step-by-step instructions, but all of the part values are printed on the PCB and the parts themselves are clearly labeled, so it was easy to get all of the components on the board. They do include a paper with some instructions on where the tabs of the jacks and power input should be soldered. The pots are a little tricky to solder because they don't have loops to put the wire through, just little tabs. I'm sure it would be pretty easy with some alligator clips or a helping hands, though. There's also a 50K trim pot on the inside of the pedal that can be adjusted with a screw driver and it seems to adjust the amount of gain or clipping. I haven't toyed with it much but I'm probably going to drill a hole and replace the trim pot to control it without having to open the pedal up. The enclosure is kind of rough but this makes it easier to paint. Overall, I'm really happy with the experience and the sound of the pedal.