My past few pedals have all been based on a kit that I buy.  It comes bundled with all the components I need as well as a PCB board that determines where all the components go.

This pedal I built from scratch.  I saw a schematic and layout online and built it based on that.  I bought all the capacitors, resistors, pots, switches and wire.  Its a step forward in my learning of electronics.

The pedal is called the ‘Highway 89′.  It is an overdrive pedal loosly based on the Dr Z route 66 pre-amp.  The first thing I did was wire it all up so that I could debug any problems that may arise.  So all the pots and jacks are just hanging out attached to wires.

Once I made sure all was OK I drilled out the enclosure I bought.  To do this I put masking tape over the paint of the enclosure.  I then used a punch to create dimples to center the drill bit.  I then drilled a pilot hole and proceeded to make it larger with a step bit.

The next step was to secure all the pots, switches, led, jacks, and power supply in the enclosure.

Finally I installed the circuit board and did all the off board wring in the enclosure.

My first impressions of the pedal are good.  It is a very high gain pedal, but with the guitar volume down a little it really produced some good haronics along with a rich midrange hump for a very fat and grainy sound.  After I play it for a while I may make a few modifications to it, but it works great for me now.  All I need now are some knobs for it. :-)