Impending project - building my own boost & compressor pedals

Was turned onto this a couple of months ago through Pete at MTSForum...

B.Y.O.C. provides complete kits and schematics for a variety of guitar FX pedals... everything from overdrives to compressors to modulations to delays. Having built the Egnater JTM45 clone a couple years ago, I thought it would be fun (and a good refresher for my rapidly-decaying electronic soldering skills) to build a couple pedals and (if all goes well) unload a couple somewhere-between-mass-produced-and-boutique pedals in exchange.

So what did I pick up? First, I ordered the B.Y.O.C. Triboost. It's the mother of all boost pedals with three separate boost circuits (a silicon-based clean boost, a MosFET-based boost, and a germanium boost with 3 modes of its own: full range, midrange, and treble) with true bypass operation. Next, I ordered the B.Y.O.C. 5-knob Compressor which is loosely based on the (infamous) Ross compressor with additional controls for attack, blend, and tone. Both are unique designs to B.Y.O.C.

While I don't have the kits yet, there are a couple of things that impress me already about B.Y.O.C. First, the full directions/schematics for every kit are available online... this gave me a chance to look through them to understand what I was getting into before purchase. Also, for folks who are relatively new to DIY projects, B.Y.O.C. includes a couple free starter projects, including a signal tester and "Confidence Booster" (simple buffer/boost circuit). Finally, there's an online forum for when technical difficulties occur during pedal construction. Very cool from a customer service standpoint!

Of course I'll report back once I get the kits in and get the pedals assembled. Also, if these projects go well, I may consider building one of the B.Y.O.C. wah kits.

--B