....it works!! And first time I plugged into it, too!

I'm referring to the "Build Your Own Clone" TS-808 Tube Screamer overdrive pedal kit I bought & built. If you have decent soldering skills and you can follow directions, you can do it, too. Lots of fun, I might add, if you're a little on the geeky side, like me.

It even comes with two different IC chips--the stock TS-808's JRC4558D and a "high fidelity" RC4558P chip that several of the "boutique" pedal makers use--and an IC socket so that you can swap 'em at will.

The thing sounds great; plenty of grind on tap, but without sounding harsh or grainy. Very impressive.

Here are some pix and a couple of clips. I haven't painted/labeled the casing yet, but will probably get to that at some point. The clips were recorded using my LP and my Strat, played through the Tweed 4x10 model on my AD30VT. Gain setting on the amp was just under half, so that it would stay fairly clean. The LP clip has three pairs of riffs--the first in each pair is without the TS clone, and the second with it. I finished up the clip with the start of my latest EVH learning project, the first part of Panama.

For the Strat clip, I played the lead-in to SRV's Pride & Joy, first clean, then with the TS clone at about 60% gain, then a third time at full gain.

LP Clip

Strat Clip