Tutoriel: how to prototype with a breadboard

Prototyping is not always an easy task with guitar pedals. One solution is to heavily mod an existing pedal. But what if you want to start from scratch? How to test things before designing a circuit and solder everything?

Well, we have a simple solution for that: using a breadboard!

Let's go! In this blog post, we'll see why the breadboard is such a cool tool and how you can use it to design and test your own circuits.

How to build your first DIY guitar pedal (step by step tutorial)

You have never made a guitar pedal before? You are a bit lost and do not know where to start?

Here is the perfect place! I decided to write a full tutorial for beginners, to build an Earthquaker Device Acapulco Gold, step by step. No excuse not to get started!

The Acapulco Gold is a simple, yet very fun pedal to play with, and is perfect for beginners. The circuit is simple and easy to mod as well. With this tutorial, you should be able to build your first guitar pedal!

If everything goes well, you should get a guitar pedal like this in the end:

Modding the Behringer UV300 Vibrato : tutorial

Here is my last ""build", I modded a Behringer UV300 vibrato:

Behringer released a whole series of pedals inspired by not-produced-anymore Boss pedals like the Hyper Fuzz FZ2 (Behringer Super Fuzz 300), the Heavy Metal HM2 (Behringer Heavy Metal 300)...etc. I was really interested in one of them: the Behringer Ultra Vibrato, which tries to emulate the famous Boss VB2.

Eagle for making guitar pedals PCB: getting started (part 1/3)

Sometimes, especially with complicated builds with a lot of components, or when you have to build several times the same pedal, it is easier to use a printed circuit board (PCB) than veroboard or turrets board. A PCB is easier to assemble, and it prevents from doing many mistakes that can occur when using veroboard: false contacts, misplaced component, complicated wiring involving a lot of wires...etc.

"Eagle" is the name of a beautiful animal, but it also stands for "Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor", the name of a famous software that helps you to conceive and make printed circuit boards (PCB). I already used it a lot to make PCBs. For instance, I made a few Klon buffer boards with it. I decided to write a serie of articles explaining how to use it to make PCB for your guitar pedals.

2026 Update: Autodesk has announced End of Life for Eagle for June 2026. This is super disappointing, but Eagle seems to be no longer relevant for the guitar pedal community. Alternative is to switch to KiCad, which I will dive into this year. In the meantime, I have saved the popular Gauss Markov library in Eagle XML format and KiCad format (symbols and footprints) on GitHub.

Article parts:

• Getting started (you are reading this one now)
• Tracing the circuit (to be published)
•  Creating the PCB layout (to be published)

Become free to make PCB like you want with Eagle

Relay Bypass: conception and relay bypass code

You might already have heard about "relay bypass", or even used it without knowing it. It a different true-bypass system than the classical 3PDT switch. Instead of using a mechanical 3PDT switch, a soft switch, a microcontroller and a relay are combined to turn the effect on and off.

 So... Why bother? My 3PDT switch is great, don't you think?

How to make patch cables: step by step tutorial

Patch cables are expensive most of the time; making them yourself can save you a lot of money! Most of the times, high-end boutique patch cables do not have any datasheet or what so ever to really know their characteristics. By making patch cables yourself, you can choose whatever cable and plugs you want. Moreover, you can make it as long (or as short) as you need, and not be embarrassed with a too long cable. Here is a tutorial about how to make guitar patch cables for your pedalboard.

I would also suggest to make your guitar cables yourself! Here is a step by step tutorial.

What do you need?

You will not need a lot of materials to make good patch cables. First, cable of course! I used Sommer Tricone MK2, mainly because it is highly flexible. Capacitance of the cable does not matter because I am using a buffer at the beginning of my chain. To choose the good cable, read my post about guitar cables.

I used a standard cheap pancake plug that I found on Banzai Music. You can find cheap ones on ebay too. Beware that some of these pancakes are not functional, sometimes the tip and the ground sleeves are connected without any reason (2 upon 26 connectors for my Banzai music ones)... So buy a bit more that you actually need, and check them before soldering!

Finally, you will need some classical tools: a cutter, pliers, screwdriver, a wire stripper and of course a soldering iron and solder!