DIY Guitar Distortion Pedal — Custom PCB Build

I'm Andrew (@andrew_k.build on Instagram), a DIY electronics creator documenting my journey building a custom distortion pedal from scratch. In just three weeks, my page has grown to 600+ followers with 52,000+ total views across only four videos, with my best video earning over 1,200 likes. What makes my channel unique is my audience: a large portion are complete beginners who discovered this hobby through my content and are actively planning to build the same projects I document. It is inspiring to see these viewers reach out directly to tell me my content inspired them to start, and that they'll need the exact same components and PCB services I use.

This project is a guitar distortion pedal I'm designing completely from scratch. I play guitar and I've always wanted to build my own pedal rather than just buy one off the shelf. First, I'm making the schematic and simulating the circuit in LiveSPICE and Reaper.

The circuit includes:

Input filters to get rid of dc and radio frequencies

Op-amp gain stage with adjustable clipping characteristics

Active tone control (bass/treble)

True bypass switching

9V DC power input with reverse polarity protection

Then, I am laying out the PCB in KiCad for manufacturing, and I plan to 3D print a custom enclosure for it as well. I am still working on the pcb layout on KiCad, but below is an AI generated image of what I want my enclosure to look like.

Up until now everything has been on a breadboard. This is the point in the project where I actually commit to a proper PCB, and I want to document that whole process on camera. Uploading Gerbers, checking the preview, waiting for the boards to arrive, assembling it. My audience is going to go through that exact same process themselves and I want to show them how it works from start to finish.

PCBWay's support would allow me to take this build from breadboard to a proper manufactured PCB and document the entire process for my audience. A large portion of my followers are beginners who are building alongside me, so showing them the full PCBWay workflow, from Gerber upload to finished board, would give them the confidence to order their own. My audience is growing fast and is highly engaged. So, For PCBWay, sponsoring this project is an opportunity to become the go-to PCB manufacturer for an entire community of new hobbyists who haven't yet developed a brand preference. I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with PCBWay and advance my hobby projects for not only myself, but a whole sea of people on the internet.