Depending on where you get your kit, there is still the potential problem of defective / incorrect parts. If you want to get an idea of what can go wrong and what to do about it, spend an hour or two reading the Troubleshooting forum. You will find three kinds of threads:
1. Folks who follow a methodical approach and get to the solution in short order.
2. Folks who randomly swap out parts and occasionally get lucky. Their troubleshooting threads usually run on for many pages with no progress.
3. Folks who get discouraged easily and give up.
If you are like the first group, then pedal building can be fun and rewarding. We have all had to troubleshoot our stuff at one time or another. Some of us accept that we are all fallible, sometime bad shit happens and that we will eventually succeed if we stick with it. There is no shortage of support here.
Whatever you decide to build for your first pedal, make it something simple like a Fuzz Face or Bosstone. Less opportunities for mistakes and easier to troubleshoot if it comes to that. Avoid circuits with JFETs and Germanium transistors because they are finicky to put it mildly. You will need a decent set of tools including a temp controlled soldering iron, a DMM, a well-lit work space and a magnifier (for inspecting your solder joints). And patience. Lots of patience. Don't work when you're distracted, frustrated or under the influence.
A friendly piece of advice: don't requote the last couple of posts in their entirety. You can reply without hitting "reply."
