DIYstompboxes.com

theres been a LOT of debate about this at ampage (and many other places)
i personally think its cheaper

If you include man-hours it is far more expensive, but as it's a hobby to all of us it is in fact cheaper ;)

I agreed with Ben here. On the other hand, if you see the prices of some vintage effects on eBay it can be cheaper.

But there are definately some advantages.
- It's a hobby so it's fun!
- You can make your effects true-bypass!
- There is some really cool stuff around that can't be bought (Runoffgroove, Doug H, Mark H etc...etc...)
- You can make the boxes the way you like it
- You can make improved version (better components) of exciting effects.
- etc...etc...

Yeah you can tweak stuff to your own specs. That was one of the main reasons I started out. I wanted to have total control over my guitar arsenal 8) Plus I was bored and needed a challenge.

Cheaper??? ROTFLMAO! :lol:

Sorry... :D If I don't count my time or the money I could be making during that time then.... well.... maybe. Trouble is that I have to amortize the cost of drills, punches, hand tools, etc. etc. etc. and with at thrown in there is no doubt in my mind that it is more expensive to build your own in the short term but then you can also think of it as giving yourself a scholarship and getting an education you could not otherwise receive from a school so in that sense the grand total of the experience (not just the resulting box) is an AMAZING bargain. 8)

That's my run-on sentence for the day. ;)

Take care,
-Peter

maybe im only finding it cheaper cos my school has tools i can use and parts i can steal.............but im definately finding it cheaper, and my effects are better than my buddies store bought ones.............this is interesting

This is not a good question when the possible answers are 'yes' or 'no'!

If you build yourself a Tonebender MKII and you're a lucky guy who got the right trannies out of the first 20 you bought real cheap, than it is definitly cheaper. The reason is because this pedal is out of production.

But it changes if you build a pedal which is still in production (a Boss etc.). Even if it's a simple overdrive you'll send a lot of time with it from the first printing of the PCB to the coat of laquer (debugging not included). Say 5 bucks an hour and I believe you could buy at least two.

Anyway I never liked to look at it this way since I think it is a really cool hobby (even if it's not economical which no hobby is) and I believe you can't pay the feeling if you finish something that works.

for what i want,  vs paying someone to make it for me yes its definately cheaper

:o I´m not into this for money anyway

Hmm I forgot about tools.... that is expensive, the cost of starting is pretty big. Thank heaven I didn't have to pay all that 8) I'm lucky in that aspect. I need to get an O'scope soon for fun but they're expensive. Maybe school has some old ones.....  :wink:

At this point materials are definitely cheaper.  A year ago, no way.  I can make a fuzz face for the cost of solder and electricity in two evenings because I'm setup and know where to get stuff cheap.  If you add the cost of my labor. well, I'd just have to buy 'em. :D :D

Looking at the issue quickly I see three occassions where its cheaper to build your own effect:

1. You are building a clone of a vintage or high end pedal where most of its cost is based on fame and not parts/labour.

2. You are building a pedal that takes alot of time/labour/skill to tune properly (i.e. a hand built effect with matched/tunned parts).

3. You are building something different or custom that is not availible.

This also depends if you have the neccessary equipment and time on hand to build everything. I don't consider time a cost since you can't charge yourself for time and most people do this as a hobby not a job.

Contrary to what many hobbiest or newbies may think it is NOT cheaper to build your effect unless you fit into one of the above situations.

Andrew

Geez!!!!!!!!  This is the problem when you throw hobbyists and for profit pedal makers together in a forum.  Making them at home is way way cheaper!!!!!!!!  Enough said!!!!!!!!  It is a fact.  Throwing in that BS about man hours and tools?!  Geez!  How bout the guys who have spent thousands on tools and stuff to restore a old car they have always wanted!  I guess they are doing it for profit!  They are gonna run rught out and sell it when their done.  How bout the guys that spend thousands on wood working tools to sit out back in the shed and tinker on Sat and Sun and make stuff to give away or decorate their house or whatever?  I guess they are doing it for profit.  Capitalist society!  We can't comprehend doing something for nothing.  Everything has to be about money!  Hell no!!!  I make pedals cause it's fun the quality is better. And it is tweaked to my rig.  Let me see if I can't pull the master ZVEX in on this.
Hey Zach can you give me a quote on what it will cost for you to build me a Fuzz Face and come to Seattle and sit here and tweak it to my amps and axes and also I want the real parts!  TFK trannys and all!  Also Zach I will need you to come back to Seattle every so often when I buy new Pickups and amps and guitars to fine tune it some more and maybe switch out values.
How much is that gonna run me?  It ain't looking so cheap now is it boys!?  Well all this I can do by making the thing myself at probably 1/16 the price!  Also I get great great satisfactionat creating something and fun.  It keeps me out of trouble and at home.  And in the end I get major major ear candy!!  Again for profit guys and hobbyists together on the same forum with this question is a recipe for big arguments.  :D
Point is that we all have hobbys and hobbys cost money whether it is car rest., woodworking, painting, boating, flying, etc. etc..  It would be much cheaper to just go out and "buy" an already fully restored 67 Camaro than to tinker with one and do it myself!  Where is the fun in that!? :D

Hi,
I' don't think it's cheaper, no way at all,. considering time, tools and materials.
But it's my hobby and, as I always dream to find the holy grail of sound, this is the only way to accomplish my mission... :-D!!
M.

its depends on what you're building, and where you bought the stuff...

MXR distortion plus, retail, $70
DIY - switch $5 (xicon)
box - $2 (junction)
Board - $2 (perf)
jacks - $2
pots, with knobs - $4
ICs, Resistore (at 3 cents each), caps, diodes...$5 (much less)
misc - (battery clip, adapter jack, paint...anything im forgetting) $10
shipping $5
total - $35, about

Buying all the parts from mouser, its cheeper.  However, this would rise with the complexity of the effect, and the source.  Buy 'em from steve, and the price jumps, even though you're able to get stuff like Ge's and BBD's that mouser doesn't stock.  So my answer is Maybe.  Sure it would be cheeper to buy a DS-1, but probably not a Dist+.

I just enjoy the art of creation. It's AALLIIIVVVVEEE!!!!!! BWAAA!!! HAH! HAH! HAH! They laughed at me back at the academy!! Who's laughing now!!!!!

I've spent a small fortune at this, but then I used to spend a small fortune on drugs, and had nothing but memory loss to show for it!

Regards

RDV

Rather than IS it cheaper, I think the better question to ask is "WHEN is it cheaper?".

It is cheaper when...

...you live in the right city or country (or the wrong one, depending on how that changes the price availability of pedals vs components)

...you only have to build it once

...you didn't blow any components

....you already HAD a drill press, dremel, for other reasons, or knew someone who did

...you don't have to rely on NTE components

...the last time you ordered or bought parts, you bought all the ones you really needed in the amount you really needed

...you cannibalize your own devices for parts regularly and efficiently

...you know the function and specs of every semiconductor relevant to you and what the state of your inventory is so that when you run across a bargain you recognize it as such

...you have lots and lots of free time, and no possibility of using it to make money doing something else

...you only build as many pedals as you really NEED, or can sell off the ones you don't

...all the stuff you ever needed to read, you didn't have to buy, but could get it on-line or from the library

...you standardize as much as possible (e.g., see Paul Marossy's collection of builds; same chassis, same knobs, etc.), OR you are VERY flexible about standards (i.e., use whatever you can dig up cheap for knobs, pots, chassis, switches, etc.)

...you have lots of friends and know the right people

...you know how to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse

It CAN be cheaper, but it isn't necessarily cheaper.  A lot of things need to line up.  Probably the only thing it will be with any regularity is exactly the way you want it to be and sound, and nothing else on earth sounds like it.  I kinda like that part.

Ok my mistake!  I didn't take something into consideration here.  I got a huge box of AllenBradley pots all values I got for free!  I got alot of other brands of pots for free!  I buy surplus caps!  Example:  100 .022uf 25V ceramic disks= $2.99,  I buy surplus trannys!  278 2SB175=$125, I get old switchcraft jacks from 60s and 70s for free!  I get to measure the exact values of the carbon resistors before I buy them therefore cutting down on the need to buy a large lot just to get that dead on schematic value.  ALot times though I get the resistors for free anyway!  

So I see maybe I ain't in the same boat as others on expenses.  For me it is to cheap to make it myself.  Also I get Motorola 3904 and 3906 trannys for free!  JAN 2N2222 for free!   :twisted:

I find it no only cheaper, but diy is the only way to get guitar fx for me. Even if i had the money (u$s70-130) to buy the one i want, i still couldn't have it, since the music shops here don't stock pedals, so it's either you buy what they are selling (cheap crap) or wait for months (literally) til they ask for it to the importer, it ships and gets to my city shop.

If there are any doubts, let's take the example of the D+ (my first project!!):

Retail: u$s 90 = (exchange to pesos) 90*3 = $180 (90 ?IS the retail price here, after customs and so)

Supplies: buying pcb, etchant, pots, cheap switch, solder, it went to something like $(pesos) 12-15 = u$s 5.

Took me 2 afternoons to put it together and make it work, let's say 6 hours, since it was my first fx ever, so, let's make it u$s 5 the hour ($15, no one will pay you that much for ANY work around here, for specialized labour the normal fee is $5-7 an hour = u$s 2), for a whooping u$s 35 total cost.

So it's cheaper. If i add a nicer switch, thats 3 dollars on top of that.

And i love doin' it!!! I can't loose.

Well, here in Brazil is a lot cheaper to me to build something than buy something. Here something like a TS-9 costs about $200.

Im one of the few lucky individuals who have the opportunity to purchace great brand name effects VERY cheap. Actually its a lot cheaper for me to buy the real product than to build one..example= new EH Lpb2ube 20.00$ versus 200.00$ or Tube driver=4.99$ But when it really gets down to it i enjoy making them more than buying them cause im not so afraid of experimenting and making changes with the ones i build. And it keeps my mind busy and a chance to listen to some of my favorite tunes-and gives me something to look forward to. Its my "daddy time" when i have all my parts, beers, tunes, peace and quiet, schematics, computer, ect...like that dumb ass commercial on tv ( sometimes it not about the money--(Priceless)

I can make an LPB for $15... If I'm gonna add some switches and pots it can quickly turn to $35 - 45... It all depends.

Excellent point Gringo!!!  We forgot to mention that here in AMerica we think we should get paid enormous salarys and wages for little to no work.  And get full benefits and breaks and off every holiday etc. etc..

I guess if you consider that most Americans would consider $25 an hour a good fair wage for something like soldering and assembly of pedals where somewhere else they would be happy with $5 to $7 it is a hell of alot cheaper building it when you live somewhere else.  Geez it just dawned on me why they keep sending jobs out of the country here in America!  We want to much for nothing.   :roll:

Let's say they low ball me.  Pay me $15 an hour.  I spend 4 hours on a pedal fine tuning it and tweaking it and painting etc.  $60 plus parts for a custom tuned to my setup vintage parts pedal!  Hey!  That still is cheaper than buying boutique!!!!!!!  Shit!  How much do you for profit builders think yur time is worth!?  Most degrees including MDs don't make what your asking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Your crazy! :roll:   Gotta love America and all of it's societies greed! :roll:

Sorry!  I grew up in the South where I would come home with blisters on my feet and hands with plenty of cuts and scraps for only $7.00 an hour working in factories with no Air Conditioning in a metal building in 100 degree hot ass Alabama weather!!!!  And if you was late twice without some doctors excuse your fired!

It is certainly true that the answer depends on WHAT you want to build, WHO you are, and WHERE you are building it. Also WHY, i guess.
For the time angle, i suppose it depends what else you would be doing with your time. If you said "watching TV", well.........!!!!!
Incidentally, the only engineers I ever met or employed who were any use, were people who built their own shit at home as kids. That has got to tell you something!

Quote from: smoguzbenjaminI can make an LPB for $15... If I'm gonna add some switches and pots it can quickly turn to $35 - 45... It all depends.

jimbob talked about LPB-TUBE with 2 12AX7s on HT, 5 pots & 4 Jacks....

Hi.  
So...is making pedals cheaper than buying them?  Probably is for me.  
Is fooling with pedals a dirt cheap hobby?  You bet!!

I build most pedals for US$45 or so.  If I make 2 and sell one on e-bay I get US$70 for it, and use the small profit for more stuff to make pedals (drill press, o'scope, test gear)

My girlfriend keeps and competes on horses for a hobby.  1 Horse=$4000, saddles (x2) = $3000, feed = $2000 (p.a. at least), truck = $8000....

Yep, this is cheap as chips

Quote from: puretubejimbob talked about LPB-TUBE with 2 12AX7s on HT, 5 pots & 4 Jacks....

Right. That would be a little more expensive... :lol:

It all depends on what your building.One project sort of begets the next, and so on and so on....So in the long run I'd say it's slightly cheaper.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040329095308080185251156800203/g=guitar/search/b=1106

now this is cheap - box incl.....

Not only did I not ever see a FF, for thirty years of Fuzz Box shoppin' [as my brother used to call it] I never even heard of a Tonebender.
 The chances of getting one of these [that works the way you want It to] back in the day would be very unlikely...even less likely these days. Plus chances are I would'n't even know how to use it and the odds would have been 50/50 for alot of players whether it got tried out through a SS or tube amp or what it would sound like or if it were biased correctly or if it squealed like crazy with a guuitar plugged in [not knowing of the guitars volume knob turning into a gain knob]...chances are even if an original Tonebender offered itself up to me for 10$ or trade for my Dist+...I likely would have said something like: 'I don't know...seems to squeal alot"
 Because there is such a wealth of applicable information about effect building and usage, there is a value there that's absent from bought stuff.
 Pondering through this stuff and gathering info, building circuits that you choose for what [5-10$;s per...I scavenge] opens up an entire wide open field of experimentation that you won't get at a store, or might take lots of money...this is not the place to ask for an unbiased opinion on this matter...I don't know that such a place exists...you'll just have to judge for yourself what's subjective and objective.
 You talk to a botique pedal buyer and youre likely to hear a 180 degree shift of opinion on what's 'better'.
 From what I'm reading, I don't know that what I build could compete with Say a BotIque FF.  I do know that as far as boost and fuzz and OD etc, the tone pallette I'm using is really fabulous, never better [in all it's many incarnations].  
 Here's my boiled down, subjective, braggidociated opinion: "There's no Way my guitar would sound this great had I not acquired hand tweeked pedals".
 For someone who still can't get enough guitar in in one day, buying prebuilts is faster...I liked taking the time and doing it...still trying to kick the habit

Quote from: puretubehttp://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040329095308080185251156800203/g=guitar/search/b=1106

now this is cheap - box incl.....

The fact that they can ask $15 for a pedal tells me enough about its quality. They're making a profit off that whatever way you look at it. So what's the cost of the pedal, $5? Can't be good, part tolerances will be all over the place and the plastic casing will survive not even one gig... I used to have an arion I think. I remember having a pedal that looked similar, I stomped it hard once and it broke. I think I sold the insides... :roll:

on the contrary it is abs style plastic which in this molded state is quite strong,

i actualy have a case that i have put mutilple circuits in fromthe 80's when the pedal died on me

Aside from the obsurdity of trying to answer this as a yes or no question in a general sense, I was pretty sure if there were already three pages of posts before I got to it, someone must have already posted what I would. And sure enough:

Quote from: RDVI just enjoy the art of creation. It's AALLIIIVVVVEEE!!!!!! BWAAA!!! HAH! HAH! HAH! They laughed at me back at the academy!! Who's laughing now!!!!!

I've spent a small fortune at this, but then I used to spend a small fortune on drugs, and had nothing but memory loss to show for it!

I got into this to gain access to the primitive first few generations of effects, i. e. Fuzz Face, Rangemaster, Octavia, etc. This certainly made my first few builds cost effective vs. purchasing vintage. But when I wanted a PDS 8000, I bought one on ebay like a normal person.

Kerry M

Yes. I think you need to know when to draw the line. There are many instances where you can simply buy a pedal used or new and it will cost less. If you just want a few pedals, it can be cheaper to just buy them. Another thing is what cost do you put on frustration  :?

For me, I've spent so much on this hobby that I could've bought all the pedals I ever needed outright I think. That's not the point. If I didn't get into this hobby I'd be like a lot of my friends and constantly selling and buying when I might be one capacitor change from THE sound.

You guys know.... How many times have you heard "great pedal, but needs less bass", or "almost perfect, just needed a little more drive", or "I loved it, but the treble didn't affect the right range".

...too big, ...too many knobs, ...

Did anyone factor in the cost of gas? You need gas to go to the electronics store... ;)

Seriously tho, I'm one of the many scavengers, I just hack off old video/cassette players and whatnot. By nature, I wouldn't be doing this if I could afford store priced pedals (tho I'd probly end up modding them).

Ciao.

I use my bike...

Quote from: puretubeI use my bike...

Man, you are analog all the way!  :D

In my city, I can't find components to sell. I need to go to a big city near here, then I have to pay to go to the city. The bus price is R$1,60 ($0.55 in dollars). Then when I want to buy something, I need to spend $1.10 dollars more the price that I pay in the components.

Besides the fact that i get so much pleasure from this hobby and from spending time with you all i sincerely feel diy brought me deeper into playing and having control over the instrument.
i fully realize now that i can`t depend on an effect to make my playing better neither does any effect have a deeper effect on my tone then i have myself.
Realizing that(and that took me a while :wink: )i feel more in control and more comfortable then ever since i can devide my contrentrantion over what i can do to make my playing better and what makes my sound nicer.
That is something money can`t buy and i`m sure wouldn`t have come to my mind chasing pedals in stores.
Thank you all very much for that,Ed

Quote from: EdJBesides the fact that i get so much pleasure from this hobby and from spending time with you all i sincerely feel diy brought me deeper into playing and having control over the instrument.
i fully realize now that i can`t depend on an effect to make my playing better neither does any effect have a deeper effect on my tone then i have myself.
Realizing that(and that took me a while :wink: )i feel more in control and more comfortable then ever since i can devide my contrentrantion over what i can do to make my playing better and what makes my sound nicer.
That is something money can`t buy and i`m sure wouldn`t have come to my mind chasing pedals in stores.
Thank you all very much for that,Ed

Hey Ed, great and beautiful words. I feel the same thing about my playing style. This hobby brought me deeper into a sound style that I like, and now I know how to get sounds really better than the sounds that I got when I started to build effects.

In a perfect world, you could go to Walgreens and try every effect device [even the ones yet to be invented] through any known type of amp, with your selection of guitars for source.
 Since we don't live anywhere near Perfect, we go to DIY Stompboxes...here you'll find everything you need !!!

I tried the music stores for decades...Boss, DOD, Dan Electro's etc etc etc etc Ibanez etc
 I never came anywhere near to hearing about a Tonebender....
 Doubt I'd ever have found a thousand FF tones/types/tunings...
 Would never have been able to give many effects enough of a tryout in the store...I tended to go for the effects that imparted a big change in tone, even though I don't remember ever seeing a booster pedal...I use boosters all no ALL the time, even had I seen one it likely would have been passed over for a heavier effect...the closest thing I've even seen used that could be called boost is a GE-7, and that thing was wayy noise compared to the boosters I use these days.
 They always plug me on 'some 'thing, and the telephone sets the master volume type affair or whatever [who ever really knows?] on the unfamiliar effect the amp is having...you can't try pedals out under these circumstances...or 'modern amps' [the ones sold as "the amp you dont need any pedals with"] with built in clean boost channel, and Distortion channel, SS stuff, for certain effects like phaze and chorus I find any old amp [that has decent frequency range] will give you some idea of what phaze pedal A does compared to phaze pedal B. We tried a buncha boosterz and Fuzzes through 'dudes' transistor amp...IMO this model is already quite' boosted'  on the clean channel [the outboard boosters had imparted less 'improvement' than with my tube amps] and also very heavily Distorted on the Distortion channel [outboard Fuzzes had a hard time 'beating' the inboard fuzz through the clean or distortion channels]...by the time you have to switch the SS amp and pedal to get from a usable "tone A" to "tone B"..

Quote from: puretubeI use my bike...

Me too! :mrgreen: Bikes rock!

I walk... :roll:

Though this is my second posting to this thread, I have not voted.  Why?  Because "cheaper" depends on what it is you're trying to build.  Why?  because the cost of pedals depends on a lot of different things..

Consider a basic volume pedal.  One pot, two jacks, not even a switch.  About maybe $3 to make from an electronic perspective (maybe even in Brazil, too).  So why don't people make them?  One basic reason - the package.  And there are few ways of getting around it.  You can't use a sardine or Altoids tin.

Okay, now consider a venerable Fuzz Face or Tonebender.  Even if you have to order the transistor set, you're still talking under $25 for parts, right (including switch)?  What do they go for these days on the "vintage" market?  Easily 6-10 times as much.

Okay, now consider a flanger.  Let's take the Toyota Corolla of flangers, the Boss BF-2.  Parts will likely set you back at least $25+, including a stomp switch and jacks.  Of course, you still need a suitable chassis.  Then there is the inevitable troubleshooting, and if you haven't made one before, there will be plenty of it.  So how much can BF-2's be had for 2nd hand?  Quite often they are in the $50 or less category, simply because they are so numerous and increasingly replaced with Zoom, Digitech or other multi-fx units (partly paid for out of the proceeds of selling off pedals).

Okay, now let's take a Foxx Tone Machine.  Just about my favourite octave-up box (and one more reason why I have respect for Adrian Belew).  Buying one vintage will be pricey, as will be buying its nearest boutique relative - the Prescription Electronics Experience pedal.  The parts are available, though, and pretty cheap really.  But wait a sec.  The Danelectro French Toast essentially IS a Tone Machine, albeit in a cost effective and compact package.  The FT is dirt cheap, and Dano pedals are often priced like they were Rocktek, Arion, or Rogue.  It is certainly EASY enough to make one (which is why I made two), but is it cheaper to make your own Tone Machine?  probably not.  On the other hand, if you wanted a sturdier item for gigging, and repackaged a Dano circuit in another machined metal chassis, bought a 3PDT stompswitch and good jacks, plus replaced the glorified trimpots on the Dano board with "real" pots and knobs for adult hands, well, you'd probably have been better off building it yourself.

The long and the short of it is this....

Even after you factor in all of the mental and physical and operational "tooling up" costs that are frequently listed, some things are going to be cheaper to make yourself, simply because the retail cost of the finished item has been seriously inflated through hype, legend, rarity, or whatnot.  At the same time, some things are going to be somewhat cheaper if purchased new from a thoughtful retailer, or if purchased in semi-decent condition from a 2nd-hand place, or at the very least worht the paltry extra few dollars to free up the 20 hrs you would have otherwise spent making it.  Other things, are going to remain safer bets if purchased new or otherwise intact because there is no way a normal mortal could ever bring in the physical item, built from scratch for the same price.

Now this entire preceding discussion is predicated on the relative cost-effectiveness of making things as they exist in the domain of commercially available effects.  Once you start to move into the domain of things you can't really buy yet, or would have to have made special order then, boom!, DIY leaves everything else in the dust.  I've made pedals for about $30 that I know I *still* can't buy anywhere.  Of course, it goes without saying that it took years to acquire the chops to do it, and it also bears noting that when people are generous with their ideas and time, and make it available to others (e.g., Doug and "the Joes" - great band name, incidentally - Jack, Aron, Tim, and RG), entirely new things CAN be made ridiculously cheap by those just starting out.  It may have cost the innovators themselves a small fortune to arrive at the point where they can spend an evening with a breadboard and parts bin and conjure up magic, but that's not the question being addressed here.  If I was smog-Ben, or Munky, or any other kid starting out, would it be worth my time and money to make stuff?  You bet your ass it would.

Okay, time for chapter 3.

Sometimes, there are compromises.  Sometimes, the smart thing to do is to let someone in China do most of the work for you, and then finish the job yourself.  A bit like subcontracting, really.  If you can buy a working 4-stage phaser with case, switching, battery compartment, yadda-yadda-yadda, for $20, does it REALLY make sense to build a Univibe from scratch when you can simply replace a couple of caps and go straight to playing almost immediately, without having to make sure your FETs are matched, etc, etc.?  Nah.  Sometimes, it is cheaper to buy a sow's ear and make a silk purse than to try and grow the silk yourself.

So, again, sometimes it IS cheaper, and sometimes it isn't.  Sometimes, it's cheaper for SOME people, but more expensive for others.  Of course, if I was Jimbob in KC,  I don't know why I would even think of stooping to make anything.  :wink:

yupp 3rd post on this thread, I forget if I even voted.
 It was a very convoluted, and obstruction laden path, tons of ups and downs, high peaks and low points too...I haven't had such great learning experiences since we had science boxes to open at the cream of the crop American Elementary school I attended in Germany !!! A very inspiring journey so far !!!
 I seriously doubt I would have been able to play with tones Like I did yesterday, and can today, had I not taken the DIY journey. It would have been hit or miss, each try costing around 50$ [average].
 Understanding the insides of these devices is what empowers the experimenting DIYer with the ability to find and highly tweak the tones he/she was going after...or not going after.
 Boutiqueing it would be cool, get cool looking stuff that sounds great...fiddling mostly with like input caps and such...probably would be a good approach for someone who has not strong abstract mental conjuring, or wants to save mental powers for other purposes...I think using the abstract thinking increases mental power myself...lol !!!
 So since we're all pretty much DIYers  here, it's hard to tell if were actullly smarter for it, or whether we just 'feel' smarter because of it. I'll never know the answer to tell for certain, because having taken the chosen path, I'll never know what the other path would show.
 I see no reason that a combination can't be used...I use three commercial efkt units...
 It's all in the path you've chosen...it is appealing partly because it's close and you understand it.
 I just want to say "NOWAY"...for me at least...the improvement I've heard since I started DIYing makes the road I was travelling on seem like a two laner that needs work compared to the Autobahn.