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It's a cool enclosure but hard to remove the knobs;)

Hmmm, a demo might be fun.  It's be a few days but I'll give it a shot.

A buddy gave me this black distortion which gets mediocre reviews on the net and from me as well.  I'm not a distortion buff but I did like how well it cleans up.  After discussing the 500K reverse audio pot on another thread I think this is a real plus for this pedal.  You can really dial in some good OD type sounds with some subtle hair to it.
Most reviewers compared it to the earlier Tan version from the 70's stating the Tan was far superior.  So I thought, hey, I wonder if I can mod it to tan specs?  Turns out the pedals are exactly the same except for the clipping diodes.
Black=1N4148 (si)
Tan=1N270 (ge)
So I put diodes on a toggle switch.  Added true bypass and LED.  Replaced the DC jack with the standard Boss type.  Put new pots in and did my best to match up the knobs which were missing.
Like the germanium setting much better but think silicon has it's place to (more metal/less fuzzstortion).
This project was more about 'can I do this' than trying to produce a desire able product.
BTW, I almost lost my mind trying to locate the proper pcb mounting pots on mouser before saying screw it and order from SmallBear.  The combo of pcb mount, long shaft and knurled tip was too much;)

I like the idea of allowing this forum to help you trouble shoot the one pedal you really want to work.  Have the patience to get it working.  Once you have it working you can probably make a more objective opinion about whether you want tot grow in the towel or not.

Mmmmm, solder fumes {Homer Simpson Voice}

My first build was a BYOC 'Confidence Boost' and a BYOC 'Mouse'.  Their instructions were VERY detailed and helpful.  Here is a link to a bass overdrive that gets good reviews:
http://buildyourownclone.com/bassoverdrive.html
I've not even come up on my one year pedal building anniversary and I've completed about 13 pedals:) it's addictive for sure.  You have been forewarned!

Well, I have a lot to learn.  Jon, I'll be ordering the stock value/type.  I didn't have any gripes about the distortion pot.
A buddy gave me the pedal.  I didn't play it much.  Kinda fuzzy distortion.  It is the black version.  I modded it with a toggle with the the Tan version diodes.  Also put in a 'modern' DC plug and true bypass with LED.  When I drilled the hole for the toggle some metal fell in the pot and messed it up.  It's what I get for being lazy and not removing the board completely.

Thanks guys.  So lug 1 becomes lug 3 and vice versa?  Very helpful info.

Thanks Jimi.  My next question would be why a builder would choose one value pot over another.  For instance 500k vs 50k.  I think I know the answer but would like confirmation.

I have a basic understanding of the different tapers.  I have a Ross Distortion that I need to replace a pot on.  The distortion pot is a 500K reverse audio taper.  Would it be a big deal to replace it with a linear?  My mind tells me a linear would make more sense.  But, I've been confused about a lot of things pedal related;)
Wouldn't reverse audio put a lot of the distortion at the end of the pots rotation, making the majority of the rotation (beginning) fine tuning the more overdriven end?

Thanks Bill and Jon.  It was the translucent Gold.  My son picked it out.  I like it better than I thought I would.
He now has the egghead and MB Sprout (One Knob fuzz) in his pedal arsenal.

Thanks Chuck.

Some reason the last photo didn't work:

My son, Luc, got some money for his birthday and decided he wanted to build an overdrive.  With help on this forum we went with the Egghead.  He soldered all the components and I boxed it up.  Since the circuit was based on the Clark Gainster we went with a gangster theme.  What better graphic for an 11 year old than Rocky and Mugsy from the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
What a great sounding OD by the way!
One last photo of my boy soldering:)

Nice tip with the styrofoam