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I always assumed people loved them based on how preposterous they are.

I've been thinking about the things that are fun about having a contest like this, and for me, they are a) getting inspired by everyone's cool build, b)getting to hear the judges' reasons for choosing builds (ie, looking back at the summaries from the spring contest), and what they thought important or impressive about each, and c) the motivation to make something really great.  Part of this motivation came from the time limit, some came from the steep competition, some came from the chance at a prize, and some came from the chance that I might actually win some recognition, since I felt somewhat encouraged (at least at the time I entered) about my odds in that new builder category.

In the interest of keeping all the fun stuff, I would propose:

1) a space for folks to talk about what they liked about/why thy voted for a certain build.  It doesn't have to be the poll thread; that would make the "hidden poll results" less hidden.  Not sure how to best implement this if we do keep voting secret.

2) less valuable prizes: this takes some of the emphasis off of winning, but I think folks will still be motivated to enter for the other reasons I listed above.  $15 credit?

3) multiple winners for each contest; I probably wouldn't have entered the fall contest if there was only going to be one winner.  If there are too few slots, folks might feel like "I'll never win, what's the point?", and if there are too many, folks might feel slighted if they don't win one that they feel they deserved.  Maybe top 3? 

4) also keeping in mind folks' different motivations and skill levels, I do sort of like the idea of having different rotating themes or constraints for each contest, like, best original circuit for one, or another contest where it's all multis, or something.  That would eventually give everyone a chance to show off what they do best. 

5) "poll voting" on the forum takes a lot of the work out of it, let's keep it simple.  We can even ditch the "theme" idea if that requires too much oversight or handling.  Or, hmm, maybe we could put the theme up for popular vote, before each contest starts.

If we keep it simple, and the prizes small, we could do this every quarter.   

I've never built a fuzz that worked for me, sound-wise.  I keep wanting to like fuzz, and some sound cool on their own, but as soon as the band starts up, it just doesn't work for me, back to the ODs and boosts. 

Never etched anything, boards or enclosures; I'd like to do enclosures 'cause it's often too humid or rainy to spray paint in Seattle, but I'm so into vero that I don't know if I'll ever etch a board. 

Where's the list for things we have accomplished as a DIYer that we thought we wouldn't?  I had my musical hero test out a pedal that I built.  I'll never forget it, that felt like winning the build contest right there.  Some of the builds I'm really proud of have ended up on stages on the boards of friends, that's pretty cool.

How cool is that feeling when you plug it in and it works?  Great job!

Thumbs up!  I love the simplicity, nicely executed.

I too use the same solder and iron, I keep it around 750ish and it works great.  I try to subscribe to the "get in and out quick" school; I think it's easier to cook components with lower heat and too much time, where 750 will get that 63/37 flowing quick.  You want to keep it to 3 seconds max per connection for stuff like PCBs.  If it's not working, let the components cool down for 15 seconds or so and try again, no need to roast 'em.

I love it!  I think it sums up the obsession pretty well.  From this:

I only wanted a LaVache!

To this:

in just a few short years. 

Ha, I took up pedal building because amp building is so expensive!  I've done a few amps, and they're super fun and sound great.  But there's almost no resale at all (that I've found) for unknown homebrew or kit amps.  I can afford a Tayda order once a month, but man, just buying transformers alone for a Bassman build is daunting.  If I were independently wealthy I would have probably never moved to pedal building, but as it is, I have to decide if I want to do 3 or 4 fuzz boxes a month or one tweed deluxe kit every year and a half.  I gotta keep my hands busy, so for now, tiny boxes it is!

Oh man!  It looks like it was worth all the planning and hard work.  Very cool, really digging that etch.

It's like that graphic was made for it!  Looks great.

That's so cool!  Good use of space inside that enclosure, too.

Take a look at the Boneyard as well; that switches between two pots for the gain.

This is my favorite way to do it; it's not much work, and the board stays the same size.  I did this with 1776's Britannia and it's pretty dang cool, since the gain on that one is kind of a treble booster.  Pretty flexible too, you can use different values or tapers for the pots, or use it for, say, two different delay times or tremolo settings.  Simple and works for all kinds of circuits.

I've thought a lot about this, and I hope I'm not giving trade secrets away, but I imagine that they must pre-bend the neck (like the Erlewine string-tension simulating jig) and drill it while it's bent.  They might drill from both sides so the bit need only be 1/2 as long as the channel.  Still, that's a long way to go.  After that, it's a plug or a headplate to cover the hole at the headstock end.  I don't have an idea about how they anchor it.  Obviously, this is all speculation.

We all knew that pedal was awesome, but having gearmanndude review it is pretty legit.  You guys are making it happen!

I remember first hearing about these back in the early 00's, as the guys from the UK band Leatherface were big fans.  I've never owned one, but I've played one or two and remember thinking that they were fine instruments. 

Ugh, I just wrote and deleted a rambling rant about our increasingly unrealistic expectations as consumers, and how guitars are just tools and we need to look at them rationally, etc, etc.  You're on a DIY pedal forum.  You know the pros and cons of Big Corporation vs the little guy.  If you're asking whether Gordon Smith is legit, then I say yes.  If you're asking if I've owned one, then no.