Lay out all of your board-mounted parts and inspect them for damage. Look for signs of oxidization and careless handling. One faulty part can cause the whole project to fail. If you spot a fault, return it to the vendor for a replacement.
File the board-mount component connector pins with a piece of emery paper. This gives the connector pins a coarse finish that helps them bond to the solder better.
Color-code the parts with the schematic and the blank circuit, or “turret board.” Your effects pedal kit comes with a schematic that illustrates the layout and nature of the circuit. Use colored markers to code the physical parts with their symbol on the schematic and the relevant turret on the turret board. This makes assembly quicker.
Turn on the soldering iron. It will heat up while you’re populating the blank circuit board.
Push each component into the relevant turret on the board, starting with the capacitors, resistors, transistors and resistors and finishing with the potentiometers. The potentiometers are typically the largest board-mount component and they stick up from the board, so it’s smart to fit them last so you don’t bump them when fitting other, more complicated parts. Push each part as far into the turret as it will go so the connector pins slot through the other side.
Place the board face-down. Gently press each connector pin against the metal trace strip on the base of the board.
Put a small amount of solder on the tip of the soldering iron. Hold it over a melting pot so the excess drips off. It’s essential not to drip on the board.
Gently press the tip of the iron against the connector pin and the metal trace strip. When the solder flux rises from the board, remove the iron. This fuses the board-mount component to the board; the strip conducts the current between the components. Repeat this step for each board-mount component.