Where to Buy Guitar Pedal Parts in the UK
You’ve built a few pedal kits, you’re comfortable with a soldering iron, and now you want to move on to PCB-only builds, stripboard, or breadboarding your own circuits. The next question is “where do I get the parts?” The UK has more options than most builders realise, but the catalogue is split across at least three tiers of retailer and no single shop covers everything.
This guide started as an r/diypedals thread where I asked builders to share where they shop. The most comprehensive UK list came from u/mcknib, who deserves the credit for the legwork. I’ve extended it with retailers I use personally and notes on what each one is best for.
The everyday workhorses
Most projects ship in one or two orders from this tier alone.
Rapid Electronics
Rapid Electronics is my go-to for the bulk of a build: Hammond enclosures, Alpha pots, a great selection of jacks, DC sockets, LED bezels and lenses, mini toggle switches, resistors, caps, diodes, ICs etc. They also stock Wima film caps. At the time of writing they only stock the Alpha 3PDT footswitch. It’s good quality but the action is very stiff, so I prefer the soft-touch Gorva.
UK warehouse and shipping is fast. Orders placed in the morning often arrive the next day. A useful quirk: if something in your order isn’t immediately in stock, Rapid ships the rest of the parcel anyway and the missing items follow when they come in, so a single back-ordered resistor doesn’t hold up the whole build.
Switch Electronics
Despite the name, Switch Electronics covers most of a typical build: resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, ICs, jacks, DC sockets, and LEDs. Fast UK shipping. The gaps to know about are the boutique bits: no Alpha pots, no Wima caps, and Hammond stock is thin compared to Rapid, so the enclosure usually comes from elsewhere. The footswitch range is also a single generic blue-bodied 3PDT, which you can find cheaper elsewhere.
The distinctive green resistors and JB caps Switch stocks are the same parts Reeves Electro uses in their own builds. Good enough for Reeves, good enough for me.
Bitsbox
Bitsbox was mentioned on r/diypedals by u/mcknib and u/Will_okay as a UK source for normal components: resistors, capacitors, transistors, and the kind of small parts you don’t want to order one at a time from a giant distributor.
The big distributors
When you need something specific the workhorses don’t stock (a particular semiconductor, a brand-name capacitor, an unusual transformer), the big three for UK builders are RS, Farnell, and Mouser. Enormous catalogues, fast shipping, pricing that’s competitive in bulk but expensive for a single resistor.
RS Components
RS Components has a vast catalogue and excellent next-day delivery, but small orders are expensive per item. Best when you’ve got a full BOM you can bulk-order, or when you need a semiconductor no one else in the UK stocks.
Farnell
Farnell is in the same tier as RS, same trade-offs. Stock differs in odd ways between the two, so it’s worth checking both when hunting a specific part. Both ship same-day on weekdays for in-stock items.
Mouser
Mouser’s catalogue is huge, and the UX, as u/jezkemp put it on the thread, “is simply not built for humans / laypeople”. Expect to know the exact part number you’re after. One specific tip from u/TWShand: Mouser is a useful source for pots, where brand and taper options outstrip what RS and Farnell stock.
UK pedal specialists
These shops stock for pedal builders, not general electronics. Smaller than the workhorses, but the catalogue is tuned to what you actually need.
Fuzz Dog’s Pedal Parts
Fuzz Dog is known for pedal kits and PCBs, but the parts shop carries pots, jacks, knobs, LEDs, and a curated stock of common ICs. Smaller catalogue than Rapid but you’re not sifting through 200 SKUs to find the one footswitch you want. They’re also where I get Gorva footswitches, which I prefer to the Alpha 3PDT for feel.
Gojira FX
Gojira FX is the UK home of Gorva enclosures, a Hammond alternative. Gojira stocks two sizes: the S90 (similar dimensions to a 1590BBM) and the C65 (similar dimensions to a 125B), both in black, white, and silver. Use the enclosure size comparison tool to see how these compare to Hammond sizes.
They also stock Gorva footswitches and offer a UV printing service.
Custom powder coating colours aren’t advertised, but it’s worth dropping them a message on Instagram if you have something specific you want.
Niche and occasional sources
These came up in u/mcknib’s reply on the Reddit thread as additional UK component suppliers. I haven’t used them firsthand, so I’m linking them rather than describing them.
Cross-border: EU shops UK builders use
Two German shops come up repeatedly on r/diypedals when UK builders need something the domestic channel doesn’t stock:
- Musikding has a broad pedal-builder catalogue covering switches, jacks, capacitors, transistors, and kits.
- Banzai Music is also mentioned on the thread for niche pedal and amp parts.
Delivery to the UK from Europe has been complicated post-Brexit, so check what charges you might incur before ordering.
Vintage, NOS, and the truly hard to find
Building a vintage-style fuzz with original germanium transistors, or hunting a specific obsolete IC for a clone? You’ll need to leave the retail world for those.
- eBay. The dominant marketplace for NOS transistors, obsolete ICs, vintage capacitors, and similar. Quality varies wildly and fakes are common, so favour sellers with high feedback and a clear return policy.
- Estate sales and Facebook Marketplace. Mentioned in the r/diypedals thread as a slow, patient route to vintage electronics.
Once you’ve sourced the parts and planned the layout in Stompbox Layout, see How to Hand Drill a Pedal Enclosure for the next step.
Know a UK supplier that should be on this list? Reply on the r/diypedals thread.
Shopping from elsewhere? US, EU, and AU/NZ guides are on the way. Keep an eye on the blog index for the next one.