What I'm trying to say is, if you're starting out, don't worry too much on the quality of parts. Breadboard the design on a piece of wood with the cheapest parts you can find and focus on getting the build correct (ie getting it to work with no hum). Make sure you like what you hear, THEN start swapping out parts with better quality components to fine tune it. If it sounds good with the cheap parts, quality components can make it even better. However, if the design sounds bad with the cheap parts, even the most expensive components can't help.

Gar.