First time posting on the forum. I've recently bought a kit from Nik in an attempt to get into amp building. I don't really have much experience, but i've always been interesting in learning. I went with an OTS Mini, thinking it would be a challenge, yet still manageable. Long story short, I am not having any luck getting guitar signal through it, let alone any noise at all. I've retraced my steps, and still haven't had much luck. I've decided it's time to get someone who knows what they're doing involved.

Can anyone here give some general ideas on how to troubleshoot where I've gone wrong? I realize there is a lot in there, and it's not a simple "tell me what I did wrong" kind of thing. Things I've tried so far...

-Switched primary OT wires (made a weird high-pitched tea-kettle type sound, still no guitar signal though) So I switched those back
-Plugged a cable into the in and out of the effects loop, suggested from research I've found online
-combed through the amp looking for bad solder joints
-retraced wires in an attempt to see if there going where they need to be.

I realize this picture doesn't help a lot (much respect to Nik for his skills building these amps as neat has he does). if there is a closer shot of any areas that you would like to see, I'd be happy to provide them.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, and even general