if you have all year you might wana start out with a good old soldering iron and a couple of FEETs and make your own h-bridge
but in all seriousness, the Victor 884 isnt THAT expensive and it is a very reliable and (usaly) fire proof controler. there realy isnt a get outof jail free card here, because first would have used it. besides if your to build next years drive train, you might as well use regulation parts...