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The 5E3 amp, that they mention in the description, and possibly also a joke/reference to Chanel No. 5 (perfume recipes are "formulas").

I have a similar harbor freight DMM and the problem is that actually getting the transistor leads down to whatever the test contacts are is pretty difficult. It feels like there is not a socket there, or that getting the leads into the socket is difficult. Pre-bending the leads may help, or maybe sticking wires into the test contact and to a breadboard if you were going to test many transistors. Once it makes good contact, the h_FE number is fairly stable and agrees with specs.

On the one hand, the meter is kinda crappy in the details, and on the other, it cost $3.99!  I'm amazed at what you can get now.  The first effect I built was strictly out of parts available from Radio Shack, and I had to walk uphill both ways to get there ...

Were the other resistors that you tested high values, like > 200 K ?  With my cheap DVM, it can give wonky values on the highest resistance range, especially if the battery is running down. I'm not sure of a mechanism for a resistor going bad with the behavior you're describing (low value then open circuit).

IME resistors from Tayda have been fine. Do people really see failed resistors often? I understand that some of their more sensitive components may be an issue - like out of spec FETs or ICs - but I've seen a lot of threads where someone tears apart a circuit in search of faulty components and eventually finds a connection that was unsoldered all along. I've done this myself.

The power rating is just a "do not exceed" rating. Two 1K resistors of, say, 1/4 W and 1/8 W function exactly the same in a circuit, and one doesn't cause any more loading or power dissipation than the other.

It's possible that they could generate slightly different amounts of internal noise, but, speaking in generalities, many effects circuits will be totally insensitive to that, and in those that are sensitive to noise, it will probably only be certain parts of the circuit that are, and shielding / crosstalk between adjacent wires is likely a bigger effect, etc etc. It shouldn't be a high priority issue to worry about when starting to build pedals.

Power dissipated in a resistor is P = V^2/R.  So R = V^2/P.  For a pedal with a 9V power supply (and no charge pump/voltage doubler), the max voltage a resistor would ever see is 9V.  To dissipate 1/8 W, you would have a resistance of R = (9^2) / (1/8) = 648 ohms. Any higher resistance will dissipate less power.

To leave a small safety factor, any resistor over 1K in a 9V pedal will always be dissipating under 1/8 W.  In the Moodring, the only small resistor is a 470 ohm that is from opamp output to coupling cap (so it won't see a lot of voltage), and most of the circuit runs off 5V from a regulator anyway. I would not see a problem using 1/8 W resistors; you could use a 1/4 W for the 470R if you wanted to be extra cautious.

I would just go ahead and use the capacitors regardless of knowing what kind of ceramic cap they were. No reason to waste them.