I've been dying to get into stomp box building but I get to this page and see that everything is way over my head. I searched and I cannot find a simple project to start on. What do I do?
Id like to start with a nice sounding little distortion box. Maybe Something like SR&D did but simpler. Can someone point me to a good one?
the beginner project is a good starting point, look here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=6.0 (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=6.0) nice bosster to boot..
I saw that but I dont really need a boost. On second thought, Ive got all of the parts... Why the hell not?
Any other projects you can think of?
For distortion, try the classic OD 250/Distortion+, it sounds good and is quite a simple build.
It's probably considered a rite of passage by many builders :icon_wink:
There are plenty of layouts, HERE (http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/Renegadrian/250+grey+1_1.gif.html) is a nice one.
The Electra is a super-simple build and sounds excellent. Plus there are loads of pedals that use exactly the same layout, but change some of the component values. It's fun/interesting/educational to swap components and hear the differences.
Good layout here:
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/album17/album06/ELECTRA_DISTORTION_001.gif.html (http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/album17/album06/ELECTRA_DISTORTION_001.gif.html)
welcome...
If this is your first, why not start with a couple of the simplest classics:
The Smokey...just use an output jack* instead of speaker..3 parts on board:
*you may have to put an 8ohm resistor across the output jack to bring it up to 4 parts.
(http://www.blueguitar.org/new/schem/_ss/smokey.gif)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og_RiEB-74U
The Bazz Fuss...5 parts on board:
(http://home-wrecker.com/bazz1.png)
http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT7uGPdy_Eo
whatever you decide, you'll get loads of help here
good luck
Let's start where they all basically start with boost.
BMP is good example of schematic, but all the 'modern effect' bypasses all have boost as 1rst stage [+a few caveats].
Stage 1: Boost, this gets the signal voltage swings of the 'guitar AC signal' to be 'big' [the peaks and valleys will have greater voltage potential between them, and the current output will be huge compared to a wimpy guitar PU coil which produces...very little current.
So...the boost input senses the voltage swings without drawing hardly any current [from the PU which is little or none to spare] and the output lets say the voltage swings between the peaks and valleys are 10x bigger.
The teeny-weak pulses from the PU coil which are produced when the steel string wiggles around the magnet cause current to flow [very very little] as the voltage swings +/- in unicen with the string [ie a very weak electronic analog of the strings movement enters....
The first active stage ! ?> how much current is already lost from the tiny pulses the guitar PU output >? The cable eats signal, say we have a relatively short/stout cable [low capacitence/losses] and the input is 'high impedance' [doesn't take hardly any current, ie doesn't drain anything from the electronic analog AC voltage swings of the PU/Vol/TC/Guitar-Output/Cable]. The signal has made a relatively 'pure' transition during transport from the guitar to the active input.
Active outputs can be and are [why not...] able to produce much more current than what comes out of a guitar PU, this means cable losses after an active stage will tend to be insignifigant, and much lower impedance inputs [that draw current] won't drain so much that the voltage peaks/valleys will be distorted. [impedance distortiion can be had but is ugly in generally].
This question comes up several times a year. My response has ended up being the same: make yourself a loop selector.
1) Everybody wants one eventually.
2) If you have jacks, a stompswitch or two, and a box, then yuo have all the parts.
3) There is no circuit board to be concerned with (i.e., to etch, to bugger up, to order, to troubleshoot).
4) There are no parts that have to be selected, and no pinout confusions.
5) You are pretty much guaranteed it will work first time out, and if not the troubleshooting is dead easy.
6) You won't need to be able to read voltages or have a meter, etc., to make one.
7) You won't be disappointed with the tone, given how much time you put into it.
8 ) It will pretty much always remain a useful part of your arsenal, no matter how much your tastes change.
9) You will NEVER have to ask "How do I true bypass a [[insert pedal name here]]?"
10) You'll learn the basics of how to plan out the location of things in the box, how to machine, etc., without having to also think about wiring quite as much.
Loop selector boxes can be built in powered and unpowered versions. The nice thing is that they work whether the battery/power is available or not. The only difference is that you won't have status LEDs working.
Loop selector...why not ! !
Play with an active stage while reading about active stages:
Component data sheets, explainations about BJT or opamp or Jfet or other devices.
Understand what 'amplification' means in terms of voltage and current amplification.
Many of us are still finding new information about 'boost', a simple active stage build helps demonstrate what understanding 'boost' and working with active components is like...seems complicated and is quite abstract, but there's an analog for everything...including the electronic analog a coil produces when a guitar string wiggles near it's magnet..an AC voltage of peak/valley shapes is created, very little current/voltage...generally we and 'they' boost as a first priority of processing signal business [super common 1rst stage'd be boost in commercial effects, current is boosted by Jfet buffers that also do the bypass switching].
Caveats apply but patch cables and bypass switches make them very easy to get around...even easier with a looper.
My only passive guitar happens to be my main one. Soooo... I guess Ill need a boost. Those noiseless Strat pickups dont do much, you know.
Ill make a boost first. Whats next?
Thanks for all of the help!
If you decide you like building pedals, it is very unlikely you will keep your first build(s) forever. You will move to more sophisticated and elaborate pedals as you develop the skills.
It helps to consider that the finished product is the garbage of the work. Your first few/several/ten/hundred pedals are primarily done to develop YOU so you are more skilled at the many things to understand and do. You're actually building YOU, much more than a pedal.
If you can approach it that way, you will get hugely more out of it, and as a byproduct, build better pedals.
Great advice from Mark, Pete & R.G. — thanks guys!
Quote from: R.G. on November 22, 2011, 09:43:33 AM
If you decide you like building pedals, it is very unlikely you will keep your first build(s) forever. You will move to more sophisticated and elaborate pedals as you develop the skills.
It helps to consider that the finished product is the garbage of the work. Your first few/several/ten/hundred pedals are primarily done to develop YOU so you are more skilled at the many things to understand and do. You're actually building YOU, much more than a pedal.
If you can approach it that way, you will get hugely more out of it, and as a byproduct, build better pedals.
I like this a lot. Very inspirational. I actually only have one of my builds still working. Most of them have been scrapped, subject to mods not yet completed, or completely forgot when a new design comes across my work bench. I like to think I've built knowledge instead of pedals. If I never work on a pedal again I can at least understand the hows and whys of the designs I see. I don't have a deep theoretical understanding of electronics but I'm happy where I'm at.
That was poetry.
Thanks!
really hard to go wrong with a fuzzface. make sure it's silicon, trimmable, and get lo gain transistors, and it'll sound great and you can build it in a couple hours and fall in love with the whole project man. it's cool, and to me, the classic cool king of all distortions...i play whole gigs where i never turn it off.
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on November 22, 2011, 05:43:42 PM
really hard to go wrong with a fuzzface. make sure it's silicon, trimmable, and get lo gain transistors, and it'll sound great and you can build it in a couple hours and fall in love with the whole project man. it's cool, and to me, the classic cool king of all distortions...i play whole gigs where i never turn it off.
I have to disagree: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=93268.0
+1 for the Bazz Fuss
that's why i said silicon...every variant i ever built fired right up.
add ge, and that's where the nitemares start. imho
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on November 22, 2011, 06:26:53 PM
that's why i said silicon...every variant i ever built fired right up.
add ge, and that's where the nitemares start. imho
I think the biggest problem beginners have with ge's is that they don't have/buy/build the proper tools to measure them.
Alrighty, as soon as the store opens on Friday, Ill be there to order parts for my boost and DOD250.
Thanks for all of the help!
Good choice! have fun, and build that Fuzz Face.
If you DO: PM me if you need some transistors--I'll send you a couple that will sound great for free.
Quote from: ask4tristan on November 24, 2011, 09:34:46 AM
Alrighty, as soon as the store opens on Friday, Ill be there to order parts for my boost and DOD250.
Thanks for all of the help!
sounds great!
tho, not exactly sure why you decided on a dod25 (a more complicated overdrive) when you initially said you wanted a distortion (which is only 3 parts...see smokey above)
For the Dod250, Radio Shack actually carries the main part:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062547
good luck!
Is there a nicer and simpler one than the DOD250?
Im looking for a Tom Scholz type distortion, LED clipping and all. Maybe Im not going to keep my first few projects, but I wanna at least try.
look for your kind of distortion, with or without leds. a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. go for the dod if that's what you think you need, at this point in time, but i think the knowledge that others are trying to impart to you in this thread is that you should learn to walk, perhaps even swagger, before you attempt to run. there are many valuable lessons to be learned in those first few tentative steps that we all must take, and continue to learn, for ourselves. maybe the dod is yours. you will meet with much disappointment, failure, luck and joy along your path and i think others are trying to guide you away from such disappointments so as not to dampen your spirits/enthusiasm so early in your experience which may cut your journey short if not handled well.
get yourself some breadboard. experiment, play, learn.
a great sound (a very subjective matter) can be had for less than a handful of components.
simple is good.
enjoy.
Alternatively, build yourself one of the various "engines", such as a TS-9 or Dist+/DOD250, and install some of the machined sockets in place of a few select components. That will let you experiment with changing them. So, for example, if you made yourself a DOD250/Dist+ "engine", you would install sockets for the clipping diodes, a socket for the cap in parallel with those diodes, and a socket for the .047uf cap to ground. Playing around with the two cap values, and the diode types will let you explore a wide array of sounds, and decide on what you like best.
engines - spot the difference
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bpEsqDis9mc/Ts_IB0qgsnI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/EDmE3fajYoA/s512/rcamps1.png)
Quote from: LucifersTrip on November 24, 2011, 04:05:32 PM
Quote from: ask4tristan on November 24, 2011, 09:34:46 AM
Alrighty, as soon as the store opens on Friday, Ill be there to order parts for my boost and DOD250.
Thanks for all of the help!
sounds great!
tho, not exactly sure why you decided on a dod25 (a more complicated overdrive) when you initially said you wanted a distortion (which is only 3 parts...see smokey above)
For the Dod250, Radio Shack actually carries the main part:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062547
good luck!
LOL! Ratshack's 741 sure is expensive ! :icon_mrgreen:
Yeah, Im dreaming big, sure. Just looking at my options and trying to optimize.
Heres another question, how hard is it to make a tube overdrive? Ive got like 40 good tubes laying around with no homes. Most are 12ax7 & 12au7 so that should be perfect. I know that a tube overdrive is not something I can do now but after I get some base knowledge down, thatll be the first big project.
Quote from: ask4tristan on November 27, 2011, 12:14:01 AM
Yeah, Im dreaming big, sure. Just looking at my options and trying to optimize.
Heres another question, how hard is it to make a tube overdrive? Ive got like 40 good tubes laying around with no homes. Most are 12ax7 & 12au7 so that should be perfect. I know that a tube overdrive is not something I can do now but after I get some base knowledge down, thatll be the first big project.
probably not that hard, but tubes are a different beast....this may be your first project when you get to that point:
http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/ValveCaster/MatsuminValveCaster.gif
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=63479.0
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on November 22, 2011, 05:43:42 PM
really hard to go wrong with a fuzzface. make sure it's silicon, trimmable, and get lo gain transistors, and it'll sound great and you can build it in a couple hours and fall in love with the whole project man. it's cool, and to me, the classic cool king of all distortions...i play whole gigs where i never turn it off.
Yep! Agreed.
True bypass Looper (passive), followed by a Fuzz Face (Silicon, Negative Ground), followed by a Booster of some sort (beginner's project, for example...)
As previously stated, you'll learn the 'nuts and bolts' that will see you through most future builds - bypass wiring, biasing, and (hopefully) boxing up and enjoying your creations.
You could do an awful lot worse than reading the GEOFEX article (Technology of the Fuzz Face - in this case). It's well worth bookmarking for the future.
If you are intent on building a 741-based OD/Distortion +, I'd recommend using an 8-pin socket for your IC. It'll save you from burning out your 741 (unless you're already good at soldering!) - and allows you to swap-out ICs to see what all the fuss is about (all in good time, of course...)
Might be worth taking a scan through the 'Debugging Thread' before you build - again, full of information.
Good luck on your builds...
@newfish :
Fuzz Faces are not what i recommend to build for a first starter .
Good start is a A/B , followed by a stratoblaster , then a simple DOD 250 dist ( that's the beginner project i believe ) , followed by a fuzz face after reading the debugging thread and attempting folkurban's CMOS Boost and CMOS Drive but with a good dose of mods from GGG's Cook your own dist , such as a tone pot
breadboard, breadboard, breadboard....the best way to experiment and get a sound that you like!.........lots of fun, and educational too... :icon_cool:
Yeps... I like breadboarding too... It gives you the opportunity to modufi a circuit without restrictions. You'll end up with exactly the sound your ears want before squeezing it into an inclosure. It also is very educational to put everything on vero or etch your own pcb with your own layout.
Aaarrgghhh!!! ;D It's so addictive... Built another one this weekend, also a very simple one to build: the WHRL (way huge red llama).
Go for it!!! :icon_twisted:
Quote from: deadastronaut on November 28, 2011, 06:36:34 AM
breadboard, breadboard, breadboard....the best way to experiment and get a sound that you like!.........lots of fun, and educational too... :icon_cool:
Most definitely!!!
The breadboard is a wonderful tool.
I can get lost for hours, even with the simple circuits, messing around and subbing stuff to get new sounds.
If you're a pedal person, you should consider the AMZ MOSFET booster. It's a simple enough project, and if you plan on having multiple pedals in your signal chain, a booster/preamp/etc. is a wise choice. Furthermore, it requires parts that you will use again in other projects, and there's little offboard wiring because there's only one knob and no switches or trimmers. Also, it draws very little current, and a 9V will last a long time; no need to wire up a DC jack. There are many other 'booster' circuits worth building here on the forum, as well as at General Guitar Gadgets, Beavis Audio, Madbean, Tonepad, Small Bear, etc. They're not exciting like an Echo Base, Klone, Dipthonizer or a Scrambler, but a line booster can make your guitar sound like a million bucks; a good place to start.