Complete Noobie - Just a question

[WGC3]

I know a lot of the users on these boards are seasoned veterans. I just started reading Craig Anderton's Electronic Projects for Musicians. While I know I have to follow the beaten path for a while until I get my bearings, I wondered if a lot of the guys here knew enough to where they could sit down and just created original effects? Or are we constricted to schematics?

[alltherightpills]

It's a process.  I started out with schematics and layouts, and have since learned enough to start to modify stuff to my tastes.  I'm not knowledgeable enough yet to design my own, but the more I build, the closer I am to creating my own designs...

[pyrop]

Posted by: alltherightpills  
It's a process.  I started out with schematics and layouts, and have since learned enough to start to modify stuff to my tastes.  I'm not knowledgeable enough yet to design my own, but the more I build, the closer I am to creating my own designs...

I'll second that.
Modifying schematics is a good start just to see & hear what the changes do.
Another thing you can do is take snippets from one schem and add it to snippets from other schem's, sort of mix and match.
Also do a lot of reading and get yourself a breadboard.
The more you play with circuits the more you can learn.

pyrop