Absolute beginner looking for guidance

[SkullRock]

Hi, the title pretty much states how much knowledge I have of electronics.  The most I have done is install true bypass via a DPDT switch into my Vox Wah Wah pedal, and truly I have know idea what I did, I just followed the instructions.  But ever since I saw the Nintendo Muff on ebay and checked out experimentalistsanonymous.com, I have been incredibly interested in building my own stompbox or modding my current pedals(Vox Wah, Big Muff PI, Line 6 Delay Modeler).  The problem is is that I have know idea where to start. I found this (http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/1355/beginners.html) site via the links on EA and have already gone out and bought the necessary equipment(after reading what's okay and not okay to buy at RS unfortunately).  I have yet to purchase a project box though because they were out of the size I needed, therefore I have not yet started.  After reading all the instructions though, I still feel I don't really understand what I'm doing though.  So what I was wondering if any of you knowledgeable people knew where I could go to find information on this stuff.  Whether it be websites, books, or even a community college course, I'm really kinda lost.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
                                                                   Thanks,
                                                                   (hris

[KORGULL]

1)Check this out http://q.webring.com/hub?ring=eewebring It is a large collection of links, I saw there are some basic electronics theory tutorials there.
2)Go to the bookstore and get some basic electronics books.
3)To learn more about audio/effects circuits just keep using this site. Use the search function and check out all the links at the top of the page (Ampage, Geofex, AMZ).
4)Find all the other stompbox sites and read everything there too.
5)Print-out all the things you might need to reference when you start building - jack/switch wiring diagrams etc...
6)Check out //www.smallbearelec.com for enclosures/components.
//www.generalguitargadgets.com
//www.tonepad.com
//www.fuzzcentral.com
//www.runoffgroove.com
There is much to learn, fortunately it has never been easier to find alot of good info. Good luck.
P.S. Don't forget to check out the "Beginner's Project" forum on this website.

[1965mt]

This is a simple link on transistor biasing and resistor selection. Work through the examples using different values of IC. If you can't figure out the assumptions let us know.

http://www.rason.org/Projects/bipolamp/bipolamp.htm

[Transmogrifox]

Wow--I wish I had know about diystompboxes and experimentalistsanonymous when I was getting into this stuff.  It would have saved me 4 years of electrical engineering curriculum (just kidding, I really enjoy engineering now).

I would say the best place to start as a newbie is to get yourself a breadboard and start playing with resistors and play with what you learn on the various beginner electronics websites--just to see how circuits respond to changes in DC voltage.

When you think you have a good idea of how resistor networks work and what current and voltage are, start adding transistors into your tinkering--figure out what changing certain resistors and voltages and stuff does.

For community college courses, just look for an "EE101" or some type of introductory electronics lab or class.  Once you get the bare-bones basics and form an idea in your mind about how electricity works, then the things that people talk about on this site will make a lot of sense and you'll learn fast about the more complicated stuff.  It's all at your finger tips.

I wish I could help more, but I know it's just plain intimidating.  You have such a wealth of information it's too much.  It's fortunate that some people have taken upon themselves to compile the basics in an understandable way.

Therefore, I say experiment with stuff.  Don't try to make guitar effects out of it right away, but learn what you must until it makes sense

[smashinator]

I started out by getting one of the radio shack "100 electronic projects" sorta kits with the built in breadboard and learned how to read schematics, resistor and capacitor values, and generally how to wire things up.  It only took me MAYBE a month to go from stark beginner to building my first fuzz face.  

Incidentally, the breadboard that comes with those things is QUITE handy for experimenting with effects and figuring out how to get them to work.

[Mark Hammer]

There is sort of two or three different paths being discussed here.  One is "How does all this stuff work?".  Another is "How do I make my own stuff using information already out there?".  The third is "How do I make my own *unique* stuff?"

Each of these take different amounts of time, and involve slightly (but not entirely) different approaches and resources.

Most people have found, or reported finding, Craig Anderton's assorted books of inestimable use.  If you live on the eastern side of the Atlantic, "Uncle" Robert Penfold's books probably fill a similar function.  A great many of the construction articles found in the various music related magazines in the 1980's (many of which can be found on microfiche in public libraries) have similar useful information, and folks like RG Keen and Jack Orman (among many others) have continued on in the tradition of explaining how each little nook and cranny of the circuit does what it does.  Personally, I find there is nothing like printing out schematics for a half dozen different commercial versions of the same sort of effect and just staring at them for hours on end (uh....not at one sitting, though) until patterns start to form.  There is enough stuff posted around that a frantic weekend with a printer can yield a startling collection that you can stick in a binder and peruse during bus rides, "throne sittings", sick days in bed, or while feigning attention to the chick flick your better half insists you watch.  You'd be surprised at how much you learn from looking at circuits where some things are held constant and others varied.

As for building stuff, there are a great many projects recommended for beginners, often BY (recently) former beginners.  Of course, a great many of them involve simple distortions.  These are okay I guess, but  many people who become interested in building often have such items in their arsenal already.  Rather than point to projects of a more complex nature, my usual preference is to direct people to a functional, relatively foolproof, easily upgradeable project: a loop selector (i.e., a completely passive box that lets you stomp on a switch and patch a whole series of external pedals into your signal path).  Although it CAN involve a battery and leds, it doesn't have to be anything more than a box, a switch, and four jacks at its most basic.  Nothing will blow up or be burnt up.  It doesn't take a meter to troubleshoot.  There are no components to select.  Just about everything can be gotten where you live.  It can be upgraded to something more exotic in a flash.  And it will remain eternally useful (i.e., even after you've won the lottery and only buy your stuff from Pete Cornish THEN ship it to Zachary Vex to hotrod and get painted).

[frank_p]

I started out by getting one of the radio shack "100 electronic projects" sorta kits with the built in breadboard and learned how to read schematics, resistor and capacitor values, and generally how to wire things up.  It only took me MAYBE a month to go from stark beginner to building my first fuzz face. 
Incidentally, the breadboard that comes with those things is QUITE handy for experimenting with effects and figuring out how to get them to work.

This topic is old, but why not...

RadioShack have the projects book directly on their web site (Electronic learning lab).
This could be a useful resource for starters.
It could even give you some ideas:
Two simple books FREE :

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&summary=summary&cp=&productId=2102913&accessories=accessories&kw=electronic+kit&techSpecs=techSpecs&currentTab=summary&custRatings=custRatings&sr=1&features=features&origkw=electronic+kit&support=support&tab=support

Have fun !

[GREEN FUZ]

Some excellent advice for beginners here.
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/buildstuff/

If you have little or no experience get yourself a kit and a soldering iron and have at it.

[petemoore]

  Type in 'resistor'...and find dividers experiments as well as info like: they're non polarized components.
  Try the same for 'capacitor'...whatever your'e planning to use, search for info on it, you'll be surprized how much good stuff [info] there is around here on all this...stuff.
  Also as stated, playing around with resistors and DMM's...figure out how many ways you can apply a DMM to simple circuits like:
  switches
  Jacks
  Jacks used as signal, Gnd. and switch for power supply
  Switches...see the diagram, take say a DPDT and put the DMM on it...all ways [or the ones that soon make sense as pertinent] and map what connections are made 'when' [in both, or 'all' states of the switch...much easier to figure these things when they're not attached to a buncha stuff.
  Nothing explains a pot as well as seeing diagrams and explanations of what they do, then using a DMM to 'watch' them do it, these are R tests I like to do to pots before soldering them in anyway.
  'Dig in' at sites linked from here...try all the options at the linked to sites.
  When reading at GEO, just try to remember somethings, and skim-read, re-read, then re-read what RG wronte with 'ammunition'...print pages from GEO or other sites, have that on hand as reference to battle your way through some of the 'stuff' that requires other fields of study to be at least partially understood first...pretty soon you'll develop 'chops' [strong points in your method], and weak points...you'll soon know where the 'brick walls' are, but will have at least a 'chink' at which you can dig out bigger chunks of info.
  Basically it's a matter of familiarizing yourself with...all this 'stuff'...you want to work for you.
  Welcome !!

[aron]

Chris,

BUILD and build and try to understand along the way. There's a beginner project in this forum. Build and do and ask questions.

[carrejans]

Chris,

BUILD and build and try to understand along the way. There's a beginner project in this forum. Build and do and ask questions.

Aron, the first post is more than 3 years old. 
Maybe, he is a pro now. 

[GREEN FUZ]

 


Date Registered:  February 09, 2005, 11:43:02 PM
Last Active:  February 09, 2005, 11:47:19 PM

[frank_p]

Date Registered:  February 09, 2005, 11:43:02 PM
Last Active:  February 09, 2005, 11:47:19 PM

PDF E-BOOK FOR FREE !

Yes, I know.  But its (about) the only topic that talk about that Electronic Learning Lab.
And I found those books at the bottom of the page:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&summary=summary&cp=&productId=2102913&accessories=accessories&kw=electronic+kit&techSpecs=techSpecs&currentTab=summary&custRatings=custRatings&sr=1&features=features&origkw=electronic+kit&support=support&tab=support

A couple of hundreads of electronic experiments that are FREE with no maths.  They even show you how to breadboard them.
I think it's a VERY GOOD way to familiarise with all sort of components, for starters (and even intermediates).
The second book is about logic electronics.

I did not want to start an other topic and I used the SEARCH function.
This is the way we should work here, and even Aron in falling in the pitfall !

DAMN !   

[aron]

hehehehehehehe I think he quit after those posts!