Starting point?

[daily.demotionals]

Hey everyone, It's been a dream of mine to build a stomp box for as long as I can remember. 
I finally have the means now to do so.

My question is...
Starting out,  I want to buy an assortment of all components (resistors, etc) one would need to be able make a pretty good variety of circuits to build skills with.  At the same time, I don't want to buy poor quality or kits that will leave me with a bunch of junk I won't need or use.
I have all my tools and breadboard, just need an experienced person who could help me weed out the crap and have a great jumping off point. 

Thank you all for your time and knowledge!

[Sooner Boomer]

I would start here:

https://store.generalguitargadgets.com/collections/kits

The kits are great, as is the selection of different circuits. I've built several. The only thing is that you need to think about the order you put things together in, esp. the in/out and power jacks. But this is true for any design, kit or no.

[idy]

I think you mean by "kits" assortments of parts. You don't need to worry about quality if buying resistors and caps and even BJTs and ICs from "reputable" sellers, with a few caveats. Some 1/8watt resistors may have leads too thin be tight in a breadboard. You might try 1/4 watt for this.

You can find kits on amazon or anywhere that are fine for starting out like this for Rs and Cs. You will need lots of resistors and film caps, a few electrolytic caps, transistors and ICs (eventually.)

What I would do: look at the first few projects you want to do and make a list. Then go somewhere like Tayda.

You might order 20 or 100 each of the most common (decade values, 1, 10, 100, 1000) then fewer of the intermediate values

For Rs and Cs the most common values (buy more!) are values like 1k 10k 100k 1m or 1n 10n 100n, 1u. Then you fill in the 2.2, 22, 220 and 4.7 47 470. That fills in what is called the E3 series: 1, 2.2, 4.7, 10, 22, 47etc. The next series is E6 and adds 15, 33 and 68. So you are filling in the gaps a bit more. E 12 goes 10, 12, 15, 18, 22, 27, 33, 39, 47, 56, 68, 82. Fancy. They get even fancier for unicorn cloners.

Resistors: metal film, 1/8 watt or like I said, 1/4.
Caps: Smallest value (1pf-1n) are ceramic disk, these are the only ones I have bought in kits. Values 1n-1uf buy polyester box. Generic cost like a dime, you can spend a lot more if you want red ones! They won't sound different though. 1uf-100uf you buy electrolytic.

With transistors and ICs I would say look at the projects you like and order a small bag of the common types. BJTs often come in pairs of NPN and PNP like 2n2904 and 2n3906. You end up using more NPNs. For ICs the first (and maybe for a while only) you will need is opamps. TL071, 072, 074 are workhorses, RC4558 got its rep in the tube screamer. I love inverter circuits so maybe a few CD4049UBE.

The expensive parts are pots, jacks, switches. Most of us are using nominally 16mm pots. Solder lugs are handy for DIY builds, but you will want PCB mount if you are going to buy or make PCBs. Those pins don't "quite" fit in the breadboard. Maybe a bit of filing... But again start with 1k, 10k, 100, 1m, and if you are feeling rich A and B taper, audio and linear. Then fill in the 5k 50k 500k, maybe later 2k 20k etc.

And really, I have never gotten a bad part from Tayda... maybe some "germanium" diodes that weren't... and some ICs where generic might not function in a dicey circuit.

And there are diodes. Power diodes often 1n4001. Small signal 1n4148. If you are going to experiment with clippers maybe a few 5m LEDs and MOSFETs, either BS170 or 2n7000. Germanium diodes and trannies you can't buy reliably except from specialty shops, here you do need to caveat emptor.

If you find a place where shipping is not too expensive you don't need to worry about getting everything at once!

[Jdansti]

Similar to what idy said, when I started out, I chose a project, bought extra components, and started building an inventory. Each time I did a new project, I bought a few extra components.

Also as idy said, I purchase most of my components from Tayda: https://www.taydaelectronics.com/. They'll have most of what you need and I haven't had any problems with the quality of their stock. This assumes you live in a country where you're able to do business with them.

[idy]

With electrolytic caps you do have to think about voltage. They must be more than the supply you are using, so 9v circuits you could use 10v, but better to be safe 16v. If you are going to use higher voltages you need higher volt caps.

The higher voltage ones tend to be bigger, so if you are squeezing things onto a strip board or PCB you got to check the data sheet for physical size. And there are caps in small packages that take pretty high voltages. So until you know what you need don't buy 1,000 100v caps.

[daily.demotionals]

I really appreciate everyone's insight on this. Y'all were in my shoes at some point in the beginning of learning all this, so you can understand where I'm coming from.  There are just so many different components (all with differing values) and It feels kind of like grasping at straws...esp when I don't know how any of the values can alter the characteristics of the sound.

Haha, but I'm gonna check out Tayda.  I just wish there was a guitar pedal component shopping list.  Like that listed what most builders used the most.

Thank you again,  if anyone has any other ideas please let me know!

[Steben]

Just a quick question: what is/are your amp(s)

[Mark Hammer]

My traditional recommendation is to start off with a loop selector.  I recommend it because there is less involved, certainly less involved in troubleshooting if it doesn't work out of the chute, and will remain something you'll continue to find useful, n matter how big your pedal collection gets or how your tastes change.

You'll also learn about good soldering technique (if that was not already in your skillset), machining the enclosures for best convenience and fit, and unless you want/need to include an LED indicator, no power is required.

It's just a good place to start before you go on to conquer greater challenges.

[Jdansti]

^ I probably sound like a broken record, but I recommend this soldering video for all newbies. It's a good refresher for everyone else as well.

[PRR]

This is worth a look. For resistors it is VERY practical to have all 10% 1/4W (or 1/2W) values on hand. My work, I prefer a full range from 22Ω to 22MEG, and you can find that on eBay etc somewhat cheaper. The variety of capacitors used in small audio is way too large for casual or beginner hoarding. In either case you are likely to die with 90% of loose parts un-used. But a medium pack of film-caps and a medium pack of electrolytics can be handy.

https://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/parts-kits-1/

The other thing is: as you see, between weak demand and COVID disruption, Small Bear is out of stock on many things.