My first Guitar Pedal

[Rebel_88]

Hi everyone,it is a little bit time that i follow this forum to understand some things about guitar pedals and now i want to build my first one.
I want to ask you some basics to start from, for example if there are some books or some links you can show me.
I want to learn the basic of the building of a pedal for example when i have to start with a buffer stage or how to use clipping or similar.
Can someone helps me?

[rousejeremy]

Start here
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=6.0

[Rebel_88]

Hi thanks for the link, but i have read some of those posts and it is not exactly what i want. I'm not a pure beginner i'm studing  electronic engeneering and i have studied on my own several circuits to understand how they work. I have some ideas about pedals and how to build them but i'm not sure at 100%. So i want to know if there is some guide or something similar that can help me on the developing of a project starting from 0, for example what kind of stage i have to use for the first and the last one or the theory behind a tremolo or a overdrive or similar.  For example i have bought this book "Electronic Projects for Musicians - C. Anderson " that shows how to build some pedals and how they work, it is very useful and i want to know if someone could suggest something similar to this book.

[rousejeremy]

Check out GEOFX. Plenty of tutorial stuff. http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm
Just dive in and start building things. Learning as you go is more fun, because you get an actual product after all the troubleshooting rather than a piece of paper full of math.

[pappasmurfsharem]

Check out GEOFX. Plenty of tutorial stuff. http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fuzzface/fffram.htm
Just dive in and start building things. Learning as you go is more fun, because you get an actual product after all the troubleshooting rather than a piece of paper full of math.

To one up on this.

http://www.geofex.com/fxtech.htm

Should be all articles for "The Technology of...."

[Mark Hammer]

Hi thanks for the link, but i have read some of those posts and it is not exactly what i want. I'm not a pure beginner i'm studing  electronic engeneering and i have studied on my own several circuits to understand how they work. I have some ideas about pedals and how to build them but i'm not sure at 100%. So i want to know if there is some guide or something similar that can help me on the developing of a project starting from 0, for example what kind of stage i have to use for the first and the last one or the theory behind a tremolo or a overdrive or similar.  For example i have bought this book "Electronic Projects for Musicians - C. Anderson " that shows how to build some pedals and how they work, it is very useful and i want to know if someone could suggest something similar to this book.

There are few places better to start than the Anderton books.  They are pretty much where all of us older guys started.
For a more theory-driven approach, you can take a look at this more recent classic: http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.ca/2012/01/nicholas-boscorelli-stompbox-cookbook.html (although many here would say that some of these projects are more complicated than they really need to be, but they're nicely explained).  The newsletters from the same author go into more detail: http://moosapotamus.net/stompboxology.html

The geofex site you were linked to has a number of documents about the practicalities of making pedals, such as "wrappers", and a number of other things every pedal builder needs to think about.

The Small Bear site has some profusely illustrated projects that show step by step how to make a pedal from scratch.   https://www.smallbearelec.com/Projects/ProjandProd.html

The projects from Build Your Own Clone tend to have fairly detailed build documents for a variety of projects: http://buildyourownclone.com/

Lastly, the "pictures" threads here, illustrating what others have done can be very useful sources for ideas about how to install things, alternate materials choices, and all those other steps between an idea and a workable pedal.  And NEVER ever ignore the FAQ document linked to at the top of the screen here.

[chptunes]

http://www.muzique.com/lab/main.htm

http://www.muzique.com/pcb.htm

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http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=100938.0

-Corey

[Buzz]

Just dive in and start building things.

Spot on. Get hands on. Get a kit build from GGG or smallbear. I'm amazed how much I learned from my first couple of kits. And as the man said... you end up with a cool pedal to play with. Win / win.

[Rebel_88]

Hi Thanks to all for your help! I'm watching all your links and i think i could learn a lot! Thanks again.

[GoranP]

also, consider veroboard projects as your first one as well, there are boatloads out there. that's gow I started...

[Havaden]

I have a layout for a good simple pedal right here. (if you can etch the pcb)
But there is also a link there with everything you need to know. A perfect starter project!
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=104816.msg941461#msg941461

[Havaden]

And also, i reccomend getting a big enclosure, even tho the circuit is small.
The hammond enclosures are really popular, but a bit expensive (around 20$ each, the most expensive part in most stomp box builds)
if you search "1590 style" on ebay, you can get some simmlar ones for 5 bucks each (some of these is allso sanded, polished and ready to paint)

Mesure 10 times, think and place jack/pot where the hole is gonna be 5 times and drill 1 time, when you drill holes in the enclosure.
There is nothing worse than drilling a bad hole in the only box you got.

I reccomend the "hammond style 1590BB" as it is a big enclosure (Normal stomp box size tho), and you wont have any problems fitting the parts in it.
I allso reccomend to use a circuit where the circuitboard is soldered directly to the potentiometers, so that it wont slip around inside the box and short out the pedal.

[kingswayguitar]

Mesure 10 times, think and place jack/pot where the hole is gonna be 5 times and drill 1 time, when you drill holes in the enclosure.
There is nothing worse than drilling a bad hole in the only box you got.

after about 2 to 3 years of building i just screwed up another enclosure due to mistaken measurements (and maybe a little bit too much sensimelia). but the pedal sounds good and works mechanically. good thing it's a hobby and not a business.


measure, measure, measure..... and then measure again the next day Before you drill

[Jdansti]

+1 on the Anderton books and GEOFX.

Also check out the Beavis Audio website: http://www.beavisaudio.com

[knutolai]

I found Forest Mim's "Getting started with Electronics" to be great. It does not have that many fun circuits for audio, but it explains the different circuit components, current/resistance/voltage and all that stuff in a very simple way using nice metaphors and stuff. plus it's handwritten (looks awesome!!)

[tommycataus]

I've found that going ahead and just building a few circuits has helped me grasp the basics and refresh my rusty soldering technique. I highly recommend that you get yourself a breadboard kitted out with a breakout box, similar to a Beavis Board. That way you can build simple circuits and work out by trial and error what things do.

Check out the projects page on this very forum and the fantastic tutorial on how to build a simple DOD distortion pedal. It actually explains what all the components do and allows plenty of room for tinkering as well as major modification:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=33.0

It's easy to want to know everything immediately and get carried away trying to build amazing and complex pedals rather than tackling the basics. However, I can say from my own personal experience, don't try and run before you can walk. Don't try and learn the theory and then start with a Schumann PLL; make a Green Ringer or a Brian May Treble Booster and explore what is going on in those simple circuits.

Despite having a basic electronic knowledge, I didn't fully appreciate the uniqueness of stompboxery in the electronics community. Personally I found that the best way is to start with a basic IC circuit and go from there. I hope you manage to find the information you need to get to the next step!

[tranceracer]

In addition to the great references above,Practical Electronics for Inventors and R.G. Keen's, PCB Layout for Musical Effects.
RG's book can be found at Smallbear.
Practical Electronics can be found on amazon.