Newbie Hello!!

Elysiumfx · July 08, 2016, 05:57:25 AM

Just wanted to say hi. I'm a new builder, having mainly worked from pre made PCB until now. However, I've just finished my first strip board prototype. Nothing new about the design, but I'm only building for me and my mates. Started off with a Marshall Bluesbreaker, as I needed a low gain crunch option on my board. When I finally got it working (strip board upside down originally!😁) I wasn't keen on the way that it clipped. Changed it to assymetrical and added a few mods, and it's a killer pedal now! I used a Burr Brown IC to clean it up a bit and the result (by accident rather than design) is a completely noiseless low gain, tube type overdrive. Now I need to find a box to put it in! I can't wait to move onto the next project. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions as time goes on!

Kipper4 · July 08, 2016, 06:39:06 AM

Hello newbie and welcome aboard.
Your going to learn lots and have fun.....

GibsonGM · July 08, 2016, 07:04:54 AM

Welcome Elysium! Like Rich said, you're going to learn a lot...and probably become addicted like the rest of us!

antonis · July 08, 2016, 07:46:24 AM

Quote from: GibsonGM on July 08, 2016, 07:04:54 AM
and probably become addicted like the rest of us!

Painful truth, indeed...

digi2t · July 08, 2016, 08:36:00 AM

Welcome to the forum!!

rutabaga bob · July 08, 2016, 09:39:03 AM

Welcome! Glad to have you with us!j

duck_arse · July 08, 2016, 10:43:19 AM

also, welcome.

Elysiumfx · July 08, 2016, 11:34:33 AM

Thanks everyone! [emoji3] I can't wait to start learning more about this. So much has been trial and error so far. It would be great to understand why things work. Haha.

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bloxstompboxes · July 08, 2016, 02:12:32 PM

Welcome sucker! lol. Now you'll never get away. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us.

GibsonGM · July 08, 2016, 06:25:30 PM

Quote from: bloxstompboxes on July 08, 2016, 02:12:32 PM
Welcome sucker! lol. Now you'll never get away. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us. One of us.

What, "Us"?? I don't have a problem. Maybe YOU do. Not me, no way!!!

LOL

strungout · July 08, 2016, 07:06:07 PM

I'm an 'US'! Even when I leave for months I always come back around...

Welcome! and remember the first rule: fun is what's it's all about in the end. That and getting to try all these awesome pedals people come up with.

-Get yourself a breadboard (project board, test board)
-Make an audio probe
-And follow the rules of debugging (very important AND we can be more useful to you)
-Use good/new components (I sometimes use ones I pull out of old radios and other junk when I have nothing else but really, you'll get a better idea of the actual sound of the stompbox you're making if you use new ones. I'm ghetto...).

Elysiumfx · July 08, 2016, 09:50:28 PM

Quote from: strungout on July 08, 2016, 07:06:07 PM
I'm an 'US'! Even when I leave for months I always come back around...

Welcome! and remember the first rule: fun is what's it's all about in the end. That and getting to try all these awesome pedals people come up with.

-Get yourself a breadboard (project board, test board)
-Make an audio probe
-And follow the rules of debugging (very important AND we can be more useful to you)
-Use good/new components (I sometimes use ones I pull out of old radios and other junk when I have nothing else but really, you'll get a better idea of the actual sound of the stompbox you're making if you use new ones. I'm ghetto...).

Ok..... First question then...... Audio probe?? (I'm clearly a real newbie!!) What is it and what is it for? (I can feel my life changing already.....) [emoji16]

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strungout · July 08, 2016, 10:54:59 PM

An audio probe lets you connect to any point in the circuit (by contact with the lead of a resistor or capacitor) and hear through your amp how the sound changes. Like before or after a clipping stage, filter, etc. It's an essential tool to debug a circuit. It allows you to send the sound for any connection direct to your amp, bypassing everything after that point.

So if you follow your circuit with the lead of the audio probe and at one point the sound stops, you know something around there is not connected properly. After your brain, its the most useful tool to have in my opinion.

And if youre a newbie dont feel like you have to start with complicated circuits, start slowly, find simple, low component count circuit just to practice on (this is great when you have a breadboard, project board, design board , whatever name it goes by, because you wont have to solder anything).

Check the Debugging Thread to get an idea of what information we need to help you figure out whatever problem might arise.

One last thing: the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask. I learned this here.

GibsonGM · July 08, 2016, 11:12:32 PM

Nice, strungout! The only thing I'd add is...when you make the probe, you want a capacitor in there that is rated for more than the circuits you intend to work on....so, a cap rated well over our normal 9V for typical stuff, altho a higher working voltage will allow the probe to be used for higher voltage stuff. I have one with with 500v+ cap in it, for tube work!!

The primary reason for this cap is to BLOCK the DC voltage inside circuit blocks that they use to run (it is a 'blocking cap'!)...we don't want to hear that, we want the AC AUDIO we are processing, only. When the DC voltage gets thru, it makes evil pops and buzzes which are NOT what we're interested in when probing...

Jdansti · July 09, 2016, 12:50:23 AM

Welcome to the Hotel DIYSB! You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!

amptramp · July 09, 2016, 03:50:38 PM

Now that you have the circuit working, you may want to put it in an enclosure of some sort. There are some spectacular examples in the pictures threads of chemical etching, painting, laser etching, powder coating and we probably haven't exhausted the range of finishing technologies available.

In addition to the audio probe / signal tracer suggested by strungout, you may want a signal injector. If there is a break in the circuit that stops signal flow, you would then have the tools to see how far the input signal gets before it gets lost and how close to the input you can inject a signal that makes it to the amplifier. With these two tools, you can narrow down the location of a lot of signal faults.

Elysiumfx · July 10, 2016, 12:50:10 PM

Thanks for the tips guys. Tomorrow I will be making an audio probe and buying a bread board! I have a Klon on my list to have a go at! I put the new BB pedal in an old enclosure for last nights gig.... It sounded amazing. A real "always on" type drive. Really light overdrive, but very transparent. I'm going to work on the design this week and put it in a proper 1590b box. Thanks again!! [emoji3]

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Newbie Hello!!