my research project "distortion pedals"

[roknjohn]

"Also, being a pedant, I would take issue with Les Paul "inventing" the electric guitar. Lloyd Loar, Vic Smith, George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker all have good claims for that while Les was still in his early teens - and they had the patents...
Les was quite an inventor but I wouldn't credit him with the electric guitar."


I thought Les Paul created the first solid body electric guitar. I may be wrong about that, but I was under that impression.

[slacker]

Cool project some good interesting stuff in there. Hope you don't mind me picking up another small point though. You state that the majority of commercial distortion circuits use inverting op amp stages, infact most of them use non inverting stages. This includes the Tube Screamer, Distortion + and the Rat.

[johngreene]

I did confuse things a little with the section on harmonics.  After reading another book recently called the science of musical sound it was made clear that you can look at harmonics/overtones in different ways.  Some people call the 1st the 2nd and visa versa but as long as people know exactly what you mean when you say "the 1st harmonic" then it doesn't really matter.  In my project the order is as follows:

using an example of 100Hz fundamental

Fundamental - 100 Hz
1st Harmonic - 200 Hz
2nd Harmonic - 300Hz
3rd Harmonic - 400Hz

Hamm (my main source) uses the following order

1st harmonic - 100 Hz
2nd Harmonic - 200Hz
3rd Harmonic - 300Hz
etc.

i ammended any quotes from his paper to fit into my way of thinking.

Hope this clears that section up as it's quite important to the understanding of the whole paper. I didn't write that section very well.

I'm really pleased people are getting something out of reading it, thanks for all the comments

Adam

one way:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/waves/harm1.html
http://id.mind.net/~zona/mstm/physics/waves/standingWaves/standingWaves1/StandingWaves1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_series_(music)
http://peabody.sapp.org/class/350.868/lab/smsharmonics/
http://www.cord.edu/dept/physics/p128/lecture99_35.html

the other way:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/harmonicscalc.html

Although I like this explaination:
http://dev.physicslab.org/Document.aspx?doctype=3&filename=WavesSound_ResonancePipes.xml
They say the 1st 'overtone' is the 2nd 'harmonic'.

A discussion on Duncan Amps forum about this:
http://forum.duncanamps.com/viewtopic.php?t=602&sid=43bf7ea0d9498d8161230e9b17e37941

Google is your friend.

--john

[Chef]

Ok,

Thanks for clearing up those harmonics issues.  Guess it does just depend on what you've been taught.

Interesting points about the Les Paul thing, you might be right but it doesn't really affect the outcome of the project, that bit was just to set the scene and not really what the project is about.

Also I didn't know that most pedals used non-inverting op amps, i assumed from the "Tube Screamer's secret" website that i i quoted from that it was a very rare thing.  Guess i was wrong, thanks for that one.

Adam

[DuncanM]

I thought Les Paul created the first solid body electric guitar. I may be wrong about that, but I was under that impression.

Solid body - maybe, but there ARE others who also lay claim that distinction.
Certainly Les was developing solid body electrics during the mid-to-late thirties and was a pioneer in this area, but stating that he "invented the electric guitar" in your final year project report is a brave thing to do.....

[Chef]

ok, maybe he didn't but for the purposes of this project it doesn't really matter because the project is about distortion pedals not who invented the electric guitar.  I do see your point though and don't doubt that you are right.

Adam

[dano12]

Hey Chef, finished your paper this evening. Very nice work. Not sure why you received such nit-picking and critical responses here, but sharing your work is much appreciated.

So.....you going to keep at it? You should start building pedals now

[Chef]

I sure am, soon as i finished the rest of my uni work (in 1 week!!!!!!!!!) i'm gonna build that tweak-o in a more permanent state on perf board.  I might even try a few modifications on it 

well thanks for sharin your thoughts with me about it, hope the examiners are as kind with their comments.

Adam

[WGTP]

I haven't read it yet, but it took a lot of guts to post something like this.  Your a brave man.    

[Quackzed]

Good Read . I like the layout, and having each section separated by a single chapter page                  ie(Experiment Results) made it feel very scientific and professional.  
like ....(music from The Shining) Duummmm.....experimental results.......
  I'm sure your professors will overlook any definition confusion, as you took time to be clear about your terminology at the very beginning. But you can't argue with raw data,which your paper was full of . Also i give you "mad props" for catching the transistors role in affecting some of the results! Objectivity!
Now get comfy, cause if your interested in distortion...
This is THE place to be...
...i see jfets and burned fingertips in your future....

[Chef]

Well i'm certainly pleased that i have posted it, after all if you guys think that it is an acceptable piece of work then that is the best praise i can get cos you know about this stuff.  Even the criticisms have been useful.  I very much look forward to getting into this pedal building thing further.  What a great hobby!

Adam

[idlechatterbox]

Nice paper. I enjoyed reading it, and the comments by people on this forum.

Re: the question about Les Paul and the invention of the electric git-tar, in

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067400065X/102-2660144-9520131?v=glance&n=283155

the author claims that (as someone else already said) guys like Rickenbacker should get credit for patenting the electric, but if you get into the question of who actually built (and arguably therefore "invented") it, things get murky. According to the author, people like Paul and Bo Diddley were doing things like attaching phonograph arms to a guitar body and making an electrified sound. Maybe it will be a lot like the question of who invented the airplane. A lot comes down to what counts as invention and airplane.

Re: wrestling & academia
Far be it from me to defend academics too much, but to some extent, they are just guilty of holding a mirror up to society. Wrestling is big (for better or worse), and it does raise a lot of interesting questions about the role of sport in society, and if nothing else, the popularity of spandex and steroids, two things that seem likely to not just go away. 

Just my two cents. Now let me get back to trying to follow the advice on DIY stompboxes here... Advice that is much appreciated by the way. 

[Peter Snowberg]

Wow! Very cool.

I don't have time to read your paper these days but I though I would throw a little light on the harmonic series numbering by pointing out that the full and correct name is "second-order harmonic". It's not a matter of preference.