Good electronics books...

[gutsofgold]

What are some recommended reading materials on electronics, components, and reading schematics? Just simple stuff so that I can actually understand what I am doing and what each component does as I add it to my pedal.

Anything besides "electronics for dummies"?

[demonstar]

Craig anderton's electronics projects for guitarists is good. 

[CGDARK]

 
Electronic Projects for Musicians (a little outdated, but very good) by Craig Anderton
Projects for Guitarists by Craig Anderton
Electronic Projects for Guitarists by R.A. Penfold

[Sir H C]

Anything by Forrest Mimms.

[nordine]

that Boscorelli book, THE HOLY GRAIL

[mountainking]

Electronic Principles by Albert Malvino. Its a text book, but don't let that scare you, there alot of easy to understand info about basic electronics that can be applied to effect pedals. Its answered alot of questions I've had and given me alot of ideas. I have the first(1973) and third(1984) editions, each edition is a updated version of the one before it and suggest you pick up one of the earlier editions since later ones probably have less info on transistor circuits.

[soulsonic]

+1 on Forrest Mimms!
+1 on any Anderton book!
-1 on the Boscorelli book. The only things close to a holy grail are what I'm about to list right here:

The best single book ever is "The Art of Electronics" by Paul Horowitz & Winfield Hill. Nothing else I've ever read is so complete and well-written.

The best collection is the "Navy Electronics & Training Series". This collection of modules is the core of U.S. Navy Class A School in Electronics, and is probably one of the most comprehensive and concise courses in electronics ever assembled. I'm not sure what current ones are available, most of what I've seen appears to be rather old and probably not up-to-date, but I've seen a civilian reprint of "Introduction To Electricity and Electronics" at Border's. I got my copies at a used book store. Somewhere on the net, the entire collection is available in PDF format for free, if I find it, I'll put a link up.

If you study and learn everything in these books, you will be head-and-shoulders above the average EE grad. The "classic" Navy program makes any current EE course look like a total joke. Seriously, it's absolutely shameful what universities are passing off as "education" these days. I say "classic" Navy course, because I'm not familiar with what the current program is.

[puretube]

"NEETS"...

[GREEN FUZ]

I picked up a book called Starting Electronics by Keith Brindley which deals with the basics in an understandable manner.

[96ecss]

This is a good one http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=679 

Dave

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

http://www.tpub-products.com/archive/
has all the navy manuals and a ton of other stuff.
the catch: although the stuff is all (AFAIK) public domain, they do charge a subscription fee.
But, it isn't much & you might think it is worth it. Convenient, anyway.

[moro]

that Boscorelli book, THE HOLY GRAIL

Holy cow, what is the story with this book? There are three on Amazon right now. Two used for $200+ and a new one for TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Why don't they reprint this?

[soulsonic]

Thank you VERY much Puretube! That is exactly the link I had found in the past....
It is worth it to everyone here to download and study every module - at least the first 10.


They don't reprint that Boscorelli book because there's some ridiculous conspiracy to keep it suppressed or something to drive up it's prices and make everyone believe it's full of mystic mojo when it's not. Those NEETS books will teach a MILLION times more useful knowledge for understanding and building stompboxes than any simplistic "project" book. Download the NEETS books from Puretube's link.... they're FREE!

[theundeadelvis]

These are probably to geared towards hi-fi tube equipment, but there may be something useful. I have yet to take a look at any of them: http://www.pmillett.com/tecnical_books_online.htm

[soulsonic]

These are probably to geared towards hi-fi tube equipment, but there may be something useful. I have yet to take a look at any of them: http://www.pmillett.com/tecnical_books_online.htm

That's a good site. I've found some cool stuff on there.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

that Boscorelli book, THE HOLY GRAIL

Holy cow, what is the story with this book? There are three on Amazon right now. Two used for $200+ and a new one for TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Why don't they reprint this?

It isn't reprinted because Mr Boscorelli can't be located. I guess he is dead or worse.
if it is any consolation, I have a copy, and although it is very well written, I can tell you that:

1. it isn't really a beginners book
2. all the circuits use a TON of parts

Really, with effort, you can find equivalent (or better) to 95% of the Boscorelli stuff on the net. But being logged into this board, is about, oh, maybe 2,000 times more useful! (that would make the board worth $400,000+ at Amazon prices!)
OK, I'm glad I have a copy, I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't change my life.

[The Tone God]

They don't reprint that Boscorelli book because there's some ridiculous conspiracy to keep it suppressed or something to drive up it's prices and make everyone believe it's full of mystic mojo when it's not.

Wow, I wish DIYers had that kind of power. The "ridiculous conspiracy" is called the market place. It is much like why crusty old univibes sell for high prices. It is simple what some people think it is worth and are willing to pay. Of course we all know the univibe is not worth what some silly people pay for it but this is art and sense is sometimes overwritten by mojo promises.

As effect DIY has gotten more popular the demand has gotten higher to those few who think this book is some kind of mojo bible. The number of copies that have actually sold at such high prices is few but if the book is going for so much why don't the publisher reprint and cash in ? Well there are other reasons besides not being able to find the copyright owner. Going back to the univibe example how many exact clones go for the same price as an original ? Not even the "reissue" goes for a price anywhere close. It is a supply and demand market issue.

There simple is not a demand large enough to justify the effort for the publisher. DIYers are not even a blip on the radar in terms of demographics. Lets take this into account. This forum can fairly be said to be one of the largest music DIY sites out there. The current complete membership count is around 7000 so lets assume that count is how many people will buy the book. 7000 copies of ANY book is considered a miserable failure by publishing standards. Even if they were able to get a fraction of what a handful of copies have sold for this would still be a huge failure. There is no incentive to republish the book dictated by the market.

I remember seeing the book back when it was in print. I didn't buy it. I flipped through it and thought to myself "Nothing I haven't seen else where so why waste the money and shelf space." The only thing I regret about not buying the book is that I could have sold it for more now.

The book is overrated for what it is. The other suggestions made here are far more valuable.

Andrew

[gez]

Jenny, some of us do have the power!



Bwaahaahaahaa!

[aron]

Check out this thread in the FAQ forum:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=32490.0

[soulsonic]

I think Paul, or some other owner of the book, should scan it into a PDF and put it up on the net. We'd find out real quick who the copyright owner is then! If Boscorelli or his publisher still exist, we'd surely be hearing from them, then we could hassle them about reprinting it. Or, if no one turns up to sue us or have it pulled down, we can pretty much assume all rights to it have been given up either because they're dead or they just don't care - then it would be freely available to anyone who'd want to look at it.

I don't see anything wrong with that plan. The worst thing that could happen, is that the author or publisher might finally crawl out from whatever hole he/she/it is hiding in and complain that it's violating a copyright and maybe try to sue - then, all we'd have to do is "get to work" and see about it getting it reprinted legitimately. Seems like a win-win thing to me.