Dumbest Question Ever Asked

[Baktown]

All,

I've been building other people's designs for a couple of years now, but I still don't have a clue how any of this all works.

My question is:  What is the simplest distortion circuit that I could start with and teach myself how to add things like volume, tone, gain, etc?  Being a petroleum engineer, I tend to think of electricity as being analogous to liquid flow, which I realize is not always true, which I think is what confuses me.

If anyone could point me in the right direction, or make any suggestions, I would be most grateful.

Best regards,

Rick J

[paguitarist]

Well, Fuzz Faces are simplistic in design, and alot of people use them as a first build, I'm pretty sure there's an article somewhere on the internet that completely examines how it works. Tubescreamers are a bit simple too, and I would like to think both pedals lend themselves to learning with and modding. Hope that helps.

[sinisterguy]

fuzz pedals do tend to be the simplest. amz has a couple simple designs here: http://www.muzique.com/schem/projects.htm
they're basically single stage boosters with symmetrical clipping diodes. R.G. also has an explaination of all the various ways to generate distortion (including how power/preamp tube distortion works). That can be found here: http://geofex.com/effxfaq/distn101.htm

[The Tone God]

I always thought the Dist+ was an easy design to play with. Warp controls, tone stacks, diode configs, gain changes, etc.

Andrew

[mharris80]

This might be a good one, as well:  http://www.smallbearelec.com/Projects/TweakO/TweakO.htm

[bluesdevil]

I always thought the Dist+ was an easy design to play with. Warp controls, tone stacks, diode configs, gain changes, etc.

Andrew

That's a great one to play around with. Also for just a basic single transistor booster circuit, the LPB-1 is a good one to study too.... try experimenting with adding diode clippers, gain controls and such.

[JKowalski]

Fuzz, definitely.

Although, if you arent totally set on building a distortion stompbox first, I would suggest oscillators. They really teach you about what is going on in a circuit - thats how I started learning electronic design.

After I designed my first oscillator - well, I saw the light XD.

EDIT: Plus, after you make one, you can hook it up to a tremolo! Or something similar.

[Paul Marossy]

I don't have anything to contribute other than I think I have asked dumber questions than that. 

[Baktown]

Thanks to everyone for the great ideas and suggestions.  I just kind of reached a point where I want to learn what I'm doing, not just follow someone elses road map, so to speak.


Rick J

[punkin]

IT IS similar to liquid flow...highs fill lows and gates control it. You're half way there my friend!

[frank_p]

Hey, Rick.  If you want to play around BJT and opamps, go get yourself a copy of : "Malvino: Electronic Principles".  The book is very straightforward and you really won't regret it (used at amazon, you could have it for dirt cheap).  When I began to learn a bit, I took the Rangemaster and Malvino and it was really good combination for understanding the BJT in the common emitter amplifier stage.

No differential equations to torture you.  Clear, simple, effective book to acquire the basic concepts of semiconductors.  Just like reading a good story.  I like Malvino's book a lot and is regarded as an easy learning journey.  I think you'll like it too, you look like the straightforward type   .

[John Lyons]

There was a thread started by Dano (that I can't seem to find now) that took a couple circuits and explained each parts function.
I think that the Rat and or Distortion + would be a good starting / experimentation point.
I strongly recommend you buy a breadboard and fool around with that.
This way you can eperiment without soldering and work a lot faster and more efficiently.
You will learn how things effect the overall sound and can plug in and out parts etc.

Some things to search for here and on the net:
Stupidly wonderful Tone Control (Mark Hammer)
Low pass filters
Bounding (diodes to ground)
Take a look at the AMZ "lab notebook" pages with the warp control articles (Among others)
Read RG's the technology of articles. (not really dist + stuff though...)

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/SchematicToReality/
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/HIW/hiw1.gif
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/SchematicToReality/

Dang...I found more stuff at beavis's than I remember...check out the site....

john

[Baktown]

I guess I'm just having trouble understanding the flow of signals and electricity through a simple circuit.  I've got literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars worth of parts all carefully organized, but I just don't really understand how anything works.  I look at a simple schematic like an LPB-1, and I can read the values, and understand how to populate a board and make it work, but I just don't know the fundamentals of what I'm doing.  I know this makes me sound somewhat ignorant, but I want to know the theory behind what I'm doing so I can be creative and design some things myself.  I've bought several books, including "Electronics for Dummies", but none of them seem to be very good at explaining basic theory.  I actually have one book that contradicts itself by saying that current flows from negative to positive, then in a later chapter says just the opposite.

Maybe I should just go back to being a gigolo (although I never made a penny since I just gave it away)!  LOL

Rick J

[burdt]

I feel the same way baktown. I can follow the procedure but I don't really know how it really works. I'm grateful you asked this question because I've hit a similar roadblock in my pedal building trajectory. I don't wan to feel like I'm painting by numbers every time I build something.

I'm also grateful to those who replied with great possible resources that would help make it all make sense. Thanks for helping us attempt to take our build understanding to another level.

On an entirely different note, would baktown happen to be from Bakersfield, CA? I grew up nearby and it would be a grand intertubes coincidence.

[Wales]

 Have you done much breadboarding? I haven't got into it myself I am still building other peoples work, but I think this would be a great way to switch a multitude of parts around and see the difference. Since you have the parts, I wouldn't be scared about the electricity its only 9V DC. Whats the worst that happens you blow up a few of those parts.

I think you are on the right track equating power to liquid. You just have to think of path of least resistance (water going down a slope not up) and storing the liquid (water in a damm or reservoir building up, some might be getting through but not all) and pressure (letting that damm loose, down the hill of least resistance) other factors are how much is feeding it (big rain Storm) and how much evaporates or gets absorbed into the ground cause of usage.

[bluesdevil]

I gotta admit reading about electronics is boring as all hell to me, BUT putting it all into practice to make some great sounds is very rewarding. I guess I'm still a musician first and electronics geek second no matter how long I've been building stuff.
    Yeah, I agree with John about the breadboard and R.G.'s "technology of.." articles. We are all lucky there are good folks willing to share knowledge and take the time to explain things here.

[grathan]

I've read Electronics for Dummies recently.

You checked the links John Lyons posted? The Beavis Auio Research stuff is great free material.

I've started Brian Wampler's book.
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Categories.bok?category=Books+And+Publications
The digital version is cheaper on his web page. It goes into some depth about gain stages and high pass filters. I havent gotten around to any hands on stuff, but he shows some circuits and  you build along and he explains some stuff as you go.

The RG Keen book looks like a decent resource too.

[Baktown]

Formerly of Bakersfield, now in southern Oklahoma, specifically Ardmore, which is halfway between Dallas and Oklahoma City.  Somewhat of a cultural wasteland, although I did get to see The Answer (from Belfast) play at a small club here on a break from opening for AC/DC on their world tour.

Rick J

[Baktown]

If I could just grasp the concept of how a transistor works I think I would be well on my way to a much better understanding of all this.

[rousejeremy]

How about the Electra Distortion? There are a bunch of layouts and stuff about it all over the forum.