reccomend a simple first build ?

[guyswan]

hey everyone,

i have heard fuzz's are a nice simple build to start with.
i have made a kit pedal before but most of the wiring is done in the pc board itself so i was wondering if you could reccomend me a good layout so i can learn to build from scratch ?

thanks for your help, Guy

[snakey]

I started on the green ringer. Good effect, low part count, lots to learn from

[Manny]

hey everyone,

i have heard fuzz's are a nice simple build to start with.
i have made a kit pedal before but most of the wiring is done in the pc board itself so i was wondering if you could reccomend me a good layout so i can learn to build from scratch ?

thanks for your help, Guy

Hi Guy,

My first build was a fuzz face which was nice and easy and gets you started with transistor biasing.
If you want something even simpler you could try a booster like the lpb-1 (or one of the many derivatives) or the super simple bazz fuss, both have a very low parts count.

Good luck 

[newfish]

Hi,

Building a booster on stripboard is a good place to step-up from pre-fabbed PCBs.

There are many shown in the 'Layouts Gallery' at the top of this webpage (another reason to love this forum).

The 'Beginner's Project' thread is also well worth a look - and the end product is worth hanging on to.

If you fancy being a bit braver, Op-amp overdrives (Dist + / OD 250) are a good place to start, as there's only one IC - and there are no obscure parts.

Good luck with whatever you decide to build next.

[LucifersTrip]

I'd recommend the  fuzzrite over the fuzz face first because it's, in my opinion, much easier to get a good sound, especially if you're using
germanium for the fuzz face. The fuzz face is just as easy to build but will usually take some time until you get the sound you want.

I got excellent sound right away with silicon transistors [TZ82's are silicon] in the 120-150 hfe range. TZ82's are rare. You can prob
use any SI in that range. I used 2SC1815:
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/servlet/the-172/2SC1815-TRANSISTOR-NPN-50V/Detail



...and Manny is correct, hardly anything is easier than the bazz fuss

http://www.home-wrecker.com/bazz.html


good luck

[twabelljr]

Hey Guy,
If you haven't already, checkout the Runoffgroove and Home-wrecker sites. Lots of projects to choose from and very detailed perfboard layouts to get you going. Soundclips too. Bazz Fuss/Buzz Box is very simple and sounds good. Very tweakable. http://www.runoffgroove.com/. http://www.home-wrecker.com/. If you want to etch your own boards dig through the tons of great diy sites in the "Links" tab. Perfboard forces you to follow the schematic trough each component very cloely as you build and helps with understanding how the circuit functions.

[Mark Hammer]

There is a certain thrill to making a pedal that produces sounds.  But what if you already have some pedals?  What would a pleasing first easy build be?

My response is: a loop selector.  That is, a box with an in and out, a send and return, maybe a status LED, and a stompswitch to patch a bunch of pedals into the signal path or "true-bypass" the lot of them.  This has pretty much nothing to burn out, or misorient (thought there IS wiring involved) and is dead simple to build.  It will also be something that will remain useful to you no matter how manhy things you buy or build later on.

[Johan]

...the forum beginner project.. http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=6.0
J

[familyortiz]

Guyswan,
Do you have an idea of what you may want to build? If you want to build from scratch, you can either keep it extremely simple with protoboard or use some other ideas here to lay a board out.
The 2 easiest builds that I've made are a 2Ch Balanced Line Driver (direct box with balanced xlr output) or a Hum Free Splitter, both made with hand wired protoboards. Properly designed and built devices can easily match the performance of off the shelf items. In today's posts is a very simple LM386 based mini amp that looks very easy to build. Anyhoos, good luck and have fun.