Where did you guys learn?

[kevilay]

Hey guys, the last few days ive been building a few pedals and asking alot of questions. This can be frustration as I dont always like asking for help Is there any books about building guitar pedals, analog or digital. Id like to learn all about each part of them and how they work. Their are some great tube amp books, wondering if their was any pedal books.

Thanks
Kevin

[stringsthings]

I learned a lot from making effects and then slowly trying to tweak cap and resistor values.  Here's an old book that still has some pretty good information:

Electronic Projects For Musicians

As I got more interested, I checked out books from the library to learn more general information.  For example, you can find several texts with information on transistor amplifiers ( BJT and FET ).  If you live near a college, check out their EE library.

[Mark Hammer]

Many of us suckled at the same teat: Electronic Projects for Musicians (EPFM), by Craig Anderton, either EPFM I or EPFM II.  More recent work by Craig would include Projects for Guitarists. Even more recent reading would include Nicholas Boscorelli's Stompbox Cookbook.

If you grew up in Europe, chances are pretty good you substituted books by "Uncle" Robert Penfold for Craig Anderton books.  Both authors had lots of project construction articles invarious magazines.

We collectively inquired about the Boscorelli book for a while and engaged in a saearch for the man himself, but no trace could be found.  At the end of the search, rather than pay the outrageous prices that the few available copies were going for on e-bay, someone scanned it and posted it.  I forget where it is, but I'm sure you'll be able to find it.

A useful adjunct to the Boscorelli book are the "Stompboxology" newsletters he produced before he vanished.  Charlie Barth was kind enough to scan and post a bunch of these.  You can find them here: http://moosapotamus.net/IDEAS/stompboxology/stompboxology.html

Craig Anderton co-published a newsletter aimed at electronic guitarists for a year, called DEVICE.  I was fortunate to have a subscription for that year, and scanned and posted them here: http://hammer.ampage.org/?cmd=lt&xid=&fid=&ex=&pg=10  and here: http://hammer.ampage.org/?cmd=lt&xid=&fid=&ex=&pg=11  and here: http://hammer.ampage.org/?cmd=lt&xid=&fid=&ex=&pg=12

There are some very useful articles and ideas in both of those scanned newsletters.

And when you're done with that, you go to geofex and AMZ.

[seedlings]

I get to check the 'some college' box for electronics, but the real learning is in forums, especially here.

CHAD

[therecordingart]

I wouldn't say I'm learned, not by a long shot, but I've been spending a lot of time reading these forums, building stuff, and taking the A.A.S. EE program through CIE. I will say that the school work has tied a lot of what I've read in this forum together. Every day is a new "AH HAH!" moment that I wasn't always getting before I started school. Now things tend to click much faster. 

[joegagan]

it was kim sullivan. she and i went down by the creek and played a round of...

oh, you meant pedals?

[gregwbush]

it was kim sullivan. she and i went down by the creek and played a round of...

oh, you meant pedals?

LoL

[markeebee]

Yeah, Kim Sullivan here as well. Post-op.

Kevin, if you pm me your email address I can maybe mail you some books.

[joegagan]

Yeah, Kim Sullivan here as well. Post-op.

glad to hear she went on to big things. some people from Wisconsin never get the chance.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Kim Sullivan?? 

[Processaurus]

I like that you are asking for a book rather than a website, as it shows you probably have the patience needed to get a grasp on a subject that can't be adequately explained in a few paragraphs. A semester of community college introduction to electronics is a great foundation.  Alternately it is possible to find free videos of college lecture series online if you can't make it to school. That combined with experimenting and breadboarding and making mistakes and debugging them on your own is great.  Having a scope is very educational too.  This forum, and a few other technically oriented pedal websites others have mentioned are the best resource for pedal specific info, sometimes contributors get into very good analysis of specific pedal circuits.

[PRR]

> Is there any books about building guitar pedals, analog or digital. Id like to learn all about each part of them and how they work.

Think. The electrons do NOT know they are "in a pedal". Pedals are just a market-class of general electronics.

And electronics is HIGHLY based on general electricity. IMHO, this is where many students fail.... not working for a SOLID grounding in DC circuits. Yes it is boring. Like musician's finger and scale excercises. Yes some musicians skimp their scales, but it limits their growth.

[PRR]

> I can maybe mail you some books.

I could too... but after trying to unload some of my clutter, I am finding that it is often better for the student to find low-demand used textbooks at Amazon or ABE. Often the shipping from store is less than I can get from my postmistress.

I don't know where Kevin is, but if you are UK and he is US you do NOT want to ship ordinary books over the ocean.

[kevilay]

you guys are so helpful. I perfer reading a book over reading stuff on the computer. I dont know why, I just do I have some electronics books from when I went to college but i forget so much of that stuff now its so sad Whats a used scope cost roughly? Do I need to buy a quality one?

[bluebunny]

If you want a recommendation for a book, I would sing the praises of "Small Signal Audio Design" by Douglas Self.  You can read quite a bit of it online at Amazon (certainly in the .co.uk guise).  On the basis of this preview, I bought the book and then read it cover to cover over a weekend.  There aren't many books I can say that of...  So, highly recommended by me.  YMMV, of course!

Oh, and a big +1 for the "you will learn loads from this forum" suggestion. 

[DougH]

For a good, general electronics survey I would suggest "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill. This is written in a conversational manner that makes it an easy read. Doesn't rely too heavily on advanced math either. There's a lot of really good info packed into it about designing audio stages, proper biasing techniques, and so forth, rules of thumb, etc. A lot of "bowtweak" builders could learn a lot from this book alone. You will start to recognize some shoddy design practices in this "industry" after perusing this. It's a little pricey, so check it out from your library and see if it meets your needs first. It's a good reference book to have around.

[fpaul]

For pedal specific info the most helpful to me was the geofex website "technology of" articles.

For electronics in general, +1 on the art of electronics.  There is a separate work book which is really good as well. Wish I had more time and discipline to devote to it.

[bluebunny]

Geofex: +1 (+1E8!)  Just read the whole lot!  It's kinda where I started when I came in from the wilderness and started DIYing again.  Or just search for any nuggets of wisdom posted here by R.G.  (It's a simple search: they're *all* nuggets of wisdom, so "R.G." will do! )

[Maik]

Yeah, Kim Sullivan here as well. Post-op.

Didn´t know who Kim Sullivan is but then I googled it. Must be the right person
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=de&sa=X&rls=com.microsoft:de:IE-SearchBox&biw=1600&bih=998&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=WrkFES72Pj5OYM:&imgrefurl=http://neighborsgo.com/photos/36051&docid=FLbGm9j3lCif8M&imgurl=http://static3.smallworldlabs.com/neighborhoods/upimg/000/000/f7664060cc52bc6f3d620bcedc94a4b6/4af2211fc4a84Kristen_James__Hilary_Puckett__Kim_Sullivan.JPG&w=2816&h=2112&ei=edszT4-YAsueOvHF3YgC&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=188&vpy=169&dur=4532&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=151&ty=130&sig=115738604042134887318&page=1&tbnh=151&tbnw=198&start=0&ndsp=44&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0

Markee, Markee, something must go terrible wrong when you was a child...

[DougH]

Yeah, that's her... You guys knew her too, huh? Small world.