Where to Start?

[dreadlocks1221]

Hopefully I won't get slammed for this....

I am an absolute beginner (I've never even soldered anything before), I have played guitar for about 5 years, and have always been interested in electronics. A while back I  was really interested in making my own pedals, but I was too young to understand that you need to learn the basics before jumping into something like that. I've seen  a lot of references listed on this site for beginners and I thought to ask about what direction to go in rather than just jumping into something and seeing where it goes. I'm really a hands-on learner so I'm wondering if it would be better to just try and find some cheap classes I can take somewhere in my spare time to learn more about electronics and circuit boards in general or is there a book/online resource that is more of a tutorial in the sense that it takes you step by step through making circuits but also includes a lot more information on how things work and theory (most of the tutorials I have seen so far will explain how to put things together but don't really teach much about how the components work or any kind of theory)? I suppose wherever I start doesn't have to be specific to making pedals as long as I get a good foundation of information.

[seedlings]

1) get a breadboard (most any variety, but here's one example)

2) go here http://www.beavisaudio.com/bboard/projects/ and pick a project

3) go here http://www.taydaelectronics.com/ and buy 10 of each part required for your project (and one or two others you're thinking about)

4) go here http://www.geofex.com/ and in the upper left click 'technology of the' and select a project to learn what does what

No solder required!

Come back to the board here and ask questions once you pick a simple first project, like a treble booster or fuzz face   The only way you run into roadblocks here is if you're given some good advice and you intentionally avoid it.  Every tidbit of advice here is golden, even / especially when it's critical.

CHAD

[dreadlocks1221]

Do you think I need to learn more about how resistors, capacitors, etc work first or during or does it not matter at this early stage? 

[seedlings]

Do you think I need to learn more about how resistors, capacitors, etc work first or during or does it not matter at this early stage? 

It does and doesn't matter.  Right now you don't know what to ask.  After you've frustrated yourself with a project or two, THEN you'll know what to ask 
Many of us are NOT far removed from your shoes.

CHAD

[dreadlocks1221]

Thanks much, I'll order my parts and get started on a fuzz face. Is there anything I should know about testing (like using a voltage meter, special kind of amp, etc)?

Lastly is there anything you'd recommend for learning how to read a schematic?

[seedlings]

Thanks much, I'll order my parts and get started on a fuzz face. Is there anything I should know about testing (like using a voltage meter, special kind of amp, etc)?

Go here:

http://www.geofex.com/

On the left, under 'Regular Features' click Electronics.  On that page pick something to learn about and go.  Yes, you will need a multimeter.  Understand that you're asking for a 2 year technical degree from someone on an internet post 

CHAD

[dreadlocks1221]

Sorry, as I said I know nothing about this, so I am just trying to ask what comes to mind. I'll check the links 

[jkokura]

A lot of questions you're asking can be answered with a little googling. There are LOTS of pages and videos on this stuff out there.

When you're ready for a pedal to build, I recommend starting with a beginners kit of some kind. Kits come with instructions and all the parts you need. Great for learning.

Jacob

[midwayfair]

Do get a digital multimeter, too. You can pick one up fairly cheaply when you get your breadboard. You will use it constantly. It's not your most important learning tool (that's the breadboard!), but it's probably your most important tool overall.

Re: soldering: Over on BYOC, there's a fun little exercise to teach you how to solder. You twist up some wires and make a chain link fence-looking thing, and you solder where they cross. Nothing to damage and you can practice on it many many times.

Remember that it's possible to breadboard up a Fuzz Face and get no sound. You may wish to do a single silicon transistor boost first. It will give you one of the smallest possible circuits to work with, and a building block for many, many, MANY projects, including the fuzz face.

Be sure to also read, and re-read, "from schematic to reality" if you don't know how to read a schematic.

[dreadlocks1221]

@midwayfair thanks for the tips, maybe I will get started on the silicon transistor boost.

@jkokura If theres one thing I've learned from google, its that there's a whole mess of garbage out there and if you have no one to ask you'll probably end up spending hours of time on something that was flawed to begin with.

[seedlings]

Be sure to also read, and re-read, "from schematic to reality" if you don't know how to read a schematic.

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/SchematicToReality/

Hey, great advice!  I hadn't come across that specific page before.

CHAD

[Mark Hammer]

I think your attitude conveyed in your opening post, is admirable and entirely appropriate: be open to learning about any aspects of the electronic side of music.

There is a wealth of information, both here, and frequently linked to from here by other members.  The short-lived series of newsletters published by Nichalos Boscorelli, called "Stompboxology" contains lots of "Socratic dialogues" about design that are frequently instructive.  They don't cover everything,but do a ncie job of what they do.  You can find PDFs of them here: http://moosapotamus.net/stompboxology.html  I'll concur with others that RG Keen's series of "Technology of..." articles on his GEOFEX site still hold up very nicely for beginners.

I'll put in a plug for the complete opposite end of what many here will likely direct you to.  Rather than homing in on the "micro" level (how the individual parts and subcircuits work), I'll put in a plug for the "macro" level, and thinking in terms of systems, and how the whole thing works all together.  Craig Anderton had a delightful little book some 30 years back called "Guitar Gadgets" that presented a systems-like perspective about effects that one rarely sees these days.  Your public library may be able to get you a copy.  It's a nice bird's-eye view of FX.

I would encourage patience.  There is a lot to learn.  I've been at this since the mid-1970's, and every day I learn new stuff and discover more stuff I still need to learn.  But 6 months from now, you'll be very pleasantly surprised by how much progress you've made, without trying very hard, simply by being curious.

And come back here...regularly.  If the rest of the world were as openly generous and collaborative as this community is, the world would be a far far better place.

And with that said, boy are YOU in trouble now!! 

[dreadlocks1221]

@Mark Thanks for the tips, for the book, is it more about how effects work with eachother or it is more about how the internals of a pedal work as a system? I am definitely open to learning anything. As I've said I have always had the interest in electronics just never had the balls to try and make anything. I'll definitely be posting as soon as I start something and it doens't work lol.

@midwayfair can you post the links for the soldering exercise and the single silicon transistor boost? I wasn't able to find them.

[artifus]

here's a fun, get over your initial fear, dive right in and make a noise read: http://www.nicolascollins.com/texts/originalhackingmanual.pdf

related video's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T7qkYY7LZM&

[Mark Hammer]

@Mark Thanks for the tips, for the book, is it more about how effects work with eachother or it is more about how the internals of a pedal work as a system? I am definitely open to learning anything. As I've said I have always had the interest in electronics just never had the balls to try and make anything. I'll definitely be posting as soon as I start something and it doens't work lol.

The book provides broad classifications of effects to help organize them in your mind, addresses what "all those controls are for", what sorts of controls you might expect to run into, or are possible, in any given category/family of effects, and how to sequence them.

I would recommend against Dave Hunter's Handbook of Effects Pedals.  The interviews are good, and the sound samples are nice, but I find the tech talk chapters misleading.  Dave usually provides a good book.  This ain't one of them.

The Collins book is interesting, but its value lies in getting the beginner to just get in there and muck around, rather than leading to any strong learning foundations as regards FX.  Nothing at all wrong with that.  Just wanted to give you a realistic sense of what to expect.

There is a series of newsletters called DEVICE that I scanned and posted at my site: hammer.ampage.org (pages 10-11).  Anderton editted that.  It only came out for one year - 1979 - but still holds up as a decent read.

Lastly. at some point you WILL want to get in there and do/make something.  You'll be rather taken aback by just how much of this area consists of making sure that this wire gets soldered to that contact.  I'm reminded of a guy I knew years back who was doing his residency in neurosurgery.  He told me that about 95% of neurosurgery was not about the brain at all, but about all those thousands of little teeny blood vessels running around and through the brain and spinal cord, learning all their names, where they went from and to, trying to stay out of their way, moving them out of the way, and making sure you didn't accidentally cut them.  Similarly, a huge part of effects building, repairing, and modding is about the connections to and from jacks, pots, and switches.  You will very quickly run out of fingers and toes to count with, when tallying up the number of threads here about why such-and-such is not working, why my battery keeps dying, why the damn LED won't come on, why I'm not hearing anything, and so on.  This is but one of the many reasons why, when someone gets into this hobby and desperately wants to make something, I encourage them to consider a loop-selector for their first project.  It's eternally useful, and is all about connecting switches, wires and jacks.

[dreadlocks1221]

Thanks I had seen the book by hunter as well, I juster ordered the one your recommended off amazon for 9 dollars. I think before I get too far into reading, I think I should just jump into one of these basic projects

[.Mike]

Many of us got started right here with the Beginner Project.

It's easy, and you end up with a nice booster with a bit of overdrive. So many of us have built it that just about any possible bug has occurred for one of us, and our solutions are usually right there in the beginner porject forum.

Plus, since it is the beginner project, it is pretty obvious that people who are building it are beginners. That gets you extra patience, and extra encouragement.

We all like to see new people discovering this rewarding hobby, and typically will go the extra mile to help a beginner who is struggling with the beginner project.

$25 in parts = cheap tuition.

Mike

[amptramp]

If you want to take a big bite at learning:

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/index.htm#neets

[LucifersTrip]

Do you think I need to learn more about how resistors, capacitors, etc work first or during or does it not matter at this early stage?  

you said you like a hands on approach, so breadboarding will be right for you. when I started, I built a Fuzzrite. To build, it's the same difficulty (part count, complexity) as a Fuzz Face, but much easier to get a good sound. The only reason many beginners start with a Fuzz Face is because it's more common...Hendrix, etc...

I then pulled each resistor, capacitor and transistor out of the breadboard one at a time and replaced them with another of a different value...and listened for the change. That's how I started...

Not learning schematics is the biggest rookie error, and breadboarding will definitely help you, since you will be doing it from an actual schematic.

Regarding what to order...another beginner just asked about his Tayda order, so you may want to look it over for suggestions:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=98763.0

Lastly, remember, there's a good faq right here:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/wiki/index.php?title=DIY_FAQ

[The Rocket From The Tombs]

Nice man, I was exactly where you are a few months ago. Everything I know I taught myself online, there's a wealth of info out there about building pedals. Goodluck and have fun!