Best place to start learning how to build pedals?

[krfoss]

I'm curious for those who do build their own, what resources would you give to someone looking to learn about making pedals and improving (by my own standard) a circuit? I'm interested only for me. This isnt going to be a side or future business.

I'm not looking for someone to give me the cheat sheet on making pedals, but good resources that are accessable would be great (electrical engineering degree suggestions will be ignored and judged harshly).

Thanks TB!

 

[mdalamond]

tagboard fx , dirtbox lay outs, Coda just to name a few. A word of caution, Its highly addictive. Also check out the DIY forum right here. lots of good guys on there. Im sure they'll be along shortly to offer more/

 

[rufus.K]

Well, to build, modify, design, and refine circuits, you'll need to learn some basics of electricity, electronics, and components.
What books or other educational materials have you already got?

 

[krfoss]

Well, to build, modify, design, and refine circuits, you'll need to learn some basics of electricity, electronics, and components.
What books or other educational materials have you already got?

I have a soldering iron and a willingness to make mistakes. That's where I'm at in the process.

 

[davelowell2]

I started with a bazz fuss. Learn how to do the off board wiring(switches, jack’s, led) and then you just plug in different boards. I like vero, myself, but I dabbled in perfboard at first. I’ve only done one pcb, it was a kit. I like the homemade, from nothing aesthetic of vero.

Oh, make a breadboard that you can test your finished boards with. You want to make sure it works before boxing it (rock it before you box it).

 

[K2000]

BYOC (Build Your Own Clone):
DIY Guitar Effects Pedal and Amplifier Kits
They sell full pedal kits with instructions, and there is a community (forum) there to help you troubleshoot problems and offer guidance. From easy to hard. A lot of classic circuits there.

 

[Funky40]

Also check out the DIY forum right here.

where ? i´m also interested.
I just can finds the "repair" subforum

 

[G.Bisson]

I recommend starting with a kit that has all the materials ready to go. Build your first pedal to familiarize yourself with components and assembly while practicing your soldering skills. Then work your way up from there, learning new tidbits with each new project. Here's a list of knowable sources to educate yourself about theory, modifications and troubleshooting: Muzique (AMZ-FX), Geofex, Beavis Audio, GeneralGuitarGadgets, DIYStompboxes, BuildYourOwnClone, FreeStompBoxes, TagBoardEffects.

I have a soldering iron and a willingness to make mistakes. That's where I'm at in the process.

^ As much as I've learned along the way, this is still where where I'm at. All part of the learning process.

 

[mdalamond]

where ? i´m also interested.
I just can finds the "repair" subforum

its titled
Any DIY pedal builders on TB? Strut your stuff!

 

[mdalamond]

sorry for the big black letters it was a copy and paste

 

[Funky40]

sorry for the big black letters it was a copy and paste

LOL, yo, i just thought thanks

edit:
Ok, its just a thread, not a own subforum.
But good to know. So there might "the guys" be to find

 

[Jared Houseman]

I'm curious for those who do build their own, what resources would you give to someone looking to learn about making pedals and improving (by my own standard) a circuit? I'm interested only for me. This isnt going to be a side or future business.

I'm not looking for someone to give me the cheat sheet on making pedals, but good resources that are accessable would be great (electrical engineering degree suggestions will be ignored and judged harshly).

Thanks TB!

My first pedal was a kit from shalltecknic-04. Julian is really nice to work with and provides great detailed instructions

From there I usually just buy from pedalpcb and parts from tayda electronics. I don't really know much about modifing circuits so I just socket anything that I might want to change in the future. Usually clipping diodes and input/output capacitors

 

[Bloomfield]

Craig Anderton's 'Electronic Projects for Musicians' book is a classic and a great place to start. It's over 40 years old now but still has some projects worth building, although obsolete components are an issue with some of the circuits. The 'Bass Fuzz' pedal is super simple and useful.

 

[mdalamond]

My first pedal was a kit from shalltecknic-04. Julian is really nice to work with and provides great detailed instructions

From there I usually just buy from pedalpcb and parts from tayda electronics. I don't really know much about modifing circuits so I just socket anything that I might want to change in the future. Usually clipping diodes and input/output capacitors

Same here. First kit was from Julian and Yes he is a great guy. He helped me out with parts when I was the one that caused the problem. He was defiantly my first inspiration for PCB kit builds. Then I fell down the stripboard rabbit hole. Then etching my own PCBs now Im ordering my own. Skys the limit. Good luck with whatever you decide and ask questions, lots of questions. Google is very helpful too. I find that if something is over my head I bookmark it till later. I eventually catch up. Youtube is great too. Brian Wampler has a pretty cool chanel on there.

 

[Passinwind]

I'm curious for those who do build their own, what resources would you give to someone looking to learn about making pedals and improving (by my own standard) a circuit? I'm interested only for me. This isnt going to be a side or future business.

I'm not looking for someone to give me the cheat sheet on making pedals, but good resources that are accessable would be great (electrical engineering degree suggestions will be ignored and judged harshly).

Thanks TB!

This site is pretty great for learning about DIY electronics in general: Elliott Sound Products - The Audio Pages (Main Index)

 

[BaileyMan]

I have a soldering iron and a willingness to make mistakes. That's where I'm at in the process.

That's where I started. I had a little soldering experience, but minimal, and picked up a DIY pedal kit and built myself a great octave pedal.

 

[Pedalnetics]

PedalPCB is a good resource for PCB's and misc utility things. They just released a really nice pedal prototyping board you could easily build:
ProtoBoard Micro - PedalPCB.com
They have a larger version too that can fit pots, but it's a bit more involved and has a few SMD components.

 

[Killing Floor]

I heard Nathan from @Sushi Box FX has one of those plastic rocks by his front door, there's a spare key inside the flap. Just hide in his closet and watch and learn.

 

[krfoss]

I heard Nathan from @Sushi Box FX has one of those plastic rocks by his front door, there's a spare key inside the flap. Just hide in his closet and watch and learn.

BUT HOW WILL I KNOW WHICH IS THE RIGHT ROCK!?!?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I heard Nathan from @Sushi Box FX has one of those plastic rocks by his front door, there's a spare key inside the flap. Just hide in his closet and watch and learn.

BUT HOW WILL I KNOW WHICH IS THE RIGHT ROCK!?!?

Or you can avoid legal action by spending some time on Invalid Link Removed
They taught me almost everything I know. An electrical engineering degree just filled in the gaps.

But as said above, just get a soldering iron and get your hands dirty. Doing is the best way to learn. I first started doing veroboard/stripboard builds (check out Guitar FX Layouts) then worked up to etching my own PCBs (check out tonepad -- guitar effect circuit boards for DIY projects and mbp.diy) before I got mt first CNC and started milling my PCBs. From there obviously I went to professionally fabricated PCBs (PedalPCB mentioned above is an excellent seller of pre-made PCBs, or if you learn how to do your own layouts PCB Prototype & PCB Fabrication Manufacturer - JLCPCB is where I have all my boards made, I've always been satisfied with their quality). DIYStompboxes is a great forum for learning, asking questions, and getting debugging help.