Effects - Pedals, Multi-Effects, and Floor Boxes

[Danhedonia]

Back when I was 12 my dad (who is a fancy engineer) and I built a fuzzbox from a few things bought at "You Do It" Electronics (Needham, MA) and a wiring diagram.  I think Mr. Craig Anderton may have been involved from a writing standpoint ... dunno.

Not long after, I got Craig's book "Electronic Projects ..." and did a few things.  I did 'em okay.

Then, I forgot everything.  And now I want to relearn.  Specifically, I want to relearn:
* soldering skills (this is practice, IMHO)
* reading diagrams
* overall DIY project skills

I think I want to start by finding some sort of $50 kit on Amazon .... or do I? 

[lefort_1]

Hey Dan,

I'd start with the start kits that are available from smaller online folks. BYOC has one. Cheap.

Then just step up into  cheap pedal...again, byoc is good, so is CB's F**kit You Build It. Also, at CB, then you have reason to watch Stephanie's video over and over and over...without being a perv.

If you were located around here, I'd be happy to give you a tutorial on reading schematics....but beers are a necessary component, to me, and rarely-if-ever mentioned on the Bill Of Materials.

[shambler]

If you have a Maplins near you I think they still do various build-it-yourself kits.

[Danhedonia]

I appreciate the replies.  The last time I installed pickups, I admonished myself that a necessary part of any potentially dangerous task (in this case the danger would have been a minor burn from a soldering iron) requires intelligent preparation: i.e., drinking.  It went ok.

I do not live near a Maplins.  I live near a bunch of juniper bushes and sage and coyotes and a red tail hawk that wishes my cats were a smidgen smaller.  Also, a Radio Shack, a WalMart, a Harbor Freight and a Michael's (hiya sprawl).  I am patient about stuff; I've been refinishing a strat since last summer, and not in a huge hurry. 

What is CB?  What is this video that apparently will titillate me? (fwiw, the ms. is a bigger perv, so I'm all good there)  I do know BYOC, and think that will be a good entry ... but I want to know about capacitors, etc.  I want to learn what it is I'm doing because I know once I get ok with the doing, I'm going to want to start inventing.

[lefort_1]

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Danhedonia wrote:

What is CB?  What is this video that apparently will titillate me? (fwiw, the ms. is a bigger perv, so I'm all good there)  I do know BYOC, and think that will be a good entry ... but I want to know about capacitors, etc.  I want to learn what it is I'm doing because I know once I get ok with the doing, I'm going to want to start inventing.

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Damn guy, sounds like you live on the east side of the range....

CB is catalinbread

The buying page is here, about halfway down (DIY Hyperpak) http://www.catalinbread.com/products.php?cat=11

Will the Video titilate?... I dunno about you, but if I look over Steph's shoulder any more, there's gonna be a whole bunch of RTV on that board.

[soapbladder]

I'd second BYOC for relearning the craft aspect, good turorials on that site for soldering, etc.. Most diy sites have some resources for learinng how things work and plenty of knowledable folks to ask questions of.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/tonefiend/tonefiend-diy-club-projects-resources/ has some very cool beginner projects that allow you to test out part substitutions and the like, beginning schematic reading, and some basic perf board builds. www.mammothelectronics.com has kits containing the parts for some of the tonefiend projects.

www.beavisaudio.com is also great for some beginner book learing:

diystompboxes.com has some good well explained beginner projects.

Here's a list of additional sites I just posted in response to another thread:

If you have no soldering skills or experinece go to www.buildyourownclone.com. Very newb friendly site with full kits and tutorials for effects that run the gamut from simple to hardcore.

If you have some minimal skills: www.general guitar gadgets has plenty of kits for a little less $$ than byoc--with a corresponding reduction in instruction and tech support.

If you're handy, but still want a fabbed pcb go to madbeanpedals.com. (This is my favorite diy site.) If you are more than handy there is pcb art for creating your own pcbs for most projects there.

If you want a zillions choices, are good at soldering, have completed a few kits and want to try vero board layouts go to http://www.tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/ or www.sabrotone.com.

[WeStartToDrift]

Don't buy from Mammoth, their QC is absolute crab. If you're looking for cheap parts go through Tayda. If you aren't quite confident in buying parts on your own go with a kit from BYOC or General Guitar Gadgets.

[soapbladder]

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WeStartToDrift wrote:
Don't buy from Mammoth, their QC is absolute crab. If you're looking for cheap parts go through Tayda. If you aren't quite confident in buying parts on your own go with a kit from BYOC or General Guitar Gadgets.

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They sure aren't that great. I always cringe when someone praising their customer service--after an order is screwed up. Some mistakes are inevitable but their QC is out of whack. (I listed them solely for the tonefiend stuff--which are good/well documented beginner projects. I suppose it would be possible to screw up a parts kit for an electra distortion, but...) They have some stuff that I like that is hard to find elsewhere--but for basic cheap components Tayda is the bomb.