Book Recommendation?

[madbean]

I have a copy....it goes into different techniques and theories behind doing PCB design. It's not overtly complicated or technical. In fact, by the time I picked it up I had already figured out most of it just through practice.

One added note on the whole EE thing: I do encourage people to read some college level texts but when they are ready for it. If you do this stuff long enough, you will become frustrated by not understanding certain things. And, that's when a concise reference helps a lot. I have zero background in electronics other than sheer force of will. I "hit the rails" of my understanding all the time, and it bugs me to no end! But, I also have a bunch of books and pdfs I can reference when I'm ready to dig deeper into a subject.

One of the advantages of the DIY approach is that, unlike a formal education, it can be completely self-directed. You don't have to read a chapter before you learn how something is done in the real world. After you do things a while, you realize the gaps in your knowledge hold you back, so then it's time for a little "school"!

Shit, if I could I would take three or four months off and just read and educate myself on a lot of topics in electronics I'd like to know more about. But....that's just not going to happen for me!

[The Future Process]

OK, since several posts have been made accusing me of "trying to get other people to do my work", I will respond, so we can get over this.
My intention in asking for parts links was not to send someone on a time consuming journey.
Since links to some parts are included in some project pdfs, I thought some one may have a list from a previous build.
That is all.
I just thought that it might save me some time.

On the note of EE: if you are designing pedals, you are up to your neck in EE, like it or not.

Better get the Aspirin!!!

Oh, thanks to Mad Bean for bearing that cross for me!
RzR

[jkokura]

I hope those comments are meant to be teasing more than anything, I know mine were, and if I made you feel unwelcome, I apologize.

My only question for you was, if there are no shortcuts as you proposed in your post, why were you asking for one with your very first post here at the forum? There was absolutely nothing wrong with your earlier post, nor the one that you made in this one, I just think that there's a bit of a split in your thinking. I also don't think anyone has said pedal building doesn't involve elements of Electrical Engineering, it's just that it's a very small subset of it, and there's no need to get a degree or even read college level texts. There's plenty of information available online, and there are some great pedal specific resources like the ones mentioned.

I'm not blasting you, not even trying to. I'm just encouraging you to look at things from a different perspective.

Heavens knows I too often jump and answer the wrong question and contradict people around here. I know I can be a strong personality, and when I'm grumpy it sometimes comes across in my posts, but you have to know that deep down inside I want people to learn about this hobby that makes me quite satisfied. I want people to feel that same satisfaction from accomplishing things, and I guess I don't always understand why some people have the opinions they have.

Jacob

[MattL]

I am reasonably new to electronics and building pedals, but I learned a LOT from Brian Wampler's book "How to build effect pedals"  Great and comprehensive guide to the meat and veges of pedal building.  He has 2 other books as well for the more advanced.

http://www.indy-guitarist.com/diy
If your gonna buy one make sure you sign up for the discount here first
http://www.indyguitarist.com/free/

If you have a few builds done I wouldn't recommend these books.  I bought the beginners one and the advanced one for the discounted price (thankfully).  While they are ok they really don't tell you "how things work"  I kinda feel like I wasted my money here and much more free info can be found on the internet.

I'm inclined to agree with that. I think the "how to build effects pedals" book is a decent reference, but leaves more questions than answers. It seems to suppose an intuition or prerequisite knowledge that beginners don't have, in its brief coverage of certain things. When I tried to do one of the vero projects, the "smooth overdrive", I did the build twice with all different but identical components. There's something missing or lost in the translation - info about grounding or something, because they both howl and oscillate like crazy, in the same way. This is whether or not it was hooked up to a switch. Hours of experimentation and troubleshooting led me to trying to get tech support, which they make a daunting procedure. They told me this was a topic for the forum, so that is where I posted it at least a month ago and have still been ignored to this day by anyone on there, except for one well intended but irrelevant comment. There's tons of info online, and just spending time on these forums helps you stumble on to knowledge.

[redbean]

I've got some pdfs that might be useful. Perhaps I should add a library section to the forum?

I would really really appreciate that, especially since I want to learn how to build pedals! 

[reddo]

Matt,

If you can  post the layout or a link to it and some pictures and or some more info I'll try to help you out. I'm sure there are other folks here that will throw their thoughts. PM me or reply to this and we can move this to the tech forum and take it from there. Debugging can be a frustrating affair for sure but if the problem is reproducible (as it appears to be) it's easy to start eliminating variables and get this working.

Tom

I am reasonably new to electronics and building pedals, but I learned a LOT from Brian Wampler's book "How to build effect pedals"  Great and comprehensive guide to the meat and veges of pedal building.  He has 2 other books as well for the more advanced.

http://www.indy-guitarist.com/diy
If your gonna buy one make sure you sign up for the discount here first
http://www.indyguitarist.com/free/

If you have a few builds done I wouldn't recommend these books.  I bought the beginners one and the advanced one for the discounted price (thankfully).  While they are ok they really don't tell you "how things work"  I kinda feel like I wasted my money here and much more free info can be found on the internet.

I'm inclined to agree with that. I think the "how to build effects pedals" book is a decent reference, but leaves more questions than answers. It seems to suppose an intuition or prerequisite knowledge that beginners don't have, in its brief coverage of certain things. When I tried to do one of the vero projects, the "smooth overdrive", I did the build twice with all different but identical components. There's something missing or lost in the translation - info about grounding or something, because they both howl and oscillate like crazy, in the same way. This is whether or not it was hooked up to a switch. Hours of experimentation and troubleshooting led me to trying to get tech support, which they make a daunting procedure. They told me this was a topic for the forum, so that is where I posted it at least a month ago and have still been ignored to this day by anyone on there, except for one well intended but irrelevant comment. There's tons of info online, and just spending time on these forums helps you stumble on to knowledge.

[madbean]

I've got all the books for the library assembled. I'll get a zip file up in a day or two.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

yes! more learning material!!!

[CaptainVictory]

I've got all the books for the library assembled. I'll get a zip file up in a day or two.

Sweet.  Thanks!

[The Future Process]

No split in my thinking, as saving some time on a build is totally different than trying to acquire a new professional skill.

I'll make sure to post some pictures of the Kokbox in action at one of our shows.

However, that's probably it, since I seem to get crap every time I post here.

I'm off to go practice music, and run in the woods; have fun tinkering guys(/girls?).

RzR

Oh yeh, the KokBox will probably get used on one of our upcoming releases, so I'll make a blurb about this site, if you are nice.

[igore42]

Ok, so I may be chastised thoroughly for this but here goes:

1. Get a college textbook on basic electronics , learn the basic: voltage dividers, time constants etc., then move on to circuit analysis.
2. Familiarize yourself with schematics of various guitar effects, and their building blocks.
3. Rearrange the building blocks into the shapes of your choosing.

There are no shortcuts to becoming an electrical engineer. If you really want to be a designer, there will be dues paid, devices smoked, and headaches acquired.

I know that everyone wants an easy answer; EE is an lifetime dedication.
<- The look of one pursuing the mysteries of EE
RzR

Are you sure devices are the only thing that will be smoked?