Hey /diy/
Was looking for some guitar pedals to buy at first, but I tought it might be nice to build one myself.
Is anyone experienced with those kinda electronics here or have some tips on where to start?
>>903606
are you completely new? as in no soldering experience and no electronics know how?
buy a compete kit in that case.
meaning pcb with components and a detailed guide.
pedalparts.co.uk is good for that.
that said, many effect pedals are stupid simple, many of the "classics" have less then 20 components.
I've built many pedals both on pcbs and protoboards.
many guitarheads learn as they go, but i have an electronics background.
>>903618
I can solder pretty well, and I've a basis of electronics, but more in the direction of simple circuits to controll dc motors in arduino projects. That's kinda all I made.
Thx for the site btw, the only diy pedal boards I found online where overpriced.
Do they also explain what circuits do what with the signal from the pickups?
>>903624
I would like to understand how the circuits deform the signal the way they do, haven't found a good source on that online.
>>903624
>Do they also explain what circuits do what with the signal from the pickups?
not really, its just set up to make it easy to assemble.
go and have a look at the site.
this "pedal" is my test rig.
i use this to test circuits before soldering on jacks and stuff.
its just a 9v gnd in and out going to a 4way phoenix connector, with bypass and a volume pot
(still need to add a led)
this way i can easily mash a circuit together and just screw the wires for power in and out into a connector without having to worry about bypass or volume.
>>903624
Take a look at geofex.com
Lots of neat articles about the technology of various designs and parts, and a healthy amount of projects.
http://www.muzique.com/ has some more avant garde stuff and weirder theory.
http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/circuits.html some more wacky designs abusing various common ICs.
Good place to start would probably be a 2-diode distortion. They're fairly simple, and you'll know when they're working. Stuff like fuzzfaces are even smaller designs, but they're a little tricky and vulnerable to various complications. Not a bad second project though.
Modular effects usually use more complicated concepts, often really sensitive and hard to rig up control assemblies and large ICs, but that's be the third step.
Wah circuits are easy to build, but the actual enclosure and assembly make them less practical than normal knob stomp boxes.
Good luck, and share what you make. This is a fun and rewarding hobby.
some circuit dumps i find useful
http://homemadefx.web.fc2.com/
many circuits for brand pedals.
http://www.experimentalistsanonymous.com/diy/index.php?dir=Schematics
a whole lot of crazy shit.
this is probably the simplest pedal you could build.
2 points on this.
if you are using germanium diodes, use two in series each way, not just one.
germaniums lower forward voltage eats too much of the output volume.
also, a switch to disconnect the diode form ground nice, making it a boost instead of distortion.
(the volume might jump very high, so roll gain and vol back a bit)
>>903883
Seconding this as a first project, and just use silicon diodes or LEDs. I'd recommend a 2N5088 for the transistor as well, no other changes. The Bright Cut is totally optional if you want fewer parts to hunt down.
>>903883
I don't understand how those 2 diodes work wired like that.
Also for analogue audio signals - do they alternate about the 0 line or are they offset? I thought current could only go one way through a transistor.
>>904115
very good question!
both, depending on where in the circuit you look
on input and output, the signal crosses zero at each interval.
the offset, known as bias is applied so that the signal is now "crossing" around 4,5v instead (halv of 9v)
this is so the transistor can amplify both the negative and the positive side of the wave
the transistor cant make the signal go lower than 0v, so we make 4,5 our "middle" so it can swing up to 4,5v each way.
now the signal is amplified, but its swinging around and offset, this is bad to send out.
coupling capacitors are used, as capacitors 'blocks' DC but conducts AC, simply put. C1 and C2 in this case.
if you were to measure at C2, you'd see that the signal now crosses 0v again.
the diodes conduct once their forward voltage has been reached. germaniums and schotkeys are about 2-3v, silicon are about 4-5v.
so any signal that passes that threshold will be cut by the diodes, producing distortion.
this has the classic gain/vol setup. reduce vol and crank gain for more distortion.
i hope i made that more understanda ble.
I've worked with electronics both professionally and for fun for 5 years, if you expect to fully understand everything before you build it, you'll never get anywhere.
build it, fuck up, fix it, learn.
measure voltages and fuck around.
>>904124
So the bias is applied to the input (going to the base) to modulate a DC current from the 9V? I don't see where/how the bias voltage is added.
![bias2[1].gif_81223b.gif](https://i.imgur.com/HWiTack.gif "bias2[1].gif_81223b.gif")
>>904127
R2
this is a feedback bias setup.
its very common in guitar pedals, but its a little strange.
resistor divider bias makes more sense to me.
how much do you know about transistors?
basically the resistor R2 lets a small current run from the collector (C on the transistor) to the base (B on the transistor).
the current going through Base the emitter(E) allows a proportionally bigger current to run through C-E, being gain.
current through R1 and VR1 will increase. so their voltage drop will increase, lowering the voltage at C, reducing the effect above.
their equilibrium will be the bias.
you can calculate this, but its not something i go around remembering.
this is way more than you need to know to build this, but I'm glad people are interested.
there are probably some great videos on this stuff, but ohms law is where you should start.
Guitar pedal thread? I'll post the monstrosity I built tomorrow.
>>905573
do it.
i got some stuff i can post when i get home from work
>>905594
OK, here, gaze upon it. I'd still call it a prototype, but at its heart is Tim Escabino's thing modulator. It sounds ugly, disgusting, but awesome, and I actually managed to keep the oscillator that leaks into the audio signal down pretty low. If I ever make a version 2, there'll be a mix knob, and the volume control will act like a traditional distortion pedal volume instead of a volume boost.
>>905887
do you have a schematic?
i ordered the pcb for this thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck50jLkbX-4
its a 4xpt2399 delay.
seems very interesting and trippy
>>906009
Yep. I'm just a hobbyist, though, so don't look at this like a professional designed it. Also, some pot pinout numbers may be backwards. pls no bully
>>906897
so your 567 is powered thru a 100K resistor? how many other mistakes exist in that schematic, I wonder.
>>906899
That actually isn't a mistake. That 100k resistor and 100uF cap help cut down the noise from the oscillator.
>>906903
dude, the 567 has a quiescent current of around 6mA. that is, it needs 6mA of power to operate. if you stick 100K in series with the power pin, then you'd need 600 volts to push that much current into it.
>>906909
I get that, but that was from the original schematic I based it on (pic related). That's just what worked, though something else may very well have worked better.
>>906910
so for the CMOS equivalent chip, we're down to 0.8mA, witch still means you'd need 80V to power it adequately. my guess is that the 567 is not operating at all, and the pots and switches are just acting like some weird undefinable filter to the rest of the circuitry. none of it is done by intelligent design, it's just random luck that it produces some effect.
>>906915
>it's just random luck that it produces some effect.
Basically. My design was the result of dicking around on a breadboard.
>>906917
not him, but try pulling it out or removing the supply to the op amp and see if it changes
>I would like to understand how the circuits form the signal the way they do, haven't found a good source on that online.
Me too I have built a few electronic kits but none of them really explain what the fuck is really going on (I guess they expect you to know and have the basics of electronics down already). I was hoping to get into building some simple pedals and eventually learn enough to build myself some basic but unique synths or effects units.
Where is the best place to start learning this sort of thing are there any hand holding kits that will walk you through the very basics, or should I look else where for learning. It would be nice if there was stuff mostly related to electronics in sound as in I'd rather learn what a certain basic circuit is doing to sound that how it's doing something to turn off a light.
Please rec me some good learning sources.
>>907790
http://buildyourownclone.com/
That's a great website to start on and continue with. Each project has an accompanying PDF that walks you through how to build the pedal.
Other sites like madbean and tonepad only have PCBs, and no full kits. You'll need to find the parts yourself, which can be a pain sometimes.
>>908063
Thanks will take a look at that
>>908063
same of pedalparts.co.uk
small bear electronics, google it
/thread
>>908920
>google small bear electronics
>3$ for an lm301
fuck off
