DIY guitar effects

[bz£]

Hey, I may not be Blue, but my first name starts with a B, and, hell, that's what really counts. Assuming you want to build your own effects but don't know a thing about it, here are some web things you should be web browsing.

Read this first. It's a quick introduction to what you'll have to do, and a sobering look at the process. It's a lot of work, and usually cheaper to just buy an actual pedal. There is also a link to a pretty good "How to solder" guide, and that is an essential skill which you probably haven't already picked up somewhere. DIY is a lot of fun though, so if you're still up to it...

Read this stuff next. This is a much bigger FAQ and covers a lot of detail. It's most of what you need to know about electronic parts. Since you probably won't be designing your own circuits, you mostly just need to be able to identify parts and understand circuit diagrams. That's all in there. Finally...

Give it a try! This is a link to the Beginner's Forum from DIYstompboxes.com. It is based around a simple project: building a clean boost effect. The stickies at the top cover the steps of construction, and Step 3 has a link to a page with a lot of pictures. It's a great tutorial, and if you have any questions about it, someone will answer pretty quickly. It also has very few parts, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding what you need. Most of it should be available at your local Radio Shack, albeit expensively. If you decide this is a fun thing to do, you'll want to buy stuff like resistors in bulk, because for two dollars you can get a package of five resistors from Radio Shack, and for ten dollars you can buy a package of a thousand resistors via mail-order.

If you like books, this is the classic. It's a little dated, I think, but I haven't seen the newer version, so I can't really comment.

[blue]

my wee distortion unit was a step along the way to what i really want to build - a couple of transformer balanced all-discrete mic preamps and optocompressors.

but i'd suggest you get a breadboard from ebay or radio shack, and don't worry about soldering crap for a while. get some transistors and mess about with them and see if you can make it pick up AM radio by touching a cap just so. LEDs and the 555 timer are fun to play around with too. and wee motors.

i got a $10 FM radio from target to use as a sound source while i mess around, and a little 1-watt speaker and small powered speakers for output. it let me jig about with crap until i felt good and ready to solder it all down.

[jeff robertson]

I've many times thought about trying to build a distortion box that captures the sound I used to get by plugging straight into my Tascam Porta02 4-track, and maxing out the gain. I think it was not only the op-amps distorting, but also the tape itself doing something to the sound. Because it did indeed sound just a little different from just overdriving an analog soundboard.

[roymond]

These guys are really awesome for background noise, like under alternate breaks in a song, with soft vocals, etc...put some delay on...heavenly wash without soldering

Vary the counterweight and play around with how they're positioned for various effects. You can play them like a little toy piano. I find two or three at a time works well and are relatively easy to control.