What's the minimum for getting started?

[CBA]

HEY DUDES.

I'm just curious here...

What's the minimum amount of... uh, training or knowledge you would say a beginner has to have when starting out building pedals? I have two designs that I've been thinking about for years and am interested in just like very basic getting started stuff. I'm not talking about equipment and stuff, I'm sure I can do the research and learn about that myself... just talking:

My main question is whether or not most of you have taken a/some classes on electronics, or if most of you are self taught with books and trial and error and stuff. A friend of mine was going to take an electronics class so he could build some fuzzboxes, but he didn't have the math knowledge to get in!

I don't even have a space right now to try to do this... just wondering what I could do in the meantime in case I wanted to get (relatively) serious about it.

Thanks,

your pal C

[culturejam]

What's the minimum amount of... uh, training or knowledge you would say a beginner has to have when starting out building pedals?

You don't need any. I started building pedals with ZERO electronics knowledge. And now I half-ass understand what is going on in simple circuits.

If you're okay starting off with a full kit and following directions without understanding why things work the way they do, you can get into pedal building with no prior experience or knowledge. In my opinion, BYOC kits are the absolute best for beginners. The documentation is the best out there and their forum is very helpful.

But building a pedal and *designing* a circuit are very different things. If you have specific design ideas in mind, it may take quite some time to get to the point where you can start developing your own ideas into workable circuits.

[fuzzmax]

I am in the same situation....I've been building pedals for about a year now and 1 out of 3 actually works. I have no knowledge about electronics and all I do is follow some instructions on different sites. I would love to create an original design but I can't even build one on a breadboard. There is a lot of information on the internet and I think the best way to learn is by trial and error. Its fun though to build one even if you don't necessarely fully understand what's going on.

[tuffteef]

build some kits read a few books check out beavis audio maybe

i built a bunch of kits when i started to get an ease into soldering on tiny tiny boards
plus the transfer like gear wise was quite expensive too from like a 15 dollar iron to a legit 70 dollar iron
plus stocking up on all sorts of stuff along the way.

ive prob spent like 300 on getting a small setup which is an expense (for me anyway)

i do it for fun when im on holiday or short breaks i break out the iron

a good iron really transitioned my ultra shit soldering skills and made it alot faster haha from like hours on end on a tiny pcb to like 10 mins filling a board

i dunno look into, its fun

[the Life Aquatic]

definately read up on everything on bevis audio, once i found danos site and started reading my knowledge lvl increase quite a bit
try general guitar gadgets, they have kits cheaper i.e. the A/B box and the stratobooster, two great beginner projects and very inexpensive, i think each are 30 buck

i suggest getting good at soldering and wiring up a stomp box before going for some crazy circuits, its much easy to build and trouble shoot when ur soldering is solid and ur wiring is neat.

[Jero]

Yea I can't stress that enough...know how to solder before you start making crazy pedals. It will help sooo much.

Also a good soldering iron, and multimeter will be very beneficial.

[McSpunckle]

One of my favourite sites has been www.allaboutcircuits.com . Find the component you want to understand better, and read up. Things start to make a lot more sense once you have some knowledge on why they do what they do.

Beavis Audio is another of my favourites. It's really the best place to start. Also, wikipedia and sites like howstuffworks.com can be helpful.

Electrons are neato.

[LaoWiz]

I didn't start with a kit. Seemed too easy. I would suggest buying a breadboard and parts and learn how to read a schematic. The first thing I built was a prototyping board which was basically the box with jacks and a switch and some pots with wires that connect to a breadboard. Very similar to the Beavis Audio kit.

Learn how to read a schematic, breadboard the effect, and then get into soldering a circuit board and then build a box. It was nice to get the sound of an effect and then get past the learning curve of how to box one up. It takes lots of patience but once you get the bug, that's all you'll want to do. Everything you want to know is on the internet. From there its trail and error. DIYSTOMPBOXES. Beavis Audio, GGG wiring diagrams can provide you with most of the info you need. It can be really frustrating, and then it's just pure fun....

[CBA]

Thanks, friends.

I don't even have a place where I'd be able to do it currently, but it's nice to know that you don't NEED a class to get started. I bet I could do some shit at my family's farm across the state, but I don't get over there too much.

T'will be fun in

THE FUTURE

C