So I know what the point is of some of these parts . . .

[el badger]

so i am curious to know what some of these components to do. I know resistors resist - but what? specifically what does a resistor resist? a 9 volt battery into a 1k resistor: is 1 kilofarad (or ohm?) filtered out so that is what comes out of the resistor - or is the 9 volt battery decreased by 1 kilofarad (or ohm)? i know capacitors charge then discharge once charged and the cycle repeats, but what about diodes and transistors? I know transistors are pretty much essential and can imagine the split the signal 3-ways making it possible to add a power source and to amplify the incoming signal. what do diodes do? I understand clipping, and symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping as far as how the sine wave's peaks and troughs are "clipped" so that they become square waves but how do diodes accomplish this? and as for diode values: do higher values clip more and lower values clip less or vice versa? is there a layman non-union electrician's answer (that was a joke) for this? my goal is to see a component and to know what it is going to do with my setup instead of swapping them out just to see what will happen. any and all answers would be appreciated.

[Ben79]

I don't think anyone's likely to give up the time to write a bespoke explanation of all these things since the information is readily available on the internet and in books but here's some links you might find useful....

http://geofex.com/Article_Folders/How_It_Works/hiw.htm

http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/parts/ ... dc-and-ac/

I'm a beginner but this is my stab at diode clipping....

Diodes allow current to pass in one direction only but they have a limit after which this is overcome. If you look at your signal as a voltage swing (eg. a simple sine wave) then anything over that limit will pass through the diode and can be routed to ground, clipping that portion of the voltage swing and hence flattening the wave and creating distortion. Diodes can be used to do this 'to' and 'from' ground for symmetrical wave clipping, 'flattening' both the positive and negative portions of the wave. Likewise a single diode can be used to clip only the positive or only the negative part of the wave. Alternatively, 2 different diodes (eg a 1n4001 and an LED), one from ground and one to graound, can be used so that the positive and negative portions of the wave are clipped differently. Germanium, silicon, zener (not sure if these are used for clipping), LEDs; all have differing characteristics bourn out in the character of the distortion they impart on a signal.

I'm sure others can explain that in more depth and provide you with some more useful links.

[el badger]

Ben79 thank you for that. That totally helps and I actually learned something about another function of the ground. I appreciate that. I want to be able to hear the finished product and be able to know that if I add these, or swap those, it will do that - much like cooking in the kitchen. Thanks for taking the time. Wanna soak it all up like a sponge.

[imJonWain]

It's not audio focused but I recommend for $20 you grab this from radioshack, it does a great job of explaining a lot components function and how they fit into a circuit... Super helpful
http://www.radioshack.com/getting-start ... VJei_v8keA