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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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103104 No.103104 [Reply] [Original]

I'm interested in getting into electronics. I think it'd be cool to build guitar pedals and shit but obviously that kind of skill is beyond me. What are some basic projects I can start with to begin to learn how this shit all works?
I literally know nothing. If you have any basic knowledge/tips, I'd love to hear them.

>> No.103106

Getting a 555 chip to blink an LED is the Hello World of electronics.

>> No.103108

Here's where I started, gives a really good foundation:

http://www.makershed.com/Make_Electronics_The_Complete_Collection_p/mecp4.htm

If money is tight, then just get the book and the first pack to start with for about $120. A bit of an investment, but you can reuse all the parts, and it is relatively cheap hobby compared to some others.

From here, you can move into microcontrollers and other areas. The transition will be easier if you have a programming language under your belt already.

>> No.103123
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103123

guitar pedal builderfag here
the first thing I started with was this guitar preamp

I don't recommend going with that make magazine stuff because it's over priced. I usually order from tayda electronics and futurlec, but I have had to get some stuff mouser or one of the other big guys. Soldering irons are $3-$6 at harbor freight, however their solder really sucks so I'd get that somewhere else. They also have helping hands vises for about $3.

I've spent about $200 so far and I've made this preamp, a spring reverb driving pedal, and a generic fuzz pedal. And I still have the parts waiting to make a fuzz face, a fender blender, a slow attack pedal, tremolo, and a couple other random things.

The most expensive parts are the hardware, like the enclosure and the input and output jacks, switches, pots, etc. The transistors, resistors, capacitors, and such are dirt cheap.

If you think you're going to stick with it, get a good LARGE breadboard. I'm currently awaiting a second one coming in the mail so I can finish all my current stuff and move on to the next project.

>> No.103127

also, for some reason it seems as if all the guitarfags have abandoned this board so I recommend checking out arons stomp box forum

>> No.103138

>>103106
>>103108
>>103123
>>103127
Holy shit, I love you all <3 was expecting kind of a hostile response but this is great.

>> No.103179

I am also guitar pedal builderfag.

Another very good place to start would be circuit bending, however the amount you learn from circuit bending will differ from the age of the objects (the best circuit bending keyboards all come from the pre-90's aswell as the speak&spell).
You will obtain solid knowledge of analog circuits if you really get into circuit bending, this will help immensely for guitar pedals.

555 timer is the best project to start, there are literally thousands of easy to make projects (including guitar pedals) utilising the 555 timer.

>> No.103187

The MakerShed and the stuff from the Make Electronics book isn't that overpriced at all. I have the first set, and decided to see how much I could have saved if I found all of the components individually. First, I wasn't able to find each of the parts all at one online store, so I would have to take in multiple shipping charges into account. Same story if you were to drive to various electronics surplus stores looking for the parts.

I calculated it would come out to be about the same price, maybe $10 - $20 less, which is pretty irrelevant for someone who is just learning.

>>103123

>Soldering irons are $3-$6 at harbor freight

I don't know what shit soldering irons you are used to using, but I'd never spend just $6 on a soldering iron. Spend $70 and up to get a good one that will last forever.

>> No.103188

>>103187

Seconding this. Hated soldering before buying a good Hakko iron (the pistol-grip Presto with the 100W trigger). It's 16 years old now, still works like a dream.

>> No.103190

>>103187
>>103188
What makes an expensive one so good?
I've used a cheap one just to reattach some guitar wires and I don't really see how it could have been improved upon.
>>103179
Ooh, any particular examples of other projects utilizing it?

>> No.103191

>>103190
The tips of cheap ones are made of some crummy metal that corrodes into a blunt piece of shit right away. Also they take ten minutes to heat up and you can't set the final temperature.

>> No.103194

>>103190
>>103190

A couple of things. Aside from actually lasting a long time without just falling apart.

1: The tip gets got, the handle stays cold. I've used cheapies where the handle gets uncomfortably hot after an hour or two of use.

2: Tip gets hot, TIP STAYS hot. As in, stays hot while you use it instead of HOT cold cold HOT HOT cold GODDAMNIT

3: The plating on the tip is good so that solder sticks. When it gets dirty, just wipe it off. No contortions to get the tip to wet, no mashing solder to try to get it to melt, no sanding corrosion off the tip every hour or two... because it doesn't corrode. The first tip on my Hakko lasted five years of daily use.

4: High end ones have closed-loop temp control; you set the temp, it has a sensor in the tip, and it uses whatever power it needs to keep the temp constant. Mine ain't like that-- it just has a finger trigger to take power from 25W to 100W, sort of like a manual transmission.

>> No.103268 [DELETED] 
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103268

postan this again

>> No.103390

>>103268
This is fucking great

>> No.103468

>>103268
what program was used to make this diagram? that looks pretty damn cool. Any more like these?

>> No.103470

>>103468
It's pixel art bro, dude probably did it from scratch in Photoshop.

>> No.103504
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103504

>>103390
>>103468
theres a few...but heres a site with the parts list for the fuzz:

http://smallbox.zeonhost.com/projects/fface/fface.txt

>> No.103508
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>> No.103509
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103509

>> No.103513
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>> No.103637
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>> No.103639
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>> No.103642

well basicly you should get the chart to help you read resistors. as well as learn the basics. such as the most basic principle of all volts divided by resistance = current. basicly it is called ohm's law if i remember correctly. anyhoo good luck on the hunt and i had learned some things from an electronics course once upon a time so email me if i can help donwolfani (at) gmail.com

>> No.103695

http://www.jiggawoo.eclipse.co.uk/guitarhq/Circuitsnippets/snippets.html

enjoy =]

>> No.103709

>>103695
I haven't the slightest idea how to interpret these charts haha. Still got a lot to learn I guess

>> No.103731

>>103104

protobuildfag here.

see if schematicheaven is still up. they stopped updating, but that has a huge wad of schemes.

also if you aren't worried about ascetics as much as functionality, look into conduit boxes from the hardware store.

also, look for old broken equipment on eBay and rebuild it, working from schematics