Advice needed on learning electronics, breadboarding, making, etc

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I want to get into learning electronics properly, with the emphasis on audio (pedal fx). I know how to solder, and I know the basics of how resistors, capacitors, transistors etc work, but not in great depth. Ideally I'd like to learn from an online course or book, and make basic circuits on a breadboard, and also maybe solder up some projects. What I don't want to do is buy a toy kit that I've seen on Amazon and ebay, but some kind of structure would be useful and also what's the best way to buy the components.

What's my best course of action?
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073


    Mac Mini M1
    Presonus Studio One V5
     https://www.studiowear.co.uk/ -
     https://twitter.com/spark240
     Facebook - m.me/studiowear.co.uk
    Reddit r/newmusicreview 
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    edited December 2017
    spark240 said:

    I actually found that reading up on valve amps gave me a reasonable understanding of gain stages, coupling caps, eq, biasing etc.

    The classic amps are nice simple circuits so they are reasonably easy to understand.

    A lot of the same stuff then applies to drive pedals - with the addition of clipping diodes.

    Don't ask me about chorus/delay and complicated things though.


    Edit: didn't mean to quote there.  No slight on ThorpyFX who obviously knows a lot more than me.

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  • tampaxbootampaxboo Frets: 487
    edited December 2017
    these resources are priceless.
    https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/vero-layout-guide.html
    https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/vero-build-guide.html
    https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/p/components.html
    https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html
    and a good forum there too if you have questions.  worth using the search feature because most new builder questions will have been covered previously in varying degrees of depth.

    lots of good books and free written sources here.
    http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewforum.php?f=70

    craig anderton books are worth looking out for. 'diy projects for guitarists' and 'electronics projects for musicians'. maybe buy on amazon or buy a pdf if he is selling them.

    RG Keen's 'Keens Laws' really helped me when i started. just to relax and not get angsty that if i didn't have an exact part i wouldn't be able to do things. his are very wise words.
    http://www.geofex.com/effxfaq/keenslaws.htm
    his site http://www.geofex.com/ is another good resource for info.

    http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php is a most excellent forum.

    youtube videos are a not great first call in my experience. very often someone (well intentioned but not a natural teacher) will take the same time to explain sometihng youtube style that you could have read for yourself in five minutes and practiced until perfect. but it still has its learning uses.

    as for tools and materials, there was a long thread only a couple of weeks ago here on the same subject (in modding). worth checking that out as it got stuffed with good info.

    beware it becoming a monster. i went in and out of it, now i prefer to mod cheapies as it saves me doing the donkey work. but i'm lazy and not too fussy. if it sounds good i don't care if it's 'just a modded joyo' etc. between time spent building effects and time spent playing, i prefer playing.
    and if i need a moment's mindless distraction i come here hehehe.

    best of luck with finding your way through.
    i am the hired assassin... the specialist. i introduce myself to you... i'm a sadist.
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    Thanks for advice so far. I think, at this stage, what I'm looking for is more of a general electronics study programme. Kind of like a structured course with practical experiments on a breadboard.
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  • chillidoggychillidoggy Frets: 17136

    Emp Fab has an oscilloscope, if that's any help?


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  • Philtre said:
    Thanks for advice so far. I think, at this stage, what I'm looking for is more of a general electronics study programme. Kind of like a structured course with practical experiments on a breadboard.
    the beavis board would have been perfect for you, but while the main beavis site is in the process of being rebuilt after a break http://beavisaudio.com/projects/index.htm the boards don't seem to be avaialable anymore.
    beavis board package used to be this http://guitarkitbuilder.com/design-it-yourself-beavis-board/
    but if you google 'beavis board' equivalent you may get some useful ideas pop up from random forums, maybe the written project resources if not the hardware.
    i am the hired assassin... the specialist. i introduce myself to you... i'm a sadist.
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  • Emp_FabEmp_Fab Frets: 24210

    Emp Fab has an oscilloscope, if that's any help?

    Two, Dawg....  two.  One is still broken and unlikely to get repaired and the other is gathering dust right now.
    Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
    Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    Would it be a good idea just to buy a breadboard and a bumper pack of components? If so what components should I get?
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  • RavenousRavenous Frets: 1484
    Philtre said:
    Would it be a good idea just to buy a breadboard and a bumper pack of components? If so what components should I get?


    I'd say if you already have circuits or layouts for the bits you want, do that.  A plastic breadboard is probably a tenner (this is the place I use but you can probably get cheaper on Fleabay, etc):

    https://www.rapidonline.com/catalogue/search?Query=breadboard&Tier=Breadboards

    It's a lot of messing about getting resistors - it might be better to buy a resistor pack (probably a tenner) with lots of different values in it.

    As for capacitors - I haven't a clue, you can get packs of these too but they tend to be a bit more pricey.  What you want should be in the schematic for what you're going to build so I'd just order these as you need them.

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  • RavenousRavenous Frets: 1484

    By the way, though I haven't ordered from this chap (Bitsbox) for a while he's good for odds and ends and a lot of people here mention him.  He does some kits, it might be a good idea to get some of these as a source of parts:

    https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=280_281

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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    The thing is, at this stage I don't have a particular circuit that I want to build. I just want to experiment with basic circuits, try out different components, and so on, in order to learn the basics of electronics.
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  • tampaxbootampaxboo Frets: 487
    edited December 2017
    this is a good basic starter kit. choose option 830pts+65jpr+PSU+BatClip (£6.49).
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Breadboard-PSU-Use-with-PIC-AVR-Pi-Arduino-etc-Prototype-Electronics-Projects/221800392126?hash=item33a45565be
    830 hole breadboards are best in my experience. they clip together nicely if you want to extend a project. and the long gutter down the middle means you can run a few ICs.

    as for bits, this was a comment i made a couple of weeks ago that might help, other comments in the same thread may also be useful.
    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1701994/#Comment_1701994

    https://www.bitsbox.co.uk/ (uk based) is a great place to buy bits. reliable service and fast dispatch.

    i am the hired assassin... the specialist. i introduce myself to you... i'm a sadist.
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    That's great advice @tampaxboo ; Thanks!
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    edited December 2017
    @tampaxboo How long do those chinese resistor packs take to arrive?
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  • tampaxbootampaxboo Frets: 487
    edited December 2017
    two or three weeks in my experience. today i received some cheapo costume jewellery from ebay china and it only took 12 days. but if you def need them quick (pre christmas) for a few p more you can probably find similar from UK sellers. resistors are resistors, there are not really extra quality benefits to paying any more than the minimum. so i but them cheapcheap and save funds for quality sensitive bits (BBD ICs and trannies, bitsbox good for those) that can be more variable when bought supercheap.
    i am the hired assassin... the specialist. i introduce myself to you... i'm a sadist.
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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6090
    tFB Trader
    Apologies, 8ve been on the road all day. long story short, there is some great advice here. If I could offer some tips....

    start small. Simple circuits allow for simple troubleshooting.
     kits are fantastic to cut your teeth on, so:

    buildyourownclone
    generalguitargadgets
    guitarpcb


    then move onto:

    madbean
    rullywow
    tagboardeffects


    the internet is great for learning all you need to,  so have fun and enjoy it, it’s addictive to say the least. 
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    Thanks, @ThorpyFX ; Will deffo check those out.
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    300x resistor pack ordered (holy moly, a quid!), and breadboard and jumpers ordered. Are there any capacitor, transistor or other bumper component packs I should get?
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  • Danny1969Danny1969 Frets: 10357
    I would say first get a solid understanding of electronics and then apply it to your hobby of making pedals. There are broadly 2 areas to learn, analogue and digital. 

    Along with passive components and transistors  \ diodes a good understanding of opamps is essential as we build everything analogue out of opamps these days ... the performance of a high spec opamp is so good there aren't many places you can improve on one ..... and they are so cheap it doesn't make sense not to use them

    Then you have things like understanding voltage regulators so you can build your own power supplies. Understanding how to use common garden linear regulators like the 78 \ 79 series will stand you in good steed ..... there's not much you can't build with them power supply wise 

    For digital a basic knowledge of gates \ registers and clocks is essential then you can largely leave knowing how the inner working of the chips work to the manufacture and use the reference circuits  

    Components I use all the time 

    Resistors ... metal film, normal values but vast amounts of 10K, and 100K 

    Caps ... lots of 100N ceramic and lots of 100N 220N and 470N poly ... electrolytic values between 10uF and 1000uF 25V

    opamps ... NE5532P generally for dual opamps, 

    Software I have started to use 

    https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/our-software

    But someone like @Sporky will know a lot more about schematic & PCB software then I do. I generally draw circuits on paper and then move straight to veroboard. 

    CPC.co.uk for most components, Ebay for some but be careful of fake opamps, fake caps etc on Ebay. 



    www.2020studios.co.uk 
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27587
    I did go through a couple of PCB/schematic editors. I fairly quickly settled on EAGLE. There's a free version for hobbyists that had all you'll need for analogue pedals, and there are countless libraries and plugins.

    I went a bit over the top and bought a PCB CNC machine because I couldn't find anyone who'd make them to a decent standard, but you can do a lot with stripboard and there are some decent short run PCB houses now.

    I'd definitely agree with a Danny; learn the electronics basics first as you'll have a much better grasp of what the circuits are doing, and a headstart on troubleshooting.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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