book recommendations for effects electronics

allicio

Ive been thinking.... Yeah I know!
Ive been buying pedals for fricking ages but more recently fuzz pedals specifically.
It occurred to me that I haven't got a clue how they work or the difference in transistors/ components etc obviously I know primarily if its a germanium or silicon based pedal and the difference in sound but I wanna know how that transistor works the way it does to give me that sound.
Does anybody have any book recommendation s for the complete electronics novice? And I do men novice ha!

LastMantra

TBH, unless you particularly like books, it's all there on the web for free.

Dave_Mc

If you want totally novice, the dave hunter one isn't bad. It's not super-technical (or really technical at all), though, and like most of his books, while it's a good read, don't necessarily take what he says as gospel. He has a slight tendency to confuse his own personal preference with fact a lot of the time.

It won't be the only book you need, but if you're a guitar player who knows nothing (or very little) about effects electronics, it doesn't throw you in at the deep end and you hopefully finish it knowing more than you started. And then you can consider the more complex books.

I know very, very little about electronics, I should add. )

allicio

I'd like a book tbh. I know there's a lot of very hood free info on the web, I just find I can digest info better from a book. Re-read sections that don't always stick in my head first time etc.
Read on the bog???

Anyway! ive seen a few recommendations for electronic projects for musicians by Craig Anderton. Apparently its a bit outdated with the components used as some arnt available anymore but the basics are good.
I'll check out the Dave hunter one too, not seen that. Cheers mate!

Dave_Mc

I haven't looked at it that closely but the anderton one is more just projects i.e. specific pedals to build. I'm not sure there's that much background info in it (but I could be wrong).

lasermonkey

Some of Brian Wampler's books are on the web, with his blessing, apparently. Definitely worth having a read.

[Deleted User]

You dont need a book specifically for effects electronics - a decent grounding in electronics theory from any source will give you an idea why pedals are put together like they are and how they work. The best way to learn of course is to get stuck and and try building some for yourself

dano

Start with this article and then read some of the other 'technology of..' articles linked from it. then come back and ask questions.

Its difficult to recommend a suitable book for beginners on the electronics of effects circuits other than the dave hunter book mentioned above. Ive a degree in electronics and 15 years of circuit design experience since and most electronics books arent really geared to pedals.


ive read it a few times and its very good so well worth reading, your local library may even have a copy.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0879308060?pc_redir=1402015111&robot_redir=1

as echoed above there is so much free stuff and very good tutorials on the web. start at that geofex link and them come back and ask more questions.

Dave_Mc

dano said:

Its difficult to recommend a suitable book for beginners on the electronics of effects circuits other than the dave hunter book mentioned above. Ive a degree in electronics and 15 years of circuit design experience since and most electronics books arent really geared to pedals.

Yeah. I don't have a degree in electronics (obviously ) ), but I got that "classic" art of electronics book, and while it was excellent, I was pretty much out of my depth long before I got to the end of the first chapter. Conversely "electronics for dummies" was too basic. And as you said, very few if any are actually guitar-gear relevant.

dano

These two web sites are well worth a read.

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/index.html
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/

allicio

Thanks so much for the advice and the article links chaps much appreciated! Ive scored the Dave hunter book from @badgerific (thanks again) so between that and the above articles I'll be getting my head down this week!

Danny1969

RA Penfolds Projects for guitar has some simple designs with veroboard layouts. He explains how the circuit works and it's a good book for beginners

thermionic

There's nothing technical in Dave Hunter's book unfortunately. It's fine as a general read on the recent history of pedals though, and the CD is worth a listen (especially the true-bypass/buffered comparison at the end).

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah it's very much a book for guitar players who are maybe thinking of starting to look into electronics. But as long as you realise that, and don't expect to submit your PhD thesis on the back of it, I think it's pretty decent. It sounded like what allicio was after, anyway. And then if he wants to get more into it with more complex stuff later, he can.

allicio

That's the plan! Again thanks so much chaps much appreciated!

johnnyurq

Danny1969;263096" said:

RA Penfolds Projects for guitar has some simple designs with veroboard layouts. He explains how the circuit works and it's a good book for beginners

Definitely this and some of the other RA Penfold stuff too.

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah, Penfold is great. I highly recommend Danger Mouse from his other work.

(Sorry >:D<  Seriously, though, I'm sure I've heard that name being bandied around and I think his stuff comes highly recommended, too.)

allicio said:

That's the plan! Again thanks so much chaps much appreciated!

No worries. I hope you like it )

johnnyurq

Dave_Mc said:

^ Yeah, Penfold is great. I highly recommend Danger Mouse from his other work.

(Sorry >:D<  Seriously, though, I'm sure I've heard that name being bandied around and I think his stuff comes highly recommended, too.)

allicio said:

That's the plan! Again thanks so much chaps much appreciated!

No worries. I hope you like it )

http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk/store/images/stiletto_si_barone_t_shirt_500.jpg

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/Uilwtq7kVLU/hqdefault.jpg

Van_Hayden

Wampler how to mod book - can't find the link to the big one anymore

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/c.walker420/how-to-mod-105.pdf

Dave_Mc

johnnyurq said:

Dave_Mc said:

^ Yeah, Penfold is great. I highly recommend Danger Mouse from his other work.

(Sorry >:D<  Seriously, though, I'm sure I've heard that name being bandied around and I think his stuff comes highly recommended, too.)

allicio said:

That's the plan! Again thanks so much chaps much appreciated!

No worries. I hope you like it )

http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk/store/images/stiletto_si_barone_t_shirt_500.jpg

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/Uilwtq7kVLU/hqdefault.jpg

)

NervousJohn

dano;263067" said:

These two web sites are well worth a read.



http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/index.html

http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/

These are good although you can ignore lots of what's there as it's not really relevant to pedals. The bits that matter are resistors, capacitors, transistors (BJTs and FETs) and op amps. Op amps especially as they are at the core of pretty much everything bar a few fuzz boxes.