[kanakanaka77]

Hi all,
I just started an A.S. degree in sound engineering and have limited to no knowledge about almost anything on this site. I'm sure anyone here can imagine how overwhelming this material can be. But I still want to undertake the task of building a stompbox.. I really want to build a delay pedal but hear it's better to start out with something simpler. I rented out some books on electricity and electronics and am associating myself with the physics involved there, but really want to get started on the project. I've seen some of the designs for the pedals and as you might guess am left rather clueless. Can anyone help point me in the right direction for learning how to build such devices and in learning about sound in general?
Thanks,
Newbie

 

[etiolate]

I'm an electrical engineer... This sounds like a pretty big undertaking for a first project. Are you just going to build a circuit off a schematic or are you planning to design one yourself? If you're gonna design one yourself, you should probably start by looking at a bunch of other schematics, look at the parts they use, try to figure out the use for each part, blah blah blah, design your own. If you have no prior circuits knowledge, that will be extremely difficult though.... Just letting you know.

 

[kanakanaka77]

Yeah, I figured I was in over my head.. yet the more I read about electronics the more interested I become. Clearly an education would be the best for the this kind of work but I'm a pretty quick learner and don't mind learning from mistakes. I don't necessarily need to start out with these projects but I do want to know the fast track to getting to creating them.. Any educational direction such as books, online texts, or anything that might point a newbie in the right direction would be much appreciated.

 

[etiolate]

Well you could start with some DIY projects like you are... There's books of schematics of projects and stuff. If you actually want to learn about how the stuff is working, though, don't just build the projects. Take time to learn about every component as you're attaching it. Know the role of each component in the circuit... It'll be hard learning from scratch, but between this and reading around on the internet, anyone can become a proficient DIYer.