From: tjs@eecs.umich.edu (tim stanley)
Subject: Re: Building effects units for guitars
Organization: University of Michigan
	<Bu1318.2B8@comp.vuw.ac.nz> <1882d2INNov1@matt.ksu.ksu.edu>
	<1992Sep4.164544.1779@pony.Ingres.COM>
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 19:45:45 GMT


   In article <1882d2INNov1@matt.ksu.ksu.edu> stites@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Ross M Stites) writes:
   >Michael.Bremford@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Mike Bremford) writes:
   >
   >
   >>Well, I'll give the advice I was given.
   >>Find a book called 'Electronic Projects for Musicians' by Craig Anderton
   >
   >I would recommend this book too, especially if you have no or little 
   >experience with electronics.  Just beware that the book is over 10 years
   >out of date.  A lot of those projects can be built better with simpler
   >designs now, then they were at that time.  Also, a lot of the parts used
   >in the book are no longer produced.  

   The hardest thing to find in the book as far as I could tell was that
   dang little Clairex optoisolator (CLM6000) that he uses in just about
   every project.  However, I was able to locate two sources for this
   part:

   Electronics Plus in San Rafael, CA: 1-800-321-4524
   Quinn Mike Electronics in Oakland, CA: 1-800-559-1539

   Other parts he uses (or direct equivalents) are still available.  I sure
   wish *somebody* would write a new version of this kind of book...10 years
   is a long time in electronics (well, maybe not *analog* electronics! ;-)

Thanks for the parts recommendations.
I have a few things to add here:

Yup, the book is terrific if you want to hack on this sort of thing.
I've made and/or started to make most all of these things at one time
or another.  Check out the tube-sound-fuzz for a easy yet good
sounding project.

A company called PAIA in Oklahoma has the clairex parts available, as
well as PC boards and/or kits for virtually all of the projects as
well as most of the ICs that you need.  IMHO - if you use Newark
Electronics, or Mouser Electronics, the clairex part is the only hard
to find part.  All other parts are still produced and quite findable.
Remember, Radio Shack is not *really* an electronics store!  and if
you want to hack analog electronics, you are just going to have to
find your own favorite distributor; local or otherwise.  I happily
have used Mouser for years - your milage may vary.

Regarding writing a new book...  Some of those projects are from a
book that he wrote, with which I learned basic electronics, in about
1975-1976, so that predates the latest (10 year old) edition.  So, yes
they are old, and yes, 10 years is a long time in consumer
electronics.  But there is a more telling point to be made.  Craig now
does mostly synth/computer/MIDI stuff I believe.  "Guitar effects"
have moved to these guitar effects processors now.  Same effects as
always - just done digitally now.  So I am not sure if that makes the
analog effects obsolete exactly; it may have made them cheaper.  These
effects processors are not made out of a handfull of resistors
capacitors potentiometers and IC/transistors put together on a little
board in a nice little box with a drug/sex name like Dr. Q, or Big
Muff Pi silkscreened on it (oh, how I miss the old days...).  Let's
face it, they are computers, i.e., digital signal processors which run
fairly sophisticated algorithms in software.  The whole idea of
building your own effect is thus much different than it used to be.  I
mean, to be cool now, you would have to build a digital signal
processing board, then you program some algorithms into it, and you
write new algorithms for new effects.  10 years ago, the average
guitar player with a soldering iron and some practical sense could
build whatever he wanted in less than a weekend, have some fun, amaze
his friends, etc.  But I would say that most DSP techniques are
somewhat out of the reach, and perhaps out of the interest, of that
particular kind of person.  Just my opinion - no offense to those of
you who do hack this kind of stuff.  But DSP processing is not the
same animal as practical electronic construction sense.  Same effects
are there - but the modern way of doing them is a whole lot different
than those ancient analog ways ;-).

T

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