Newb with a real interest in gear building

Hi Guys,

I'm an audio engineer in Training, 18 years of old, with a dream, Pro Tools and a set of ears.

I'd love to be able to make my own gear, and every now and then do a google search, realise how much I don't know, get disheartened, and forget about it, but after finding this forum, and deciding I should embrace my ignorance and change it through extensive learning, I wanted to join, ask questions and start to build gear!

I'd really like to start simple, and figured that maybe a GAP-73 styled pre-amp would be simpler to make than a 1073 Channel Strip. I know these are probably the posts that get flamed, and I'm sorry in advance, but can anybody help put me on the right track!?

Thanks

No flaming intended, but if you don't want to burn out and curse yourself for ever finding this forum right off the bat, I'd set your sights a lot lower than a Neve-style preamp.

I'd set your sites lower than a preamp, in fact. The minimum investment for a good preamp will probably be around $200. That's a lot to lose if you destroy the board or just find you don't like soldering.

I'd say look at little stuff first like cables, pedals, reamp, di, etc. Get some confidence and THEN get in way over your head

Welcome.

Start with the basic. An opamp, few caps and resistors, an input and output TX and you are set.

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=263

I had a really cool friend teach me the ropes and I went to school for technology. It's a serious amount of knowledge. I think you should build a fuzz face from tonepad.com. That is how I learned. Then I built a MFOS sound lab ultimate... Horribly huge jump and a nightmare. The fuzz face will teach you A LOT and it's very simple. You can find support on the DIYstompboxes forum.

Search for ez1290 or ln73. Dive in. Don't look back. Take your time and focus on learning instead of paint by numbers building. It's an easy habit to get into.

Most of all, don't listen too much to anyone that try's to discourage you.

Cheers,
Jonathan

While I agree that a neve style preamp is a bit of kit to dive into right off the bat, it's not so terrible. Soldering is easy, just make sure you have all the right tools, and measure everything before stuffing it into the pcb.

My first project was a delay pedal... Not the simplest of pcbs to etch, or populate, but I got the thing working ok. Still use it now and again... My second project was a 100w marshall tube amp built into a turkey roasting pan... People told me I was stupid to try it for a first tube build, but I did it, and learned from every mistake I made along the way.

Read read, search, read, search search, then read some more...and make sure after searching, to ask lots of stupid questions. Once you get a grip on the proper search terms, it's pretty easy to find stuff here.

Good luck!

build the VP26 from JSteiger!  easiest build EVER!!!

The first thing I built when starting out with DIY audio was a reamp right off the Jensen schematic (http://www.jensen-transformers.com/as/as092.pdf) except with a Cinemag transformer.  It took an evening to build up but it was a pefect first project because there's no power and it's managable enough so that you're sure to finish it.

This site is an amazing resource, you've come to the right place.  Good luck!

Thanks for such great positivity guys! Really thanks a lot. I've made XLR's before, but again, thanks for all of the help, tips, guides etc...

Really humbling stuff!

Remember, first try to learn everything your self. When entering a dead end street, only then ask for help, just enough to keep you going.

Thing is, once you receive help the process of thinking for yourself will run on a much lower level.

So, the best answers will not be "plug & play" but will encourage you to learn and do it yourself....

The best advice I can give is that the forum members here will help those that help themselves.  This applies to all skill levels.  If you ask a question that you hadn't looked for an answer to already, you probably won't get much help.  Specific questions are the best kind.

A bad question would be "what resistor value should I use"?

A good question would be "I'm not sure if I understand Ohms law.  I calculated a 1/4W 10K resistor here.  Can someone check my work?"  Even if you are way off, and don't understand what the resistor is for, someone will help you out and explain it to you.  It would also be better to ask what a specific resistor is for rather than asking someone to explain an entire schematic to you.

Some good points here...

I also would like to add that punching in a few search terms into google and not finding a very specific answer in the first three results does not qualify as "searching all over the net for an answer"...

reading is required to learn, especially when it's all in written form. A forum is extremely helpful in finding the information you need, because so many people here know where to find it, so don't be surprised if you ask a question and it is answered in the form of a link to a tech article or book. Books have good stuff in them... don't be afraid of reading books. You're going to have to do it one way or another, so best not to fight it, you'll end up wasting more time than not.

Have fun!

I'd say go for a DI box or, if you're a guitar player, a stompbox as a first project. It'll get you used to the drill-and-punch business, and basic wiring, and ordering parts. The DI box in the Jensen application note would be a good starter, and you could maybe add an attenuator at the input to make it useful for plugging into an amp output. What's nice about these projects is that they don't need power supplies; the DI is passive, while the stompbox runs on a 9V battery. Your second project could incorporate a power supply.

On the other hand, I know a guy who started taking guitar lessons, and the first piece his teacher assigned him was "Spike Driver Blues". It's very, very tricky, and they spent a year on it, but the guy is now one of the best guitar players in town. (He's also my rabbi.)

Peace,
Paul