What are the appropriate steps????

Hi people- I just registered on your forum today. You guys are geniuses. Since yesterday I contracted the bug, that I know will forever change my life. I found out that I can actually build my favorite boxes (usual suspects, la2a, gyraf, etc) with all the knowledge on the internet!!! Is it true? do these actually sound like the originals or better? But before I get ahead of myself, I have to learn many things. What's the first step in becoming the tech geniuses that all of you are? My plan right now is to get a tech internship at one of the great studios in NYC (where i live) that has a in-house tech, in addition to attempting to build my first prototype. Next stop, design the ultimate box and rule the world! Do these steps sound appropriate? What else can I do to learn this complex craft? Any good book recommendations? good instructional links? Thank you all! you rock!

Im no genuis, Im actually a total moron and I build cool shit all the time. The best thing to do is to approach these projects with a clear plan and never ever rush, always take your time and double check your work and put extra effort in to being as neat as possible. Its very easy to build one of the projects here without actually understanding how the thing works. In the process of trouble shooting you'll slowly learn, that has worked for me. The more stuff you build, the better you'll get, so my suggestion is to try to start building easy projects that can be completed. The first thing I ever built was a fuzz face and I always reccomend that as a first project as- a)its cheap b)its easy to make point to point c)its easy to make work d)you'll get a good taste of how much of a pain drilling the metal is e)dont have to worry about a power supply f)easy to abandon if you absolutely HATE the process g)lots of documentation online to get an understanding of it and h)sounds real cool. Id do that to get your feet wet but many of the projects here arent really *harder* to do, they are just more involved, there's more places to make mistakes, etc. Anyhow, welcome to the lab, there's all good people here.

dave

Lets see...

1) Get an internship
2) Build a clone that sounds like the origional
3) Design the ultimate box and rule the world

Yeah, sounds about right.
:guinness: :thumb:

If I can offer any advice - Don't bite off more than you can chew. Pick a more or less simple project to begin with. Gain some experience from this and then move on to more complex things. Don't build projects that you wouldn't have a use for. For learning theory there are many good books available as well as 'net resources. You will indeed gain invaluable experience from troubleshooting your own projects. Go for it!!

I have built cables and a Hamptone JFET kit and am pleased so far with all that I've done. Parts kits and PCB boards for the Green Pre are now on order and it will be the first time I have had to get my own box, front panel, power transformer, knobs, etc. I feel that this is a logical next step for me.

Recently I purchased my very own RMS multimeter [gettin' hardcore!] and have PPA headphone amp on order. The PPA will be the first time 'sourcing' my own parts and having to decide between 'this' and 'that' brand or type or value of part in a given instance.

I've been reading this board for 3 weeks or a month now but can't really contribute because so much is over my head. It's kind of exciting though!

Next I'll probably read a book or 2 on the subject.

...and keep eavesdropping around here.

No advice from me really, just letting you know that there are beginning as well as advanced morons around here!

Just jump in and do it! Pick a project you always wanted - I started with this group with a pair of LA2A's. They will take longer and cost more than you thought. You will make mistakes and have to buy parts again. But it'll be worth it. I use my LA2A clones every single day, professionally. I absolutely love them, and the pride of building it yourself (and saving boatloads of money) can't be beat.

The knowledge you gain also really makes you laugh when you see certain pro pieces of gear selling for many thousands, when you know you can build something pretty damn good for $500 (and 6 months of occasional nights doing it)

Everyone here will help you. They completely rock. :sam: :sam:

I still want to build an LA2A... that was my original plan, anyway. Somehow I got started into microphones instead, and got way further than I would have guessed. Still doing the mics... it's pretty much impossible to run out of things to learn no matter which project you start into.

That being said, I'd go with something fairly simple and cheap. The cooler boxes use expensive parts, while most guitar effects use cheap parts. With cheap stuff you won't be as worried about screwing it up (which you will!) and that'll take some load off your mind.

[quote author="Mbira"]Lets see...

1) Get an internship
2) Build a clone that sounds like the origional
3) Design the ultimate box and rule the world

Yeah, sounds about right.
:guinness: :thumb:[/quote]

hey, that was my evil plan!

The first thing I built was an LA-2A. But I had a lot of help. I'd start out with one of the SSL compressors, cause all you have to do is get the parts list and then stuff the PCB. The only hard part is finding a meter and machining the chassis. If you play guitar and are into tube stuff build a Fender Champ. you can get the schematic and layout from www.schematicheaven.com and can get all the parts from www.tubesandmore.com

With DIY you are really learning as you go. When you have questions just search the Meta Meta here and you'll probably find the answer. People here are really cool, as long as you don't cop an attitude or ask for M@nley schematics. :wink:

nacho459 is definately right:

With DIY you are really learning as you go.

Click to expand...

and

People here are really cool, as long as you don't cop an attitude or ask for M@nley schematics.

Click to expand...

don't let yourself down, thinking this board is full of geniuses if you burn your finger while soldering or searching a fault in a diy psu for more than one evening. You will learn by every error, you can get answers to nearly every question coming up while building, if you're searching the forums here and lots of helpful people take the time to answer questions that are not already answered.
It's true, you can really built alot of equipment you only may have dreamed of before... electronics is not that magic as it seems.
knowledge and the will to learn are the main keys. after that you only need perserverance...
I started alot of projects many months ago and have alot of unfinished devices right in this room...but there's no doubt i will finish every single board. Maybe i will have spent alot of money when done - but experience, enthusiasm, knowledge gain and last but not least pure fun will be worth every penny of it.
Sometimes i'm not even sure anymore if it's possibly more fun as making / producing music!
:shock: :shock: :shock:

:wink: Happy DIY,

Martin

PS: Electronics was mostly old university theory to me a year ago. I must say that midibox.org and TT/GroupDIY completely changed my focus of interests (and finances :wink: ) generally. And it feels GREAT to build it all by myself...

I would recomend getting TEACH YOURSELF ELECTRICTY AND ELECTRONICS by STAN GIBILISCO
Its written in the most clear and logical way all the terms and theory behind it all. Sometimes you dont get that off of the internet.

I would have had to ask 10 billion questions on the forum instead of 10 thousand, if i didnt have this book!

> Next stop, design the ultimate box and rule the world!

Not to rain on your reign, but: I been messing with audio, pretty obsessively, for 40 years, don't think I know much, and don't see everybody bowing before me.

(If I seem to know some, it is just many years of narrow-minded experience.)

> thinking this board is full of geniuses if you burn your finger while soldering

I don't bother with those insulated sleeves for paper coffee cups: my fingers are all solder-burns and mere coffee isn't hot. If a genius never gets a solder-burn, then I'm a slime-worm. (I do think it would be smarter to have less burn-scar, but that's the breaks.)

> do these actually sound like the originals or better?

I also don't worship the past. Love it; don't worship it. A lot of old boxes weren't/aren't all that great objectively: but some are euphonic in certain situations. Many of today's $99 boxes at Banjo Center et al really are better than most of the stuff we used in the good old days. (I was just browsing Shure's old spec-sheets and remembering what we worked with.) And I don't see that music has really improved with ready availablity of audio boxes that don't suck. I myself love the boxes anyway; but if there is any world-ruling wealth and power in this racket, it is in the MUSIC, not the equipment.

> I found out that I can actually build my favorite boxes (usual suspects, la2a, gyraf, etc) with all the knowledge on the internet!!! Is it true?

Well, think about it. Where did the "favorite boxes" come from? Handed down from God? Fell off the back of a UFO? 1,000 engineers and techs laboring 20 years on each box? NO! Somebody MADE them, often one person building a one-off and then showing a few workers how to do it again and again. Many were mostly standard parts; a few took advantage of custom transformers and other industries that have vanished since then so you wind up salvaging or adapting. Note that nobody in this business dies (or lives) wealthy and powerful. Who built the LA2a? The 670? The 300B? The C-130? We know a few of their names: fer example, despite selling a fine box to Fairchild and a lot of work at Ampex, Narma still works for a living. In a unique twist of fate, some of the $1/hour workers who assembled 300Bs got re-hired 30 years later to assemble 300Bs again (but this year production shifted from near their homes in Kansas City to Georgia, and probably they didn't move). And Lansing went broke over and over (and lost the right to use his name) and was broke when he died.

[quote author="PRR"]Lansing went broke over and over... and was broke when he died.[/quote]

That's sure an understatement! :shock:

Just a tip: Don't get so hung up in your business that you kill yourself in order to save it.