Guitar Effect links: free tools and ressources

Ok, you got your soldering iron and nothing is going to hold you back, but you have no clue where to start or what to build. There were others before you with the same questions... read them first.
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modman
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Reference
AllDataSheets.com: guess what... all the datasheets you'll ever need
Transistor substitution database: maybe you do have transistor you can use! Easy check.
IC Manufacturer Logo Database: identify the manufacturer of an IC by using this extensive, alphabetical database
Analog Alchemy: tips, tricks and caculators to help you tweak your circuit right
Boss Serial Decoder get exact dating on your Boss pedal
Pedalheaven.com: another reference site about stompbox effects

Stompbox Pioneers
Jack Orman's Blog Page: a great read anyday
Muzique.com: Jack Orman website with excellent stompbox projects, articles and info
RG Keen's Geofex: RG's effect and guitar amp website, one of the most thorough ressources on the web
Hammer at Ampage: massive and well-documented
Tim Escobedo's Circuit Snippets: original and outlandish effect designs, lots of them
Doug Hammond's DIY Guitar Stuff: a web archive of DougH's experiments with amps and stompboxes. Heaps of original projects!
Viva-analog.com: JC Mallets in-depth website on advanced stompboxes and guitar amps
John Hollis' website: original designs, tweaks and a lot of idea and schematics

Forums
Ampage Effect Forum Archives 1996-2001 : 151,980 posts in 27,796 threads - the early stompbox beginnings
Ampage Effects Forum: current diy effects discussion on Ampage
DIY Stompboxes Forum: a vivid community where you will get all your answers - the ultimate stompbox forum
Indyguitarist.com Forum: lots of info on tube amp and pedal mods and builds.
Musikding Forum: a big German speaking effects forum
Italian Effect DIY Forum: la comunità italiana dei diyers
Alt.guitars.effects discussion group: guitar effect discussion from 1997 on

Effect Projects
Home-wrecker.com: collection of popular commercial effects you can build yourself: soundclips, schematics, perfboard and pcb etching layouts -- all you need to get started
Runoffgroove.com: home-wrecker.com's sister site with original stompbox projects, including many amp simulators
Fuzz Central: heaps of pcb layouts and schematics for classic designs, accompanied by intelligent analysis of the different versions
Tonepad.com: complete stompbox projects
Heaps of Veroboard layouts for known projects
Aron Nelson's stompbox layout gallery: more than you could build in a lifetime
General Gutiar Gadgets: more stompbox projects, very well documented
Ampage Homebrew Stompbox projects: some classic diy pedal, like the Real McTube, orginated here.
Matsumin Guitar and FX page: in Japanese, but well documented effect projects with schematics and layouts
Effector Repair: also in Japanese, but a lot of gut shots and bills of material for commercial effects REHOSTED!

DIY Project Blogs
Beavis Audio: original projects, very inspirational website
http://pedalpirate.100free.com - Pedal Pirate member Fredd Briggs blog, his experiences building the boutique designs
DIYguitarist.com: Paul Marossy project page: lots of pictures and projects
Moosapotamus.net: stompbox build report, techniques, tips & tricks and scans from the Stompboxology newsletters
Solgrind Blog: Soulsonic's blog page with projects and schematics.
Tagboard Effects blog: no schematics, no layouts, just tagboard layouts

Schematics
Aron's Selected Stompbox Schematics: an overview of a lot of online schematics, annotated and described, corrected when possible
Analog Guru's Paradise: a broad collection of rare and classic effects
Experimentalists Anonymous: lot of schematics, data sheets and custom mod stompbox projeects
Effect Schematics site with quite a extended library
Musitronic and Dan Armstrong: original, handdrawn schematics
Effetronics schematics: some less common schematics
Popular Electronics magazine archive: Scans from very old issues, with great projects and even funkier retro graphics
Schematicheaven.com: a large collection but to be used at your own risk
epanorama.net: heaps of free schematic for audio circuits and much more
Munky DIY: a lot of schematic links
http://www.indyguitarist.com/schematics Indyguitarist Schematics: rare effects and tube amp schematics Top Hat, Vox, Hiwatt, Matchless, Mega Boogie

Veroboard Layout Archives
Torchy's veroboard layouts: without a doubt the largest collections of DIY and commercial fx layouts for veroboard

Electronics Tools
Osmond:free PCB creation software for Mac
Eagle: Free PCB Development Software
DIY Layout Creator: freeware software to create your own perfboard, veroboard or pcb layouts
DuncanAmps - free tone stack calculator: Play with the values and create your own version of famous Fender and Marshall tone stacks. Only for PC, though
Hundreds of copyright free electronic DIY audio projects for download
Spice: Circuit Simulation Software - free download page
Marcelo Trípodi's Fuzz Face Bias Calculator: a great tool to build the best possible SI Fuzz Face
http://www.tone-lizard.comTone Lizard Lounge: Great article on tone characteristics of just about every aspect of your gear
RedCircuits.com : free circuit to build or integrate into largers projects as buliding blocks
AllAboutCircuits.com : all you want to know, a fantastic refence site
DIY Fever: projects and more
Bill Bowden'scollection of free hobby circuits
Develop Effect Circuit with your pc -- free software, check it out
Effectronics: effect project page

Guitar Effect Kits
https://www.pedalpcb.com/
https://pcbguitarmania.com/
http://effectslayouts.blogspot.com/


Tube Pedals and Preamps
Tomato Guitar Preamp: a one tube guitar preamp. 12AX7 (ECC83) tube used. You can plug this preamp directly to the sound card of your computer to get good enough sound. Of course you can use it as an ordinary guitar preamp.
Last edited by modman on 23 Jun 2008, 15:56, edited 17 times in total.

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Post by soulsonic »

Great links! I already found a cool book about Mag Amps.

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Post by markm »

soulsonic wrote:Great links! I already found a cool book about Mag Amps.
+1 :D

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Post by bajaman »

+2 :lol: modman
and big hello to markm :D

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Post by markm »

bajaman wrote:+2 :lol: modman
and big hello to markm :D
Hi bajaman!!

Hey, here's one of the "better" Japanese sites.
Maybe you know about it but in case you don't, take a look!
http://matsumin.gozaru.jp/index.html

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Post by theblackman »


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Post by bajaman »

Hey thanks guys :)
I wish I knew how to read Japanese :lol: :wink:

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Post by indyguitarist »

thanks for the links! :)
bw

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Post by Kaos »

Jack Orman's site is down

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Post by modman »

http://www.muzique.com/

seems alright to me :?:
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Post by Kaos »

yeah i guess they fixed it :)

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Post by modman »

added these links to the first post

zj
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Post by invictus »

japanese diy site with some neat layouts and nice graphics.


http://www.inet-shibata.or.jp/~gori/fxhome/ass11.cgi


..
"im the master of my fate, im the captain of my soul... " -invictus

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Post by goaltoday »

This is a spanish Diy effects web.

http://www.pisotones.com

Good info and sound samples. I can translate all that you want.

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Post by bajaman »

Lots of good info here
http://members.aol.com/sbench101/
bajaman

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Post by bumblebee »

Add this, it offers free software...value conversion and stuff like that.
i have it and its really useful!
electronics 2000

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Post by alteredsounds »

If you're into the vintage side of things, I'll quite happily post detailed gut-shots and specs of any of my collection of Colorsound, EH etc etc....... just ask and if I have it, I'll do it.

http://www.alteredsounds.com

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Post by modman »

added this one

Doug Hammond's DIY Guitar Stuff: a web archive of DougH's experiments with stompboxes and amps.

Doug is way too humble about his contributions to the diy stompbox world. I have been looking for that pentode driver schematic for so long I forgot I was looking. Now where is that stack of russian pentodes?
:D
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Post by Beedoola »

Is there like a mother of all site for vero layouts?

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Post by modman »

Beedoola wrote:Is there like a mother of all site for vero layouts?
I'm affraid not. Never realized there were so many people intested in just vero layouts, you are not the first.
Torchy made a bunch of vero layouts, and you could check the indexes for links:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=247
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1295

Anything in specific you're looking for?
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