Background
I have been playing guitar since I was 15, but I never could make it a routine. This changed in 2020 when the plague hit and I discovered Yousician. The gamification of the experience gave my ADHD the dopamine hits I was craving. I was hooked.
Since then I have been reading a lot about all kinds of guitar equipment. I have experimented with different types of guitar pickups; analogue and digital effects; tube, solid state, and amp modellers. After two years of swapping gear, I have settled on the rig I want.
It is simple. I don’t have a great ear and I just wanted a simple setup, that would still be capable of generating “nice”.
Short Circuit
In May of 2024, JHS Pedals published a video on their channel called “How To Breadboard An Electro Harmonix LPB-1 Boost Pedal” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIXh0ncphc). I watched it on premiere and saved it for later. “Later” arrived in November of 2024.
I have ordered the kit used in the video, alongside of the special breadboard designed for developing guitar effects. I assembled it using the manual, and it worked! It was fun.
But wait, there is more
That was not enough for me. I really wanted to understand what each element and each section of the circuit does. I watched the video again, and started experimenting with different values of the components.
I also got myself an oscilloscope, which turned out to be a great decision, as it allowed me to observe the transformation of the audio signal in every part of the circuit. I cannot overstate the usefulness of this tool during learning and development.
Make it permanent
The next step was to learn how to transform the breadboard into an actual permanent circuit. I discovered Adafruit permanent protoboards and decided to start with them, as they have the same layout as a breadboard but you’re to solder them.
Before soldering I have tweaked the circuit on the breadboard to make it as tight as possible. I have soldered a few versions, each time discovering a new obstacle to overcome and learn from.
Version 3 had all of the inputs / outputs / controls moved out of the board using wiring.
Next steps
I wanted to assemble the same circuit again in a guitar pedal form, however I decided against it. Instead I will build and analyse a new circuit, and hopefully build a pedal out of it.