E L E C T R O N I C S - T U T O R I A L S

PCB Transfer tutorial make first class pcb transfers using simple inktjet picture paper, more foolproof than Press n Peel Blue. With pics and demonstration video!
Aluminum Hammond Box Etching using picture paper and household chemicals
Shielding and Stargrounding your Strat some household materials and some patience and you'll guitar will we grounded like the best Custom Shop Strat
Making your own custom gain Fuzz Face transistor using two oddball silicon transistor in parallel to simulate the typical low gain (hFE 80 - hFE 120) of your favorite AC128 or NKT245 or OC77 or 2N404A or what have you.
Electrifying your Kazoo if not to for amplification, a could excuse to put the signal through some fx and filters
DIY Phantom Power: how to build your own 48V phantom power supply for you condenser microphone.
$10 Table Top Guitar Practice Amp build it into any unsuspecting speaker you find lying around. This thing is gritty and loud.



G U I T A R S T U F F

E l e c t r i c__G u i t a r__W i r i n g

GuitarNuts: the best introduction to guitar wiring
GuitarNuts2 Forum: a dedicated forum for guitar wiring with lots of links to schematics
DGB Studio: an incredible collection of wiring schemes for electric guitars, guitar building tools and more great stuff. Rather advanced, though.
SingleCoil.com: lots of very lucid articles guitar wiring, amps and effects. A great starters site.
JP Bourgeois' website devoted all things guitar, lot of it electric with great articles on wiring. Parts in English, parts in French
Deaf Eddie, guitar-wiring wacko - great site
Blue Guitar: wiring schematics and more
Stew Mac's introduction to hot rodding your guitar

S t o m p b o x__D I Y ,__R e p a i r _& _D e v e l o p m e n t

DIY Stompboxes Forum: a vivid community where you will get all your answers
Analog Alchemy: tips, tricks and caculators to help you tweak your circuit right
Muzique.com: Jack Orman website with excellent stompbox projects, articles and info
Aron's Selected Stompbox Schematics: an overview of a lot of online schematics, annotated and described, corrected when possible
Tim Escobedo's Circuit Snippets: original and outlandish effect designs, lots of them
DIYguitarist.com: Paul Marossy project page: lots of pictures and projects
Aron Nelson's stompbox layout gallery: more than you could build in a lifetime
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
Tonepad.com: complete stompbox projects
Heaps of Veroboard layouts for known projects
RG Keen's Geofex: effect and guitar amp website
General Gutiar Gadgets: more stompbox projects, very well documented
Viva-analog.com: JC Mallets in-depth website on stompboxes and guitar amps
Discofreq FX: exhaustive effects and filter database with links to schemes, manufacturer sites etc.
Develop Effect Circuit with your pc -- free software, check it out
Effectronics: effect project page
Effect Schematics site with quite a extended library
Moosapotamus.net: stompbox build report, techniques, tips & tricks
Processr245.com: articles on various audio-related topics including circuit bending, hardware modification, and homebrew MIDI instruments.
epanorama.net: heaps of free schematic for audio circuits and much more.

F u z z__F a c e__L i b r a r y

Tim Escobedo, The Many Faces of Fuzz
R.G. Keen, Technology of the Fuzz Face
Marcelo Trípodi's articles on the Fuzz Face 1 - 2 - 3
Small Bear's Fuzz Face Germanium Transistor suggestions
RCA Manual Fuzz Face circuit scan from the source, worth a try

S t o m p b o x__D e v e l o p m e n t__T o o l s__a n d__R e f e r e n c e__s i t e s

AllDataSheets.com: guess what... all the datasheets you'll ever need
Transistor substitution database: maybe you do have transistor you can use! Easy check.
Osmond:free PCB creation software for Mac
Eagle: Free PCB Development Software
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
Popular Electronics magazine archive: Scans from very old issues, with great projects and even funkier retro graphics
Tone 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's collection of free hobby circuits

T u b e__A m p s

Tube Amplifier Tips: if you own one you should read this
Amptone.com an exhaustive ressource about amp technology
Fender Amp Field Guide: the tube amp lover's bible: lots of info on Fender tube amps, schematics and much more
Unofficial Ampeg page
Orange Amp Field Guide
Tube Amp FAQMusical Instrument Tube Amp Building, Maintaining and Modifying FAQ
AX84.com - The Cooperative Tube Guitar Amp Project - build your own tube amp
Fender Vacuum Tube Amps - The Surgical Mastery Tour
JC Mallet Bias in Vacuum Tube Guitar Amplifiers
GM Arts Guitar Amps:a very nice introduction and overview
Ampage: Guitar Amp Forums




K E Y B O A R D S

F e n d e r __R h o d e s

Fender Rhodes Super Site:Homepage and a good one, lots of information and a great forum
MajorKey.com:the only source of all Rhodes replacement parts, though they have dealers all around the world.
Tasteundtechnik.de: lots of Rhodes and other schematics and manuals. thanks Jens!
Dyno-my-Piano: how about soldering up your own dyno rhodes preamp? just a thread but a start.

C l a v i n e t

Clavinet.com: ressources, mods, schematics and parts
Don Tillman's notes on clavinet switches and on shielding your clav

H a m m o n d__O r g a n

Hammond Models overview
Hammond Spinet modifications: focus on T model Hammonds with great photoessays and lots of information on how to mod your tonewheel organ.
Hammond Forum with enormous archives to search in
Hammond-organ.com
Comparison of B3 with L-series: hints on how to modify your L-series hammond
Theatreorgans.com has thorough though somewhat chaotic Hammond section
Hammond Age List: add your organ and help determining the hammond serial run
Biography of Laurens Hammond: very very entertaining

D I Y__S y n t h s

SoundLab DIY syth from musicfromouterspace: pcb layouts and all
Apache DIY synth project
Experimentalists Anonymous community
AnalogMonster.com is a monster
ThereminWorld.com: heaps of projects, articles and ressources about the oldest synth around
Vacuum Tube Theremin article and schematic scans published in Popular Electronics, April 1955
Transistor Theremin article and schematic scans published in Popular Electronics November 1967







N O N - E L E C T R O N I C P R O J E C T S

FolkUrban: Tim Escobedo fantastic website. Make a great sounding $5 clarinet or toilet orinoco
CigarBoxGuitar.com: join the revolution and build your own.
Buildyouguitar.com: Take an easy start: complete online instructions to build yourself a lap slide guitar


W E I R D S T U F F

Fretless Guitar homepage: and you thought only bass players could go fretless
Melodicas.com: even the melodica has a homepage and righfully so. Articles on tuning and pictures, interviews with John Medeski and Toots Tielemans (coming)





The below links were carefully selected on the basis of providing very valuable info for the modern sonic diy soldier. There is a revolution going on, in case you haven't noticed. Stop paying all this hard bucks to large corporations that sell overpriced crap and blurs our vision with indignant commercial advertisements that make crap overpriced crap. If a guitar pedal you're looking at costs 28 EUR, just be sure they make it for under 8 EUR.

They don't contain links to corporative websites, only in case where they were so kind to publish e.g. extensive schematic collections. But y'all will find the fender website without trouble, i suppose. Strange as it might seem, some of the site do have commercial activity - but only on the side. Some stompbox sites have beside all the info you need to make your own pedal, pcb boards or hard to find parts for sale. Support these people, they are independent entrepreneurs running home businesses and will give you very good service. As always, remain critical.

last update 17_dec_06