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If you want a delightful hobby, then I can recommend building your own guitar pedals. It combines music, electronics, general nerding out (e.g. debating german

If you want a delightful hobby, then I can recommend building your own guitar pedals. It combines music, electronics, general nerding out (e.g. debating germanium VS silicon diodes), and some visual design if you want to make the enclosures pretty. You might even be able to sell some. I started by building a kit pedal with one of my kids as a weekend project. Some search terms to get you started: build your own clone, diy pedal schematics, tag board music effects.

ilyt 4y ago
Modular synths are similar in that way, except way less popular so more expensive on both kits and ready-made stuff.
- jcpst 4y ago
  I was able to get into modular in college with the synthesizers.com monthly payment plan. Each installment you paid, they mailed another module. They start you out with a few modules and a rack with a power supply mounted for you. The whole plan together gave you a bit of a deal on the cost. It doesn’t look like they offer that anymore, but you could still do the same thing yourself. If I was starting over, I’d probably do eurorack, that seems to be where all the modern innovation is.
- InCityDreams 4y ago
  VCV rack - software: https://www.factmag.com/2017/09/12/vcv-rack-open-source-virtual-modular-synth/ https://www.factmag.com/2017/09/12/vcv-rack-open-source-virt...
  - mr_sturd 4y ago
    There's also Cardinal, which is essentially VCV Rack but provides free and open source plugins. https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal
  - timc3 4y ago
    Doesn’t really combine those things the GP is talking about. I have VCV installed but never use it because I have a large modular system - the hardware is just so much more fun.
    - TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
      I'm the opposite. I never use my modular because sequencing and patch storage are so much easier with software. I don't find plugging things into other things particularly enjoyable. More slow and frustrating. And I don't feel that using a mouse - or a MIDI slider box - is that much more distancing compared to using a large panel of pots and sliders.
alonmower 4y ago
Couldn’t agree more. I haven’t kept up with it but back in college I used to make replicas of discontinued pedals as gifts for some of my guitar playing friends. Dirt cheap parts, some fun circuit analysis and modeling, soldering practice, and very happy friends.
FatActor 4y ago
When I starting learning circuit analysis in college in the 80's I would draw out the pedal schematics via hand-inspection of the board itself and try to figure out wtf they were doing. I didn't have access to part #s until I was in college (you couldn't just google a datasheet for whatever 8-pin DIP was on the board, you had to look through giant catalogs of them from each manufacturer). Two things immediately jumped out at me ... first, that undergrad circuit analysis does not help understanding circuits designed by wizened experts ... and second, that even the simplest circuits require all kinds of considerations beyond the y=H(x) transfer functions (and that linear systems don't begin to describe what i was seeing). Humbling. It would be interesting to see how the Chorus schematic from 1985 compares to the Chorus schematic of 2023.
- jimnotgym 4y ago
  > It would be interesting to see how the Chorus schematic from 1985 compares to the Chorus schematic of 2023. Is probably identical. The actual board is probably different in that they will have used surface mount to bring the cost down. There is very little in the fx world that is not a tweak on a few classic designs... unless you are going dsp of course
  - Tade0 4y ago
    The 2023 Chorus would probably be fully digital instead of using a bucket-brigade device. Even the humble DS-1 has now a digital version which, contrary to its analog counterpart "chugs". I've always felt that the signal to noise ratio in digita circuits just wasn't there, but perhaps there were some significant advancements over the years in this field which I missed.
    - jimnotgym 4y ago
      True, delay effects are all probably cheaper to make in their digital form. Overdrives are likely to be identical
      - FatActor 4y ago
jimnotgym 4y ago
It is a cool hobby. Just a note of caution it is no way to save money though. You can save money over expensive boutiques, but if you want a Tubescreamer for less money, Behringer make one for $20! If you want to tinker though, it really is fun
- runsonrum 4y ago
  I found building the board was easier/quicker than laying out and fitting it into an enclosure. Detailing the enclosure is a whole other level on top of that. This is the source I use for most builds. https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/?m=1 https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/?m=1
- klodolph 4y ago
  The Behringer stuff is incredibly affordable but the noise floor is often worse than I’d like.

ilyt 4y ago

Modular synths are similar in that way, except way less popular so more expensive on both kits and ready-made stuff.

jcpst 4y ago
I was able to get into modular in college with the synthesizers.com monthly payment plan. Each installment you paid, they mailed another module. They start you out with a few modules and a rack with a power supply mounted for you. The whole plan together gave you a bit of a deal on the cost. It doesn’t look like they offer that anymore, but you could still do the same thing yourself. If I was starting over, I’d probably do eurorack, that seems to be where all the modern innovation is.
InCityDreams 4y ago
VCV rack - software: https://www.factmag.com/2017/09/12/vcv-rack-open-source-virtual-modular-synth/ https://www.factmag.com/2017/09/12/vcv-rack-open-source-virt...
- mr_sturd 4y ago
  There's also Cardinal, which is essentially VCV Rack but provides free and open source plugins. https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal https://github.com/DISTRHO/Cardinal
- timc3 4y ago
  Doesn’t really combine those things the GP is talking about. I have VCV installed but never use it because I have a large modular system - the hardware is just so much more fun.
  - TheOtherHobbes 4y ago
    I'm the opposite. I never use my modular because sequencing and patch storage are so much easier with software. I don't find plugging things into other things particularly enjoyable. More slow and frustrating. And I don't feel that using a mouse - or a MIDI slider box - is that much more distancing compared to using a large panel of pots and sliders.

alonmower 4y ago

Couldn’t agree more. I haven’t kept up with it but back in college I used to make replicas of discontinued pedals as gifts for some of my guitar playing friends. Dirt cheap parts, some fun circuit analysis and modeling, soldering practice, and very happy friends.

FatActor 4y ago

When I starting learning circuit analysis in college in the 80's I would draw out the pedal schematics via hand-inspection of the board itself and try to figure out wtf they were doing. I didn't have access to part #s until I was in college (you couldn't just google a datasheet for whatever 8-pin DIP was on the board, you had to look through giant catalogs of them from each manufacturer). Two things immediately jumped out at me ... first, that undergrad circuit analysis does not help understanding circuits designed by wizened experts ... and second, that even the simplest circuits require all kinds of considerations beyond the y=H(x) transfer functions (and that linear systems don't begin to describe what i was seeing). Humbling. It would be interesting to see how the Chorus schematic from 1985 compares to the Chorus schematic of 2023.

jimnotgym 4y ago
> It would be interesting to see how the Chorus schematic from 1985 compares to the Chorus schematic of 2023. Is probably identical. The actual board is probably different in that they will have used surface mount to bring the cost down. There is very little in the fx world that is not a tweak on a few classic designs... unless you are going dsp of course
- Tade0 4y ago
  The 2023 Chorus would probably be fully digital instead of using a bucket-brigade device. Even the humble DS-1 has now a digital version which, contrary to its analog counterpart "chugs". I've always felt that the signal to noise ratio in digita circuits just wasn't there, but perhaps there were some significant advancements over the years in this field which I missed.
  - jimnotgym 4y ago
    True, delay effects are all probably cheaper to make in their digital form. Overdrives are likely to be identical
    - FatActor 4y ago

jimnotgym 4y ago

It is a cool hobby. Just a note of caution it is no way to save money though. You can save money over expensive boutiques, but if you want a Tubescreamer for less money, Behringer make one for $20! If you want to tinker though, it really is fun

runsonrum 4y ago
I found building the board was easier/quicker than laying out and fitting it into an enclosure. Detailing the enclosure is a whole other level on top of that. This is the source I use for most builds. https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/?m=1 https://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/?m=1
klodolph 4y ago
The Behringer stuff is incredibly affordable but the noise floor is often worse than I’d like.