Where's the path to knowledge? :)

[alonso]

Hiya,

new to building but it's lots of fun so far. Made a mudbunny from pcb that worked, and 3 perfboard attempts that didn't (not laid out clean enough I think).

I had two questions:

1) would it work to run two effects in parrallel?
I.e. in 1 enclosure have 1 IN jack , 1 out jack, and 1 power supply, wired to 2 seperate pcb's, so you just plug in once and can stomp one or both effects on?

2) a more broad question, how do I learn more?
Being able to understand what's happening to the signal and know how I can alter it. (I guess long term (in maybe a decade) being able to invent effects)  Should I just build effects off pcbs, work up to making workable perfboard versions? Or is there a book that walks through how effects work? (like that example of how a basic boost effect works.)

when I get good enough I learn the secret effect box that just makes me play good, right?

thanks a lot, excited about all the things to learn

-Alonso

[oldhousescott]

1) You can certainly run two effects in parallel, although it's hard to imagine how that would be desirable. Most effect combination are run in series -- the output of one effect routed to the input of the next effect. Also, you would need some sort of mixer to blend the outputs of two parallel effects together, so it's not as simple as taking both effect outputs to the output jack.

2) To learn more about circuits, you might start at Jack Orman's AMZ FX page, www.muzique.com, by reading the articles on his lab notebook page. Also, check out all the articles at R.G. Keen's site, www.geofex.com. For a broad overview of electricity and electronics, look up the NEETS manuals online.

[alonso]

thanks a lot.

I'll go and dive in right now

[juansolo]

Yeah, all my dual effects have been in series. I did test the dual reverb in parallel though as I thought that might work. To test it I ran on in the loop of a Paramix (VERY useful pedal). In the end though, it sounded better in series.

To wire them in series: your signal comes from the in jack as normal to stomp 1, the out of stomp 1 that would normally go to the out jack now goes to the in of stomp 2, the out of stomp 2 goes to the out jack as normal. Simple as that.

[jimijam]

roger mayer builds several dirt boxes that " split the signal into 2 seperate paths each running through a different drive circuit and their outputs are summed together at an output mixing stage. a delay that has  2 or three parrallel delay lines would be usful for different delay times and levels without the repeats effecting each other. the later can be used in stereo for "circular delays witch sound huge. I would suggest a buffer?splitter so each path gets a strong signal run off groove has such a project that one could use for reference. these are just a few Ideas. most effects combos are done in series because it is easier to set up but you can get super creative with the addition of a parallel or semi-parallel signal path. be creative and I suggest reading the manual for the tc electronics g-force or the axe fx for info on parralel routing option Ideas as both units feature the ability to implement these options albeit in a "virtual" way when programming patches. it is a great way to make your tones subtley complex and unique. and different from the same dirt/chorus/delay chains.