As you may notice, there is a new "menu bar" to the left here called "Design". This section (which will eventually become the "core" of Effectronics) will soon contain on-going tutorials, so to speak, for not just building but also DESIGNING your own customized guitar effects! As much detail for every aspect of design will be covered -- from the basic theory and calculations, to computer simulations via freeware/software and provided code for easy use, to circuit construction and testing and finally to finished products!

The first "design" installment is expected to be posted within the next couple of weeks. This will include some basic background theory for any beginners who may have constructed some circuits already (or perhaps have yet to begin any projects at all)... This explanation will lead into more analysis on a simple transistor circuit such as the Electra Distortion and will further expand to include additional transistor stages and what the effects are at each stage. Probably in between these sets of tutorials will be one session solely on PSPICE, a simple text-based program which can be downloaded (free) and can be used to easily visualize a circuit and how your sound/signal is affected by changes in components/values. You will easily be able to see waveforms and will be able to accurately predict what an actual circuit will do before plugging the components into the breadboard (or soldering them to a pcb for that matter). Additional explanations and tutorials will follow... Each with a focus on DESIGN.

All of these "design" installments will be geared with the complete novice in mind, but hopefully also will have use for many of the "in-between" levels of understanding.

So, I hate to have you wait much longer for the tutorials to begin, but I have to ask once more for you to "stay tuned"... I hope this will be the beginning of something fun for both me and all of you!!!