Customer Reviews

Electronic Projects for Musicians

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was first published in 1975, I believe. I purchased it in the 1980s. At the time, it was the only authoritative book on the subject of building your own effects. Finding schematics and parts was, to say the least, difficult. Rackmount processors were just beginning to dominate the marketplace. Craig Anderton emphasized low noise in designing the circuits and the projects represented the state of the art, but they might be somewhat noisy by today's standards (they are still fairly quiet, though).

In this modern age, schematics, parts, and tips on building your own projects are just a mouse click away. For the amount of money it would cost to build the projects in this book, one could buy a multieffects box that is, arguably, more versatile with better fidelity.

However, EPFM is far from obsolete, especially in an era where analog effects are (thankfully) becoming all the rage again. The book might benefit from a revision that addresses the increased resources available via the internet and, if feasible, circuit design modifications which reflect any technological advancement in noise reduction.

Nonetheless, EPFM is still the standard for entering into the field of audio electronics. That is no accident. Some reviewers lament the book is not very in-depth and does little more than teach you to solder. Craig Anderton makes no secret of the fact that his objective is to whet your appetite and give you the opportunity to create some usable effects as effortlessly as possible.

He succeeds. The accompanying CD reveals that these are all wonderful sounding effects. The ring modulator is my personal favorite and the phaser sounds as good as any on the market. Be aware you will need to study further if you want to delve deeply into the field of audio electronics. This book has an entire chapter devoted to pointing you in the proper direction.

In the forward to EPFM, guitarist Joe Walsh writes "I couldn't think of a better place to begin than right where you are." Thirty years later, this statement holds true.

"Electronic Projects for Musicians" is a classic, but the book is so hopelessly dated at this point that a major revision of the text is in order. To begin with, none of the IC's that the projects are built around still exist - they've been discontinued and there are significantly better chips available, but figuring out the appropriate substitutions for these can be incredibly difficult. Several of the designs could easily be redone from scratch in more efficient and better configurations...I still don't understand why Anderton goes with a two-9V configuration for powering everything, when that's a design decision that you simply never see anywhere else.

Still, the initial several chapters are timeless and contain great info for newcomers about basic concepts of building, soldering, wiring, packaging, etc. The book is almost worth it for those chapters alone. Sadly, the actual projects are unbuildable in 2008, and the book is frankly outclassed by so many books that have been written since. With the popularity of "Make" magazine and this new generation of DIY'ers, a major overhaul, re-write, and update of the book would be outstanding.

I am basically a 100% newb and this is a great place to get your feet wet in electronics. That being said, I was hoping to be able to build some of these projects though. I'm not a guitar player myself but was hoping to give some cool pedals away to friends. After diving into some of the projects, even buying a few parts and pieces, I realized there are very few of these projects that are even buildable. He uses an IC in most of his projects that isn't available anymore and I haven't found information as of yet on a replacement. Even if I did I would have to redesign the circuit boards in the books to fit my needs. Other reviewers made this clear and I should have paid more attention before buying the book. There are other books out there that are cheaper that will get teach you the basics, this was sadly a disappointment.

This outstanding book presents a number of useful circuits for shaping the sound of electric instruments. Starting with small projects and presenting gradually more difficult jobs, the author takes the reader by the hand and makes easy the whole process of building a "stomp box." You can save money, or create a more powerful tool than is commercially available, or sometimes even both. Best book of its kind. No electronics knowledge necessary to begin - but you will have some when you're done!

I've been around stomp boxes for a few years now (I worked at 4 Guitar Centers and was consistently the 'go-to' guy in the guitar accessories/effects department) and have had a chance to hear good natural sounding botique type pedals and really compressed not so great pedals. For me, this motivated me to get into building stompboxes.

The book is really easy to follow. Topics covered include:
* Tools to have in your electronics lab
* Straight forward schematics and projects
* Concepts of electronics
* Component overviews

Be warned: This book is not intended to teach the mathematics and calculations down to a component level. It touches on basic ideas but in order to understand this book's contents, it might be beneficial to have some prior exposure to electronics to really understand it (ie: schematically literate, able to assemble circuits, etc...).

Overall, an amazing value! After reading online reviews, I understand why this book is a standard in hobbyist's and professional's workbenches :)

Ive just recently got into DIY guitar effects and read all different sorts of reviews by people about this book.
Ive managed to get quite alot out of this book from a musicians point of view. DIY Muso's generally are not interested in the maths behind electronics and just want to know the ins and outs of how things work when doing some diy work.

Definitely worth purchasing if you are interested in creating some of your own effects and learning how electronics can define your own sound. Pricewise, not too bad.

I was in a bunch of bands growing up in the late 80's. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my life but was dabbling in electronics. Then I found this book at the library...

To make a long story short I don't play music much anymore but am an electrical engineer.

I still own a copy of this book and would never think of getting rid of it. Though we are in an age of digital signal processing, this book still stands the test of time. It is literally a timeless classic in applied electronics!!!!

I lost my old copy and had to buy a new one, if you are interested in DIY audio electronics this is a MUST HAVE! The biggest bonus for me in the book is how Anderton describes how the circuits work, rather than just showing you a BOM, schematic, and a layout. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book and still refer to it quite often!

Very detailed book, beginner to intermediates can both benefit from it. It gives detailed lists of parts and procedures. The transaction went smooth and delivery was very fast.

I've had my copy for many, many years and have built many of the projects in the book, or ones similar to them. You can find a lot of the information from this book, and similar circuits using modern components online. But the book is still a good starting place.

Should it be updated? Absolutely, but what's here isn't incorrect or superseded by newer information, rather you need to add to it with some searching on the web. Electronic components have changed immensely since the book came out but once you understand what is happening in the circuits you can readily adapt.