Soldering Update

I have recently made a big breakthrough in some of my soldering projects!

When I was last testing the Weird Sound Effects Generator, it was very loud through an amplifier even with the volume on 0. I have found out that the reason for this is because the amp's input is designed for an 'instrument level' signal, which from a guitar pickup is a very low voltage (well under a volt), but the Weird Sound circuit output is based on its power source, which is a 9V battery. So it's overpowering the amp circuitry.

I fixed this by using two resistors as a voltage divider, to try limiting the voltage from the Weird Sound circuit to the amp. This fixed the problem! I had to add over 1 mega-ohm of resistance!

Here are some sound samples from the Swanee Whistler and the Weird Sound Effects Generator (in that order) with the new voltage divider mod:
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/sound-samples-swanee-whistler-and-weird-sound-sample-2

Weird Sound Effects Generator

Testing the Weird Sound Effects Generator. (It works!) It's a 3-oscillator circuit, built on matrix board. The one thing that is unusual is that when you play it through an amplifier, even with the volume on 0, it's very loud. Yet when I played it directly through a mini speaker, it was very quiet.

My next step is to get this fitted inside a case - I'm thinking of using a jam jar!

Here is a 1-minute-long sample from the circuit:
https://soundcloud.com/user-879811118/weird-sound-sample-1

First Pedal Build

First two pedals finished!

These are the Jeds Peds LPB Boost and the Jeds Peds Para Para Paradise low-gain overdrive.

I learnt a lot from the building. I hand-painted the LPB Boost using paints I had available, and I bought a white spray primer for the overdrive. I finished both of them with a clear spray lacquer, which fortunately didn't damage the paint!

Effects Pedal Bits

Some bits arrived today. Will be trying to build a non-PCB 'old skool' perf board effects pedal from a schematic in a 1970s electronics magazine.