After I built my partscaster, I decided I needed to try something that didn’t involve hours of spraying laquer or buffing. Something that didn’t require me to be an obsessive neat-freak; a trait that runs counter to my nature. Why not effects pedals?
I found several sites online that had info to get me started. Beavis Audio was fascinating, but a bit over my head, as the last time I worked with electric circuits was back in high school (except for wiring my guitar, which was not really difficult, and did not require any understanding of what really goes on in those components). From Beavis Audio I found Runoff Groove, a treasure trove of schematics for various guitar effects projects, complete with sound samples and links to purchase kits of the designs. I was torn– which kit to buy? I couldn’t read schematics, and even the ‘perfboard layouts’ left me with more questions than answers– so I thought there was no way I’d be able to get started without a kit with very detailed instructions.
They have a project at Runoff Groove called the “Little Gem,” a tiny guitar amplifier that runs off a 9 volt battery. Their design assumes that it will be built as a ‘head’, that is, just the amplifier, with no speaker attached. Heads are connected to ‘cabs,’ or speaker cabinets (An amp with a built in speaker is called a ‘combo’). As I had no cabs lying around (I only owned a single amp– a combo), I figured I’d have to pass on the Little Gem, at least for a while.
But then volume 9 of Make Magazine arrived. In it, they had a HOWTO article on the Little Gem! They built it as a combo, using a cracker box as a housing! They lay out the circuit on a ‘prototyping board’ which makes interpreting the schematic much easier. The article, and accompanying materials I found online were complete enough to give me the cojones to try it out.
More about the Little Gem and about my first attempt to build one in the next post!