Comments for Jordan Colburn http://jordancolburn.com Music, Technology, Recording and DIY Projects Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:26:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Comment on DIY $10 Guitar Practice Amp in a Cigar Box by jordancolburn http://jordancolburn.com/2010/08/02/diy-10-guitar-practice-amp-in-a-cigar-box/#comment-248 jordancolburn Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:26:28 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=154#comment-248 The toggle switch can be any single pole single throw switch. It acts as a simple on off switch. It has two points, on: connection is made between the two points; off: connection is broken. The LM386N is just an Integrated Circuit(IC) amplifier. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062598 The chip could be soldered directly to the board but the socket, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062604, makes it easy to remove the chip or replace it and also prevents heat damage to the chip while soldering. Speaker choice isn't too important, amp is not capable of a lot of power, so wattage isn't so important. I used an old 3" or so 1W 8ohm speaker I had laying around, but the amp has worked fine with other speakers. 10 ohm resistor is just a (brown black black) color coded resistor. Almost all projects you will encounter work fine with 1/4 Watt, 5% tolerance resistors. If you're getting started in electronics, get used to these and learn to read their color codes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor 1/4" mono phone jack is exactly what you want. It is the name used for a standard 1/4" guitar cable. I believe it comes from use in phone switchboards back in the day. It's kind of a crappy design, but it's standard for guitar or line outputs and gets used often. Hope this helped! The toggle switch can be any single pole single throw switch. It acts as a simple on off switch. It has two points, on: connection is made between the two points; off: connection is broken.

The LM386N is just an Integrated Circuit(IC) amplifier. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062598

The chip could be soldered directly to the board but the socket, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062604, makes it easy to remove the chip or replace it and also prevents heat damage to the chip while soldering.

Speaker choice isn’t too important, amp is not capable of a lot of power, so wattage isn’t so important. I used an old 3″ or so 1W 8ohm speaker I had laying around, but the amp has worked fine with other speakers.

10 ohm resistor is just a (brown black black) color coded resistor. Almost all projects you will encounter work fine with 1/4 Watt, 5% tolerance resistors. If you’re getting started in electronics, get used to these and learn to read their color codes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor

1/4″ mono phone jack is exactly what you want. It is the name used for a standard 1/4″ guitar cable. I believe it comes from use in phone switchboards back in the day. It’s kind of a crappy design, but it’s standard for guitar or line outputs and gets used often.

Hope this helped!

]]> Comment on DIY $10 Guitar Practice Amp in a Cigar Box by Ryan Gilbert http://jordancolburn.com/2010/08/02/diy-10-guitar-practice-amp-in-a-cigar-box/#comment-247 Ryan Gilbert Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:36:19 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=154#comment-247 Hey, so I'm trying to build this project as well, but I'm pretty inexperienced at this. When I took the parts list from the cracker box amp to radio shack, the guy there said that some of the parts listed werent really specific enough, so here are a few: -the toggle switch (single pole, single throw) -the LM386N audio amplifier/8-pin DIP IC socket (Are these the same thing?) -Speaker with 8 ohms impedance (The issue here is that no wattage/size is specified) -10 ohms resistor -1/4" mono phone jack (it says phone jack and that worries me. Will it still accommodate a guitar cord?) For most of these the problem was just that the parts list was too vague. If you could give me a very specific list of the parts you used in your design i would be very thankful. Hey, so I’m trying to build this project as well, but I’m pretty inexperienced at this. When I took the parts list from the cracker box amp to radio shack, the guy there said that some of the parts listed werent really specific enough, so here are a few:
-the toggle switch (single pole, single throw)
-the LM386N audio amplifier/8-pin DIP IC socket (Are these the same thing?)
-Speaker with 8 ohms impedance (The issue here is that no wattage/size is specified)
-10 ohms resistor
-1/4″ mono phone jack (it says phone jack and that worries me. Will it still accommodate a guitar cord?)
For most of these the problem was just that the parts list was too vague. If you could give me a very specific list of the parts you used in your design i would be very thankful.

]]> Comment on MXL 990 Modifications by Guitar Builder http://jordancolburn.com/2009/07/16/mxl-990-modifications/#comment-246 Guitar Builder Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:19:55 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=95#comment-246 Gotcha! - Oh and thanks for the sound clips - they are greatly appreciated. -- Mike Gotcha! – Oh and thanks for the sound clips – they are greatly appreciated.

– Mike

]]> Comment on MXL 990 Modifications by jordancolburn http://jordancolburn.com/2009/07/16/mxl-990-modifications/#comment-245 jordancolburn Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:17:56 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=95#comment-245 Thanks for the feedback! Glad to know it helped someone. I honestly wasn't sure it would make a difference, but it really did! Now don't expect it to sound like a Neumann or anything, but I believe it really helped. Thanks for the feedback! Glad to know it helped someone. I honestly wasn’t sure it would make a difference, but it really did! Now don’t expect it to sound like a Neumann or anything, but I believe it really helped.

]]> Comment on MXL 990 Modifications by Guitar Builder http://jordancolburn.com/2009/07/16/mxl-990-modifications/#comment-244 Guitar Builder Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:21 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=95#comment-244 I just bought a MXL-990 and I love it - for the price. However begin someone that has to tinker, I found your site. I am definetly tearing this mic apart and replacing the two caps you mention - Thanks for this post! I just bought a MXL-990 and I love it – for the price. However begin someone that has to tinker, I found your site. I am definetly tearing this mic apart and replacing the two caps you mention – Thanks for this post!

]]> Comment on Plasma Speaker by Sony TV Repair | Jordan Colburn http://jordancolburn.com/2011/05/17/plasma-speaker/#comment-163 Sony TV Repair | Jordan Colburn Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:17:20 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=241#comment-163 [...] building things like the Beep It or a Plasma Speaker is fun, the result isn’t always the most useful or practical.  That’s why it’s [...] [...] building things like the Beep It or a Plasma Speaker is fun, the result isn’t always the most useful or practical.  That’s why it’s [...]

]]> Comment on Beep It by Sony TV Repair | Jordan Colburn http://jordancolburn.com/2009/04/27/beep-it/#comment-162 Sony TV Repair | Jordan Colburn Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:06:09 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=68#comment-162 [...] building things like the Beep It or a Plasma Speaker is fun, the result isn’t always the most useful or practical. [...] [...] building things like the Beep It or a Plasma Speaker is fun, the result isn’t always the most useful or practical. [...]

]]> Comment on Getting Started with a DIY Mic Preamp(SC1-mk2) by FiveFish SC1-mk2 Update | Jordan Colburn http://jordancolburn.com/2010/07/03/getting-started-with-a-diy-mic-preampsc1-mk2/#comment-98 FiveFish SC1-mk2 Update | Jordan Colburn Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:01:32 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=74#comment-98 [...] I bought two channels of FiveFish Studios  SC1 mk2 microphone preamp kit.  One of my previous posts show my initial progress and some pictures of the old RadioShack home theater amplifier I gutted [...] [...] I bought two channels of FiveFish Studios  SC1 mk2 microphone preamp kit.  One of my previous posts show my initial progress and some pictures of the old RadioShack home theater amplifier I gutted [...]

]]> Comment on MXL 990 Modifications by mike http://jordancolburn.com/2009/07/16/mxl-990-modifications/#comment-51 mike Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:19:03 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=95#comment-51 awesome. awesome.

]]> Comment on DIY Ableton Live Foot Pedal by Ableton Support » DIY Ableton Live Foot Pedal | Jordan Colburn http://jordancolburn.com/2011/06/12/diy-ableton-live-foot-pedal/#comment-44 Ableton Support » DIY Ableton Live Foot Pedal | Jordan Colburn Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:19:02 +0000 http://jordancolburn.com/?p=285#comment-44 [...] View post: DIY Ableton Live Foot Pedal | Jordan Colburn [...] [...] View post: DIY Ableton Live Foot Pedal | Jordan Colburn [...]

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