First Project: Signal Tester

My buddy Tony recently bought a Holy Shit its a Kit project from one of our favorite effects pedal makers Dwarfcraft Devices. The Great Destroyer fuzz pedal. He tried to solder it up and somehow could not get it to engage. So I thought a great first project might be to create a signal tester to figure out  where he went wrong and see if we can get it roaring. Before I put the tester together I practiced soldering with a piece of wire. My test was so perfect I was a little over confident and went straight into the project.

My perfect solder

 Soldering to monojacks and other parts was much more difficult than forming a simple solder joint. The project of the signal tester had some frustrations, but I think it will function for a while. I need an effects pedal to test it. Update to come.

Purpose

The purpose of the this blog is to document my adventures and misadventures in DIY audio electronics. I have no formal training in circuit building. It is my hope that I will eventually create some effects boxes/sound generators that measure up to some of the pedal makers I have begun to idolize. For Christmas I received a couple of books on the subject, and stuffed my own stocking with some tools I will need. The books I got were Do-it-yourself Projects for Guitarists, Electronic Projects for Musicians, and Handmade Electronic Music: the Art of Hardware Hacking. The latter of these seems really interesting and digs into the science of electronics. I also bought 2 DIY kits from Build Your Own Clone. One is a signal tester for audio projects and the other is a boost effect.

Comments, advice, praise, and criticism would be great. Thanks.