this is a my DT project that i made for my GCSE coursework
the specifications were:
it has to be battery powered,
it had to be louder than an unplugged guitar,
it much have volume and gain controls,
it should be small enough to clip onto a belt,
it should have an earphone out socket,
it must be able to play clean and distorted.
the finished prototype is powered by 4 9v batterys,
it is just louder than an unplugged guitar,
it has volume and gain controls
it is just small enough to clip onto a belt however so far i havnt desined a way to do this.
it has an earphone out socket, which automatically switches the power from the speaker.
it is able to play distorted however i cannot get it to play clean, however my guitar has a much higher output than the one i origonally based the cuircuit design around.
the amp has quite crunchy distortion, however it is easyly overloaded which creates a popping sound, i think i could solve this by using more expensive chips that can handle bigger voltages. it is also quite noisy while being played however when it is not it is completely silent. i have also found that it works extremly well for maiden riffs and rhythem parts.
this is the curcuit layout, however i made a few small alterations as i was building it.
Circuit Layout (PCB)
and this is the finished amp
The Amp
the insides:
the PCB Etc
and the battery layout
battery layout
changes for the future:
because the speaker is quite quiet, i am planning to remodel the circuit and repackage it as a distortion pedal. i am also going to look at ways to include a tone control, and try and reduce the noise. however i am going to try and keep the same body shape as it is extremly ridged and i think works quite well.
if anyone has any ideas how i can add a tone control, boost the volume or add a noise reducer, input would be greatly appreciated!