24 Jul 2014

Make Your Own FX Amp

Impress your friends by carrying around this DIY handy amplifier with distortion and custom effects.

Note: This tutorial was orginally posted in my previous blogspot hackatech. I am no longer maintaining hackatech. Also ignore the video, I really don’t know who that guy is.


Back Story

Ever since I got my first acoustic guitar, I wanted to have an electric guitar. So I set out to make one, only to realize how difficult it was to build a musical instrument that sounds right. Finally with no other options left, I made an amplifier and with the right amount of distortion it served my purpose. Plus the attention from people when I took it around was… gotta get used to it, lol ;)


Personalize

The values of the resistors and capacitors used can be changed as per your need. I used these values to acihive my desired sound.

What You’ll Need

  • LM386 IC ( Amplification IC )
  • NE555 IC ( Timer IC )
  • BC547 / BC548 NPN Transistor
  • Resistors - 4.7k, 470k, 220k
  • 20K Pot
  • Capacitors - 1000uF, 100uF, 47uF, 10uF, 3.3uF
  • 8Ω Speaker
  • 9v Battery
  • Input Jacks
  • LEDs, toggle switches

Collect the parts and get your solder iron hot.

Schematic

PS

Later I built an better version with a distortion pedal. However, I don’t remember what circuit diagram.