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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 31, 2014 at 8:58am

The volume pot belongs between the input jack( from guitar) to pin 3 of the LM386 chip...not between the output (pin 5) and the speaker.

The volume pot is simply a variable resistor, intended to limit the amount of signal from the guitar into the amplifier circuit.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 31, 2014 at 9:21am

Also, the 10K pot doesn't really have a large difference/range in volume any how. They pretty much drop off volume as soon as you turn it down from full.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Roberts on January 31, 2014 at 10:46am

Thanks. I did try it that way also and had the same thing happen so it must just be the pot itself

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on February 1, 2014 at 12:09am

I wouldn't consider the pot as having a problem that can be "fixed". Rather, it is an inherent characteristic of a 10K pot in a LM386 1/2 watt amp circuit. The pot does not have a large range of volume adjustment...even though it turns from "zero" to "full", the volume will always react as you have learned. It is either on at full volume, or as soon as you turn it down to lower volume, it is silent.

You may get a better response in volume control if you have a volume control pot for the pickup(s) on your guitar. Just keep amp dialed in to full volume, and adjust volume with pot on guitar.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Woods on January 31, 2014 at 8:01pm

The amp you indicated is quite an interesting option for $2.  It seems to  have a 10k pot on the  board .  That should allow you to reduce the volume.  It is in a similar location as the "noisy Cricket version I build.  You could put a transister (mpf102) ahead of the line input to boos & clean upt the audio level, Which the noisy cricket does. 

How big is the pot in line with the speaker output you are using?

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Permalink Reply by Greg Roberts on February 1, 2014 at 3:09am

I am using a 500k pot

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Permalink Reply by Jim Woods on February 1, 2014 at 6:36pm

Greg,

You would be able to use a 1k or maybe a 10k  inline w/ the speaker .  A 500 k pot would likely be like an on / off switch.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Roberts on February 2, 2014 at 5:20am

Thanks for the info. I will just leave the volume pot out of the equation and use the volume on the guitar

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