Synth-DIY Experimenter Board Component Lists

Ray Wilson authored this content while he was actively running MFOS as the founder and resident genius.
We retain the content because it reflects a valuable point of view representing that time and place.

Article by Ray Wilson
This is an intermediate to advanced project and I do not recommend it as a first project if you are just getting started in synths or electronics. Only the circuit and some explanation are shown here. A lot of project building, troubleshooting and electronics experience is assumed. Additionally, electronic equipment ownership (scope, meters, etc.) is taken for granted. If you are interested in building this project please read all project information before ordering PC boards to ensure that the information provided is thorough enough for you to complete the project successfully.

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST. Depending on which version from the "Ideas" tab you build "Full" or "Half Sandwich", you will need the parts from one or the other lists below and the Kludge Section Mixers Component List at the bottom of the page.

If you decide to pick and choose modules and perhaps build half sections of some things for some custom idea you come up with I suggest you compile your parts list using the lists on the individual pages which present each section.

  • Full Version Component List
  • "Half Sandwich" Component List
  • Kludge Section Mixers Component List

    Resistor Color Chart For Resistors Used In This Circuit

    The resistors should be carbon composition or carbon film.
    Use 1/4 watt resistors because 1/2 watt will be too big for the board.

    Capacitor Markings For Caps Used In This Project

    All capacitors should have a minimum 16V rating. There really is no maximum voltage rating but capacitors get larger as the voltage rating goes higher. I suspect that electrolytics rated at 25V, 35V or even 50V will still be small enough to fit the board. For ceramics the voltage rating can be much higher. The voltage rating is NOT CRITICAL except that ALL CAPS SHOULD BE AT A MINIMUM rated for 16V. The lead spacing for most caps on the boards from MFOS is .2" but you can always make leads with smaller (or larger) lead spacing fit so that is not a big deal.

    Capacitors manufacturers have a variety of ways of marking the values on the components. When a cap is not plainly marked as .1uF (spoken as "point one microfarad") it will be marked in picofarad style. It will be marked like this: 104 which means 10 followed by 4 zeros picofarads. or 100,000 picofarads (or .1uF)

    When capacitor values fall into a certain negative power of 10 they are given prefix names. Typically micro and pico with some folks occasionally using nano. So if a cap has the value of .0001 Farad we say it is 100 microfarads (or uF).

      milli micro nano pico
    . 000 000 000 000

    If a cap has the value of .0000001 Farads we say it is .1uF (point one micro farad) but you could also say 100,000 pico farads, or 100 nano farads and be correct. You can see how the marking "104" takes up less space and space is at a premium on small parts.

    Noise Transistor

    You can find a noisey 2N3904 or order a 2N5172 pre-selected to insure good white noise from me. The 2N5172 is listed as an Add-On component which you can add to your cart when ordering the PC board.

    Switches

    The switches in this circuit are switching very low currents so they do not need high voltage or current ratings. Typical miniature toggle switch ratings are 1 to 5 amps at 115VAC which is way more than they will ever see in this circuit but that's what they make. Buy the cheapest switches you can because they will work fine. Of course if your last name happens to be Gates, Buffett, or Ellison you can buy gold plated toggle switches if you like since as long as they are the correct type (SPST (SPDT will also work as SPST)) they will all work.

    More information

  • Tell me something about switches?
  • Reading Resistor Values
  • What is a capacitor and what do the numbers on the capacitor mean?

     

    Synth-DIY Experimenter Board Sound Effects Box Parts List    [Return to Top]

    Qty. Description Value Designators
    1  CD4013 Dual D Flip Flop  CD4013  U8  
    1  LM13700 Dual gm OpAmp or sub  LM13700, LM13600 or NJM13600  U5  
    1  LM3900 Quad Norton Op Amp  LM3900  U2  
    6  TL074 Quad Op Amp  TL074  U1, U3, U4, U6, U7, U9  
    5  2N3904  2N3904  Q1, Q2, Q5, Q6, Q7  
    2  PN4391 NFET  PN4391  Q3, Q4  
    10  1N914 Sw. Diode  1N914  D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10  
    2  General Purpose LED  LED  LED1, LED2  
    4  Potentiometer Audio Taper  1M  R120, R124, R131, R135  
    13  Potentiometer Linear Taper  100K  R1, R21, R43, R46, R47, R50, R72, R87, R107, R117, R125, R136, R151  
    2  Potentiometer Linear Taper  1M  R108, R118  
    4  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  470 Ohms  R105, R115, R119, R130  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  470K  R141, R142  
    6  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  47K  R79, R80, R94, R95, R127, R138  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  560K  R83, R97  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  6.2K  R78, R93  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  62K  R4, R24  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  7.5K  R10, R30  
    4  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  1.5M  R152, R153, R154, R155  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  100 Ohms  R81, R96  
    35  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  100K  R5, R6, R8, R25, R26, R28, R51, R52, R53, R54, R56, R58, R64, R67, R71, R73, R76, R77, R86, R88, R91, R92, R101, R103, R111, R112, R121, R122, R123, R126, R132, R133, R134, R137, R146  
    11  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  10K  R11, R31, R63, R68, R74, R75, R89, R90, R104, R114, R145  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  10M  R41, R42  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  150K  R44, R48  
    8  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  15K  R12, R14, R16, R32, R34, R36, R128, R139  
    12  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  1K  R9, R18, R19, R29, R38, R39, R55, R57, R61, R65, R148, R149  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  1M  R143, R144  
    4  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  200K  R20, R40, R99, R109  
    9  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  20K  R7, R13, R15, R27, R33, R35, R129, R140, R147  
    6  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  270K  R2, R3, R17, R22, R23, R37  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  2K  R70, R85  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  30K  R59, R60  
    6  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  3K  R69, R84, R102, R106, R113, R116  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  3M  R45, R49  
    4  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  4.7K  R82, R98, R100, R110  
    3  Trim Pot  10K  R62, R66, R150  
    1  Alum. Electrolytic Capacitor (small w/radial leads)  10uF  C31  
    2  Alum. Electrolytic Capacitor (small w/radial leads)  22uF  C29, C30  
    7  Capacitor Alum. Nonpolarized (small w/radial leads)  1uF  C13, C16, C34, C37, C38, C39, C40  
    4  Capacitor Ceramic  .01uF  C1, C2, C23, C25  
    16  Capacitor Ceramic  .1uF  C3, C4, C5, C6, C11, C12, C14, C15, C19, C20, C27, C28, C32, C33, C35, C36  
    2  Capacitor Ceramic  .22uF  C18, C22  
    2  Capacitor Ceramic  22pF  C41, C42  
    6  Capacitor Ceramic  .0022uF  C7, C8, C9, C10, C17, C21  
    2  Tantalum Capacitor  4.7uF  C24, C26  
    4  SPST Switch  SPST  S2, S4, S5, S7  
    3  Switch SPDT  SPDT  S1, S2, S3  
    2  Switch SPST N.O. Push Button  SPST  S6, S8  
    43  Banana Jacks    
    19  Potentiometer Knobs    

     

    Synth-DIY Experimenter Board "Half Sandwich Version" Project Parts List    [Return to Top]

    This list has about half of the parts of the full list and if you build the "Half Sandwich Version" this is the list to use to order parts.

    Qty. Description Value Designators
    1  CD4013 Dual D Flip Flop  CD4013  U8  
    1  LM13700 Dual gm OpAmp or sub  LM13700, LM13600 or NJM13600  U5  
    1  LM3900 Quad Norton Op Amp  LM3900  U2  
    6  TL074 Quad Op Amp  TL074  U1, U3, U4, U6, U7, U9  
    3  2N3904  2N3904  Q1, Q5, Q7  
    1  PN4391 NFET  PN4391  Q3  
    5  1N914 Sw. Diode  1N914  D1, D2, D3, D4, D5  
    1  General Purpose LED  LED  LED1  
    2  Potentiometer Audio Taper  1M  R120, R124  
    7  Potentiometer Linear Taper  100K  R1, R43, R46, R72, R107, R125, R151  
    1  Potentiometer Linear Taper  1M  R108  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  470 Ohms  R105, R119  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  470K  R141, R142  
    3  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  47K  R79, R80, R127  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  560K  R83  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  6.2K  R78  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  62K  R4  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  7.5K  R10  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  1.5M  R152, R153  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  100 Ohms  R81  
    18  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  100K  R5, R6, R8, R51, R52, R56, R64, R71, R73, R76, R77, R101, R103, R121, R122, R123, R126, R146  
    6  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  10K  R11, R63, R74, R75, R104, R145  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  10M  R41  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  150K  R44  
    4  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  15K  R12, R14, R16, R128  
    7  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  1K  R9, R18, R19, R55, R61, R148, R149  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  1M  R143, R144  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  200K  R20, R99  
    5  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  20K  R7, R13, R15, R129, R147  
    3  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  270K  R2, R3, R17  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  2K  R70  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  30K  R59  
    3  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  3K  R69, R102, R106  
    1  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  3M  R45  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  4.7K  R82, R100  
    2  Trim Pot  10K  R62, R150  
    1  Alum. Electrolytic Capacitor  10uF  C31  
    2  Alum. Electrolytic Capacitor  22uF  C29, C30  
    4  Capacitor Alum. Nonpolarized  1uF  C13, C34, C38, C39  
    2  Capacitor Ceramic  .01uF  C1, C23  
    13  Capacitor Ceramic  .1uF  C3, C4, C5, C11, C12, C14, C15, C19, C20, C32, C33, C35, C36  
    1  Capacitor Ceramic  .22uF  C18  
    2  Capacitor Ceramic  22pF  C41, C42  
    3  Capacitor Ceramic  .0022uF  C7, C8, C17  
    1  Tantalum Capacitor  4.7uF  C24  
    2  SPST Switch  SPST  S2, S5  
    1  Switch SPDT  SPDT  S1  
    1  Switch SPST N.O. Push Button  SPST  S6  
    24  Banana Jacks    
    10  Potentiometer Knobs    

     

    Kludge Section Mixers Component List    [Return to Top]

    If you build either the full Sound Effects Box or the "Half Sandwich Version" you will need the following components in addition to those listed in the appropriate list above. These components are for the Audio and Sugnal Mixers built using the kludge area as well as for the general purpose Attenuators. Since the mixers are very simple and the component values are shown in the assembly drawings on the "Ideas..." tab there are no designators for these parts.

    Qty. Description Value
    2  Linear Potentiometers  100K  
    7  Audio Taper Potentiometers  100K  
    8  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  100K  
    2  Resistor 1/4 Watt 5%  200K  
    2  Capacitor Alum. Non-polarized small w/radial leads.  1uF  
    7  Capacitor Ceramic  .1uF  
    2  Capacitor Ceramic  47pF  
    1  Switch DPDT  DPDT  
    1  Jack 1/4" 2 Terminal    
    12  Banana Jacks    
    8  Potentiometer Knobs   

    Miscellaneous