First December Circuit Build = Done!

You take small parts success with huge piles of failure, and that is the meaning of life. Regardless, I took thirty minutes today to finish the first December build and put it into the books. I was really looking forward to this little circuit, but I skimped on parts and it bit me in the ass. As you can see below, it's a super simple layout that's supposed to yield a pretty neat little overdrive. Instead of a 2N5088 I used a C1740 (pinout adjusted correctly), and instead of a 2Meg resistor I used a 2.2Meg. The results I got were more of a Fuzz having an asthma emergency than an overdrive. My mistake!

Knowing my mistakes means I know what to fix in 2024. The main thing is the first December build is in the books. The circuit works, albeit not correctly, so I know there is hope for it to be rectified in the future. Trust me, I have quite a few circuits that still need some troubleshooting that are far worse than what I ended up from this little thing. No biggy. I'll just order the right parts when I can and when troubleshooting time comes along I'll get it working the way it's supposed to. Maybe I can still make the C1740 work, I just need to bias it correctly. We'll see what ends up happening.

Now I'm looking forward to the next build on the 23rd, which I hope turns out better than this one currently is. The Screaming Tree seems like a simple enough treble boost circuit. It's a tiny bit more complex than the Em-Drive, but it's still small enough that it should be easily accomplished. The main thing, at least in my mind, isn't so much the results of the builds, but rather having these dates down in the books. These dates truly mean a lot to me, so if I can't celebrate them the way I wish I could, building a circuit and having that as a permanent part of my life is the next best thing. Don't get me wrong, I want these circuits to work, but things can be adjusted later down the road to make them work better. And that's a metaphor for life kids!

UPDATE

I dug out my last 2N5088 and this circuit sounds better, still not perfect, but it does sound better. It's still sputtery, but so was its brother the Paramount Drive until I cranked the amp. I'm not currently able to do my Kali test, but I'm hoping to get the same results when I can. The only part that's not to spec is the 2.2Meg resistor. Looks like I'll be ordering a small amount of 2Meg resistors just to see what the results are. Even if it doesn't change anything, I'll know I used all the correct value parts and it is as good as it can be. I'm happier with this circuit now that it sounds better too.