Kirch's "TONE-STICK"

TOOLS (for total project):
Ruler / Tape Measure
Multimeter
Soldering Iron
Wire Cutters
Hemostats
needle-nose pliers
Drill / Electric Screwdriver
saws (a big one and a small one)
scissors

The circuit (which is insanely small) uses:
1: switch, anything that will just do On & Off
1: IC-Spacing PerfBoard
2: Decent Stereo Wire (Co-Ax if you wanna be fancy) (well, at least 2)
?: Jumpers you'll need 5 max to wire the circuitboard
1: 555 Timer IC
1: 2.2K- Ohm resistor (3 red stripes)
2: 0.1 uF Polyester Capacitor (they get soldered together to make ONE 0.2 uF cap.)
1: 22 uF 16V Electrolytic Capacitor
1: 9V battery connector
1: 1/4 in. Audio Plug

The Ribon Controller uses:
1: VHS video tape (check with a multimeter to see if the lighter side is resistive)
1: 2 inch wide, and pretty durn long
1: double sided tape
1: double sided FOAM tape
1: Roll of duct tape
1: Roll of tin foil
4: short screws & matching washers

Finishing Touches are:
1: Altoids Tin (or project box)
4: Insulated/nylon Standoffs

OPTIONAL:
1: 10k Pot
1: IC Socket

The Tools

Ruler / Tape Measure To figure out how long to cut the wood
Multimeter: You'll need this to measure the resistence of the video-tape.
Soldering Iron: You'll need this for wiring the circuit
Wire Cutters: For the jumpers & long leads off the components
Hemostats: You'll see once you start, these help holding the wires in place while you solder them
needle-nose pliers: These are always helpful in soldering, they save your fingers
screw-driver: For the Ribon-Contoller essembly
saw: Get a Big Saw & a Small Saw, the big saw for the ribbon controller, the small saw for the circuit board
scissors: Gotta cut the different tapes with SOMETHING!

The Circuit

That's kinda self-explanatory. Remember to make sure that you're soldering things to the right pins, I messed up a couple solder-joints and had to go through the trouble of fixing them. There are a few different ways to make an oscillator, some sound better and some sound worse, but this is the one I made and I think it sounds nice.

The Ribon Controller

Alright, so I havn't made this yet, but I'm sure that it will work, we'll start with the... uhm ... well, there's no good place to start really. OK, take the Video-Tape and your handy-dandy Multimeter, set the multimeter to figure resistance, measure a length of tape at 200 K-Ohm resistance and figure in enough tape to wrap around the corner of the wood cut the wood to length. Using the double sided tape affix the video-tape to the wood, and you're a good bit of the way done! Ok, now roll out a peice of tin-foil the length of the wood and carefully put the duct-tape ontop of it, being very careful set another peice of duct-tape ontop of that and another, this will make it sturdier , make sure EVERYTHING is nice and flat now put a peice of the double-sided FOAM tape next to the VHS-tape's wrap-around, place a washer and put the duct-tape/tin-foil over the foam tape. place a screw through the washer, this is one of your terminals now screw a washer on the VHS-tape's corner (over the VHS Tape) this is your other terminal, you've finished the ribon controller!

Finishing Touches

MAKE ROOM FOR THE BATTERY! : Using your drill/saw to make room for a switch, the audio output, the wires to the ribon controller, the stand-offs, and screws to affix the box to the controller. CAREFULLY trim your circuit board to the size of the tin/project box. Screw the stand-offs to the tin/box. Screw the box to the side of the ribon-controller near the terminals. Place the wires to the Ribon-Controller terminals through the tin/box and use the screws to hold them in the terminals (like the antenna on a really old TV) attach the switch in the box & install the audio output MAKE SURE TO LEAVE ROOM FOR THE BATTERY! screw in the circuit board, plug in a 9 volt & close the case. plug into an AMP & ROCK OUT!

Options

The 10k Pot can be hooked up as a volume control, one end to the 25 uF capacitor, the middle to the sleave of the audio out, and the last one to the ground like so:

The IC socket can be used if you're worried about ruining the IC while soldering, I think it's easier to use the IC socket, I used one, and it was nice when I messed up the wiring.