Mini Guitar Amp

Mini guitar amplifier with a 3D printed casing.

(Since most people use Amazon I tried to find the parts I used on amazon)

Lm386 Acxio 10W mini amplifier board. -----> https://a.co/d/h4dCohX

Any sort of 9 Volt connector (These are the exact ones I used) -----> https://a.co/d/949XFeF

1/4 female guitar input jack, Mono TS socket panel mount jacks -----> https://a.co/d/4xIKgju

3.5mm aux cable for stereo speaker -----> https://a.co/d/iUDkrFB

Any desired style of on and off switches -----> https://a.co/d/erlWAx6

40hm 40mm diameter stereo speaker (exact speaker used) -----> https://a.co/d/j4x86eS

Note: *With these parts you can build two mini amps.*

Step one, battery and switch hookup.

Grab your switch and the 9 Volt connector, cut the Connectors "-" wire and solder both parts to the on and off switch.

Note: *You don't have to cut the battery - wire, but rather add another spare wire depending on the length you need*

*The green wire goes to the Acxio Board as seen in a later step, while the black wire is from the connector's negative battery wire*

The second step I took was to connect the 9 volt connector to the Acxio board with a screwdriver. (Before and after)

Note- *Make sure the - and + battery wires are in the correct spot as marked on the Acxio Board.*

Step three is to take the speaker and connect it to the Acxio the same way as you did the 9 volt. (Before and after)

Notes: *On the board it says "+ out -" make sure that's where the speaker wires will be connected.*

*Make sure speaker + and negative are in the right place.*

*You May have to solder some spare wires on the speaker*

Step four is where it starts to get a little more complicated, cut the Aux cable to a somewhat short length, about 5-7 inches is good, then strip the wires to separate the three wires inside.

Notes: *You can remove the film covering and shielding the wire*

*Messing up he wire is fine, make sure you have enough wire to work with*

Step five, complex but easy. First twist the white wire with the ground wire (silver) and solder them together.

Note: *Make sure the Green wire isn't touching either of the other wires you just connected*

Step six is to solder the white and ground wire to the TIP of the TS input jack as well as solder the green wire to the SLEEVE as seen in both photos.

Note: *This way of soldering will get rid of as much static as possible, to eliminate the static even more you can shield the inside of your casing*

*To identify the SLEEVE look for the prong connected to the innermost part of the input jack, where the guitar cable slips in*

Connect the aux 3.5mm jack to the Acxio board

Note: *The Amp is done from here, all that's left is an enclosure*

For the enclosure, anything could be used. My first prototype was a cardboard box that sounded great, I ended up modeling and printing a case for the amp, then tweaking some design, I'll provide the IPT files for the final enclosure if you would like to tweak the design. *This was all modeled in Autodesk Inventor*

To assemble it in the enclosure provided,

The Acxio potentiometer will go into the larger hole on the righthand side of the front of the box, while the TS input jack will go on that left side smaller hole.

The battery connector will be glued to the inside of the box on the righthand side.

The switch can go in the switch hole that's on the (top view) lefthand side of the box, use hot glue to hold it in place.

The speaker will go under the hole at the top and can be glued on the rims to be held in place.

*Interior example provided*

This miniamp took a while for me to make but its super fun to use and i would recommend giving it a try. The tone has a old school rock grit to it and I'm extremely proud of my work.

Here is a video of me showing the volume and tone that the amp has.