How Ten Turn Pots Are Made

It is easy to think of a potentiometer as a simple device, but there are many nuances. For example, some pots are linear — a change of a few degrees at the low end will change the resistance …

DIY Pocket PONG Breaks The Mobile Spell

[Minikk], aka [Athul] is about to enter 10th grade and reports that they and their contemporaries are eschewing boring mobile games for 90s stuff and old games like PONG. Well, we already knew the …

A Classroom-Ready Potentiometer From Pencil And 3D Prints

If you need a potentiometer for a project, chances are pretty good that you’re not going to pick up a pencil and draw one. Then again, if you’re teaching someone how a variable resistor…

Pimp My Pot Redux, Now Cheaper And Even Better

If there’s one thing we like around here more than seeing an improved version of a project we’ve already covered, it’s when the improvements make the original project cheaper. In …

High-Resolution MIDI Controller

For an older standard, MIDI has remarkable staying power in the music industry. It remains the de facto digital interface between computers and instruments thanks to its open nature, but its age do…

Making A Guitar Go To Eleven, The Hard Way

At the end of the day, all it takes to make a guitar go to eleven is a new knob. Making the knob is another thing — that takes a shop full of machine tools, the expertise to use them, and a w…

Hall Sensors Offer Drop-In Replacement For Drifting Game Console Joysticks

No bananas were harmed in the making of this Hall effect drift-proof joystick replacement. OK, not really — two bananas were turned to mush. But it’s OK, they’re just bananas, aft…

Brass Hardware Makes For Pretty Potentiometer Knobs

Knobs and switches can make or break the aesthetic and tactile appeal of a project. Fine hi-fi hardware goes hard on these details, while cheap knock-off guitar pedals often go the other way. If yo…

A Wheatstone Bridge Matches Your Pots

Sometimes the simplest hacks can be the most useful or ingenious, and such is the case with [Keri Szafir]’s method of ensuring that potentiometers used in audio devices are matched. If you co…

Giving Vintage Synths New Life In A Potentiometer Cleaning Showdown

As anyone who has ever owned a piece of older equipment that has a potentiometer in it can attest to, these mechanical components do need their regular cleaning ritual. Whether it’s volume kn…