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[pneaveill]

You can bump this thread all you want, if nobody has an answer it won't help you any 

Theres a few threads on this board about getting output volumes down to managable levels. Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.

UNless of course its just way to early in the morning and i don't know what i'm talking about, in which case that may not work or i could be answering a completely different question. 

So are we bending or bumping 

[Gordonjcp]

Theres a few threads on this board about getting output volumes down to managable levels. Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.

Do it the other way round, with the speaker across the ends of the pot and the wiper going to the output.  That way when the volume is all the way down it doesn't short out the power amp.

[noystoise]

im thinking that this toy probably employs a a transistor or two to amplify the sound before it goes to the speaker. ive noticed that in a lot of cheaper toys like this, the speaker is connected to the singnal out from the transistor on one end, and the positive voltage on the other rather than the ground. if this is the case you should be able to connect the signal from the transistor to the tip and the shield to the toy's ground. as long as the speaker is still connected, this should fix your problem. then you could go about adding a volume pot to the signal to the output jack. if you wanted to get rid of the speaker, you'll want to add a 10ohm pull up resistor to keep it working.

[goldenbaby]

Argh, I think I'm getting stupider with each bend.

Try with the positive speaker output going to the middle pot tag with one side of the pot going to the jack positive and the other going to ground.

So, disconnect the wire going to positive terminal on the speaker, put it to middle tag of pot, wire one side tag of pot to jack positive and the other side tag of pot to ground...(is ground gonna be what was connected to the negative terminal on the speaker?  I don't know how speakers are wired, I guess).

Do it the other way round, with the speaker across the ends of the pot and the wiper going to the output.  That way when the volume is all the way down it doesn't short out the power amp.

I want to control the volume of the jack.  Were you referring to the output of the jack?  If so, what should I do with the negative/ground of the jack.

im thinking that this toy probably employs a a transistor or two to amplify the sound before it goes to the speaker. ive noticed that in a lot of cheaper toys like this, the speaker is connected to the singnal out from the transistor on one end, and the positive voltage on the other rather than the ground. if this is the case you should be able to connect the signal from the transistor to the tip and the shield to the toy's ground. as long as the speaker is still connected, this should fix your problem. then you could go about adding a volume pot to the signal to the output jack. if you wanted to get rid of the speaker, you'll want to add a 10ohm pull up resistor to keep it working.

I know nothing about signals and shields of transistors.  I'll do a search or something tomorrow.

Forgive me, guys, I post a lot and am still pretty brutal at bending.  Apparently anti-theory is not quite enough afterall. :\

[Gordonjcp]

You need to have the "open" end of the variable resistor grounded, otherwise that won't work properly.  You should also have a capacitor between the output tranny and the variable resistor to block the DC, which might damage things if the volume was all the way up.

You're spot on about the load resistor if you take the speaker out, though.

[noystoise]

You need to have the "open" end of the variable resistor grounded, otherwise that won't work properly.  You should also have a capacitor between the output tranny and the variable resistor to block the DC, which might damage things if the volume was all the way up.

your right, grounding say a 5-10k log pot would be the proper way to attenuate the signal. hmm, i never thought about the capacitor. that makes sense though. i'll have to try that out next time.

So, disconnect the wire going to positive terminal on the speaker, put it to middle tag of pot, wire one side tag of pot to jack positive and the other side tag of pot to ground...(is ground gonna be what was connected to the negative terminal on the speaker?  I don't know how speakers are wired, I guess).

do you have a multi tester? i dont know what your circuit looks like, but i think that the speaker is connected to the positive voltage(+6volts), and a transistor. the transistor side would be the output and the positive voltage side would not be connected to the out put jack. the "tip" is the output side of the jack and the shield is the ground side. the shield should be connected to the "-" side of the batteries. a multi tester would let you know if the positive voltage was in fact going to the speaker, or not. this is all a lot easier than it seems. sorry if it sounds confusing.

[goldenbaby]

After 3 months of not touching any of my circuits, I just hooked up the jack alone, plugged it into my amp, and it sounded good.  It doesn't sound particularly "hot," though it probably is still louder than my guitar would be.  Would it really be destructive if I didn't cut down the signal?  How can I measure the strength of the output signal with my multi-meter, and how low should the signal be?

I find this question important, because although I have a soundboard and guitar amp to run gear though, I would like the option of plugging my CBOs directly into my Macbook (and y'know, I'd hate to blow the line inputs on that).