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Step 17Play It! Tune it! Play it Some More!
Hopefully, the tuning you did in step 9 is still okay. Before plugging the guitar into power, again check to make sure nothing is shorted by testing with a multimeter. Before plugging the guitar into an amplifier, measure the output with an oscilloscope (or in a pinch, a multimeter) to make sure there is no DC bias, and to make sure the output is 1 Volt peak-to-peak.
If the output is happy, go ahead and plug the Prism into an amp and play around! I haven't played with mine nearly enough to have developed a technique, so feel free to play yours in whatever way produces the best sounds. Play around with the knobs and experiment with the sounds it produces. Take some time to get used to "plucking" laser strings that you can't feel, and can barely see. Note how your hand position on the neck influences the frequency in a non-linear way.
If anything doesn't sound quite right, you may have to open up the guitar and do some fine tuning of the internal potentiometers. Here is what the various potentiometers do:
R34 changes how sensitive the range finder is - that is, through how many octaves the frequency changes from close to far range.
R40 is also used for tuning sensitivity, at higher frequencies.
R33 adjusts fine tuning - this can pull the overall output frequency range higher or lower. It also helps "squelch" noise produced by the range finder.
R36 adjusts sine "roundness" - adjust this for a good sine curve
R39 adjusts sine and triangle wave symmetry (ie. how far they lean to one side) - adjust this for a centered waveform.
R35 adjusts sine and tri offset - aim for zero DC offset.
R38 adjusts output amplitude - line-level output (for compatibility with guitar amps) should be 1Vp-p. If you're controlling another synthesizer, adjust all the way up to 10Vp-p, or as needed.
R58 adjusts sine distortion of the LFO output. Adjust for a good sine curve.
R59 adjusts the DC offset of the LFO. Aim for zero offset.
R60 adjusts the amplitude of the LFO, from a slight flutter to drastic up-and down changes
If the output is happy, go ahead and plug the Prism into an amp and play around! I haven't played with mine nearly enough to have developed a technique, so feel free to play yours in whatever way produces the best sounds. Play around with the knobs and experiment with the sounds it produces. Take some time to get used to "plucking" laser strings that you can't feel, and can barely see. Note how your hand position on the neck influences the frequency in a non-linear way.
If anything doesn't sound quite right, you may have to open up the guitar and do some fine tuning of the internal potentiometers. Here is what the various potentiometers do:
R34 changes how sensitive the range finder is - that is, through how many octaves the frequency changes from close to far range.
R40 is also used for tuning sensitivity, at higher frequencies.
R33 adjusts fine tuning - this can pull the overall output frequency range higher or lower. It also helps "squelch" noise produced by the range finder.
R36 adjusts sine "roundness" - adjust this for a good sine curve
R39 adjusts sine and triangle wave symmetry (ie. how far they lean to one side) - adjust this for a centered waveform.
R35 adjusts sine and tri offset - aim for zero DC offset.
R38 adjusts output amplitude - line-level output (for compatibility with guitar amps) should be 1Vp-p. If you're controlling another synthesizer, adjust all the way up to 10Vp-p, or as needed.
R58 adjusts sine distortion of the LFO output. Adjust for a good sine curve.
R59 adjusts the DC offset of the LFO. Aim for zero offset.
R60 adjusts the amplitude of the LFO, from a slight flutter to drastic up-and down changes
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