so my first time building one of these things

[southtown]

doing the electro harmonics mole, looks simple enough, did it on wishboard/breadboard stuff and it hums like crazy, now i have questions. what do the earth signs mean? does it buzz coz its not in a case help plz?

[petemoore]

All grounds must be connected together and to In/Out Ground [sleeve connections.
 I take a double length of stranded wire [6-8 inches], strip insulation in the middle and both sides, solder the middle, use one for circuit ground to jack/ sleeveS, the other for the volume pot, I do offboard wiring last.
 Higher gain circuits I'll trim the wires to fit the box layout when I'm hooking the pots to them, some I'll lay along the box interior.
 Data sheet has transistor pinout, draw this on the schematic.

[petemoore]

http://www.digchip.com/datasheets/parts/datasheet/088/2N5089.php
 Daft cruddy link they want you to sign up...
 Just google, type in 2n5089 and look around and you can find the pinout.
 Try 'Fairchild Electronics'.

[bwanasonic]

Generally speaking, when you see a common symbol (earth, Vb, Vcc, +9v, etc. ) throughout a schematic, it means these points are equivalent to having thier leads twisted together. There are some layout considerations for noise and hum when grounding, and yes, not having an enclosure can contribute to noise problems. Whether this is what's causing your hum is hard to say. Perf it, stuff it in a box and see what happens! You certainly want to have a decent practical grasp of what " the earth signs mean" before proceeding too much further.

Kerry M