Electronic Piano Soldering Kit (Intermediate Level) by Electronix Express

This kit was fun to put together but the end result was not quite what I expected. It took me about 30 minutes to solder all the components onto the board, but I’m experienced (and was in a hurry). It’s a simple circuit in the grand scheme of DIY kits; the main IC controlling the circuit is a classic 555 timer. I used a 9v battery and did not try the DC jack. You can flip between two different frequency settings (set by ceramic capacitors, 103 and 104 value) to produce two different sets of eight tones when you press the keys. The fundamentals are shown here, recorded using a spectrum analyzer app on my phone:103 capacitor: 3.1, 3.3, 3.7, 4.1, 4.6, 5.3, 6.1 and 7.3kHz104 capacitor: 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.8 and 2.1kHze.g. on the 103 capacitor setting, pressing the left “Do” button produces a sound with a 3.1kHz fundamental and corresponding harmonics (e.g. 6.2kHz, 9.3kHz, and so on).First, the output is VERY loud with no way to control volume (on par with a smoke alarm when it goes off). Second, the sounds are really not very “musical” at all. For the musically trained, middle C (or C4, which corresponds to the left “Do” on the board) should be 261.6Hz and the sequence is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C ending at C5 or 525.2Hz. As you can see, all the musical tones the keyboard plays are much too high. They could loosely be considered an octave in that the last note is roughly double the first note, but you really can’t tell by listening to it. That said, it might be worth setting up the circuit on a breadboard first and selecting capacitor values that can replicate the typical musical scale. Given the price, you get what you pay for, but this was worthwhile to learn about producing tones and is great for beginner level soldering. I include the assembled picture from the Electronix Express website

Everything about this kit is high QualityPCB is thick and looks solidCircuit printing and metal used is of high QualityAll components are labeled wellInstructions are one of the best I have seen in such itemsOverall a great kit for soldering. Will help kids understand how things work and what is under the hood.Do not expect it to be matching notes with an expensive Piano. It is more of a fun and non-professional item.IC 555 is a versatile IC and it is good to understand its different functionsFew minor issues:1) The tone control switch is not of much use. Only one set of tones are loud enough2) The DC input pin is not of much use. You will anyway will use it with 9V battery. I end up short circuiting its point on the circuit3) 9V battery is not included (not an issue as it is clearly mentioned that it is not included), make sure you have one with you

Don't think that you're going to play much music on this piano. Its value is mostly in assembly and practice soldering. My 10yo daughter built it in an hour or so. Once completed and powered by a 9V, the unit made a couple of buzzes and then went dead. After she gave up, I went over it carefully looking for shorts and testing continuity, and found no issues, I removed some excess solder from some points. At some point it just started making sound again. I suspect that one or more circuitboard points needed a solder point on both sides of the hole to work. It needs a lot of voltage to be loud enough to hear through its speaker. On my unit, at least, the last two buttons produced a buzz that was way out of tune. My opinion is that there are better solder projects available at half the price.

The quality of this board is great! The instructions could be more helpful, but really the silkscreen layer has everything you need! Be prepared with a 9V battery, I had to run to the store to grab one.It was good enough to get my dog to sing/howl along, but I gave it 3 stars because it is definitely not "in tune." (Clearly my dog is tone-deaf.)Putting it up to a tuner I can tell you it does not start or end near a standard C and it does not have the appropriate full/half steps in between.To be more specific, these are the notes I got. Note that they were each off key:B, Db, D, E, Gb, A, B, DI appreciated that the board labeled the notes (do, re, mi, ..., do), however this ended up being a novelty toy that didn't quite achieve its goal. Nevertheless, I had a fun time putting this together and enjoyed the kit. I am sure many people are in it for the trip and not the destination, so I am happy to recommend this.

I was able to solder all the parts and have it working in the end. It took me nearly 40 minutes to find a way to connect the wires to the terminal as it was not made clear, nor was a tool included for doing the task.* The thing is out of tone, and definitely doesn't follow the musical scale correctly.* The speaker rattles unless you set it on top of something* The battery creates interference unless you move it away.* The wires for the battery attachment are super cheap and continuously break.I'd be mad, but really, the whole point of buying this was to get a chance to practice soldering PCB boards as I have started working in circuitry a hobby.

All in all it was a fun little project. I enjoy soldering so i bought it just so I could get to solder. However it was missing one of the capacitors and the LED was broken. Thankfully my boyfriend is an electrical engineer and had spare parts that I could borrow, but if he hadn’t it probably wouldn’t have worked.

This is an OK project to practise soldering, but don't expect a musical instrument when you are done. Mine emits a constant wail from moment it is powered on. Although the tone buttons all work, since the overlay of the persist wail continues, it is useless and anything but a soldering project. The vendor sent me trouble-shooting tips which had nothing to do with this project, but at least they responded. Only buy it if you want to have some practice soldering and don't care if it really works or not.

My 12 year old daughter was able to complete this in about an hour. It was a good final product to her one quarter class on electronics. Her soldering was so good I may have her join the child labor in China.

Built this with my 14-year old - I helped him with technique and then he did 3/4 of the soldering on his own. Gave him some variety in sizes of connections, learning about tinning wires, etc. Great reward when it all works in the end, and good sarcastic fun to be had over the whole "musical" end of it (all the musicality of a smoke alarm; Schubert would have been that much better had he used this instead of some dumb grand piano). Simulated telegraph noises are fun. All in all worth it for a rainy day activity!