Good Signal Generator for guitar pedal design for around 150 or under. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: perfect_disturbance
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 09:33:02 pm
content: I'm looking for a signal generator I can use to develop guitar pedal circuits.I've seen some places recommend using your phone or DIY signal generators but that seems a little hacky.I could connect my guitar and play a few notes but it's hard to play and probe and operate the oscilloscope at the same time. I saw someone on another forum suggest a looper which may work but guitar signals are not always super clean and it's hard to see what's the signal and what's distortion caused by the circuit. So it would be nice to send a clean sign wave into the pedal if necessary.That said I don't really need much just to be able to reliably generate Audio like signals or a clean sign wave roughly in the audio frequency range. I would also like something with a little flexibility in case I need to use it for troubleshooting other circuits in the future.Points are to be given for reliability and ease of use not necessarily for extreme precision.I think this can be accomplished for around 150 (or less).So here are my top contenders but I'm open to suggestions.1. OWON DGE20702. UNI-T UTG962E (On the high end of what I'm looking to spend but I've seen them on sale for in my range)3. SeeSii DDS Signal Generator Counter 60MHz (or similar Feeltech, Koolertron, etc they all seem similar)I'm also open to alternate solutions.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 10:06:48 pm
content: I'll use the soundcard of any desktop/laptop/tablet/phone. For the audio range only, no $150 signal generator can beat a casual sound card. There are free programs that can generate a continuous tone, or records to generate test sounds.

author: perfect_disturbance
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 10:17:05 pm
content: Yeah I thought about a sound card but I don't have a computer at my electronic bench. I'm also not crazy about having my 1000 dollar phone or 2000 dollar laptop wired up to my experimental 9v circuit.

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 11:24:21 pm
content: No to options 1 and 3, but UTG932E is fine, and should be in your budget. I used to use one for tube amps/pedals before the rabbit hole rabbit holed.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 11:25:05 pm
content: hows about a cheap mp3 player

author: perfect_disturbance
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 10, 2025, 11:42:19 pm
content: Is the consensus really that I would be better served by a 30 dollar mp3 player? I suppose I could look into it.

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 12:56:24 am
content: No, absolutely not the consensus. The people making these suggestions probably don't do this kind of work. If any of them do, it's even less likely to be professionally.The UTG932E is a good choice for your budget. If you can spend more, then get an SDG1032X Plus or SDG2042X, but they're not necessary, just nicer. One benefit of the Siglent models is that they work seemlessly with Siglent scopes to do things like FFT or Bode plots.With a real signal generator (even a budget model like the UTG932E), you can dial in the exact frequency and amplitude that you want, and rely on the signal to be decent quality and stable. Depending on the model, you can also sweep frequency or amplitude, which can obviously come in handy during testing.I typically use 300mVpp for guitar level, but the type of pickups and electronics can vary that, so having a range that you can dial in is important.Thanks,Josh

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 01:20:09 am
content: Quotewanna bet? would rather destroy a 10 quid mp3 player than £100 signal genny or a £1000 phone when power gets shoved up its output,plus you can use the sounds the unit is designed to work with,a guitar aint just producing 1 nice fixed frequency sine wave

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 01:55:05 am
content: I've never heard of a guitar pedal having enough power to destroy a signal generator.Have you ever worked on a guitar pedal or an amp? I have decades of experience building guitars, tube amps, and effect pedals and I've not destroyed a single signal generator. Nor have I ever heard of another luthier/technician doing that.Output level from an MP3 player or a phone is not instrument/guitar level. Things are far less likely to be damaged if you can actually control your test setup/environment. That means dialing in the 300mVpp voltage (or whatever your specific target is) that you want to see, rather than relying on a device with an output of around 775mVrms (headphone/speaker output avarage).If you're paranoid you can add a protection circuit in front of the singal generator.Or buy an analog signal generator like the Tenma 72-505 (if you can find one), but I still hate the lack of precision. It's annoying to tweak the amplitude knob connected to a meter before you can use it as a test signal. Oops! Did I bump it?? Better check the output level again! No thanks. Mine is old, and the signal isn't great anymore either.If the goal is to get consistent results with a controllable test environment, there are tools for that. Use the tools.

author: BillyO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 02:21:33 am
content: Quote from: themadhippy on October 11, 2025, 01:20:09 amSounds a little silly. None of what the OP has specified would do this... with a 9V battery? LOL!If, perchance, you had a 240V powered tube pedal that had been invaded by a Brillo pad you could always use an in-line capacitor to block any pesky HV DC.Besides, if you want objective, quantitative analysis a SG is the only way to go. Once you have made your observations and are satisfied with the results, you can then sit back and play your favorite van Halen album, or the Rimsky-Korsakov trombone concerto, through your pedal.

author: elektryk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 06:41:31 am
content: You can buy signal generator, but cheap PC/notebook may be also usable.There are programs that can easily measure frequency response, THD and others with single click.I used it for speaker cabinet and amp design.

author: Calambres
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 06:52:46 am
content: Quote from: KungFuJosh on October 11, 2025, 01:55:05 amMe neither and I also have decades of experience building guitar pedals.I've got several sinal generators, from one constructed by me to some chinesium to a Siglent SDG1032X which is the one I use the most but, strictly, for this any will make, eventhe cheapest AliExpress kit offering

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2025, 02:58:16 pm
content: Quote from: Calambres on October 11, 2025, 06:52:46 amI'd bet there's a reason you use that one the most! Probably more than one.

author: Calambres
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2025, 10:34:56 am
content: Simply because it is the best I have, the more user friendly and because it is sitting just right in front of me in my bench... still, for Guitar pedal debugging any generator able to supply decent sine and square waves in the 20Hz-20Khz range (even less!) and from, say, 100mVpp to 1Vpp is all you need.

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2025, 01:16:52 pm
content: Indeed! Having a nice and reliable workflow is not a bad thing.

author: rusoaie
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2025, 01:26:28 pm
content: Battery-powered Bluetooth receiver - cheap, easily replaceable (you can buy them in 5-packs), floating ground, can be connected to phone or laptop, THD+N below -80dB / 0.01%Downsides: output usually limited to around 1-2Vrms

author: Simmed
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2025, 01:40:19 pm
content: Quote from: KungFuJosh on October 11, 2025, 01:55:05 ami sort of circumvent this by saving them as wavefiles and then activate as a playbackby editing the volume (and measuring o/p), i can get the o/p level i need. i also mix up different levels/signalsso i just play the file i need in loops/playlist

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 12, 2025, 02:07:50 pm
content: Quote from: Simmed on October 12, 2025, 01:40:19 pmThat's not terrible if you're not doing this a lot but it's not giving reliable precision, and the workflow is tedious vs using a proper signal generator. You still need to measure you Vpp output level and make sure you're at your target, and you need to verify every now and then.That's no problem if you're working on 1 pedal. If it's a more serious hobby, or a business, then it's not an option.The question becomes are you more interested incheaporefficient, effective, and reliable? If it's something you're serious about, then it's like I said before: there are tools for this, use the tools.

author: perfect_disturbance
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2025, 01:18:11 am
content: I was just watching this Kerry Wong videohttps://youtu.be/wnn7E6sbsQA?si=1RYPt7IGfvg9UZQihe seemed pretty favorable towards the Owon dge2070. Made me wonder what people's reasons were to go with the uni-t over the Owon?

author: KungFuJosh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 13, 2025, 01:42:36 am
content: Either one of those are fine. If the prices are the same for you, try the Owon and see if you like it. The arb storage is potentially useful.