Modifications of my Moog Etherwave standard

Hello,

I'm a french newbie who owns a Moog Etherwave standard and started playing a year ago.
I practiced more actively during the last 3 - 4 months and can decently play half a dozen tunes.
My wife is a piano player but most of my rehearsal work is done with recorded background.

I installed an ESPE01 module which, I feel, is a great improvement (thank you Thierry).

I also added a mute switch. This is a great feature to have and I dont' understand why it's not a default on all theremins.
I used a flip switch, much more convenient than the push button added by Moog on the new version.

However, the case shape of the new version gave me an idea for an other modification.
All Etherwave players certainly noticed that, in normal playing position, it is impossible to read the labels above the 4 rotating knobs !
You have to kneel down in front of your theremin or bent your back sideways since the labels are hidden under the top of the wood enclosure.

Ok, it's only 4 knobs and labels and, after some time, you should be able to remember which is which.
But still, I found that so irritating that I decided to attack that wooden cover with my router, saws and files.
The result hereunder.

Before (can you read anything ?):

After :

Next modification : changing the rotation direction of the waveform knob.
To me, it's logical to have the pure sinewave fully counterclockwise.

Happy new year to all of you !

(Sorry for screwdriver, screws and my grandson in the background)

Andre, I did a similiar mod with a switch, but I added headphone capability.  I used a double pole switch with center off position (for mute). I discovered the amplifier chip was capable of driving headphones, so I added a larger coupling cap with a 57 ohm resistor.  I soldered a wire at the junction of C35 and R32, added the 10uf cap and 57 ohm resistor and soldered it to one side of the switch.  I attached the wire that went to the ring of the audio output jack and moved it to the other side of the switch and the ring of the jack is wired to the center switch terminal.  Now I can switch between headphone audio and amp output audio and in the center position, no audio is fed to the jack, muting it.  Only do this mod if you're comfortable modifying your Etherwave.  You do it at your own risk.

By the way, Andre, Moog has put a mute switch on their new Etherwave, as well as extending the bass range.

Interesting to know that the amplifier is capable of driving headphones.
Thanks a lot for the information.
However, headphones level cannot be adjusted.

When rehearsing, I usually play with both background music (stereo) and theremin sound in my headphones.
I use a small mixer (ARTcessories Powermix III) : https://www.thomann.de/gb/art_powermix_iii.htm.
One entry for the background (MP3 on my smartphone) and an other one for the theremin.
This mixer has line and headphones outputs which allows me to use headphones and/or an amplified speaker.
Output levels can be adjusted separatetly for each imput and for line and headphones outputs.

Oh true about the headphone level.  It wasn't an issue for me because the volume is controlled by my hand, so I can change the volume when I play. Plus, my headphones and  earbuds have volume controls in their cables.

Oops, forgot to mention this.  I also rehearse while mixing the background audio with the theremin into headphones when I want to be unheard.😀  I have been using a Bluetooth speaker with the Etherwave when I practice, with an audio cable from the theremin to the aux input on the speaker.  I had hoped I could also feed the background music from the tablet, but sadly, the bluetooth audio turns off when aux audio is present. 

Thanks for your feedback.

I just reversed the connections of the waveform pot.
It works (I had no doubt, actually !)
I just wonder why it isn't wired that way by Moog.
Zero effect with both pots fully counterclockwise seems logical to me...