line output not "hot" enough---what to do?

[hyperparasite]

I am finishing up a couple of my first bent toys, but ran into a couple of problems with line output.

Problem #1: Used a 3.5mm mini phone jack on an electronic toy phone with a 1M potentiometer in place of the pitch resistor. As far as I can tell, I soldered the positive and negative leads to my output jack correctly. When I run it through my little 10 Watt practice amp, I have to turn the volume all the way up to get any audible sound level. Even maxed out, it isn't much louder than the speaker inside the toy. I have read about using resistors to tame down the output current when it is too hot, but what can I do when the current is not hot enough for an adequate output level?

Problem #2: This toy now has a 1/4 inch phone jack and a toggle switch to turn the speaker on and off, as per the diagram in Reed's book. When this is run through the same amplifier, I get a nice loud sound, but if I turn off the speaker switch, the line output is also turned off. I surmise that either my wiring job is "haywire" or I don't have the right toggle switch installed. It is a SPDT, but I noticed when buying them that there were several variants with different modes and momentary designations. I was getting confused when wiring it up and it took a couple of attempts before I could get the line output to work, but alas still I can't get the speaker and line output to operate independently...

[stolenfat]

#1- I suspect your wiring job isnt right. Remove the wires from the speakers, then to the center pegs of a Single Pole Dual Throw Switch and then more wires at the opposite ends, i did a little picto for you

#2- to get more output, i've tried hunting for a connection some where on the board that will vamp up the audio output. This has worked for me many times, but as usual with bending- it may not exist on your circuit board. Try referencing installing a little opamp, or preamp deelie, it might help

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Description:	#1 switch wire job
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[hyperparasite]

Thanks for the very helpful information and diagram. Since then I have been fiddling around with it and think that I happened upon one of the problems.

The #1 started working nice and loud through the amp, but only very intermittently (like when I would twist the adaptor on the 1/4 inch plug). Then I discovered that it would work reliably if I pulled the plugs apart and just held them together with enough pressure to only make the initial contact...

When I looked at the package for the adaptor I bought, it is a 1/4 STEREO to 3.5mm unit. This must be the source of the problem. Now I need to score some MONO adaptors so I don't go crazy from trying to troubleshoot this deal for so long.