Download
Share
Print this page
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. DIY Guitar Pedals Manuals
  4. Music Pedal
  5. Oil Tanker Fuzz
  6. Instructions manual

DIY Guitar Pedals Oil Tanker Fuzz Instructions Manual

Hide thumbs

Advertisement

Quick Links

Download this manual
Oil Tanker Fuzz
Design By Erik Vincent
Sometimes, bass players want something to pull them out of the mix and do something different. Sometimes the guitar
player wants to play clean or solos and there isn't a rhythm guitarist to back him up, leaving the bass player to fend for
himself. The Oil Tanker Fuzz fits the bill!
If you want nice beefy explosive fuzz that makes your bass sound like an oil tanker scraping up on concrete, give this
pedal a shot. This pedal is based around several fuzz pedal ideas and focuses on bass delivery for stage and recording
mix scenarios.
This also works great as a "refined" fuzz for guitar players alike.
The pedal uses 3 pot controls: Volume, Tone, and Fuzz. Beginner friendly; be sure to watch the build video for the Oil
Tanker to get an idea of how simple this build can be.
The PCB itself will fit snug into a 1590B enclosure.
1
www.diyguitarpedals.com.au

Advertisement

loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the Oil Tanker Fuzz and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for DIY Guitar Pedals Oil Tanker Fuzz

Summary of Contents for DIY Guitar Pedals Oil Tanker Fuzz

  • Page 1 The Oil Tanker Fuzz fits the bill! If you want nice beefy explosive fuzz that makes your bass sound like an oil tanker scraping up on concrete, give this pedal a shot.
  • Page 2 Bill of Materials, Stock Oil Tanker Fuzz Capacitor Resistor 22nF (film) 22μF (Electrolytic) 100K 100nF (film) 100K 33nF (film) 220nF (film) 5.6K Diode Potentiometer 1N4001 Fuzz 1kb (16mm) Volume 500ka (16mm) Tone 10kb (16mm) Transistor/MOSFET 2N5088 BS170 IRF520 (TO-220) IRF520 (TO-220)
  • Page 3 REV - REV A PCB Spacing The Oil Tanker Fuzz PCB is spaced for 1590B sized enclosures or larger Pot Spacing The Oil Tanker Fuzz PCB mounted potentiometers are spaced for Alpha 16mm potentiometers. www.diyguitarpedals.com.au...
  • Page 4 When soldering things to the PCB, the idea is to solder things on from lowest profile to tallest. For the Oil Tanker Fuzz, the best order would be: resistors, transistors, film capacitors, Power MOSFETs, electrolytic capacitors, wiring, and then potentiometers.
  • Page 5 1.2 Transistors/FETs (silicon). These semiconductor devices come in a few categories, such as BJT, JFET, MOSFET, and IGBT and are used for a variety of functions These devices typically only install one way, but pinouts can differ from different part numbers, so if using a different part number transistor than the one called out in the bill of materials will require that you check the datasheet of the transistor and check which legs are what pins for it to function properly.
  • Page 6 1.4 Power MOSFETs. Power MOSFETs can be used for switching, but also have an internal diode which can be used for clipping as well. The silks screen will indicate which way to fold the MOSFET if there isn’t room to have it stand straight up. After installation and soldering, do not forget to clip the remaining legs from the PCB.
  • Page 7 1.6 Wiring. Wires used for the pedal are for delivering power over the hot and ground wires as well as signal for the input and output. These can be installed at the very end, but in some situations, installing them before potentiometers are soldered in place can be advantageous.
  • Page 8 1.7 Potentiometers. Potentiometers are variable resistors that are used for controlling aspects of the pedal. This pedal can utilize 16mm pots. These are typically installed on the backside of the PCB and uses the included washer and jam-nut to mechanically secure the PCB to the enclosure via a strategically drilled hole on the enclosure. Orientation of potentiometer is preferred to line up the knob on the silk screen with the knob of the potentiometer.
  • Page 9 1.8 Off Board Wiring Diagram. Potentiometers are variable resistors that are used for controlling aspects of the pedal. Using a non-switched miniature DC Jack and 2 Mono Jacks www.diyguitarpedals.com.au...
  • Page 10 www.diyguitarpedals.com.au...
  • Page 11 MOSFETs. The input impedance on the Oil Tanker Fuzz is close to 3.4K Ω, which is very low and will load guitar pickups. A recommendation would be to put this pedal first on the pedal chain, just after the guitar.

  • Page 12: Power Supply

    3. Power Supply. The Power Supply Stage provides the electrical power to all the circuitry, the whole power consumption is low and estimated around 1mA: The diode D1 protects the pedal against adapter reverse polarity connections. For component economy, the power supply does not include any capacitors to remove ripple from the power line which is something common in raw fuzz pedals.
  • Page 13 For this math calculation the feedback network is ignored but in practice, it will lower the input impedance closer to 3.4KΩ. The Oil Tanker Fuzz has a very low input impedance that will change with the position of the R potentiometer.
  • Page 14 The Oil Tanker Fuzz low input impedance will load the guitar pickups. This is the reason why they do not respond well when they are placed after other pedals, it is best to place it first, or before them, in the pedal chain. However, due to this property, it responds to the guitars volume knob very well.

  • Page 15: Tone Control

    5. Tone Control. The tone control of the circuit is made up of a low pass filter created by R5 and either C4 and C5 or C4 and C5 with a 10K resistor between them, depending on how the blending tone 10K potentiometer is set. As the 9V rail is just a rail, to calculate and understand the tone filtering going on, you can assume ground.
  • Page 16 So when the tone potentiometer is turned all the way counter-clockwise and the tone becomes its most dark. The resistance of VR3 drops down from 10K to practically 0. C4 and C5 are now in parallel with each other, which means the capacitances of C4 and C5 add together.

  • Page 17: Output Stage

    6. Output Stage. The output stage is an Enhancement N-Channel MOSFET Common Source Amplifier coupled with a variable source degeneration resistor (RFUZZ=1KΩ). The 1KΩ R4 resistor is the drain resistor for the Q2 MOSFET which help sets the voltage gain, bias points, and maximum drain current.
  • Page 18 6.1 Output EQ Curve. In regards to the output capacitor of C3, changing the volume pot from a 500K resistance pot to a 100K resistance pot changes the high pass filter response. For example, changing C3 from 100nF to 10nF and changing the pot to 100K will give a much higher cut-off, making the sound brighter.
  • Page 19 6.2 Output Impedance. The value of the output impedance can be calculated using the formula: Parallel to R = 500K Parallel to 1,000 Ω = 998Ω The output impedance is affected by the feedback network and has a real value of 1.88KΩ (measured at 1 KHz with RVOL=500KΩ).
  • Page 20 Oil Tanker Fuzz sounds different with different batteries and with the same battery as it gets run down. The internal series resistance of the battery is added to the 1K Ω R4 resistor, modifying the value by a significant amount.
  • Page 21 6.4 Hard Clipping As the second stage is driven harder, it can reach hard clipping in both semi-cycles of the signal. The clipping begins softly for smaller signals (and gains) and then with the fuzz potentiometer action the clipping goes harder with harder playing.
  • Page 22 7. Feedback Network. Amplifiers use current or voltage as input or outputs, you can check the amplifier classification. The Oil Tanker Fuzz has a negative feedback called shunt-series feedback (Current Controlled Current Source CCCS). Part of the output current is...
  • Page 23 How does the feedback work in the Oil Tanker Fuzz? The job of the feedback network is basically to reduce the huge gain of the Oil Tanker Fuzz stages, making the whole circuit more stable and independent from problematic transistors: •...
  • Page 24 8. Voltage Readouts Below are the voltage readouts for the Oil Tanker Fuzz, assuming 9V Power Supply. KNOBS VOL: MAX TONE: MAX FUZZ: MAX www.diyguitarpedals.com.au...
  • Page 25 9. Modifications Following is a couple of worthwhile modifications that can be applied to the Oil Tanker Fuzz. 9.1 Capacitors Changing the values of C1 changes what frequencies that get passed into the pedal. Making C1 smaller amplifies less of the lower frequencies, while increasing C1’s capacitance will allow more bass into the pedal.
  • Page 26 10. Schematic. www.diyguitarpedals.com.au...
  • Page 27 POWER TONE SUST STOMP 5/15/2021 9:04 AM C:\Users\evincent\Documents\eagle\_Pedals\Oil Tanker Fuzz\Oil Tanker Fuzz 1590B Enclosure.brd...
  • Page 28 POWER TONE SUST STOMP 5/15/2021 9:04 AM C:\Users\evincent\Documents\eagle\_Pedals\Oil Tanker Fuzz\Oil Tanker Fuzz 125B Enclosure.brd...
  • Page 29 52.1 TONE SUST 26.0 44.5 11/5/2018 6:59 AM C:\Users\evincent.VINCENT\Documents\eagle\Pedals\Oil Tanker Fuzz\Oil Tanker Fuzz Layout.brd...