The DAM Meathead Deluxe is a fuzz pedal. Its controls are simple: a Filter knob and an Attack knob, plus an onboard bias trim pot on the circuit board. The Filter knob adds bass as you turn it clockwise and works as a bass and treble shaper, because the input signal passes through it. The Attack control jumps to full on at the end of its sweep, which the layout builder describes as normal behavior for this circuit1.
How the circuit relates to other DAM fuzzes
The Meathead Deluxe shares its basic design with the D*A*M Drag'n'nFly. The input through the Filter pot is the same in both pedals; the difference is the input capacitor, with the Meathead using a 1uF cap and the Drag'n'nFly a 10uF1. Because the input cap feeds the Filter pot, changing its value changes how the tone control behaves: the Filter pot gives all values from 1uF down to 4.7nF, and 33nF gives what the builder calls "Dark" values, while 390nF was used for the original Meathead, which switched between caps1.
"For what I can see, this effect is very similar to the Drag'n'nFly. The input trough Filter pot is just the same in both"
The bias trimmer
The onboard bias trim pot can be made external if a builder prefers a panel control. Turned very far, it gives a gated and spitty sound, which is why the builder thought an external version would be worth having1.
DIY layouts
Guitar FX Layouts published stripboard and tagboard layouts for the Meathead Deluxe in January 2012, in compact and mojo versions, along with older file versions with and without an LED resistor1. One note for anyone building from the LED layout: an extra cut in the cut/link layout, the lower one just left of the link, blocked signal to the 100nF cap. The site corrected it after it was reported1.
A bass-oriented relative
Jeds Peds sells the Super Sonic Bass Fuzz, a modified version of the DAM Meathead, slightly modified to suit bass guitar. The listing states plainly: "There is no endorsement or approval from any manufacturer and this information is for comparison only."2 Players looking at fuzz for bass may also want to see the bass pedals page.
Videos
Simon Smith
Eric D
Dennis Kayzer
Sources (2)
- Guitar FX Layouts: DAM Meathead Deluxe, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2012-01-18
- Super Sonic Bass Fuzz, Jeds Peds (jedspeds.co.uk)