Best of David Main Compact Enclosure D*A*M Pedals
Readers will know that I favour Compact Enclosure pedals over all varieties - and this is the second UK Fuzz Lord (Castledine/Williams/Main) Compact roundup I have done - after the one I did for Steve Williams’ PigDog brand last year (as below). I’ve not managed to add any further Steve Williams pedals in the interim while I’ve gone from zero to 3 D*A*M Pedals this year - all courtesy of good friend Joe Light of Joe’s Pedals fame. Admittedly the third of those is D*A*M sub-brand Emanating Fist Electronics!
The two of the featured D*A*M ones that I have thus far are a Hybrid Meathead M-13 (OC141 + BC109), and the most recent 2005 batch I think of Sonic Titan. The only pedal listed here which is nice-to-have rather than essential for me is the Red Rooster Treble Booster.
All the others are fair game really - pending relatively reasonable pricing and near enough pristine condition. I think only 18 Graveyard Tramps were made in total - so probably a little more hard to come by than most - while there are a plenty of Meatheads out there of all types. I have at least 5 of these still to get here - which I will be doing very opportunistically over the next months and years.
A lot of these are available at rather inflated prices - so I need to bide my time until reasonable offers materialise - which need to also happen at the right time - as when I've spent my monthly pedal budget I usually draw the line on pricey acquisitions - which most of these undoubtedly will be. I'm noway near that desperate though to acquire any of these at any price - and I'm quite happy to pass on a pedal if individuals are being unreasonable with their pricing - which seems to happen quite a lot as regards this brand in particular!
Here then follow the key details on each. Where I feel my next likely acquisition here will be a Meathead M-25 Deluxe - possibly followed by a Drag 'n' Fly and then Super Bee - actually I will probably want to get all the 3-knob varieties first. I've not really seen many / any even of the Jr Fuzz Sounds and Graveyard Tramps recently - especially not the even rarer purple edition!
Drag 'n' Fly Hybrid Fuzz Tones (Face Bender)
Current Reverb.com Pricing for pristine examples - c £300-£460
Controls - Level, Attack, Filter.
Transistors - BC337 Silicon + CV7112 Germanium
I've referenced this as a 'Face Bender' as it's really a combination of TB MK I.V and Fuzz Fave circuits and component makeup. You tend to get richer and gainier breakup tones when you mix up the nature of your Transistors - per this arrangement - one Silicon and one Germanium one. These sorts of pedals are always highly articulate and dynamic and tend to have a little more range than more conventional varieties - this one is definitely a a priority acquisition for me - if I can find one with the appropriate combination of condition and price.
Fuzz Sound FS-75(Jr) (TB MKIII)
None on Reverb.com currently, Pricing for pristine examples up to £400
Controls - Level, Fuzz, Tone.
Transistors - 3 x AC128 Germanium Transistors or similar
MKIII style Tone Benders are a favourite fuzz variety for me - and I love their typically creamy distortion - and where my Pigdog JuJu is recognised as one of the very best. The D*A*M Fuzz Sounds tended to come in 3 different styles of enclosures - with the largest ones looking a little like Pete Cornish Grey Series, then medium sort of BB-size enclosures, and finally just a handful of compact JR varieties as far as I'm aware of. This one will be very likely nigh impossible to come by!
Graveyard Tramp Hybrid Fuzz Machine GT-73 (Face Bender)
No Demos seem to exist for this pedal!
None on Reverb.com - Pricing is c£300 when new
Controls - Level, Fuzz.
Transistors - BC179 Silicon + OC82D Germanium
Seems like only 18 of these were made in total - again another interesting Hybrid blend of circuitry and components - encompassing both Tone Bender and Fuzz Face elements. The vast majority of these were Yellow enclosures - while there were a few super-rare Purple enclosure editions too. This and the Fuzz Sound JR will be the hardest to get my hands on - particularly at any remotely reasonable price - this could take a very long time to happen - if ever!
Meathead M-13 Silicon Single Knob Fuzz (My edition is Hybrid)
Just one standard one currently on Reverb.com - Pricing at £400/Excellent
Controls - Dirt!
My Edition - BC109 Silicon + OC141 Germanium
Typical Transistors - 2N3904 + BC107, BC337 + BC182L, BC182L + 2N3904 and BC182L + BC239C
The Meathead format is pretty iconic by now and much copied - a sort of doom low-end accentuated higher gain Fuzz Face style circuit - made with a smart mix of 2 higher gain Transistors - where I believe BC182L + BC239C is most common. I have a few varieties of this type - including a rare Hybdrid Transistor variety from around 2005. This is probably the most archetypal of single knob fuzzes alongside the Colorsound One Knob Fuzz it is derived from!
Meathead M-25 Deluxe Fuzz Machine
2 currently on Reverb.com, one who's Pricing is £455, and one at £673
Controls - Volume, Attack, Filter.
Typical Transistors - 2N3904 + BC107, BC337 + BC182L, BC182L + 2N3904 and BC182L + BC239C
This is the Deluxe version of Meathead circuit - with the addition of Attack and Filter knobs which allow you to refine and temper the output further, There is also a larger BB-size edition with the same number of controls - which is rather surplus to requirements for me. I feel the single-knob is the classic variety - and the Deluxe version is a nice-to-have. The nature of the circuit means that it's pretty much perfect at the single-knob level - but here you can exercise much finer control.
Red Rooster Germanium Amplitude Booster (RangeMaster)
None currently on Reverb.com, pristine editions have Pricing of as much as £350
Controls - Range, Booster.
Single Germanium Military Spec Transistor - often CV7112, OC78 and similar - was around £200 when new, current 2nd hand pricing around £250-£350.
A classic single Germanium Transistor Treble Booster in the typical Dallas / Arbiter RangeMaster vein, I have a few Treble Boosters already in the collection and don't really need another. The original RangeMasters had OC44 Transistors - which are extremely rare now. While the military spec CV7003 - OC44 equivalent is often deployed nowadays - also becoming increasingly rare!
Sonic Titan Power Amp Distortion
3 currently on Reverb.com Excellent to Mint condition - Pricing around £300-£500
Tone Generators - LM386 IC + 2N3819 JFET
Controls - Level, Drive, Tone.
This was the second D*A*M edition I acquired - also from a circa 2005 batch I believe, possibly 2004 even. This is a superbly textured distortion pedal with plenty of gain on-tap. Indeed is has a pretty glorious breakup texture - very happy to have this in the reference collection.
Super Bee Germanium Fuzz Tones (Vox TB)
One Excellent condition one currently on Reverb.com - Pricing at £531.
Germanium Transistors - 3 x OC82D / 3 x CV5416 and similar
Controls - Level, Attack.
A sort of Vox Tone Bender style circuit with 3 carefully matched Germanium Transistors. As a two-knob variety this is slightly less appealing for me as I really like to have the additional third external control - typically a Bias. If I come across a sufficiently attractive offer I may just be persuaded to acquire this too - while it's not necessarily a priority.
Final Thoughts
I believe David Main is concentrating more on the Emanating Fist Electronics sub / sister brand nowadays - but still with fairly rare batches - typically just in alternative years.
I will most likely have to get all of these second hand - and where I need to bide my time until the price is right. I believe the Fuzz Sound JR and Graveyard Tramp are extremely rare - so those won't likely happen for a very long time if at all.
Obviously I came to this brand rather late - and will have to withstand some degree of inflated pricing - while I'm sure appealing opportunities will materialise every now and again. Joe Light is certainly a very handy friend to have - as he is the most likely to encounter most of these varieties first-hand. All my D*A*M pedals have come courtesy of Joe's Pedals thus far. There also seem to be a number of American collectors out there - which is really not conducive to realistic pricing - and you have to pay customs fees on top of whatever the offer price is.
There are still a few out there on Reverb.com that I could conceivable go for at some stage - while I'm really waiting for some sort of price drop - as I feel I could do better. Over time tough it is likely that I need to spend a little bit over the odds to secure most of these. I of course prefer to buy local if I can - but it really depends on what is in circulation at any given time. So I will continue to scan the horizon for when something materialised at the right sort of target price. Pricing tends to fluctuate to wild extremes over time - and it is typically a waiting game - such that you are able to acquire something in a brief momentary lull in pricing.
Do you readers have any favourites from this selection - or are there some here you kind of have your sights on?
