FX32 Meat Box

FX32 Meat Box (1995), with original box (note the stickers of flies!)

The FX32 Meat Box (U.S.D.O.D. PRIME) was designed to give bass players a potentially earth-shaking low end, by blending a low 'subharmonic' tone (fixed at 35 Hz) with the bass guitar's output. Typical buildings can have a resonant frequency on the order of a few Hz, and while the Meat Box is unlikely to cause earthquakes (its effectiveness is also strongly limited by the quality of the speakers and cab further down the chain), it can help produce a bass sound that is felt as much as its heard. The FX32 can also be used by guitar players who tune lower than standard tuning, although only a bass amp should be connected to the 'wet' output from this pedal. The FX32's manual is dated February 1994, but serial number data and advertisements imply it was not available until later that year. Serial number data also imply it was available until at least 1997 (although production of circuit boards may have ceased in 1995). Because of its limited production and increasing popularity among noise artists, the FX32 now sometimes exceeds $100 in the used marketplace.

• Controls: Meat (dry/subharmonic blend), Rump (boost/cut of low subharmonic frequency, fixed at 35 Hz), Flank (boost/cut of low frequency band, centered at 60 Hz), Lbs. (overall output level); plus Output and Dry Out jacks
  
  
• From the manual: "The FX32 MeatBox turns your thin, wimpy-sounding bass into a wall of low-frequency insanity. The resulting mayhem is truly mighty, and can only be compared to the power of a thousand pound charging bull (hence the name 'Meatbox'). And of course you know where that leaves you... playing the part of the matador, right? The FX32 accomplishes this feat by creating a subharmonic of the original sound, mixing them, and adding equalization."
  
  
• DOD's marketing department really outdid themselves with the FX32 Meat Box. Not only was the pedal painted a crackled/distressed red and cream finish, to resemble a slab of raw red meat with fat and gristle, but the FX32 also came with a sheet of four stickers of flies for the buyer to peel and stick, to add to the 'raw meat' motif.
  
  
• Sample settings (scanned from the user manual)
  
  
• Technical info:
  
  
  • Notable IC chips: M51134P subharmonic synthesizer IC, one 4558-type op-amp
    
    
  • Component-side circuitboard image: July 1995
  
  
• External links:
  • @ discofreq's FX site
  • @ harmony-central.com
  • @ noiseguide.com
  
  

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