***Club Verellen***

[PWV]

Really dug this pedal with the Uber 115. The port with the overdrive just gave all kinds of texture. The next night I used a sealed cab and a different bass, still great. But that ported cab was the shizzle with the Meatsmoke pre!

[mjac28]

Man that is pretty I bet that sounded really good.

[Plays_For_Dog]

Originally Posted by PWV

Really dug this pedal with the Uber 115. The port with the overdrive just gave all kinds of texture. The next night I used a sealed cab and a different bass, still great. But that ported cab was the shizzle with the Meatsmoke pre!

I have the uber 1x15 and an uber 2x10. Now I'm getting really excited! You just made my night. My meatsmoke pre is complete and paid for... just the waiting game now. Ben hasn't emailed me a tracking number yet and I paid my last payment on Friday. I'm assuming it's in the mail by now.

[mjac28]

It should be Ben is great about getting his gear out he knows people want their stuff.

[mjac28]

It's out for delivery !!!!!!

[mjac28]

It's here!!!! unboxing later been up all night

[PWV]

Originally Posted by Plays_For_Dog

I have the uber 1x15 and an uber 2x10. Now I'm getting really excited! You just made my night. My meatsmoke pre is complete and paid for... just the waiting game now. Ben hasn't emailed me a tracking number yet and I paid my last payment on Friday. I'm assuming it's in the mail by now.

The Uber 115 just kills with this pedal!

[PWV]

Originally Posted by mjac28

It's here!!!! unboxing later been up all night

Well? *We're worried the pedal may have assimilated you!

[PWV]

One note I forgot to mention about Friday's gig. I was feeling my way through the pedal's tones - I hit one note and I swear it sounded *exactly* like Brian's Meatsmoke on "Praise Be Man" when the bass enters. It was one of those moment's on stage when you can feel the hair on the back of your neck rise!

This:

Listen to Brian Cook's bass tone at 2:53

[NKBassman]

Nice, haven't listened to that album in a while. I'm going to have to put that on for my drive home today.

[Plays_For_Dog]

Originally Posted by PWV

Well? *We're worried the pedal may have assimilated you!

It must be good if he's too busy with it to check in with TB.

[twhitedc]

Originally Posted by Plays_For_Dog

It must be good if he's too busy with it to check in with TB.

I was thinking the same thing.. Mjac, come back to us... How are you doing out there?

[Plays_For_Dog]

Originally Posted by twhitedc

I was thinking the same thing.. Mjac, come back to us... How are you doing out there?

Save your breath... he's lost in the tube forest and can't hear you.

[mjac28]

I'm back my fellow club members after taking an incredible trip to Meatsmoke Land. I was wrapped in a blanket of tubey goodness and caressed by careful shielding, thoughtful circuitry and gorgeous finished birch sides . I got that beautiful brown box and the second I pulled back the flaps I was washed in a warm almost blinding light after the light faded she was just lying there beautiful and perfect I named her Lucille on the spot. I pulled her out of her wrappings and held her it took me back to standing in a hospital delivery room proud happy and in absolute awe. I placed her on my amp then turned her on and was awarded with the most rich marshmallowy warm sound I've ever heard using my Hofner affectionately called Lucy I played one of my favorite Beatles song Honey Pie the rich goodness coming out of my Mesa was pure bliss. I switched to my Big Block Precision which is a beast turned on my B3K and the Meatsmoke's boost switch I played the Toadies - Possum Kingdom and The Offspring -Self Esteem boom!! instant transport back to the nineties. I then turned to Sade-Smooth Operator with my P and the sound was so fat and funky I couldn't stop playing so I played Chic-Good Times and Parliament- Flashlight and afterwords I just smiled looked around the room at all my babies and to quote that wonderful wordsmith Charlie Sheen "I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars." .

I have the Meatsmoke second to last in my chain it goes into my Fryette Valvulator. I love the tone controls I was afraid they would be identical to the passive Fender tone stack which I don't really care for but they aren't I find them very responsive Ben said the controls were like the fender controls but different and he was right.I keep the output setting on low I tried the high setting liked it but the low setting seems to work best I use a lot of different preamp pedals so I can still get their different flavors without the Meatsmoke being overpowering and drowning them out. I am so happy with this pedal I can't say enough about it and if I ever start gigging I'm going to grab a power amp a nice lightweight cab my Meatsmoke and be ready for anything. My dream pedal lived up to the hype and is worth every penny.



Baby Pictures

[Plays_For_Dog]

So, last Friday I called Ben to make my last payment.

Fast forward to today... I call Ben back wondering why the charge hasn't come out of my checking account and I haven't recieved a confirmation email and tracking number yet. Of course, Ben is confused about the whole deal. After a few minutes of him digging through his records, he sees that he took my CC number down and forgot to run the card

So he runs it and now we're all up to snuff on money owed. Now comes my turn; where's my pre-amp? Ben can't answer, so he says he'll call me back after he digs through his records. After about a half hour I get an email from him; "Ok, I know what happened. My guy got two shipments mixed up and I had a customer waiting for a s.h. pedal call me saying he got a m.s. pedal. Your pedal actually! So it's on it's way back and I'll give it a look over to make sure everything is tip top and I'll send you way. Sorry for the mixup!..."

So, I guess I'll get my pedal sometime... Really sucks, but I'm not mad about it. Ben was super nice and apologetic on the phone. I don't blame him, I blame his helper for his lack of attention to detail. Ben will make it right I'm sure. I'm going to be in Seattle in two weeks and plan to stop by the shop. I think a certain helper owes me a beer


I talked to Ben about his sale and he's swamped with orders. When you support a small business that is booming, you have to expect there are going to be hic-ups. Totally blows I had to be the guy, but it's good for Ben since I'm so easy going. Moral of the story is, don't wait a week to call if you don't get your confirmation email within a day. He's currently swamped with sale orders and the poor guy is struggling to keep track of the influx in business while maintaining a respectable turn around time. He encouraged me, and anyone else, to email/call him as you feel necessary. After all, it is YOUR purchase and he is happy to keep you in the loop of what is going on. I waited a week and now I have to wait even longer since my pedal was sent to someone else.

[mjac28]

Sorry to hear that and yes it does suck I agree that helper has got to go I didn't get a power cord luckily it's just a computer power cord and I had a few lying around Ben is so cool the guy gets back to you right away I knew that sale would have him swamped. I tell you what sir once you get it man it will be worth it.

[mjac28]

When you get to Seattle take some pictures if you can

[PWV]

Awesome review Mjac - and you're right it's worth every penny. Its a paradigm shift for me, as I've never been that interested in pedals except for the occasional chorus pedal back when I played fretless. But this MS Pre - its *transformative* on what it does to your sound.

Sorry about your delay PFD - Ben will make it right, and if you chide him he'll probably throw in some swag for your wait. I've been in his shop, and its pretty small. What we're witnessing now is a small-business exploding and as long as Fender doesn't swoop in and buy/destroy the product line, bass players should expect to be blessed with the Verellen line for a long time. (RIP Tacoma Guitars).

I took the MS Pre to the show last night, this time into a ported 8x10. Everything I expected on stage, but you could actually
FEEL it in the house - FOH had all kinds of crazy sub-woofers in front of the stage. It was like playing in one of those 500-piece Mahler orchestras.

But what was really cool was when the sound man saw the Meatsmoke pedal after the show. He actually was a classmate of Ben's and Brian Cook's. He's been impressed with the Meatsmoke head, this was his first time seeing/hearing the pre. He shared some cool stories of the early band days, Brian's and Ben's brother Dave's early band Botch, Verellen as a start-up company a few years ago...and he really dug the sound coming from the MS Pre. All I'm trying to do right now is imitate Brian's sound - and the sound guy knew exactly what I was talking about. That 6 degrees of separation is always a cool thing in music.

[Plays_For_Dog]

Originally Posted by mjac28

When you get to Seattle take some pictures if you can

Will do with Ben's blessing. Also, I don't think getting rid of his only helper is a good idea under this massive influx in business he's experiencing. Ben should definitely sit him down and tell him to slow down, check his work and get it out right the first time. He probably just needs to be reminded that quality is more important then quanity. Plus, knowing how the business is, the "helper" is probably a stoner friend living on Ben's couch and Ben's trying to help the guy get on his feet.


PWV, I was having the same conversation with Ben on the phone yesterday. He's such a cool dude and his ties to the roots of Puget Sound music would be the envy of a lot of people.

I miss being up there a lot and hopefully this trip will yeild some promising leads. Moving to Texas was the best thing I could have done for my career, but my wife and I miss WA so much we're depressed all the time about it.

[mjac28]

Originally Posted by PWV

Awesome review Mjac - and you're right it's worth every penny. Its a paradigm shift for me, as I've never been that interested in pedals except for the occasional chorus pedal back when I played fretless. But this MS Pre - its *transformative* on what it does to your sound.

Sorry about your delay PFD - Ben will make it right, and if you chide him he'll probably throw in some swag for your wait. I've been in his shop, and its pretty small. What we're witnessing now is a small-business exploding and as long as Fender doesn't swoop in and buy/destroy the product line, bass players should expect to be blessed with the Verellen line for a long time. (RIP Tacoma Guitars).

I took the MS Pre to the show last night, this time into a ported 8x10. Everything I expected on stage, but you could actually
FEEL it in the house - FOH had all kinds of crazy sub-woofers in front of the stage. It was like playing in one of those 500-piece Mahler orchestras.

But what was really cool was when the sound man saw the Meatsmoke pedal after the show. He actually was a classmate of Ben's and Brian Cook's. He's been impressed with the Meatsmoke head, this was his first time seeing/hearing the pre. He shared some cool stories of the early band days, Brian's and Ben's brother Dave's early band Botch, Verellen as a start-up company a few years ago...and he really dug the sound coming from the MS Pre. All I'm trying to do right now is imitate Brian's sound - and the sound guy knew exactly what I was talking about. That 6 degrees of separation is always a cool thing in music.

Very cool story and you are scaring me with the thought of Fender or anyone else coming in and mucking up everything that would really suck.