I got this a few days ago from a TB member and am very impressed. It has replaced the B7K I was using. The Darkglass pedals are great too, but the Meatsmoke suits me better. It provides incredible low-end saturation, a very powerful EQ, and great tone. Having two independent channels is also very useful, as it allows for more tonal flexibility (it also takes some of the sting out of the price if you think of it as doing the work of multiple pedals).
I play a couple Ricks (4003 and 4004) through a Mesa Buster 15 combo and I love how they sound, so my goal with the Meatsmoke wasn't to totally change what my gear gives me, but to augment it. To that end I've experimented with the Meatsmoke in several places in the signal chain. Feeding into the Buster's main input generally sounded good and offered 3 distinct sounds, but the boost channel on the Meatsmoke would sometimes get flubby running like this. Using the Meatsmoke as the whole preamp by running it into the effects loop return avoided this problem, but had difficulties of its own. First, it precluded the Buster tone that I love; second, the Meatsmoke (even on high) has a noticeably lower output than the Buster preamp. This surprised me, and I wonder if this could signal a problem with a preamp tube, or if it's due to the effects loop design. Finally, I've been playing with the Meatsmoke in the effects loop, where it is working well provided I leave it on low output. So far, this is the best option. It allows me to have three distinct footswitchable sounds, and the Meatsmoke sounds better in the effects loop than in front of the amp.
All of these observations are somewhat provisional, as I've only had the Meatsmoke for a few days, but it is clear that the Meatsmoke provides amazing tone, and (in the current iteration) outstanding flexibility with its two channels with independent EQ.
Finally, a note on using this for Rick-o-Sound: Feeding the Meatsmoke into the effects loop return of my Mesa Mark II (running into a Powerhouse 12) sounded great as a bridge pickup rig when running in stereo, but the lower Meatsmoke output in that configuration does have me concerned about its ability to keep up with the neck pickup run through the Buster. I'll have to experiment with that more.
Edit: I've sorted the lower output when running into the effects loop return. It was just some dumb user error on my part, not a problem with the Meatsmoke.
I play a couple Ricks (4003 and 4004) through a Mesa Buster 15 combo and I love how they sound, so my goal with the Meatsmoke wasn't to totally change what my gear gives me, but to augment it. To that end I've experimented with the Meatsmoke in several places in the signal chain. Feeding into the Buster's main input generally sounded good and offered 3 distinct sounds, but the boost channel on the Meatsmoke would sometimes get flubby running like this. Using the Meatsmoke as the whole preamp by running it into the effects loop return avoided this problem, but had difficulties of its own. First, it precluded the Buster tone that I love; second, the Meatsmoke (even on high) has a noticeably lower output than the Buster preamp. This surprised me, and I wonder if this could signal a problem with a preamp tube, or if it's due to the effects loop design. Finally, I've been playing with the Meatsmoke in the effects loop, where it is working well provided I leave it on low output. So far, this is the best option. It allows me to have three distinct footswitchable sounds, and the Meatsmoke sounds better in the effects loop than in front of the amp.
All of these observations are somewhat provisional, as I've only had the Meatsmoke for a few days, but it is clear that the Meatsmoke provides amazing tone, and (in the current iteration) outstanding flexibility with its two channels with independent EQ.
Finally, a note on using this for Rick-o-Sound: Feeding the Meatsmoke into the effects loop return of my Mesa Mark II (running into a Powerhouse 12) sounded great as a bridge pickup rig when running in stereo, but the lower Meatsmoke output in that configuration does have me concerned about its ability to keep up with the neck pickup run through the Buster. I'll have to experiment with that more.
Edit: I've sorted the lower output when running into the effects loop return. It was just some dumb user error on my part, not a problem with the Meatsmoke.
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I didn't really get this for clean.
