Here's my initial review from Tuesday night that I didn't post. I used the low level switch for all of the testing.
I was using a Rickenbacker 4003 with high gain pickups, a Serek Lincoln with the Novak BS/DS pickup through a Marshall JCM800 SuperBass head and GK Neo 212 cab.
-The SS has less output than the MS. This actually makes it easier to dial in and get unity gain, especially on the high gain (boost) channel. Very easy now to get medium gain on that channel, and it will get more gain than 91.7% of players would ever need.
-The SS is brighter than the MS, but in a good way. The treble can be turned down, and I thought it was still a little bright on the boost channel.
-The SS has less standing noise on the high gain channel. Much less.
-Both pedals have more than enough Bass, Middle and Treble. The bass these put out is incredible, and you will never have a lack of low end.
-The MS sounded like it had more authority. On the 2nd round of testing, I was able to get 95% of that authority out of the SS. I think most of it was due to it having less output volume.
The MS is my favorite pedal (I had 2 of them), but due to the size and almost unwieldy high gain channel, I replaced it with 4 other pedals that gave me more variety and ease of using a proper pedalboard rather than using a small pedalboard and the giant MS. During my first shootout, I was favoring the MS as it seemed to have more authority and heft (despite it being noisier). After tweaking the controls on the SS during the second round, I was able to get that all back without issue. Add the fact the the SS has less output and is more manageable, I feel that it will work better for most people. A person can always flip the level switch to high for more output, and I'm sure it will easily work with just a that and a power amp. The Smoke Signal is a winner!
For those of you not familiar with the Meatsmoke, here's a good review of the single channel preamp, and they explain it way better than I can.
Verellen Meatsmoke Preamp Review
My thoughts from the next day (Wednesday 10/13).
I spent about thirty minutes messing with just the clean channel on both pedals, as I know that's what will be used the majority of the time by myself and others. They both go from an excellent tube clean to a mild distortion (think about the same as the Particle Accelerator as far as OD goes). Just incredible sounds from each unit, and the extra top end from the SS was appreciated. I then set the EQ's to sound very similar and had to go run some errands (and grab an Ampeg V-4B reissue).
Started again with fresh ears and started with the MS, and it sounded great as always. I then went to the SS and realized I liked the SS better. A little while later on I realized I was trying to get the MS to sound like the SS (which I thought was kind of ironic). After all of this, I tried the Ampeg V-4B, and that amp did not like the high gain channel of these pedals, so I had to keep the gain control on the amp pretty low. The clean channels both sounded excellent on this amp. After several hours of playing, I'm totally sold on the Smoke Signal!
My friend Kevin has the Smoke Signal as of tonight and will compare it to his Meatsmoke. His wife has Covid and he can't go back to work until things are clear and I'm covering his shifts while he's gone, and won't have time to play anyway. When I get it back, I'll see what I can do to get some sounds recorded.
Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions.
